Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1911-04-13
..tiaving Eyes, They See Not

"Having Eyes, They See Not"
In spite of the emphasis that up-to-
date pedagogy lays upon the training OF
the powers of observation, it remains
true that the average man is decidedly
binder than the much-maligned bat to
the details of almost every picture in Ma
lures gallery, whether by land, or sea,
or sky.
Suppose new star, as bright as Sirius,
made its appearance in BooteS, or Andro-
media, or Cygnus. Suppose Sirius him.
self vanished from the armament. How
many people would notice the change in
the celestial picture? Suppose. by some
stupendous miracle, all the stars were
shifted about, like the bits OF glass in a
kaleidoscope, and grouped in new con-
stelations. How many men OF the class
that calls itself educated" would, from
personal observation, gather the slightest
inkling of what had taken place
What proportion OF the community,
beyond schoolboy age, can tell the order
of the colors in the rainbow Most OF us
once acquired this bit OF information from
a book, and speedily forgot it; for the in
formation was never verified and fixed IN
our minds by an examination OF the rain
bow itself.
Vicarious observation is an INDECENT
habit common TO all classes. Scientific
men are prone to it. Even painters,
who, so to speak, live by their eyes, are
as Ruskin has vehemently told us, blind
ed by convention to the most obvious
facts of Nature. The lessons OF Ruskin,
and of others who have preached slncer-
ty in art, need to be reiterated to-day.
The crescent moon is still frequently
painted with her horns turned to the
west; Notwithstanding the fact that this
particular piece Of imbecility on the part
of the artists has been denounced again
and again. The midnight sky is Still
shown with its stars scattered about
wherever the caprice OF the artist chooses
TO nut them. To one who knows the
consultations no amount OF beauty in the
ensemble can save the effect OF such
picture from being groteSque. AS well
represent herd of cattle adorned with
wings, or the Madonna with Supertlu-
Gus nose.
Frank conventionalizingis well enough.
No one expects the flowers IN a Wall-pa-
per pattern to have much in common with
those depicted in botanical textbooks.
But art that aspires TO be more than dec
Grafton cannot profitably dispense with
the knowledge derived from accurate OBJ
servation. The distinction lies in the TACT
that the conventional design does not
pretend to portray Nature, while the
painting OF impossible moons and stars
does; and we are repealed by the display
of the artists ignorance, or perhaps by
what we feel to be bis assumption OF our
town.
John Burroughs has pointed out that
American poets are prone to pervert nat
ural history by tranSplanting the fauna
and flora OF Europe across the Atlantic
The skylark, OF heavenly voice, is part
of the poets stock-in-t trade; but in a
poem the locale of which happens to be
Iowa, or Nebraska, or Tennessee, he IS
exactly as much out OF place as the roc or
the dodo. Some OF our poets appear to
think that he is, to all intents and pur-
poses, the same thing as the meadow
lark-they are both 'larkS." This is like
expecting pineapples TO grow on trees.
Nature lies close about us, from infancy
to old age. Books are not wanting to en-
able us to interpret her. Intact, the litera-
ture of Nature is just now enjoying an
unprecedented vogue. The books are
indispensable, even if they serve no other
purpose than to supply us with our vo-
cabulary-to enable us to name what we
see. But LET us not trust to books alone,
or chiefly. Let us use our eyes.
Let us apply the great art Of observation
instead OF merely preaching about it.