42 FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



realized the objects casting the shadows, 

 and as I did so, the shadows themselves lost 

 their prominence and almost passed from 

 notice. And so for a few moments I stood, 

 amusing myself with seeing first shadow, 

 then object, then shadow, as my mind 

 turned from one to the other, and it was 

 only with a certain effort of the will that I 

 could attain what might be called a com 

 prehensive view of the scene, bringing its 

 various elements into due relation. 



In this, it seems to me, there is a not 

 unimportant lesson touching the art of the 

 day. Art in painting is Nature seen through 

 trained human eyes, and interpreted by 

 skilled human hands. The human and in 

 dividual element in it is the essential ele 

 ment, and true art must be as varied as 

 are the individuals through whom it comes 

 to us. Just what I see, my friend does 

 not see ; and just the impression that it 

 produces upon me is not the impression 

 that it produces upon him. But we are the 

 servants or interpreters, and not the mas 

 ters of Nature, and we must try to see 

 truly, in our own way, and not falsely. Is 

 this what all our artists do ? Is it not 

 rather with many of them, that they seek 

 for the bizarre, for a reductiu ad absiir- 



