﻿78 
  Transactions. 
  — 
  Miscellaneous, 
  

  

  Here, 
  however, 
  let 
  me 
  pause 
  awhile 
  to 
  explain 
  clearly, 
  yet 
  briefly, 
  what 
  

   I 
  mean 
  by 
  the 
  term 
  Ideality 
  : 
  I 
  mean 
  that 
  superior 
  faculty 
  — 
  that 
  conception 
  

   of 
  the 
  natural 
  and 
  beautiful, 
  the 
  truthful 
  and 
  symmetrical, 
  which 
  has 
  ever 
  

   been 
  found 
  to 
  pertain 
  to 
  the 
  higher 
  races, 
  or 
  varieties 
  of 
  men, 
  and 
  in 
  iDar- 
  

   ticular 
  to 
  the 
  more 
  gifted 
  among 
  them. 
  As 
  Cousin 
  says 
  (On 
  the 
  Beautiful) 
  : 
  

   — 
  " 
  The 
  Ideal 
  appears 
  as 
  an 
  original 
  conception 
  of 
  the 
  mind. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  

   Nature 
  or 
  experience 
  gives 
  me 
  the 
  occasion 
  for 
  conceiving 
  the 
  ideal, 
  but 
  the 
  

   ideal 
  is 
  something 
  entirely 
  different 
  from 
  experience 
  or 
  nature, 
  so 
  that 
  if 
  we 
  

   apply 
  it 
  to 
  natural, 
  or 
  even 
  to 
  artificial 
  figures, 
  they 
  cannot 
  fill 
  up 
  the 
  con- 
  

   dition 
  of 
  the 
  ideal 
  conception, 
  and 
  we 
  are 
  obliged 
  to 
  imagine 
  them 
  exact." 
  

   Kant 
  lays 
  it 
  down 
  — 
  " 
  By 
  ideal, 
  I 
  understand 
  the 
  idea, 
  not 
  in 
  concreto 
  but 
  in 
  

   individao, 
  as 
  an 
  individual 
  thing, 
  determinable 
  or 
  determined 
  by 
  the 
  idea 
  

   alone."* 
  On 
  this 
  subject, 
  also, 
  Emerson 
  impressively 
  writes: 
  — 
  "I 
  

   hasten 
  to 
  state 
  the 
  principle 
  which 
  prescribes, 
  through 
  different 
  means, 
  

   its 
  firm 
  law 
  to 
  the 
  useful 
  and 
  beautiful 
  arts. 
  The 
  law 
  is 
  this 
  : 
  The 
  

   universal 
  soul 
  is 
  the 
  alone 
  creator 
  of 
  the 
  useful 
  and 
  the 
  beautiful 
  ; 
  

   therefore, 
  to 
  make 
  anything 
  useful 
  or 
  beautiful, 
  the 
  individual 
  must 
  be 
  sub- 
  

   mitted 
  to 
  the 
  universal 
  mind. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Beneath 
  a 
  necessity 
  thus 
  

   almighty, 
  what 
  is 
  artificial 
  in 
  man's 
  life 
  seems 
  insignificant. 
  He 
  seems 
  to 
  

   take 
  his 
  task 
  so 
  minutely 
  from 
  intimations 
  of 
  Nature, 
  that 
  his 
  works 
  become, 
  

   as 
  it 
  were, 
  hers, 
  and 
  he 
  is 
  no 
  longer 
  free. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  There 
  is 
  but 
  one 
  

   Eeason. 
  The 
  mind 
  that 
  made 
  the 
  world 
  is 
  not 
  one 
  mind, 
  but 
  the 
  mind. 
  

   Every 
  man 
  is 
  an 
  inlet 
  to 
  the 
  same, 
  and 
  to 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  same. 
  And 
  every 
  work 
  

   of 
  art 
  is 
  a 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  sure 
  manifestation 
  of 
  the 
  same. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  We 
  feel, 
  

   in 
  seeing 
  a 
  noble 
  building, 
  much 
  as 
  we 
  do 
  in 
  hearing 
  a 
  perfect 
  song, 
  that 
  it 
  

   is 
  spiritually 
  organic 
  ; 
  that 
  is, 
  had 
  a 
  necessity 
  in 
  nature 
  for 
  being 
  ; 
  was 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  possible 
  forms 
  in 
  the 
  Divine 
  mind, 
  and 
  is 
  now 
  only 
  discovered 
  

   and 
  executed 
  by 
  the 
  artist, 
  not 
  arbitrarily 
  composed 
  by 
  him. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  The 
  

   highest 
  praise 
  we 
  can 
  attribute 
  to 
  any 
  writer, 
  painter, 
  sculptor, 
  builder, 
  is, 
  

   that 
  he 
  actually 
  possessed 
  the 
  thought 
  or 
  feeling 
  with 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  inspired 
  

   us."f 
  That 
  delightful 
  writer 
  on 
  Art, 
  J. 
  Buskin 
  — 
  whether 
  considered 
  as 
  artist 
  

   or 
  art 
  critic— 
  always 
  in 
  love 
  Avith 
  the 
  Beautiful, 
  and 
  possessing 
  the 
  wonder- 
  

   ful 
  power 
  of 
  telling 
  it 
  in 
  such 
  charming 
  language, 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  " 
  I 
  call 
  an 
  idea 
  

   great 
  in 
  proportion 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  received 
  by 
  a 
  higher 
  faculty 
  of 
  the 
  mind, 
  and 
  as 
  

   it 
  more 
  fully 
  occupies, 
  and 
  in 
  occupying, 
  exercises 
  and 
  exalts, 
  the 
  faculty 
  by 
  

   which 
  it 
  is 
  received. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  He 
  is 
  the 
  greatest 
  artist 
  who 
  has 
  embodied 
  

   in 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  his 
  works 
  the 
  greatest 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  ideas." 
  Then 
  

   Buskin 
  contrasts 
  the 
  old 
  Venetian 
  worker 
  in 
  glass, 
  with 
  his 
  profusion 
  of 
  

   design, 
  his 
  personality 
  of 
  purpose, 
  and 
  his 
  love 
  of 
  his 
  art, 
  with 
  the 
  British 
  

  

  * 
  Crit. 
  Pure 
  Eeason. 
  

   t 
  Essay 
  on 
  Art, 
  

  

  