to be governed, and did not dare to judge by tumult; but after these things, as time went on, there were born, beginners of the museless libertinage,-poets, who were indeed poetical by nature, but incapable of recognizing what is just and lawful for the Muse; exciting themselves in passion, and possessed, more than is due, by the love of pleasure: and these mingling laments with hymns, and pæans with dithyrambs, and mimicking the pipe with the harp, and dragging together everything into everything else, involuntarily and by their want of natural instinct * led men into the false thought that there is no positive rightness whatsoever in music, but that one may judge rightly of it by the pleasure of those who enjoy it, whether their own character be good or bad. And constructing such poems as these, and saying, concerning them, such words as these, they led the multitude into rebellion against the laws of music, and the daring of trust in their own capacity to judge of it. Whence the theatric audiences, that once were voiceless, became clamorous, as having professed knowledge, in the things belonging to the Muses, of what was beautiful and not; and instead of aristocracy in that knowledge, rose up a certain polluted theatrocracy. For if indeed the democracy had been itself composed of more or less well-educated persons, there would not have been so much harm; but from this beginning in music, sprang up general disloyalty, and pronouncing of their own opinion by everybody about everything; and on this followed mere licentiousness, for, having no fear of speaking, supposing themselves to know, fearlessness begot shamelessness. For, in our audacity, to have no fear of the opinion of the better person, is in itself a corrupt impudence, ending in extremity of license. And on this will always follow the resolve no more to obey established authorities; then, beyond this, men are fain to refuse the service and reject the teaching of father and mother, and of all old age,-and so one is close to the end of refusing to obey the national laws, and at last to think no more of oath, or faith, or of the gods themselves: thus at last likening themselves to the ancient and monstrous nature of the Titans, and filling their lives full of ceaseless misery.

great, acknowledged, and popular master, conducting his own opera, secure of the people's sympathy. A people not generous enough to give sympathy, nor modest enough to be grateful for leading, is not capable of hearing or understanding music. In our own schools, however, all that is needful is the early training of children under true musical law; and the performance, under excellent masters, of appointed courses of beautiful music, as an essential part of all popular instruction, no less important than the placing of classical books and of noble pictures, within the daily reach and sight of the people.

*

Literally, "want of notion or conception." 1

1 · [μουσικῆς ἄκοντες ὑπ ̓ ἀνοίας καταψευδόμενοι.]

NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE

16. (I.) AFFAIRS of the Company.

Our accounts to the end of the year will be given in the February Fors.1 The entire pause in subscriptions, and cessation of all serviceable offers of Companionship, during the last six months, may perhaps be owing in some measure to the continued delay in the determination of our legal position. I am sure that Mr. Somervell, who has communicated with the rest of the Companions on the subject, is doing all that is possible to give our property a simply workable form of tenure; and then, I trust, things will progress faster; but whether they do or not, at the close of this seventh year, if I live, I will act with all the funds then at my disposal.

17. (II.) Affairs of the Master.

Paid

Nov. 18. The Bursar of Corpus

Henry Swan; engraving for Laws of Fésole 3

29. Jackson

Dec. 7. C. F. Murray, for sketch of Princess Ursula and her

Father, from Carpaccio 4

10. Oxford Secretary

11. Self at Venice t.

12. Downs.

15. Burgess

42 0 0

£395 0 0

Balance, November 15th

Balance, December 15th

£1135 3 4 5

395 0 0

£740 3 4

* I have refused several which were made without clear understanding of the nature of the Companionship; and especially such as I could perceive to be made, though unconsciously, more in the thought of the honour attaching to the name of Companions, than of the self-denial and humility necessary in their duties.

6

Includes the putting up of scaffolds at St. Mark's and the Ducal Palace to cast some of their sculptures; and countless other expenses, mythologically definable as the opening of Danaë's brazen tower; besides enormous bills at the "Grand Hotel," and sundry inexcusable "indiscriminate charities.”7

[Letter 74 (p. 48).]

[See Vol. XXVIII. p. 659.]

Plate II. see Vol. XV. p. 367.]

[No. 56 in the Sheffield Museum: see Vol. XXX.]

This amount should be £670, 9s. 4d., leaving a balance on December 15th of £275, 98. 4d. See Letter 74, § 18 (p. 50), where Ruskin corrects the mistakes in accounts in Letter 72, § 13.]

[Some of the casts were sent to Sheffield: see below, p. 116.]

[See Letters 4, § 7 (Vol. XXVII. p. 67), and 93, § 6 (below, p. 471).]

18. (III.) The mingled impertinence and good feeling of the following letter make it difficult to deal with. I should be unjust to the writer in suppressing it, and to myself (much more to Mr. Sillar) in noticing it.2 The reader may answer it for himself; the only passage respecting which I think it necessary to say anything is the writer's mistake in applying the rule of doing as you would be done by to the degree in which your neighbour may expect or desire you to violate an absolute law of God. It may often be proper, if civil to your neighbour, to drink more than is good for you; but not to commit the moderate quantity of theft or adultery which you may perceive would be in polite accordance with his principles, or in graceful compliance with his wishes.

