The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-11-15

bill to the vestry: 'To filing up
chink in the Red Sea and repairing the dam.
ages to Pharoah's host:' ITO new pair Of
hands for Daniel in the lions den, and new
Nebuchadnezzar's beard; - "to giving blu h
to the cheek of Eve on presenting the apple
to ADAM" ito making bride for the Good
Samaritan's horse, and mending one OF his
legs" ito putting on new handle on
Moses basket and fitting bulrushes, and
adding more fuel to the fire in Nebuchad.
nezzar's furnace" So painters were humi.
lated clear down below the majesty Of their
art. The Oldest picture in England, por-
trait OF Chaucer, though now of great value,
was picked out of a lumber garret. Great
were the trials of Quentin Matsys, who toiled
on from blacksmith's anvil. till as a painter
he won wide recognition. The first mission
aries to Mexico made the fatal mistake
of destroying pictures, for the loss OF which
art and religion must ever lament. But why
go so far back when in this year of our Lord
1883, and within twelve years of the twentieth
century, to be a painter except in rare ex-
ceptions. means poverty and neglect! Poorly
fed poorly clald, poorly housed, because
poorly appreciated When hear a man is
e painter, have two feelings, one OF admira-
ton for the greatness of his soul, and the
other Of commiseration for the needs Of his
body.
But so it has been in all departments of
noble work. Some of the mghtiest have
been hardly bested. oliver Goldsmith had
such big patch on the coat of his left breast
that when he went anywhere he kept his hat
in his hand closely pressed over the patch.
The world renowned Bishop Asbury had a
salary Of s64 year. Painters are not
the only ones who have endured the lack
of appreciation. Let men of wealth take
under their patronage the suffering men Of
art They lift no complaint; they make no
strike for higher wages. But with a keenness
characterizes genius, these artists suffer
more than anyone but God can realize.
There needs to be concerted effort for
the suffering artists of America, not
sentimental discourse about what we owe to
artists, but contracts that will give them a
livelihood; for l am in full sympathy with
the Christian farmer, who was very busy
gathering his fall apples, and some one
asked him to pray for poor family,
the father of which had broken his
leg; and the busy farmer said: 81 cannot stop
now to pray, but you can go down into the
cellar and get some corned beef, and butter,
and eggs and potatoes; that is all | can
do now" Artists may wish for our prayers
but they also want practical help from men
who can give them work. You have heard
scores of sermons for all other kinds of suffer
ing men and women, but think this is the
first sermon ever preached that made
plea for the suffering men and women of
American art. Their work is more true to
nature and life than any of the master
pieces that have become immortal on the
other side of the sea, but it is the fashion
of Americans to mention foreign artists,
and to know little or nothing about our
own Copley, and Allston and lnman, and
Greenoagh and Kensett. Let the atfluent
fling out of their windows and into the back
yard valueless daubs on canvas and call in
these splendid but unrewarded men, and tell
them to adorn your walls, not only with
that which shall please the taste, but enlarge
the mind, and improve the morals, and save
the souls OF those who gaze upon them.
Brooklyn and all other American cities
need great galleries of art, not only open
annually for a few days OH exhibition, but
which shall stand open all the year round,
and from early morning until ten o'clock at
night, and free to all who would come and
go. What preparation for the wear
and tear Of the day, a five min,
picture that will open door into some larger
realm than that in which our population
daily drudge! Of what a good thing the half
hour of artistic opportunity on the way
home in the evening from exhaustion that
demands recuperation for mind and soul as
well as body! Who will do for Brook.
lvn or the city where YOU live what w.
W. Corcoran did for Washington, and what
am told John Wannamaker, by the dona-
tion of De Munkacsys great picture, "Chrisi
phia! Men of wealth, if you are too modest
to build and endow such place during youl
lifetime, why not go to your iron safe, and
take out your last will and testament and
make codcl that shall build for the city o
your residence, throne for American art
Take some of the money that would otherwise
spoil your children, and build an art gallery
not only with the great masters o
painting who are gone, but with thu
great masters who are trying to live; ant
also win the admiration and love of tens o
thousands of people, who, unable to have
fine pictures of their own, would be ad
vantaged by your benefaction. Build youl
own monuments, and not leave it to tn,
whim of Others Some of the best people sleep
ing in Greenwood have no monuments at all
or some crumbling stones that in few year
will let the rain wash out name and epitaph
while some men whose death was the abate
ment of nuisance, have pile of polishe'
Aberdeen high enough for a king, and eulo
| GUM enough to embarrass seraph. Oh
man of large wealth, instead o
leaving.to the whim of others your monumen
tai commemoraton and epitaphioogy to b.
looked at when people are going to and FRI
at the burial of others, build right down il
the heart Of our great city, or the city wher
| yon live, an immense free reading room, O.
| a free musical conservatory, or fre
art gallery, the inches for sculpture
and the walls aboom with the ris
and fall of nations. and lessons o
courage for the disheartened, and rest for tn
weary, and life for the dead; and one hun
dred and fifty years from now you will b
| welding influences in this world for goo,
/ among those whose great-grandfather wa
your great-grandchild How much bette
than white marble that chilis you if yo1
put your hand on it when you toucl
it in the cemetery would be monument il
colors, in beaming eyes, in living possession
in spiendors which under the chandelie
would be glowing and warm, and looked
by strolling groups with catalogue in hant
on the January night, when the necropoli
where the body sleeps is all showed under
| The tower of David was hung with one thou
sand dented shields of battle; but you, o
man of wealth, may have grander towe
named after you, one that shall be hung no
with the symbols of carnage, but with th
victories of that art which was SO long ag
reco gnized in my text as pleasant pictures.
Oh, the power of pictures! l cannot deride
as some have done, Cardinal Mazarin, who
when told that he must die, took his las
walk through the art gallery of his palace
| Sty M. MusL quit HI IulSs IOOk dt tuta
Titan! Look at that Corregiol Look a
that deluge Of Caraccil Farewell, dear pict
ures!" As the day of the Lord of Hosts, ac
coriing to this text, will scrutinize tn
pictures, implore al parents to see tina
In their households they have neithe
in book or newspaper or on canvas anything
that Will deprave. Pictures are no l0nge
the exclusive possession Of the afiiuent Iher
is not respectable home in these cities tina
has not specimens of woodcut or steel en-
craving, if not of painting. and your whol
family will feel the moral upliftin
or depression. Have nothing OH you
wall or in books that will familiariz
the young with scenes of cruelty or wassail
have only those sketches made by artists il
elevated moods, and none of those scenes tina
Pictures are not only strong but a uni
versal language. The human race is divide
INTO almost as many languages as there ar
nations, but the pictures may speak t
people of all tongues. NolaPuk many hav
hopei, with little reason, would become
worldwide language; but the pictorial
always a world. wide language, and printer
| types have no emphasis compared with ii
Nesiy that children are fond of pictures
but notice any man when he takes up book
and you will see that the first thin
that he looks at is the pictures. Hav
only those in your house tha
appeal to the better nature. On
| engraving has sometimes decided an eterna
destiny. Under the title OF fine arts ther
have come here from France a class of pie