98 ON THE RELATION OF ART 



II 



At the end of His seven days' labour of creation, * God 

 saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very 

 good.' It was not good for nothing, nor merely good for some- 

 thing, but good in itself, as corresponding to its destined ends 

 and uses. This goodness of the world included and implied 

 its truth and beauty also. For the infinite mind it was 

 enough to call the world by that noblest name of good. But 

 man's understanding acts like a prism, which breaks white 

 light into its component colours. We are obliged to regard 

 the outer world from theoretically separate points of view. 

 We look at things (1) in themselves, (2) in their aspects and 

 appearances, (3) in their relation to utility and purpose, (4) in 

 their relation to conduct. The attempt to ascertain what they 

 are leads to science. The attempt to seize their aspects and 

 appearances leads to art. When we consider their qualities 

 with reference to use and purpose, this calls into action 

 practical wisdom. Viewed from the point of view of conduct, 

 they suggest morality. A similar process of disintegration, 

 due to man's partial power of mental vision, may be traced 

 in our ways of dealing with the inner world of our own selves. 

 Psychology scrutinises the phenomena of mind without refer- 

 ence to conduct. Morality erects standards of duty and of 

 social utility ; it is not content with facts and phenomena ; 

 it sees them in relation to ulterior ends. Art regards physical 

 form, the aspects of human action, the appearances of passion 

 and emotion ; it does not care for scientific explanations of 

 what and how and why ; it is not primarily concerned with 

 moral quality; it is content with impressions and the pre- 

 sentation of impressions. 



Many things are beautiful in art which morality condemns, 

 which have no practical utility, which science passes over in a 

 sentence of three words. Many things are morally admirable, 

 practically valuable, scientifically of enthralling interest, which 

 leave art cold, indifferent, disdainful. Art is the expression 

 of man's delight in nature and his sympathy with human joys 

 and sufferings. Science is the expression of man's curiosity, 



