172 ON TASTE IN ORNAMENTAL DESIGN. Past II. 



deficient in one or more of those requisites ; [and there is 

 little to elevate the mind or correct the eye of the general 

 mass. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that all should 

 have the mind and eye directed to the perception of what is 

 good ; and, unless taste pervades all classes, so that both the 

 maker and purchaser may possess that knowledge, the pro- 

 duction of beautiful objects will depend on accident or 

 caprice. The one may manufacture them, but the other will 

 not desire what he does not appreciate ; and it will be equally 

 vain for the latter to possess a taste he cannot gratify. 

 Besides, as Mr. Laing observes, " what employs the industry 

 and ingenuity of the many is of more civilising influence on 

 society than what employs the genius of the few ;" and as 

 " much wealth locked up in gold and silver ornaments is a 

 sign of a low progressive social condition," so good taste may 

 be possessed by a few, while the rest of the community con- 

 tinues to be unconscious of its beneficent influence. In that 

 case it is a mere luxury ; and it generally happens that, in a 

 condition of society where it is thus limited, the search for 

 objects of art is rather a caprice than a real feeling. Luxury is 

 the enemy of refinement, the parent of rococo and of spendid 

 monstrosities. For taste to last, and become general, its rise 

 and progress must be simple and gradual ; it must be sown 

 and reared, and will never flourish by mere transplanting.] 

 A few may possess it; but the majority will remain deficient 

 both in the power of estimating and creating good works ; 

 and though we may look with admiration on the talent dis- 

 played by a Minton, an Elkington, a Blashfield, a Battam, and 

 others, in copying good models and inventing good designs, 

 we shall find that the mass of those who produce ornamental 

 works fail from ignorance of the true elements required to 

 ensure success. 



3. [Thus it often happens, when an approach to good taste 

 has been shown in the design of some common object, that it 



