The record-union., 1898-09-04

Two supreme spiritual convictions
seem to me to stand out as the very
sum and substance of Browning's re-
hglon. The one is the absolute union
OF power and love in God; the other is
the strenuous joy of the life that is to
be.
Ihe absolute union of power and love
In God. If a man hold that, then the
light of it floods all his days, and no
care can ever long depress, nor any
Sorrow slay.
we have in Browning's christmas
Eve" the hint of how came to him the
faith that the Supreme in power is no
less the supreme in love. He Is out
under the driving breath of those Chris
tlan skies, and he tells how
In youth looked to those very skies,
And, probing their immenSitieS,
found God there, His visible power;
Yet felt in my heart, amid all its sense
OF the power, an equal evidence
That His love, there too, was the nobler
dover.
For the living worm within its clod
Were diviner than a loveless God
Amid his worlds, l will dare to say. = = .
Again, in his early poem, "Paracel-
sus," he utters in words, which General
Gordon declared had more often in
spired him to conquer gloom than any
others outside the Bible, this same great
faith in the high life that is to be:
1 shall arrive! What time, what circuit
first
ask not; but unless God sends His hail
Or binding fireballs, sleet or sitting
snow,
In some time, His good time, I shall ar
rive:
He guides me and the bird. In His good
time.
Rev. R. A. Armstrong.
The famous painting LIE Bol Vert"
by the American artist, John w. Alex
ander, has been purchased by the
French Government. AT the present
moment, when Franco-American rela-
tions are somewhat strained because
of our war with Spain, this purchase is
regarded in art circles as a unique ar
tistic triumph. Mr.. Alexander is best
known to the American public through
his series of lunettes in the Congress
sional Library at Washington entitled
''The Evolution of the Book"
The Literary Digest" of recent date
gives very interesting resume of Ho-
mer B. HuIbert's article on Korean and
Asiatic art, published not long since in
the Korean Repository Of Seoul. This
article is attracting considerable atten-
tion in art and musical circles, and for
that reason the 'Digest's" excerpts from
it are worthy of consideration. After
a brief reference to the fact that the
Asiatic has given the world its most
beautiful vase and tthe most artistic
ally embroidered screen" - notwith-
CT "A al s,7o h. ron 4Lo% h 60
and broader particulars-the article
quotes directly from Mr.. Hubert when
he speaks Of the inability Of the Kore-
ans to understand imported art He
says:
L have yet to meet the Korean who
enjoys performance upon the piano or
organ. They express surprise and are
curious to find out how the noise is
made, but yoa will not elicit a smile
until you play 'ararung tararung.' or
some Korean air with one finger. That
pleases them immensely. Here. again
combination in the form of harmony
Is quite unknown to them. They want
one thing at time, and melody
pleases them more than the sweetest
harmony. But how about those sweet
sounds that emanate from the ante
room during the progress Of official
dinners and the like? There may be
simultaneity IN the sounds, but not
combination.
And yet, in spite of the lack of re-
fnement Of artistic taste, these Asiatics
have wonderfully impressionabIe ma
ture- No one enjoys the spring more
than they; no one can sit on a hillside
and look out upon a scene half yelled
by the dreary autumn haze with more
passionate pleasure than they"
There is something curiously interest
ing in all this. With other people the
love Of nature is simultaneous in it's de-
VeIopment with general taste for all
the arts, songs, form, color everything
thaI Is beautiful or pleasing to the
senses. To understand music il the
most interesting phase of the Korean
popularity. 1t seems possible that a
savage would not appreciate a painting
or that harmony Of arrangement in q
design which is understood to be deco
rative, but the inability to understand
or appreciate true melody of any kind
is characteristic that seems to have
no counterpart among all the other
human races.
Oakland Enquirer: The painter
must not be satisfied to copy and rem
resent what he sees; he must cultivate
the talent Of imitation merely as bet
tering those facilities which are to give
scope to the exertions of his genius. az
the instruments and means only which
he is to employ for communicating his
thoughts, and presenting to others the
creations of his fancy; 1t is by his Gre
ative powers alone that he can become
truly a painter; and for these he is to
trust to original genius, cultivated and
enriched by a constant observation of
nature. Till he has acquired a poets
quickness the appearances of passion
and all the effects produced upon the
body by the operation Of the mind, he
has not raised himself above the me-
chanism of his art, nor does he rank
with the poet or historian.
Many American artists still prefer the
foreign colors. because these are usual
Iy made by hand. Tradition asserts
that this IS the surer way, but 1t is
necessarily slow and expensive. There
IS no reason why machinery VIII not do
the grinding equally we'll, perhaps even
more smoothly than the hand process,
but the point regarding which some
uainters are still anxious is that or
oyerheating. By the action Of the
machines a. certain amount Of heat Is
generated. and If this is not counter
acted before it becomes too great the
pigments and the oil are likely to be
injured by it-an injury which would