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tliis chaos of marks, the laurel wreath, being the easiest to copy, remained 

 somewhat more distinct, when other parts of the head had disappeared ; and 

 there are some curious coins of Cunobolinus, one of the kings of Britain in 

 Roman times — -the Cymbeline of Shakespeare — in which some artist, evidently 

 a genius in his way, finding these curious marks on the coin he had to imitate, 

 and not liking to imitate what he did not understand, assumed that they were 

 meant for an ear of wheat, and reproduced an exceedingly good representation 

 of an ear of wheat, evidently taken from Nature. Thus, in the course of time, 

 and by the decadence of Art, the head of Philip of Macedon is changed into an 

 ear of wheat. A singular analogy to the cynical philosophy of Hamlet. 



I will not delay you by applying these principles, as I might, to the 

 Christian Art of the Middle Ages, but you will at once perceive what a close 

 analogy there is between the archaic character of the early Greek Art which I 

 have been describing, and that of the Italian masters before the time of Michael 

 Angelo and Raphael, which may be considered as the culmination of Christian 

 Art. You are all now familiar with the character of this early style, from its 

 revival in recent times under the name of the Pre-Raphaelite school. 



Taking, then, these two great principles : — First, that the Art of every 

 race has a distinctive character of its own, which follows it wherever it goes ; 

 and, secondly, that the Art in each race undergoes a steady and perceptible 

 change, either for the better or worse ; it is apparent how powerful an auxiliary 

 the study of Art becomes, to those who are seeking through other channels an 

 insight into the history of the human race. The philologist traces the several 

 streams of mankind up to their parent fountains, by analyzing their language, 

 and discovering from what source its first elements, its bases, its roots, were 

 derived. The comparative anatomist pursues the same enquiry by studying 

 the minute peculiarities of his physical structure, the form of his skull, and 

 the proportions of his limbs. But the student of Art follows up the investi- 

 gation by an independent course. He takes the works of the hands of a 

 people, and forces them to tell their faithful, because unconscious, story as to 

 the sources from whence they derived their traditions of taste and of feeling, 

 their modes of interpreting or representing the beautiful, the character of their 

 ornament — in a word, from whence they derived the symbols and standard of 

 their Art. 



I cannot pass from this part of my subject without expressing my convic- 

 tion, that the machinery thus provided by the study of Art might well be put 

 in motion, and brought to bear upon the very interesting subject of the origin 

 and cradle of the aboriginal inhabitants of these islands. We have a consider- 

 able number of works of Maori Art ; the most interesting of which is the 

 runanga wkare of Tauranga, which is fortunately preserved in this Museum. 

 And there are preserved amongst lis a considerable number of canoe heads, 

 spears, and other weapons and vessels, mats, and so on, which must have been 

 produced at the cost of considerable skill and labour. 'Now, it is obvious to the 

 most casual observer, that there is a similarity of ornament and design and 

 workmanship running through all these objects. The two great questions 

 which we might, by a sufficiently extended study, be able to decide are — where 

 does this Art come from 1 It was not created in New Zealand for the first 

 time. It was no doubt displayed on the canoes and the arms of the warriors 

 who first landed on these shores ; and I have no doubt that it might be traced 

 up, through all its changes amongst the Pacific Islands, to its cradle on the 

 Continent of Asia. I think it not unlikely that a study of the works of the 

 country from which it springs, would enable us to judge, with fair approxima- 

 tion to the trath, of the date at which the Ai't now existing in New Zealand 

 was severed from its parent stem in Asia. This is a work, which, so far as I. 

 know, has yet to be undertaken. And the first step towards it is to bring 



