THE BEAUTIFUL IN ART. 



above the water's surface, quilled together into ridge and furrow of transparent golden 

 hues, with its dark crimson veins flowing through its much admired tissue, its superb sal- 

 ver edge, and its huge rope-like stems, covered with elastic spines of surprising strength, 

 as though destined to protect its noble structure from all invasion. AVhen we look at the 

 short period it has taken to germinate a seed no larger than a pea, and to bring to maturi- 

 ty a plant that lills a tank twenty-four feet in diameter, in the short space of something 

 like four months, well may we affirm that it deserves the attention and culture of every 

 true lover of nature who can afford the expense. Such amateurs will surely be amply re- 

 munerated by the constant unfolding of beauties not to be equaled in any other plant 

 known to the civilised world. 



It would be doing injustice to Mr. Downing, did I fail to mention that the first living 

 plants of the Victoria which have grown in this country, were produced from seed fur- 

 nished by him to the proprietor of these gardens, out of a supply presented to him last 

 autumn, at Chatsworth. These were lost by the gardener then in charge of the place, as 

 I understand, by an accidental over-heating of the tank, consequent upon a sudden change 

 of the weather during the night. I am, respectfully, John Ellis, 



Gardener to Caleb Cope, Esq. 



Springbrook, Sept. 8, 1851. 



THE BEAUTIFUL IN ART. 



BY S. H.— FROM THE LONDON BUILDER. 



This brings me to the third branch of my study, viz., the beautiful in art itself. Nature 

 drunk in by the mind, as shown under the former head, is the seed for the production of 

 a new world, — the world of art, which exists for the same purpose as its prototype, to sa- 

 tisfy the sense of beauty in the human breast. From a chaos of sensations previously 

 awakened by the aspect of external nature in the mind of man, this new and fairer crea- 

 tion rises. A more perfect system, freed from the blemishes and faults of the first, is thus 

 established in the sphere of art: the materials and principles, luxuriance and comprehen- 

 siveness, are derived from nature; while the fostering love of the beautiful, as the inspira- 

 tion in the soul, gives it harmonious unity and depth. 



Art is therefore something more than a transcript of nature even in her highest charms : 

 it is essentially spiritual. It does not come from nature direct, but is refined and exalted 

 in the mind. If art were no more than a reproduction of nature, it would be the inferior, 

 as the imitator must ever be behind the original. But art takes higher ground ; she has 

 a dignity peculiar to herself, an essence of her own, which wins her the advantage. Art 

 appropriates the principles and elements of nature, but in their passage through the mind, 

 a fresh image is stamped upon her types. They receive a new lustre from the soul, a ray 

 of the beautiful from within. The artist may exercise his genius upon a perishable mate- 

 rial, but something from the immortal part of himself has mingled in his conceptions, and 

 this gives to works of art infinitely greater interest than their originals could have. The 

 main difference between architecture and the other arts of design, is this — architecture 

 springs out of physical necessity, while the other fine arts have beauty for their sole ob- 

 ject. Architecture is the application of abstract beauty, as much of it as can be applied, 

 embellishment of the useful, that is to say, to the forms and elements of necess 

 forms of necessity; but some of the general forms of architecture are struck 



