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we must draw new blood, new energy, new ideas ; 

 she instigates our ideals and holds the cause and 

 means for inspiration; without her promptings, 

 in fact, we should go bankrupt. In the Buddhist 

 *' Sankhya-Karika " we read how, " like a danseuse 

 who retires from the dance after she has shown 

 herself to the crowd. Nature retires after she has 

 shown herself in all her splendour to the soul " — 

 after she has shown herself to the soul. The aim 

 of the best art is not slavishly to copy Nature, 

 but to catch and translate the dreams she suggests. 



"Stoop to earth's service, and behold 

 All heaven shall blossom into gold." 



We may paint as much as we like " from imagina- 

 tion " or " inner consciousness," but if Nature were 

 not all the time posing at our elbow, and if we 

 did not from time to time cast covert glances at 

 her as our model, our picture would never be 

 "inspired"; it would either harp tediously upon 

 ancient themes and methods, or else "advance" 

 into sheer chaotic incoherence. 



And so it is that we have now come, I think, to 

 a time in the history and use of Alpine rockworks 

 when we must turn again to Nature for fresh 

 inspiration, for improved ideals. The time is 



