Sacramento daily record-union., 1882-01-21

- - - y JS~s AesAASAt VIC AOOh IOI LQe Der
fection OF our movement. There is some.
thing Hellenic in your life. something
Elizabethan that our life cannot give. You
are at least young That very absence of
tradition which MIR. Ruskin thought would
rob your rivers of their life and your flow.
ers of their fragrance may rather be the
source of your freedom and strength. "I
foresee," said Goethe, "the dawn of the
new literature which all peoples may claim
as their own, for all peoples have con.
tributed to its foundation. If, then, it is
SO +; if the materials of civilization as
great as that of old Europe lie all around
you, what profit, you will ask, will all this
of art. poets and painters he to you?
/ am asking, as you have listened for 800
nights to my friend, Mr.. Arthur Sullvau's
charming opera, Patience IlaughterL
that you will listen to me for one nil hit
renewed laughterl; and as you have had
satire, you may make the satire little
more piquant by KNOWN g little more of
the truth and that, in any case, you will
not take the very brilliant lines of Mr..
Gilbert any more as revelation of the
movement than you would Judge of the
splendor OF the sun or the majesty of the
sea by the dust that dances in the beam or
the bubble that breaks on the wave. Zap
plause. | may answer to the question
that nothing that interests men and women
can cease to be fit subject for culture.
Nay, more, l might answer, how, even in
this dull and materialistic age, the simple
expression of an old mans simple hfe,
passed far away from the clamor of great
cities, among the lakes and hills of Cumber.
land, has brought out for England treas.
ures, compared with which the treasures
of her luxury are as barren as the sea
which she has made her highway. Through
artistic spirit and attitude L think YOU
should absorb art. In individuals, as ma.
tions, if the passion for requirement be not
accompanied by the critical spirit, it will
be sure to waste its strength in material
ism, and in following false ideas in artistic
feeling Love art for its own sake, and
then ali that you need will be added to
to you. This devotion to beauty and the
creation of beautiful things is the distinc-
tion of all great civilized nations. It is
what makes the life of each citizen a sac.
rament, and not speculation. 1t is what
makes the life of the whole race immortal,
for beauty is the only thing that time can.
not harm. PHILOSOPHERS melt away like
morn oreeds follow one another, like the
leaves of autumn but beauty is Joy
for all time, a possession for eternity. Wars
and the clashing of arms and the meeting
of men In battles must be always, but I
think that art, creating a common intel.
lectual atmosphere between all countries.
might, if it could not overshadow the
world with the siivery wings of peace, at
least make men such hrothors that they
would not go to slay one another as they
do in Europe, for the whim or caprice of
King or Parliament. [Applause.] Mighty
empires there must be as long as personal
ambition and the spirit of the age prevail,
but art is the only empire that may not
yield 10 the conquest We, in our renals-
sance, are seeking to create for England
sovereignty that will be still hers when her
yellow leopards have grown weary of war,
and the roses of her shield are no longer
crimson with the blood of battle Alb
sorbed into the generous heart of great
people, this perfected artistic spirit will
create for this country such riches as you
have never created, though your land be a
network of railways and your cities are the
harbors of the galleys of the world.
Yet the truths of art cannot be taught
They are revealed only-revealed to ma
lures that have made themselves the recep-
tacles of all beautiful impressions by the
study and the worship of all beautiful
things. Hence the enormous Importance
given to works of art in our renaissance
to the pictures, to the weaving of tapestry,
to the work in glass, clay, and metal,
which we owe to William Morris, the
greatest hand craftsman that we have
Hence it is our aim that there should be IN
every mans house things that have given
pleasure to their maker, and give pleasure
to their user. And the children, like the
children of Plato's fabled state, will grow
up in the simple atmosphere of all fair
thinks. Works of beauty will dawn upon
their senses, full of the spirit OF art. coming
like breath of air that brings health from
clear upland, and will insensibly draw
the children's souls into harmony with all
knowledge and wisdom, so that they will
love what is beautiful and good, and hate
what is ugly and foul, and have virtue be-
fore they know the reason why, and when
reason comes, kiss her on the check like
friend. [Applause.]
The steel of Toledo and the silk of Genoa
did but give strength to oppression and the
lust of pride. Let it be for you to create
an art that is made by the people, and for
the people, an art that will be an expires.
sion of the loveliness and the Joy of life and |
nature. Remember that there is no build. |
ing in the Greek style, unless you have no.
BILE sculpture, and, for all the Doric co.. !
umns, and Corinthlan upper stories, there
is but little Greek art in Fifth avenue |
| Ilaughterl, and there is no possibility of |
having Gothic building in New York, un- |
less you have a free and natural decoration. |
We want new and beautiful art. Gothic |
art was not made for prince or priest, but |
for the people, the whole people.
You have heard, I have no doubt, at |
least a few words, about two flowers con-
nected with the esshetic movement IL Eng. |
land. Laughter. The flowers, l assure
you, erroneously are supposed to be the |
suitable food of some artistic young men.
Let me tell you the reason we love the |
lily aHd the suntower. 1t IS not Mr.. Gil |
bert's reason, [Laughter.] 1t has nothing
TO do with a vegetable passion at all It
is because these two lovely flowers, of all |
our flowers in England, are the most per-
feet models of design, the most naturally |
adapted for decorative art. The gaudy, |
leonine beauty of the one, and the ehaste
and precious loveliness of the other, give /
to the artist the most entire and perfect |
joy, and see that you let there be no flower
IN your meadows that does not wreath its |
tendrils around your pillars, no leaf in
your giant forests that does not lend its
form TO design; no graceful spray of wild |
rose or brier that has not been grown on
marble archway or window; no bird in |
your air that has not given the irridescent |
wonders of his color or the exquisite curves
of his wings spread in fight, to create |
more beauty and freshness OF simple adorn- |
ment.
We spend our days. each of us, looking
foi the secret of life. Well, my friends,
the secret of life is in art. [Applause]
After the lecture Mr.. Wilde went to the
of John Mack, 365 Fifth avenue.
After a light lunch of oysters and wines
he was led to the parlors, where hundred /
people we're gathered. Everybody crowded |
up to be introduced. He was very sffable,
and shook hands untiringly.