AS BELATED TO TASTE. 59 



votion of a knight in the days of chivalry. By her 

 demands, some arts are made to minister more to 

 her gratification than to bodily wants, and these we 

 raise from the rank of the simply useful to the fine. 

 The intellect simply demands of language that it 

 express the thought with clearness and precision, 

 but at the bidding of Taste, Genius weaves it into the 

 gorgeous web of poetry, gleaming with threads of 

 gold, and covered with the most brilliant hues that 

 fancy can paint the most pleasing forms that 

 imagination can combine. And even the language 

 of common thought it has adorned with gems and 

 flowers. Her mandate has changed music from 

 the harsh and grating sounds of savage instruments 

 to the richness of cathedral organs, and the magic 

 bow of Ole Bull. Painting and Sculpture, for her 

 delight, have enlisted the pencil of Eaphael, and the 

 chisel of Michael Angelo. For her, Architecture 

 raises the fluted column, places the molding, and 

 spans the arch. The landscape, for the thorn brings 

 up the fir-tree, and for the brier the myrtle-tree, 

 and becomes a place of enchanting views under the 

 genius of a Downing. 



