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He who would stir us now by fiction must either give us an entirely

new background; or reveal to us the soul of man in its innermost

workings。  The first is for the moment being done for us by Mr。

Rudyard Kipling。  As one turns over the pages of his Plain Tales

from the Hills; one feels as if one were seated under a palm…tree

reading life by superb flashes of vulgarity。  The bright colours of

the bazaars dazzle one's eyes。  The jaded; second…rate Anglo…Indians

are in exquisite incongruity with their surroundings。  The mere lack

of style in the story…teller gives an odd journalistic realism to

what he tells us。  From the point of view of literature Mr。 Kipling

is a genius who drops his aspirates。  From the point of view of

life; he is a reporter who knows vulgarity better than any one has

ever known it。  Dickens knew its clothes and its comedy。  Mr。

Kipling knows its essence and its seriousness。  He is our first

authority on the second…rate; and has seen marvellous things through

keyholes; and his backgrounds are real works of art。  As for the

second condition; we have had Browning; and Meredith is with us。

But there is still much to be done in the sphere of introspection。

People sometimes say that fiction is getting too morbid。  As far as

psychology is concerned; it has never been morbid enough。  We have

merely touched the surface of the soul; that is all。  In one single

ivory cell of the brain there are stored away things more marvellous

and more terrible than even they have dreamed of; who; like the

author of Le Rouge et le Noir; have sought to track the soul into

its most secret places; and to make life confess its dearest sins。

Still; there is a limit even to the number of untried backgrounds;

and it is possible that a further development of the habit of

introspection may prove fatal to that creative faculty to which it

seeks to supply fresh material。  I myself am inclined to think that

creation is doomed。  It springs from too primitive; too natural an

impulse。  However this may be; it is certain that the subject…matter

at the disposal of creation is always diminishing; while the

subject…matter of criticism increases daily。  There are always new

attitudes for the mind; and new points of view。  The duty of

imposing form upon chaos does not grow less as the world advances。

There was never a time when Criticism was more needed than it is

now。  It is only by its means that Humanity can become conscious of

the point at which it has arrived。The Critic as Artist







WITHOUT FRONTIERS







Goetheyou will not misunderstand what I saywas a German of the

Germans。  He loved his countryno man more so。  Its people were

dear to him; and he led them。  Yet; when the iron hoof of Napoleon

trampled upon vineyard and cornfield; his lips were silent。  'How

can one write songs of hatred without hating?' he said to Eckermann;

'and how could I; to whom culture and barbarism are alone of

importance; hate a nation which is among the most cultivated of the

earth and to which I owe so great a part of my own cultivation?'

This note; sounded in the modern world by Goethe first; will become;

I think; the starting point for the cosmopolitanism of the future。

Criticism will annihilate race…prejudices; by insisting upon the

unity of the human mind in the variety of its forms。  If we are

tempted to make war upon another nation; we shall remember that we

are seeking to destroy an element of our own culture; and possibly

its most important element。  As long as war is regarded as wicked;

it will always have its fascination。  When it is looked upon as

vulgar; it will cease to be popular。  The change will of course be

slow; and people will not be conscious of it。  They will not say 'We

will not war against France because her prose is perfect;' but

because the prose of France is perfect; they will not hate the land。

Intellectual criticism will bind Europe together in bonds far closer

than those that can be forged by shopman or sentimentalist。  It will

give us the peace that springs from understanding。The Critic as

Artist







THE POETRY OF ARCHAEOLOGY







Infessura tells us that in 1485 some workmen digging on the Appian

Way came across an old Roman sarcophagus inscribed with the name

'Julia; daughter of Claudius。'  On opening the coffer they found

within its marble womb the body of a beautiful girl of about fifteen

years of age; preserved by the embalmer's skill from corruption and

the decay of time。  Her eyes were half open; her hair rippled round

her in crisp curling gold; and from her lips and cheek the bloom of

maidenhood had not yet departed。  Borne back to the Capitol; she

became at once the centre of a new cult; and from all parts of the

city crowded pilgrims to worship at the wonderful shrine; till the

Pope; fearing lest those who had found the secret of beauty in a

Pagan tomb might forget what secrets Judaea's rough and rock…hewn

sepulchre contained; had the body conveyed away by night; and in

secret buried。  Legend though it may be; yet the story is none the

less valuable as showing us the attitude of the Renaissance towards

the antique world。  Archaeology to them was not a mere science for

the antiquarian; it was a means by which they could touch the dry

dust of antiquity into the very breath and beauty of life; and fill

with the new wine of romanticism forms that else had been old and

outworn。  From the pulpit of Niccola Pisano down to Mantegna's

'Triumph of Caesar;' and the service Cellini designed for King

Francis; the influence of this spirit can be traced; nor was it

confined merely to the immobile artsthe arts of arrested movement…

…but its influence was to be seen also in the great Graeco…Roman

masques which were the constant amusement of the gay courts of the

time; and in the public pomps and processions with which the

citizens of big commercial towns were wont to greet the princes that

chanced to visit them; pageants; by the way; which were considered

so important that large prints were made of them and publisheda

fact which is a proof of the general interest at the time in matters

of such kind。The Truth of Masks







THE ART OF ARCHAEOLOGY







Indeed archaeology is only really delightful when transfused into

some form of art。  I have no desire to underrate the services of

laborious scholars; but I feel that the use Keats made of

Lempriere's Dictionary is of far more value to us than Professor Max

Muller's treatment of the same mythology as a disease of language。

Better Endymion than any theory; however sound; or; as in the

present instance; unsound; of an epidemic among adjectives!  And who

does not feel that the chief glory of Piranesi's book on Vases is

that it gave Keats the suggestion for his 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'?

Art; and art only; can make archaeology beautiful; and the theatric

art can use it most directly and most vividly; for it can combine in

one exquisite presentation the illusion of actual life with the

wonder of the unreal world。  But the sixteenth century was not

merely the age of Vitruvius; it was the age of Vecellio also。  Every

nation seems suddenly to have become interested in the dress of its

neighbours。  Europe began to investigate its own clothes; and the

amount of books published on national costumes is quite

extraordinary。  At the beginning of the century the Nuremberg

Chronicle; with its two thousand illustrations; reached its fifth

edition; and before the century was over seventeen editions were

published of Munster's Cosmography。  Besides these two books there

were also the works of Michael Colyns; of Hans Weigel; of Amman; and

of Vecellio himself; all of them well illustrated; some of the

drawings in Vecellio being probably from the hand of Titian。



Nor was it merely from books and treatises that they acquired their

knowledge。  The development of the habit of foreign travel; the

increased commercial intercourse between countries; and the

frequency of diplomatic missions; gave every nation many

opportunities of studying the various forms of contemporary dress。

After the departure from England; for instance; of the ambassadors

from the Czar; the Sultan and the Prince of Morocco; Henry the

Eighth and his friends gave several masques in the strange attire of

their visitors。  Later on London saw; perhaps too often; the sombre

splendour of the Spanish Court; and to Elizabeth came envoys from

all lands; whose dress; Shakespeare tells us; had an important

influence on English costume。The Truth of Masks







HEROD SUPPLIANT







Non; non; vous ne voulez pas cela。  Vous me dites cela seulement

pour me faire de la peine; parce que je vous ai regardee pendant

toute la soiree。  Eh! bien; oui。  Je vous ai regardee pendant toute

la soiree。  Votre beaute m'a trouble。  Votre beaute m'a terriblement

trouble; et je vous ai trop regardee。  Mais je ne le ferai plus。  Il

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