The Relation of Natural to Artificial Beauty in Landscape 
abrogate. The primary laws of physics must 
govern everything which he builds, and the 
artistic expression of his building must reflect 
an acknowledgment of natural laws. But in 
distinguishing between these two agents, I 
mean to refer to Nature as that which she 
does without the aid of man, 
what she would have done had 
man never lived upon the face 
of the earth. On the other 
hand, in many scenes and many 
things which we love to look 
upon, there is predominant the 
other agency; and our delight 
in its contemplation at times 
transcends even that which we 
leel in looking upon Nature. It 
is the thought that this stone 
has been hewn and set, this 
building has been reared, this 
yet this support has not swept 
everything before it, and a 
utilitarian and purely practical 
tendency is still dominant. The 
artist of to-day is not in need 
of better criticism. He has as 
good criticism as any age has 
produced ; but he is in need of 
a greater amount of criticism, 
and of the backing of the 
majority of the people,—the 
criticism of the masses which 
finally, if not immediately, con¬ 
demns the inartistic and upholds 
that which is sound and true 
in art. 
Whatever scene our eyes may 
light upon, whatever landscape 
we may contemplate, there can 
be only two factors, two agencies, 
which determine its effect upon 
our minds, upon our sense of the 
beautiful—Nature and Man. 
Nature, of course, is a very 
wide term, but we all know what 
it means. It is the supreme, 
the eternal, ever-present factor. 
We cannot escape from it 
entirely if we would, for even 
man in his works is governed 
by Nature’s own laws. No 
one of them can he undo or 
great mass of humanity almost analogous to 
that which the mediaeval alchemist or scientist 
held in the day when it was the artist who 
counted, and who captured the applause of 
the multitude. It is true that the support of 
the multitude is constantly increasing; but as 
NEAR POGGIO IM PERIALE, ITALY 
THE SHORES OF LAKE LUGANO 
