46 Education through Nature 



to perceive the ideal in the real. But the old pedagogy 

 virtually had the effect of making the pupil dependent 

 upon the artist's brush or the sculptor's chisel. How 

 many bewildered mortals there are who worry over 

 the degrading influence of the real in literature and art, 

 simply because they have been made dependent upon 

 the artist; their own creative powers having been 

 reduced to mere perception of paint! How abnormal 

 to be unable to interpret the beauty of a real evening 

 sunset, and yet pretend to admire an imperfect copy 

 of it on canvas ! 



The idea of beauty is by some philosophers classed 

 as an intuitive idea. But the study of children shows 

 that the aesthetic instinct is a growth which progresses 

 pari passu with our experience with beautiful things. 

 What in childhood we consider beautiful we do not 

 necessarily consider so in maturer years. A chromo, 

 with a motley array of brilliant colors, may appeal to 

 the child with greater force than the finest steel en- 

 graving; much as a brightly colored scarf is more 

 attractive to the Indian than a tailor-made suit of 

 broadcloth. 



As development advances, the beautiful in nature 

 and in art is beautiful in proportion as it is full of 

 meaning and suggestive of law. Our aesthetic appre- 

 ciation develops, consequently, as we become able to 

 eliminate the non-essential and recognize the essential. 

 Knowledge of the essence of things, so far as that is 

 possible, enhances, therefore, our conception of their 

 beauty. An irregular face may be ugly to the ignorant, 

 but truly beautiful to those who are able to appreciate 

 the essential element of a beautiful and true soul within. 

 The ungainly form and features of a friend vanish, 

 in our estimation of him, in proportion as we learn to 

 know the intrinsic excellence of his character. Thus, 

 by intimate association with things, and the knowledge 

 gained through experience, we eliminate, little by little, 



