THE LANDSCAPE BEAUTIFUL 



necessary to emphasize the propriety, the 

 importance, the dignity, the profound 

 worthiness of this subordinate relationship. 

 It is like the relationship of husband and 

 wife: the husband may be more seen eind 

 known by the world, but the wife is equally 

 serviceable and necessary. It is like the 

 partnership of manhood and gentleness: 

 the strong man can be also gentle, and we 

 applaud the fortune of such a union of 

 qualities in every true gentleman. 



The case should be put more forcibly 

 than this. We must all recognize that eirt 

 is ever a secondary matter in life, utility 

 having always the prior claim to considera- 

 tion. When the necessities of life have 

 been satisfied then the soul can be touched 

 by the pleasures of beauty. Indeed, it is 

 one of the prime functions of all art, and 

 one of its greatest glories to invest the 

 hard utilities of the material world with 

 aesthetic and spiritual joys. Let us believe, 

 therefore, that decorative art may be the 

 highest of all, in its aims, in its methods 

 and in the value of its results. 



Unused as we are to bringing land- 

 scape gardening under this point of view, 

 we shall see at the first glance that much 



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