322 IDENTIFICATION OF THE AETISAN AND ARTIST. 



Potter. Ho is quite correct in liis estimate of the somewhat exaggerated 

 ideas ^Yhich may exist of the power of art in couuection with that which 

 is not durable, aud which, iu reality, has its value, necessarily, for only 

 a brief period. 1 agree, therefore, with him on that subject ; but at the 

 same time I accept as very important his concession that, even with 

 regard to that degree of art which is compatible with the nature of the 

 substance on which it is to be displayed, we do not do what we ought to 

 do, and that we fall short of our neighbors, the French ; or at least, that, 

 while iu that which is of secondary character we have put forth such 

 perseverauce aud study as to have attained an equality with them, 

 there is a point in that which is more delicate and perfect which we have 

 not reached. This is an important concession. It appears there is some 

 reason why, in France, they can produce, even in i)riuted fabrics, a 

 superior and more delicate artistic effect than can as yet be given here ; 

 and I shall have to speak of the reason of this, which accords completely 

 with what I have said, because in these works, which are not made ab- 

 solutely by handicraft, but with the assistance of mechanical skill, there 

 must be a distinction between the designer and the mere workman — a 

 man who keeps the luachine iu motiou, aud puts the work through it; 

 although, no doubt, it is necessary for the designer also to have a con- 

 siderable acquaintance with the process by which his design is to be 

 brought out in actual manufacture. I only wish to observe how the 

 principle comes down here. You know the cartoons at Hampton Court, 

 the most perfect and finished work of art of Eaffaelle. You would sup- 

 pose these would be a labor of years, for they are all by his own hand, 

 perhaps hardly aided by a disciple ; and nothing can be more perfect 

 than the outline and artistic distribution of the parts of the painting. 

 What were these cartoons 1 Simply drawings for the loom. Raffaelle 

 did not thinlc it below him to draw patterns which were to he sent to Holland 

 or Belgium, and there to he executed in the loom hy weavers of a carpet. 

 This shows how the very highest ideal art may bend without degradation 

 to assist practical art with all its powers and resources ; and where the 

 union of the two in the same person cannot be got, then we have to think 

 of the means by which the harmonious combination of both may be 

 brought to produce one effect. While upon this subject, I am tempted 

 to quote some beautiful lines upon the subject from one of our oldest 

 but wisest poets; one who calls himself, upon his tomb, "the servant 

 of Queen Elizabeth, the councilor of King James, and the friend of Sir 

 Philip Sidney," Lord Brooke. Speaking as if it was considered in those 

 days that the impulses of industry must be entirely regulated by the 

 ruling power, he prescribes the duty of that iu regard to the productiou 

 of manufactures : 



"To which eud, ijower must uurseries erect, 



And those trades cherish which use many hands; 



Yet such as more by pains than skill ctFect, 



And so by spirits more than vigor stand ; 



Whereby each creature may itself sustain, 



And who excel, add honor to their gain." 



