Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-06-30
THE INFLUENCE OF RUSKiN.
Popular Estimate Far Below The True Value
OF What We Owe Him.

The innumerable notices Of Ruskin,
published since his death. though
many are written by loving hands are
strangely silent upon the points for
which we have to thank him most
gratefully. Appropriations of his me- its
as an art critic as 4 writer of elo' .tnt
prose: praise of his sincerity, e r.
osity. and purity of life; acknoN. Ig-
ments of his leadership in the or at
movement he originated towards the
loving study Of external nature as
means of elevatng thought. these
abound. There are also some who
laud him as a pioneer in certain great
art methods, but as yet no even APP
, prOximate estimate of his revealing
power as a humanitarian teacher has
come within the writer's notice. though
an effort has been made TO search for
them.
We, the fathers and mothers Of chill
dren who in this generation are work
ing out uncOnsciOusly the theories of
action and of humanity imbibed from
what Mr.. Ruskin had taught us in our
youth, to our unfeigned and delighted
surprise. know we'll who planted the
seed. We cannot forget those elo-
quent. ringing. persuasive words which
acted on our hearts like some subtle
alchemy and unveiled strange. beauti-
full truths to us, which could never
more be hidden. They compelled us to
act, and rang in our ears until We
obeyed
Today, the great wave Of human
love and brotherhood which finds eX-
preston in myriad forms of tender
beneficence is the vital demonstration
Of the value Of suggestions which Were
as new in our ears. forty years ago. as
the discoveries of what electricity
| could do.
| We found warrant in the Scriptures
and in our own hearts to feed the hun
| CRY, to clothe the naked. and to visit
the sick; but words like these We're
! foreign to our literature and said n
strange thing in our young ears:
Learn thoroughly the economy Of the
kitchen; the good and bad qualities of
every common article of food. and the
| simplest and best modes Of prepara-
! ton when you have time go and help
in the cooking of poorer families. and
show them how to, make as much of
everything as possible, and how to
| make that little nice: coaxing and
! tempting them into tidy and pretty
ways, and pleading for well-folded
| table-cloths, however coarse. and for
| flower or two out of the garden to
! strew on them. If you manage to get
a clean table-cloth, bright plates on it,
and a good dish in the middle. of your
own cooking, you may ask leave to say
a short grace; and let your religious
ministries be confined to that much for
! the present"
! How few Of the dear. bright girls
who are so faithfully and generously
| doing a work Of redemption among
| those whose food has hitherto been the
| mere appeaSing of an animals appe-
| tite. know that the germ thought of
1 their cooking schools" came from the
/ man whom they associate with an
/ idolatrous love of Turner's art and the
chair Of an oxford professor? In that
Well-nigh perfect group of buildings
| which Grace Church has dedicated in
! our own city to the loving service of
the poor may be found in the kitchen
! of the cooking class" a beautiful
! sink. 1t is. | fear. the unique link
I with him in any branch of this great
! beneVolence
: We had our "Dorcas Societies" and
| Ladies Societies for Relief of the
Destitute" in almost every town and