THE PRINCIPLES OF DECORATION. 397 



tint and tone of delicacy and subtleness, and enlivened, too, by 

 the wildest caprices of beauty. 



The bar to its use in England is the damp, for when the air 

 is full of vapor the marble condenses the moisture, which stands 

 on it in drops or trickles down it. But as most houses and build- 

 ings are now warmed, this need not stand for much, and if we 

 panel our rooms below with wood, there is no reason why the 

 upper part should not be of marble. Marbles are of every hue 

 except blue, for blue Beige is black and white, and blue Napoleon, 

 or imperial, is but bluish gray ; and brown is scarce, though we 

 have rosewood marble and Californian spar. Marbles are found 

 in most countries of the world, and there are such vast varieties 

 in Europe that they can hardly be catalogued. 



Great taste in color is requisite for the proper arrangement 

 of colored marbles ; at present no one cares to exercise this taste 

 as a profession, as there is so little effective demand, and, in spite 

 of the low tone of marble generally, it is much easier to make a 

 vulgar or discordant arrangement than a strikingly good or har- 

 monious one. The fashion of using white marble chimney-pieces, 

 white marble bas-reliefs, white marble statues and busts in deco- 

 rated apartments, is absolutely fatal to low-toned schemes of color 

 decoration, and, as a rule, all gorgeous schemes of color are low- 

 toned, and white must then be used most sparingly as a jewel. 

 White can only be sparingly ornamented with morsels of full 

 color, or very high-toned decoration must be used in conjunction 

 with it, as this alone can sustain masses of white. 



Considering the wealth of this country, which mainly goes in 

 useless feasting, useless men and maid servants, useless carriages 

 and horses, and hideous as well as useless clothes, I do not think 

 those who will not use marble from poorness of spirit are in- 

 cluded in the beatitudes. 



As I am now on marbles, I may as well include mosaic pave- 

 ments. These must be greatly restricted in so cold and damp a 

 place as England. Few of us love to walk on a marble floor with- 

 out shoes or stockings, as all would do in a warm or hot climate, 

 but it can be used for the pavement of Protestant cathedrals, for 

 hall floors, for the center aisles of churches, for conservatories, 

 porches, terraces, and the like ; and when we can afford it, por- 

 phyry is by far the best material for the patterns, as it only pol- 

 ishes by the friction of dusty boots, unlike marble, which rough- 

 ens, and unpolished marble is not more attractive than stone. 

 Plain geometrical and flat floral patterns are the best, in marble 

 or pottery floor mosaic, for the smallness of the pieces rather 

 helps the scale of the room or building, and does not ruin it like 

 marble squares. 



The objection to pottery as mosaic in floors is its softness, so 



