TEEFACE.

also to intensify tlie pcrception of the idea souglit to be convcyed,and thus at once to illuminate and colour the text—like a floodof light suddenly lct in througb. some bright painted window.

The last descriptive process, or that which deals with the effectratlier than the object itself, is, however, the highest and mostartistic of all. This constitutes the mythic and poetic methods ofrepresentation, conveying a sense of the object by means of thefeelings it inspires. Thus the flelds are made to " smile," thebrooks to "murmur," and " the joeund morn to stand tiptoe on themisty mountain top," whilst the gladdening and maddening spiritof wine is typifled as a youthful god wrapped in a tiger's skin, andattended by a train of dancing satyrs.

There is, indeed, a high and low style of word-painting, aswith all the representative forms of art. The literal, or cataloguingmethod of literary description, hardly ranks as an artistic process,any more than pictures of " still lifo," or " railway overtures,"or " farm-yard symphonies" — or any other merely imitativerather than suggestive species of rendering — can be regardedas sesthetic Performances. For as the photograph gives but theparticular and accidental look of an individual for the meremoment that he is in front of the camera, whilst high-classportraiture depicts the gcneral expression distinctive of the cha-raeter of the man, and thus paints his very spirit as it wcro —cven so the "invontory-taking" style of literature, which is sopopulär at the present day, utterly fails in rendering the pictur-esque features and feeling of a scene or a place—the genius loci,as it were — the mythic and unseen spirit, haunting the land-scape as the dryads of old were supposed to do, and lightingit up like a soul.

The author is well aware how signally he has failed in reach-ing the Standard of excellence he has laid down. Indeed, it isthe misfortune of every work of art that it ncver sat.isfies theeducated artist himself; none can be so fully cognisant of hisshort-comings, or so sour a critic to his work, as he wlio knowsbest the choice composition he meant to produce, and the sorry