Dr Wheweirs Inaugural Lecture, 11 



place, that man is, by nature and universally, an artificer, 

 an artisan, an artist. We call the nations, from which such 

 specimens came as those which I first mentioned, rude and 

 savage, and yet how much is there of ingenuity, of invention, 

 of practical knowledge of the properties of branch and leaf, 

 of vegetable texture and fibre, in the works of the rudest 

 tribes I How much, again, of manual dexterity, acquired by 

 long and persevering practice, and even so, not easy ! And 

 then, again, not only how well adapted are these works of 

 art to the mere needs of life, but how much of neatness, of 

 prettiness, even of beauty, do they often possess, even when 

 the work of savage hands ! So that man is naturally, as I 

 have said, not only an artificer, but an artist. Even we, while 

 we look down from our lofty summit of civilized and me- 

 chanically-aided skill upon the infancy of art, may often learn 

 from them lessons of taste. So wonderfully and effectually 

 has Providence planted in man the impulse which urges him 

 on to his destination, — his destination, which is, to mould the 

 bounty of nature into such forms as utility demands, and to 

 shew at every step that with mere utility he cannot be con- 

 tent. And when we come to the higher stages of cultured 

 art — ^to the works of nations long civilized, though inferior 

 to ourselves, it may be, in progressive civilization and me- 

 chanical power, how much do we find in their works which 

 we must admire, which we might envy, which, indeed, might 

 drive us to despair ! Even still, the tissues and ornamental 

 works of Persia and of India have beauties which we, with 

 all our appliances and means, cannot surpass. The gorgeous 

 East showers its barbaric pearl and gold into its magnificent 

 textures. But is there really anything barbaric in the skill 

 and taste which they display \ Does the Oriental prince or 

 monarch, even if he confine his magnificence to native manu- 

 factures, present himself to the eyes of his slaves in a less 

 splendid or less elegant attire than the nobles and the sove- 

 reigns of this our Western world, more highly civilized as 

 we nevertheless deem it % Few persons I think would answer 

 in the affirmative. The silks and shawls, the embroidery and 

 jewellery, the moulding and carving, which those countries 

 can produce, and which decorate their palaces and their 



