Milford chronicle., 1888-11-02


alton till, being great skater, while on the
ice he formed the acquaintance of Gen
Howe, Of the English army, and through
coming to admire West as a skater, they
gradually came to appreciate as much that
which he accomplished by his hand as by his
heel. Poussin, the mighty painter, was pur-
sued, and had nothing with which to defend
himself against the mob but the artists port
folio, which he held over his head t. keep OFF
the stones hurled at him. The pictAres
Of Richard Wilson, of England, were
sold for fabulous sums of money after
his death, but the living painter
was glad to get for his 'Alcyonen a piece Of
Stilton cheese. From 1910 to 1858 there
were 1900 pictures willfully destroyed. In
the reign of Queen Elizabeth it was the habit
Of some people to spend much Of their time
in knocking pictures to pieces. In the reign
Charles the First it was ordered by parlia-
ment that all pictures Of Christ be burnt
Painters were so badly treated and humilia-
ted in the beginning Of the Eighteenth CEN
tury that they were lowered clear down out
Of the sublimity Of their art, and obliged to
give minute accounts Of what they did with
their colors, as painters bill which came to
publication in Scotland in l707 indicated.
The painter had been touching up some old
pictures in the church, and he sends in this
itemized bill to the vestry: ITO filing up a
chink in the Red Sea and repairing the dam
ages TO Pharaoh's hosts;n ''to a new pair Of
hands for Daniel in the lions den, and a new
set Of teeth for the lioness;n "to repairing
Nebuchadnezzar's beard;n 'to giving a blush
to the cheek of Eve on presenting the apple
to ADAM ito making a bride for the Good
Samaritan's horse, and mending one of his
legs" ''to putting ON a new handle on Moses
basket ana fitting bulrushes, and adding
more fuel to the fire in Nebuchadnczzar's
furnace" So painters were humiliated clear
down below the majesty of their art. The
Oldest picture in England, a portrait Of
Chaucer, though now of great value,
was picked out of a lumber garrett
Great were the trials Of Quentin Matsys,
who toiled on from blacksmiths anvil till as
a painter he won wide recognition. The first
missionaries to Mexico made the fatal mis-
take 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 exceptions, means poverty and neg
lecti Poorly fed, poorly clad, poorly housed,
because poorly appreciated When hear a
man is painter, have two feelings: one Of
admiration 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 no
bic work. Some Of the mightiest have been
hardly bestead. Oliver Goldsmith had such a
big patch on the coat over 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 sal
ary Of S64 year. Painters are not the only
ones who have endured the lack Of apprecia-
tion. 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 of nerv-
Gus organization which almost always char
acterizes genius these artists suffer
more than any one but God can re-
alize. There needs to be n concerted
effort for the suffering artists of America,
not sentimental discourse about what we owe
to artists, but contracts that will give them
u livelihood; for am in full sympathy with
the Christian farmer who was very busy
gathering his fall apples, and some one asked
him to pray for a poor family, the father of
which had broken his leg; and the busy
farmer said: - cannot stop now TO pray,
but you can 60 down into the cellar and get
potatoes; that is all l can do nown Artists
may wish for our prayers, but they also
want practical help from men who can give
them work. You have heard scores Of SER
mons for all other kinds of suffering men
and women, but I think this is tho
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 masterpieces
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
OF nothing about our own Copley, and
AllstoD, and Inman, and Greenough and
Kensett. Let the afiiuent 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 othe- American cities,
need great galleries Of art, not only open an
nually for a few days on exhibition, but
which shall stand open all the year round,
and from early morning until 10 O'Clock ut
night, and free TO all who would come and
GO. What a preparation for the wear and
tear of the day fve minutes look in the
morning at some picture that will open
door into some larger realm than that in
which cur population daily drudge! Or
what 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 we'll as body! Who
will do for Brooklyn or the city where you
live what W. w. Corcoran did for Washing
ton, and what l am told John Wanamakcr,
by the donation OF De MuBkacsys great pic
ture "Christ before PLATE" is going to do for
Philadelphia Men Of wealth, if you are
too modest to build and eudow such place
during your lifetime, why not go to your iron
safe and take out your last will ana testa-
ment, and make codicil that shall build for
the city of your residence, throne for
American arti Take some of that money
that would otherwise spoil your children,
and build an art gallery that shall associate
your name forever, not only with the great
masters of painting, who are gone, but with
the great masters who are trying to live; and
also win the admiration and love Of tens Of
thousands Of people, who, unable to have zine
pictures of their own, would be advantagsd
hy your bsnefaction. Build your own monu-
ments, and not leave it to the whim
ct Others. Some or the best peope
sleeping in Greenwood have no monuments. "a,
all, or some crumbling stones that in few
wears will let tlss rain wash out name and
epitaph; while some men, whose death was
the abatement Of a nuisance, have pile OF
polished Aberdeen high enough for king.
and eulogium enough to embarrass seraph.
1 Oh, man Of largo wealth, instead Of leaving
/ to the whim Of others your monumental COM
memoration and epitaphiology to be looked
at when people are going to and fro at the
burial Of others, build right down in the
heart Of our great city, or the city where you
I live, an immense free reading room, or a
1 free musical conservatory, or = free art gal
Iery, the inches for sculpture and the
! walls abloom with the rise and fail
| Of nations, and lessons Of courage for
/ the disheartened, and rest for the weary
and life for the dead; and one hundred
and fifty years from now you will be WELD
ing influences in this world for good among
those whose great-grandfather was your
great-grandchild. How much better than
] white marble. that chills YOU If you put your