Art For Art's Sake.

Young men drank the poison of his Don Juan with feverish lips , but , the draught over , the book never was taken up again . He wrote wonderful verses , and some of them , written under certain pure and high inspirations , assert his claim to greatness ; but , as a whole , the works of Byron have gone out , and are hardly read at all in these days .

We will make one remark , ancl onl y one , here . We are not at all sure that the works of Byron are " gone out , " and are " hardl y read at all in these days . " It may be so in America , but we apprehend hardly so in England . Having taken the dark side of the illustration to uphold his views , the writer also endeavours by its " fairer ancl bri g hter representation " to enforce the argument he is so anxious to establish . Here are , therefore , strong words :

Our own Bryant , and Longfellow , and Whittier , and Holmes , and Lowell are all men of character , and the outcome of their art is as hearty and healthy as a mountain wind . Knowing any one of these men is to know that their work is good . There is more of the element of ministry in Longfellow ' s "Psalm of Life" than in all that Byron and Poe ever wrote .

The writer having laid , as he thinks , a good and strong foundation for his animated thesis , now goes on building- up steadily his imposing "fabric . " And we invite attention to his words , which are both pregnant with meaning and are intended to lead to certain clear and calm conclusions . Value in character makes value in verse . Value in character makes value in pictures , in sculptures , in all embodiments of art . It is vain to talk about equalling what we call " The

Old Masters" in art , until we can equal the old masters in character . When we have . a race of artists who are as religious , as self-devoted , as high-minded , and as fully surrendered to the divinest inspirations as the old masters were , we shall have young masters who will be quite their equals . Petty painting is the offspring of petty character . Artists cannot lift their work without first lifting themselves . It is impossible that a thoroughly bad man should be a- good artist of any sort , for let it be remembered , we repeat , that the values of art all rest , and always rest , upon its power of ministry . Art is simply a vehicle for conveying the values of character to the lives of men , and when there are uo values of character there is nothing to be conveyed , no matter how beautiful or noteworthy the vehicle may be .

With the next portion of his argument and assertions , while many disagree , many will be disposed to agree heartil y and fully . Great moral harm is often done by studied and systematic dissociation of an author or an artist with his work . We are told that we have nothing whatever to do with the writer or the painter ; we have only to do with what he produces . This may be true and right to a certain extent , but what if a writer or painter be notoriously immoral and dissolute ? Suppose an actress , with exceptional powers upon the stage , but with a reputation stained

all over with scandal , whose sins against social purity are patent , notorious , undisputedpresents herself for our suffrage and patronage—what shall we do with her ? Shall we send our sons to contemplate her charms , and review Iter base career ? Shall we visit her with our wives and daughters , and honour her with our dollars and our courtesies ? Shall we do what we can to obliterate in her mind , as well as our own , all sense of moral distinctions ? We are told that we have nothing to do with the woman . We have only to do with the actress . So we have nothing to do with a preacher , we suppose , only with the sermon . People generally think they have a great deal to do with the preacher , and that the sermon is of very little consequence when it is not the sincere product of a good character .

And then as if to clinch the subject and drive it home , the writer concludes with another illustration , genial and pleasant as it is , of the whole force of his meaning and the entire aim of his article . Character must stand behind and back up everything—the sermon , the poem , the picture , the play . None of them is worth a straw without it . Thirty years ago Jenny Lind was with usaud with her marvellous gift of song she brought to us an unsullied character . It

, was an honour to touch her hand , and she went about the land as a missionary of womanly purity . All men and all women honoured her with a higher admiration than her marvellous art could inspire . The noble womanhood which stood behind her voice was an uplifting influence , wherever that voice was heard ; and the prostituted womanhood that stands behind other voices that we know , taints every ear that hears , and degrades every heart and life that consents to tolerate it so far as to sit in its presence .