188 ON TASTE IN ORNAMENTAL DESIGN. Paet II. 



that goddess, was so formed ; and it would be as unreasonable 

 as to combine the best parts of several buildings to create a 

 perfect structure.] Nor does a landscape made up of several 

 different scenes, look as natural as a real view, even though 

 this last may be considerably altered by the artist. 



12. Some of our makers of ornamental works, instead of 

 welcoming a good design when offered them, think only of 

 extorting money from the person who wishes it to be made 

 for him, and put on it a price double that of one of their own 

 monstrosities, though this last may have cost them far more 

 in its manufacture ; showing that they would rather refuse a 

 design given gratis than lose the opportunity of profiting by 

 a customer. They think he wants it, and ought to pay hand- 

 somely for his caprice. And so he should, if it is a bad one ; 

 though the probability is that the manufacturer has not 

 judgment enough to know whether it is good or bad; and 

 few would be induced, by any amount of goodness, to relent 

 through admiration for an elegant design. Thus, then, he 

 who invents it is mulcted for his talent. But this would really 

 seem to be the rule in England ; for no sooner does a man 

 suggest some useful invention, and claim the advantages from 

 it which he merits, than he is forced to pay for a patent; 

 which amounts to being taxed for his ingenuity, the country 

 assuming the right to share, and even to anticipate, his pro- 

 fits. If we heard of such an anomaly in Turkey, or elsewhere, 

 we should say, "Poor people! they know no better ;" as we 

 should if we found a variation in the weights and measures in 

 different parts of their country, or other of the many incon- 

 sistencies tolerated in ('practical) England. 



13. [It is not always to ignorance in the artist who executes 

 it that the blame of a faulty work is to be attributed : this, as 

 I have shown, is as often chargeable to the public, and to 

 the private employer; and when the model of a monu- 

 ment, or any work of art, is proposed by a designer who 



