Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1882-02-16

yerely commonplace. IL has good deal OF
Ruskin and Goethe favored with Burne
Jones and Swinburne, and largely diluted
with Oscar Wilde, and 10 perfectly harm
less.
II have not come TO America with sinis-
ter motives" Mr.. Wilde eondescended to say
"but rather to try to tell you what We are
doing in England for art, that you may At
least understand it, whether you praise it or
not" The audience would have been glad,
if in the first place. it could have under
stood what the lecturer was sndeayorlng TO
drive at He commenced with telling the
story Of the Pre- Raphaelites, who. he said.
were q group Of young men possessing
youth, power and enthusiasm-three things
which the English public could not tolerate.
His remark that "Satire-slways A. i'm
pudent as it is insolent-paid them that usu-
Al homage which mediocrity pays to genius"
was thought TO be hit back at those who
rldcue the aesthetic craze. The first ap-
plsuse which the lecturer received was .
reference to piece Of advice which Walt
Whitman had given him about writing
poetry, and the second was when he alluded
to Poe. He was saying that the workings
Of poets soul, which men will persist in
calling "lnspiration," had always had a
charm for the Greeks, when he referred to
Poe in the following words IL need not re-
mind YOU how deeply the young French
poets Of the romantic movement were stir
red by Edgar Allen Poes analysis Of the
working Of hi, own Imagination when be
wrote that supremely imaginative work,
1.-The Raven"
Everybody is affected. according to Mr..
Wilde, by sunsets and sunrl.es, hut the abso-
lutte dIstncHlon of the artist IS not 80 much
IN his capacity to feel 81 TO interpret nature.
and the workings Of the artistic spirit in the
choice Of subject To the artist the present
is not a whit more real than the past. For
him no form 10 obsolete. no expression out
OF date whether IN the desert Of Judes or
4 the ArcadIan valley; whether by the rivers
Of Troy or the rivera Of Damascus IN the
streets of the city or the byways OF the
\ country he will take from his surroundings
I whatever is salutary for his own spirit. With
7 the artistic control Of one who is in the pos
I session Of the secret Of beauty.
/ From the artist Mr. Wilde turned TO the
/ poet, and gave his audience his idea Of poets
/ All things were not fit subjects for poetry
nothing that is harsh or disturbing nothing
Z that ls debstahIe or about which men argue.
Y Calm and perfect repose were lncarnate in
Z Keats, "Ode to the Grecian Urn" and the
one dominant note in Morris Earthly
I Paradise" and in Burue Jones' knights and
ladies'. To the poet all times. and places
are one. There Is but one time-the artls-
TIC moment one law-thc law Of form one
land-tne land Of beauty--''a land removed,
indeed, from the real world and Yet more
scnsuou, because more enduring; calm, yet
With that calm which daells in the faces Of
the Greek statues" The wlld-eyed .lbyl.
and mighty -hmbed prophets in the Slstine
Chapel, tell more Of the real spirit of the
Italian renaissance, Of the dream of Savon-
aroa and the crime of Borgia than the
brawlng Doors and cooking women Of Dutch
art teach Of the real spirit Of the history Of
Holland
Towards the close OF his lecture Oscar
told little story Of how he and other. had
I endray ored 10 make a road acros. a swamp
IN order that some ylayer. might thereby
/ be benefited. He did not say, however,
/ whether knee breeche. were du fat on such
/ occasion. or not. He said that their enc
mles came and Knocked them at their efforts,
I I'VE did not mind il much then and do not
mind il nov at all. Applause. And so
I We worked for two months at our road. You
. hHh NllAt itN aIit bl NltAl ISdl wen, L4al
/ road ended like d bad ecture-abrupty and
in the midst Of swamp. Laughter.
/ The Young gentlemen whom Mr.. Wide
met at the german on Friday night were re-
ferred 10 as brilliant" Thi. provoked
I great applause. He liked their dancing,
I but they ought to cover the naked pedestals
Of their character with something noble. If
they danced, he would rather they danced
minuets than polkas, for minuets had more
beauty. The city of Washington had a
great future in its sculpture. "You have
/ got enough, now" he said, ITO have more,
/ but don't think YOU want any more bronze
generals" Laughter.
/ He wanted children to grow up in what
/ Plato called the simple atmosphere Of fair
/ things" The meanest vessel in the house
/ could awake the secret depths and longing
of the soul. II was in the nature Of things
that there should always be sewers Of wood
and drawers Of water, but the pitcher at the
well could and should be thing Of beauty.
/ Every object should be beautiful, and give
| light 10 its maker as well as its user, and
| tighten the burden Of the toilers For
! those. the lecturer said, with whom the end
| of life is not action but thought, "Who must
burn always with one of the passions of this
/ little, fiery. colored world, and TO whom,
valuing passion for its intensity and not for
its permanence, over and over again in the
progress Of their culture find what was once
precious has become lndiferent-for those
who fad life interesting not for its secrets
but for its situations. for its pulsations not
for ito purpose, the passion of beauty en-
| gendered by the decorative arts will be more
satisfying than any political or religious en-
thusiasm, any enthusiasm for humanity, any
ecstasy or sorrow Of love, for art comes to
you protesting frankly TO give nothing but
the highest qualities to your moments as
they pass"
A Gift for Grandma Garfield.