The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-07

ries Is accessible to him. as we'll az the feelin Ga
experienced by mon thousands Of years ago.
and he has also the possibility Of transmitting
his own feelings to others.
II people lacked the capacity 10 receive the
thoughts conceived by the men who preceded
them and to pass on to otk0rs their own
thoughts. men would DO like Wild beasts. or
like KaspRr Hauser. II. on the other hand.
men lacked this other capacity OF being In
fected BY art with one another's feelings,
people might be almost moro savage still.
moro separated from one another. and moro
hostile to each other. It follows that the
activity OF art 10 q most important one. no less
important than the activity Of speech itself.
and as generally diTused. We are accustomed.
It is true. 10 understand by art only what we
hear and see in theatres. concerts. and exhlbi-
lions, together with buildings, statues. coinR,
and novels. But. as Tolsto1 points out. all this
Is but the smallest part Of the art by which We
communicate with each other In life. Allhuman
life Is filed with works OF art Of every kind.
from crRdls-song. Jest, mimtcry. the Ornamental
ton of houses. dress. and utensils. up to church
services. edihceS. monuments. and triumphA1
professions. It is all artistic activity. It fol-
lows that By art In the narrow, limited sense Of
the word. Tolsto1 does not mean all human ao-
tivity transmitting feelings. but only that part
which we for some reason. do or should select
from it. and to which we attach special i'm
portance. Here we are reminded that this
special importance has always been attributed
by all men to that part of this activity which
transmits feelings flowing from their religious
perception. This small part OF the function OF
artistic activity they have. at various times.
specifically called art, attaching to 1t the full
meaning Of the word. That was how men
Of old. Socrates. Plato. and Aristotle. looked
on art. Thus did the Hebrew prophets
and the ancient Christians REGARD art;
thus It was and still 10 understood by
the Mohammedans. and thus is It still
understood by religious folk among the Rus
sian peasantry. Some teachers OF mankind. as
Plato. for instance. in his Republic" and some
peoples. such as the primitive Christians. the
strict Mohammedans and the Buddhists. have
gone 30 far as to repudiate all art. People TINS
viewing art. In contradiction to the prevalent
view OF to-day which regards any art as good
II only It affords pleasure. considered, and
still consider that art, as contrasted with
speech which need not be listened to. Is 30
highly dangerous In the power to infect people
against their wills. that mankind would lose far
less by banishing all art than by toleratinG each
and every art. TolstoI has no doubt that such
bN'b-O "OASV ASA IA Ill 0lJs lOA
they rejected that which cannot DO rejected.
one Of the indispensable means Of COM
munication without which mankind could not
exist. Not less wrong. In his judgment. are the
people OF civilized European society Of our class
and day. in favoring any art II IL but serve
beauty. that Is. gives people pleasure. Formerly
certain people feared lest among tho works Of
art there might chance to be some causing cor
ruption. and they prohibited art altogether.
Now we only fear lest we should be deprived
OF any enjoyment art can afford. and 90 patro-
nize any art. TolstoI thinks the last error IL
much grosser than the FIRST and that its conBO-
quences are far moro harmful.
How could It happen that the very kind Of art
which. in ancient times. was merely tolerated,
II tolerated at all. should have come in our
times to have been invariably considered q
good thing, II only 1t affords pleasure7 40
cording to Tolsto1 this has resulted from the
following causes: The estimation OF the value
Of art. that is. OF the feelings 1t transmits, do
ponds on mons perception OF the meaning of
life; depends on what they consider to bo the
good and the evil OF life. What is good and
what 10 evil 10 defined by what 10 termed relig-
ion. Religions are the opponents of the high
est comprehension Of life acceptable to the best
and foremost men at q given time In a given
society; q comprehension toward which. In
evitably and irreslstibly. all the rest Of
that society must advance. 1t 10, therefore.
only religions that have always served,
and still serve. as bases for the valu-
alton OF human sentiments. II feelings
bring men nearer the ideal their religion indi-
Gates. II they arc In harmony with it and do not
contradict II. they are good; II they eStrange
men from it and oppose 1t. they are bad. Now,
In every age and in every human society there
exists a religious sense common to that whole
society OF what is good and what lie bad. and ID
is this religious conception that decides the
value OF the feelings transmitted by art. Con-
1eQuently. among all nations. art which trans
mitted feelings considered to he good by this
general religious sense was recognized as be-
ing good and was encouraged; but art which
transmitted feelings considered to be bad by
this general religious conception was stigma
t!sSd AZ bad and was rejected. All the rest Of
the immense field OF art by means of which
people communicate one with another was
not subjected to any exact valuation. and was
only noticed when 1t ran counter to the
religious conception OF its age and then mere
~ to be repudiAted. Thus was It among all
nations, Greeks. Jews. Hindus. Egyptians, and
Chinese. and 30 1t was when Christianity ap-
pesred.
The Christians OF the first century rocoR-
nized as productions Of good art only leg
snds. lives OF saints. sermons prayers. and
hymn singings. evoking love Of Christ, sympa-
thy with His life. desire to follow His example,
pronunciation OF q worldly existence. humility
and tho love OF others: all productions trans
hitting feelings OF personal enjoyment they
considered to be bad. and. therefore, rejected;
for instance. while tolerating plastic represen-
tation6 when they were symbolical. they dis
carded all the pagan sculptures. Such was the