HOME AI^^D FLOWER.^ 



about it all, sa3^s Mr. Woolley, is that "the 

 artistic spirit is abroad in the land con- 

 vincing ns of cleanliness and beauty and 

 righteousness". It has been the experience 

 of Mr. Shuey that beauty, neatness and 

 attractiveness tend to morality. He points 

 to the changes in the physical appearance 

 of some of our great cities as evidence of 

 this fact, and observes: "The man whose 

 eyes can enjoy the beautiful each day will 

 have less temptation to find pleasure and 

 relaxation in that which is degrading''. 

 Eev. Wilbur F. Crafts, superintendent of 

 the Xational Eeform Bureau, does not feel 

 "quite sure that beauty of surroundings 

 tends very directly to the restraint of evil, 

 for it is notorious that vice surrounds it- 

 self with all the attractions of music and 

 art". He believes, however, that "the 

 civic improvement idea, enlisting study of 

 the improvement of cities, can very effect- 

 ively introduce some of the more aggressive 

 subjects, with the study of beauty, and so 

 accomplish important results in lessening 

 the great evils of the day". Dr. Eliot 

 warns against "too much superlative and 

 expectation of large and immediate re- 

 sults". While "sympathizing with all move- 

 ments toward greater external beauty", 

 Ernest H. Crosby, writer, reformer, 

 Tolstoian, holds that, "after all, the 

 fundamental and spiritually architectural 

 beauty of justice, equality, and balance, in 

 our social relations must precede any per- 

 manent advance to a higher artistic 

 civilization". Charles G-.D.Eoberts, novel- 

 ist and poet, thinks "we may- reasonably 

 hope for such results". John DeWitt 

 Warner, writer and student of sociology 

 and economies, believes that attractive sur- 

 roundings will "go a great way toward 

 making it easier for us to become better 

 and more moral", but he has "never 

 noticed that cleanliness or beauty makes 

 men less selfish, or more appreciative of 

 the work of souls as distinguished from 

 that of hands". J. J. Jackson, secretary 



of the Baltimore Decorative Art Associa- 

 tion, positively denies the premises and 

 points to France to prove his cas3. (Ihope 

 to say a word in defense of France before 

 long) . Robert C. Ogden, business man and 

 writer, declares that "esthetics can never 

 replace or create moral principle". It is 

 the Golden Eule, not custom or culture, 

 which is the root of the question. E. J. 

 Wheeler, editor of The Literary Digest, 

 points out that "there is no hard and fast 

 bond linking esthetics and ethics", and 

 that "the most esthetic and religious peo- 

 ples often seem to have the least regard 

 for moral worth". They who "create 

 beauty receive a distinct moral return, 

 though such a reward is not always visible 

 in the case of a mere observer. Beauty 

 in a home, a city or a factory benefits 

 chiefly those who produce it, not the recip- 

 ients so much as the creators of it." 



^ ^ 



There is a thought in this last statement 

 which deeply and essentially underlies 

 the whole movement for more beautiful 

 surroundings. Beautiful, artistic cities 

 and homes, into which people are to be 

 dropped without any effort on their own 

 part — this is not the ideal. Men themselves 

 must work for the results desired, planting 

 flowers, planning home decorations, sacri- 

 ficing private interests to make the city 

 beautiful, themselves trying every day to 

 live the life beautiful. This is why the 

 arts and crafts revival promises us much. 

 Let us get back, if we can, the manual 

 dexterity, the joy of the craftsman in what 

 he has made, not for the money he can get 

 for it, but for the joy of the making. 



"Only the Master shall praise us, and only the 



Master shall blame, 

 And no one shall work for money, and no one 



shall work for fame ; 

 But each for the joy of the working, and each in 



his separate star. 

 Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God 



of Things as They Are." 



' ' Whatever your occupation may be, and however crowded your hours with affairs, do not fail to secure at least 

 a few minutes every dav for refreshment of your inner life with a bit of poetry. ' '—Prof. Charles Eliot Norton. 



