CONTRAST A PRE-KEQUI8ITE TO BEAUTY. 421 



w^ith dull colours, a fretted surface with a plain one. Fortt 

 passages in music must have piano jDassages to relieve 

 them ; concerted pieces need interspersing with solos ; and 

 rich chords must not be continuously repeated. In the 

 drama we demand contrast of characters, of scenes, of sen- 

 timent, of style. In prose composition an eloquent passage 

 should have a comparatively plain setting ; and in poems 

 great effect is obtained by occasional change of versifica- 

 tion. This general principle will, I think, explain the trans- 

 formation of the bygone useful into the present beautiful 

 It is by virtue of their contrast with our present modes of 

 life, that past modes of life look interesting and romantic. 

 Just as a picnic, which is a temporary return to an aborigi- 

 nal condition, derives, from its unfamiliarity, a certain poe- 

 try which it would not have were it habitual ; so, every- 

 thing ancient gains, from its relative novelty to us, an 

 element of interest. Gradually as, by the growth of soci- 

 ety, we leave behind the customs, manners, arrangements, 

 and all the products, material and mental, of a bygone age 

 — gradually as we recede from thcbO so far that there 

 arises a conspicuous difference between them and those we 

 are familiar with ; so gradually do they begin to assume to 

 us a poetical aspect, and become applicable for ornament. 

 And hence it follows that things and events which are close 

 to us, and which are accompanied by associations of ideas 

 not markedly contrasted with our ordinary associations 

 are relatively inappropriate for purposes of art. 



