136 THE WEDGWOODS. 



expected to move with the grace of a fairy ; nor can his cart 

 be constructed on the flowing lines of a Greek chariot of 

 war. Not but that, even in this unpromising domain, 

 beauty also has her place. But it is limited, and may for 

 the present purpose be left out of view. Then there is, 

 secondly, the lofty sphere of pure thought and its ministering 

 organs, the sphere of poetry and the highest arts. Here, 

 again, the place of what we term utility is narrow, and the 

 production of the beautiful, in one or other of its innu- 

 merable forms, is the supreme, if not the only object. 



" Now, I believe it to be undeniable, that in both of these 

 spheres, widely separated as they are, the faculties of 

 Englishmen, and the distinctions of England, have been of 

 the very first order. In the power of economical production, 

 she is at the head of all the nations of the earth. If in the 

 fine arts, in painting for example, she must be content with 

 a second place, yet in poetry, which ranks ever higher than 

 painting (I hope I am not misled by national feeling when I 

 say it), she may fairly challenge all the countries of Christen- 

 dom, and no one of them, but Italy, can as yet enter into 

 serious competition with the land of Shakspeare. But, for 

 one, I should admit that while thus pre-eminent in the 

 pursuit of pure beauty on the one side, and of unmixed 

 utility on the other, she has been far less fortunate, indeed 

 for the most part she has been decidedly behindhand in 

 that intermediate region where art is brought into contact 

 with industry, and where the pair may wed together. This 

 is a region alike vast and diversified. Upwards, it embraces 

 architecture, an art which, while it affords the noblest scope 

 for grace and grandeur, is also, or rather ought to be, 

 strictly tied down to the [purposes of convenience, and has 

 for its chief end to satisfy one of the most imperative 

 and elementary wants of man. Downwards, it extends to a 

 very large proportion of the products of human industry. 

 Some things, indeed, such as scientific instruments for 

 example, are so determined by their purposes to some par- 

 ticular shape, surface, and materials, that even a Wedgwood 



