358 ON TASTE IN ORNAMENTAL DESIGN. Paet II. 



specimens put up within the last hundred years, it is evident 

 that a claim to exclusive taste is not possessed, ex officio, by 

 every architect. It is on the very fact of those who are not 

 artists, architects, or artisans, being able to judge of their 

 works, that the general taste of a country, as well as the en- 

 couragement of their talents, depends; and it would not be 

 difficult to mention the names of many individuals in this 

 country who are remarkable for taste and judgment in archi- 

 tecture, painting, and ornamental art. Experience, of course, 

 gives to the professional man superior knowledge of construc- 

 tiveness, and of the requirements of a building ; but good 

 taste does not invariably accompany professional knowledge. 

 Study and observation are also very necessary to obtain an 

 acquaintance with the subject, but these two last are fully 

 within the reach of non-professional students, who have their 

 time as well as .their judgment free for the examination of the 

 most important examples of various styles and periods ; and 

 perception of beauty is confined neither to a particular class 

 of the community, nor to those who exercise any art. 



And if some of the latter have pronounced it to be pre- 

 sumption in other persons to offer an opinion on the subject 

 they look upon as peculiarly their own, they should recollect 

 that though a doctor may overwhelm the remarks of his un- 

 professional patient by talking of the agnoston muscle, they 

 cannot appeal to any mystery in matters with which taste 

 and the appreciation of the beautiful are so intimately con- 

 nected. Nor will wealth enable any one to possess good taste, 

 though the payment of a large sum may sometimes secure 

 for him a work of great excellence without the purchaser 

 having any knowledge of its merits ; as large prices may pro- 

 cure a valuable stud without its possessor having any know- 

 ledge of horses. 



If some have imagined that taste is confined to particular 

 persons, or only within the reach of the rich, some on the 



