Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-05-18
BRATTLEBORO, VT, FRIDAY, MAY 1s, 1877.

lsn, no man can Tell. BON OF tnem marx
the art degeneracy of the times we live iu.
Did you know even that we no longer NOR
tice? Between dove.tail and a nail there
is just that wide distinction which exists
between the aesthetic and the sensual"
held my breath. Was my poor Loron-
~ bertft of reasonH
~ long for symbolism-and a Pompeiian
revival. Can realize anything in Wind
sor chair more than in Bath brick7 A
Windsor chair is bat The reproduction of
the brntalizing influences OF English art
in its most abject period. Shall art which
has struggled on lind no better develop.
ment in America than in a loahng, slipshod
arm chair, or revolving monitor-turret
pepper castor9 1 have tried, Marie have
sought repose on horse-hair covered sofa.
Reclining on its black, seedy, glossy, ssr-
cophagal surface, in vain have l courled
sleep. In :he FIRST place, little bits of Jag
ged hair like wires prlcked me, and in inn
aginaton l saw a hecatomb of horses, with
flying names and tails, dashing over the
ground until in sympathy the very sofa
galoped, reared, shook, and threw me
mare"
"Pray do calm yourself, Lorenzo" / said,
now really alarmed.
"My breakfast is Il punishment TO me.
All food unless served through an aesthetic
medium, is misery. Give the milk in a
MezziRd, and in chiccere serve me my
coffee. l can't even salt my egg save from
a sdlicrd. have given up lager beer since
l could not quaT it in a becdtelio. Exist
ence TO me without majolica is nothing. If
I cannot have Master Giorgio, Castel Du-
ranie will suffice. What is life without ia
yence? Barbarous block-lin coffee pots
and stone-ware cups will kill me. If, un-
fortunately, was not born in the time of
the Renaissance, must live back to il in
order TO he happy. The consolation of re.
li9iou in the best of churches is nothing to
me If the sarred ediiice has no dado in it,"
Renaissance Fudgeu 1 said, "When
men and women slept in snmptuous beds
they stood a good chance Of having their
throats cut, or Of being poisoned before
morning. Cuntentedness and pleasant
dreams come to the tired even in shake
down. When body wants drink, water
in tin cup quenchcs the thirst better Than
chocolate in a Sevres cup"
"Shake-down-a tin dipper! Horrible!
But Marie, you cannot feel as | do. The
useful is all the better for being graceful.
We are made happier by the presence Of
objects which display thought, skill, gem
ius and beauty. What meaning is there 10
me in ponderous stone-ware cup? Its
weight only brings one idea to my mind.
If had to defend narrow mountain pass,
l should want but a crate full of these
wretched things 10 hurl down cup by cup,
on the enemy below, ani crush him."
GOOD cups tell another story to me-" l
replied. "Whereas, three or four hundred
years ago your numbering, poisoning peo-
pie drank of their fine table furniture, the
poorer classes, when they had anything 10
appease their hunger, devoured their food
like wild beasts. Now all the world can
buy for little or nothing your despiscd stone-
ware. Here" I said, 'are my nice Wind
sor chairs; you are not going TO put me
out of conceit of them. l shall sit down
on one 10 show you how really comfortable
il is"
/ may have, for the purposes of illustra-
tion, flounced down rather too heavily in
that chair. 1 regret 10 say the piece of
furniture, with scarce a warning crack,
under me Ike an ancient ruin.
think heard my husband laugh. What
| do know is that the unfeeling creature
made not the least effort to pick me up. II
told you So" was all lie said, in rather au
exultinG tone of voice; "slue and var
nishl"
I am somewhat happier now. think
The cure has come. The facts which have
recouuted occurred not more than year
ago. Seeing that this furniture madness in
my husband was only of recent date, l
studied the case up, patiently, laGoriously.
the disorder in the mans
mind arose entirely from his reading arti-
cles on art applied to furniture, which have
been so constantly published in popular
Of late. No topics Of this char
acter now, | assure you, pass through his
hands. Exercising most rigid censor
ship, | ineXorably scissor every aesthetic
piece from the magazines or pa
pers which be reads. Just let me see Re-
Byzantine, or Ciuque Cento print
ed anywhere and that is enough, l hurn
the paper, or give it TO the cook 10 SINCE
4, f,Ntsfl lG