﻿264 
  THE 
  FACT 
  OF 
  BEAUTY 
  

  

  domesticated 
  and 
  the 
  cultivated, 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  which 
  man 
  

   should 
  be 
  prejudiced, 
  that 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  best 
  examples 
  of 
  the 
  

   ugly; 
  and 
  (3) 
  that 
  for 
  many 
  people 
  the 
  most 
  beautiful 
  

   things 
  that 
  is 
  to 
  say, 
  the 
  things 
  which 
  evoke 
  the 
  keenest 
  

   aesthetic 
  delight 
  are 
  not 
  natural 
  objects, 
  but 
  queer 
  creations 
  

   which 
  bear 
  no 
  resemblance 
  to 
  anything 
  in 
  the 
  heavens 
  above, 
  

   or 
  in 
  the 
  earth 
  beneath, 
  or 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  waters 
  under 
  the 
  

   earth 
  where 
  strange 
  beings 
  abound. 
  Yet 
  the 
  beautiful 
  thing 
  

   a 
  decoration, 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  pottery, 
  a 
  tile 
  thrills 
  us 
  through 
  

   and 
  through, 
  and 
  we 
  never 
  tire 
  of 
  it. 
  

  

  Another 
  objection 
  is 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  capriciousness 
  of 
  taste. 
  

   In 
  his 
  well-known 
  Komanes 
  Lecture 
  on 
  " 
  Criticism 
  and 
  

   Beauty 
  ", 
  Mr. 
  Arthur 
  J. 
  Balfour 
  laid 
  emphasis 
  on 
  the 
  con- 
  

   spicuous 
  absence 
  of 
  common 
  agreement 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  is 
  beauti- 
  

   ful. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  accepted 
  body 
  of 
  aesthetic 
  doctrine. 
  Taste 
  

   differs 
  with 
  race, 
  age, 
  and 
  degree 
  of 
  culture. 
  Greece 
  had 
  

   apparently 
  in 
  ancient 
  days 
  values 
  very 
  different 
  from 
  ours 
  

   as 
  to 
  music, 
  and 
  in 
  pictorial 
  art 
  what 
  is 
  one 
  man's 
  food 
  is 
  

   another 
  man's 
  poison. 
  Even 
  among 
  the 
  aristocracy 
  of 
  taste, 
  

   what 
  agreement 
  is 
  there 
  among 
  the 
  various 
  schools 
  and 
  

   critics 
  ? 
  Mr. 
  Balfour 
  maintains 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  standard 
  

   of 
  the 
  beautiful 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  (a) 
  by 
  critical 
  analysis, 
  or 
  

   (&) 
  in 
  the 
  consensus 
  of 
  experts, 
  or 
  (c) 
  in 
  the 
  general 
  suffrage 
  

   of 
  pleased 
  mankind. 
  So 
  he 
  concludes 
  that 
  just 
  as 
  that 
  is 
  

   for 
  every 
  man 
  most 
  lovable 
  which 
  he 
  most 
  dearly 
  loves, 
  so 
  

   that 
  is 
  for 
  every 
  man 
  most 
  beautiful 
  which 
  he 
  most 
  deeply 
  

   admires. 
  

  

  Perhaps 
  we 
  may 
  evade 
  the 
  force 
  of 
  this 
  argument 
  by 
  

   remembering 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Balfour 
  was 
  discussing 
  art, 
  while 
  

   our 
  theme 
  is 
  Nature, 
  which 
  makes 
  a 
  great 
  difference. 
  More- 
  

   over, 
  while 
  there 
  is 
  discrepancy 
  of 
  view 
  among 
  experts 
  as 
  

   regards 
  the 
  merits 
  of 
  subtle 
  expressions 
  of 
  art, 
  there 
  is 
  usu- 
  

  

  