RISE AND PROGRESS 



now, lay then in darkness : the blue-eyed savages 

 miany, and the painted barbarian- of 

 Britain, knew neither the language nor tlie arts 

 of civilised liiV. To them the words of the new 

 religion were an unknown tongue ; and the fine 

 art*, which had seasonably helped the heathen, 

 did the same good office for Christian preachers, 

 and interpreted an intellectual and spiritual 

 doctrine to the comprehension of our barbarous 

 ancestors. Those hordes knew neither Latin 

 nor Greek, but the fine arts speak all languages ; 

 and a sculptured cross, the virgin and child, the 

 annunciation, the raising of the dead, the ascen- 

 sion, and other sculptures and pictures, made 

 out the meaning till a knowledge of the language 

 enabled the preachers to add eloquence to art. 

 Nor was this laid aside when man became 

 civilized, and knowledge was widely diffused. 

 Christian divines had still to combat with hea- 

 then hankerings : the nations of the earth clung 

 obstinately to their false gods : they thought of 

 the pleasures of a sensual religion ; of the mid- 

 night processions and moonlight mysteries ; of 

 their numberless deities : nor can it be said truly 

 that ancient superstition was subdued till the 

 prudent church of Rome placed saints, male and 

 female, in the niches of the heathen Apollos and 

 Dianas, and compensated for the mystical car- 

 ousals by thanksgivings and carnivals. 



The fine arts in the service of the church of 

 Rome resumed much of their original glory. 

 Sculptors and painters, animated by a religion 

 which bestowed honours on earth and opened 

 the doors of heaven, wrought in the spirit of a 

 new inspiration, and their works are still con- 

 sidered little less than miracles. They blushed 

 at the nude simplicity of the heathen times, and 

 desiring to work in the spirit of religion, infused 

 more holiness into their compositions ; while, in 

 compliance with the decent necessities of a cold 

 climate, they were profuse in robes and draperies. 

 At this period, learning was confined to few ; a 

 knowledge of the Scripture was chiefly limited to 

 the priesthood : and the rest of mankind were in 

 almost total darkness. By the husbandman, the 

 mechanic, and the shepherd, the labours of the 

 sculptor and painter were received with grati- 

 tude, and regarded with awe and wonder. Of 

 religion they knew no more than the priest 

 taught and the artist darkly intimated; and it 

 k recorded of them that they all but regarded 

 the splendid creations of art with a reverence 

 allied to superstition. They were not to remain 

 in darkness long. Printing came like a sun- 

 burst, with knowledge in her train, opening the 

 Scriptures to all nations. Men read and inter- 

 preted for themselves : and considering art as a 



thing lovely in itself, but rejecting it as an untrue 

 or ambiguous interpreter of God's word, they 

 cast it like a demon out of religion, commanding 

 it henceforth to meddle only with material things. 



In these introductory remarks, two leading 

 epochs of the fine arts are indicated, viz. 1. 

 Their condition among savage or imperfectly 

 civilized nations, when they represented the gods 

 whom men worshipped, or the heroes whom they 

 produced ; and their character among the polite 

 and polished Heathen, when science and poetry 

 elevated them into the regions of beauty and 

 sublimity. 2. The appearance of the fine arts 

 in Christian Europe, when a new religion im- 

 pressing them with a new spirit, employed them 

 in the interpretation of the word of God : with 

 their character, since knowledge, dismissing 

 them from religion, confined them, especially 

 in Britain, to matters historical, poetical, and 

 domestic. 



The fine arts have never in any new discovered 

 country been found in a high state of cultivation : 

 indeed, with no nation have they ever risen into 

 beauty or majesty till science came to the aid of 

 invention and skill of hand. Yet in each country, 

 whether barbarous or semi-barbarous, the rudi- 

 ments of future excellence have been discovered. 

 Egypt had its dawn in art, as well as England : 

 before the temples of Carnac or the cathedral of 

 Canterbury arose, there were ruder structures, 

 which formed the germs of those, as seed does of 

 the future oak; and we have evidence that in 

 both lands a coarse sort of sculpture prevailed, 

 commemorative of the deeds of warriors, or the 

 appearances of the gods. The rocks of Britain, 

 of India, and of Egypt, still bear the rough im- 

 pressions which unenlightened chisels traced in 

 attempting to delineate the human form, while 

 the temples of the three lands contain many 

 elaborate works to which science has contributed 

 proportion, and talent beauty. In all those 

 early efforts we have energy of muscle, but no 

 dignity of character ; strong action, but no pro- 

 prietyand they resemble each other in a matter 

 equally important to our inquiry : colour was 

 brought to help out the imperfect labours of the 

 chisel, and to communicate to low relief some- 

 thing of the look of painting. 



In writing the history of art for those remote 

 days we are telling its story in more modern 

 times. When the new world was discovered, 

 temples, and statues, and paintings, and other 

 indications of civilization were found. Spanish 

 writers claim for those works merit of a high 

 order : but the adventurers who overran Mexico 

 and Peru seemed willing to look on all things 

 with wonder, and it was alike their object to 