"November 14th, 1876.

"DEAR MR. RUSKIN,-Why so cross? I don't want to discuss with you the uses of Dissent.' I am no more a Dissenting minister than you are, and not nearly as much of a Dissenter; and where you find my duly dissenting scorn of the wisdom of the Greeks and the legality of the Jews' I don't know.

"Mr. Sillar backbites with his pen, and does evil to his neighbour. He does it quite inadvertently, misled by a passage in a book he has just read. Mr. Ruskin, forgetting his own clear exposition of Psalm xv., takes up the reproach against his neighbour, believes the evil, and won't even pray for the sinner. I correct the mistake; whereupon Mr. Ruskin, instead of saying he is sorry for printing a slander, or that he is glad to find Mr. Sillar was mistaken, calls Mr. Wesley an ass (unwise Christian-altering rules so as to make them useless,' are his words, but the meaning is the same), and sneers at Methodism evidently without having made even an elementary investigation' of its principles, or having heard one sermon from a Methodist preacher, so at least I judge from Fors 36, § 7. "If you wanted information-which don't about our rules, I would point out that our rules are only three:-1, To do no harm;' 2, 'To do all the good we can to men's bodies and souls;' and 3, 'To attend upon all the ordinances of God.' A Methodist according to Mr. Wesley's definition (pardon me for quoting another of his definitions; unfortunately, in this case it does not express what is, but what ought to be) is, 'One who lives after the method laid down in the Bible.'

you

"In answer to your questions, we don't approve of going to law, yet sometimes it may be necessary to appeal unto Cæsar; and in making a reference to a Christian magistrate in a Christian country, we don't think we should be doing what St. Paul condemns,-'going to law before the unjust, before unbelievers and not before

saints.'

"As to usury and interest. Hitherto, perhaps wrongly, we have been satisfied with the ordinary ideas of men-including, apparently, some of your most esteemed friends-on the subject. You yourself did not find out the wrong of taking interest until Mr. Sillar showed you how to judge of it (Fors 43, § 14); and your investigations are still, like mine, so elementary that they have not influenced your practice.

"I cannot tell you with 'pious accuracy' the exact number of glasses of wine

1 [For the previous letter from this correspondent, and Ruskin's comments thereon, see Letter 71, §§ 18, 19 (Vol. XXVIII. p. 750).]

[Here in his notes for the Index Ruskin has: "Dissent, Temper of, illustrated by Dissenter's letter. As I arrange this bit of index, Fors sends me a letter from a friend with this sentence in it: There is a chapel in the village, Methodist, I conclude we were amused to find that the mangling was done in the chapel; so I suppose it is a laundry during the week.'"]

you may properly take, giving God thanks; but pray don't take too many. Personally, I fancy the rule, Do unto others as you would be done by,' would keep me on the right side if I had any capital to invest, which I haven't. My good mother, eighty-three years of age, has a small sum, and since reading Fors I have just calculated that she has already received the entire amount in interest; and of course she must now, if your ideas are correct, give up the principal, and ́ go and work for more.'

we

"As for my postscript, I really thought from Fors 66 (§ 19), 67 (§ 22), that you were bothered with lawyers, and did not know what to do with sums of money given to you for a definite purpose, and which apparently could not be legally applied to that purpose. A plan that has answered well for John Wesley's Society would, I thought, answer equally well for another company, in which I feel considerable interest. The objects of the two societies are not very dissimilar: our rules are substantially yours, only they go a little further. But whilst aiming at remodelling the world, we begin by trying to mend ourselves, and to save our own souls, in which I hope there is nothing to raise your ire, or bring upon us the vials of your scorn. Referring to Fors 67,1 I think I may say that agree with most of your directions for private life.' In our plain and simple way, -assuredly not with your eloquence and rigour,- we promulgate and recommend your principles,' without an idea that they are to be considered distinctively yours. We find them in the Bible: and if we don't aid your plans by sending you money,' it is because not one of us in a hundred thousand ever heard of them; and besides, it is possible for us to think that, whilst your plans are good, our own are better. For myself, I have for some time wished and intended to send something, however trifling it might seem to you, towards the funds of St. George's Company. Will you kindly accept 20s. from a Methodist Preacher? I was going to send it before you referred to us, but spent the money in your photographs and Xenophon; and sovereigns are so scarce with me that I had to wait a little before I could afford another.

"And now, if you have read as far as this, will you allow me to thank you most sincerely for all that I have learnt from you? I could say much on this subject, but forbear. More intelligent readers you may have, but none more grateful than

1 [See Vol. XXVIII. p. 657.]

[That is, the Lesson Photographs and "The Economist of Xenophon" (vol. i.

of Bibliotheca Pastorum).]

LETTER 74

FATHER-LAW

VENICE, Christmas Day, 1876.*

1. LAST night, St. Ursula sent me her dianthus "out of her bedroom window, with her love," and, as I was standing beside it, this morning,-(ten minutes ago only,-it has just struck eight), watching the sun rise out of a low line of cloud, just midway between the domes of St. George and the Madonna of Safety, there came into my mind the cause of our difficulties about the Eastern question: 2 with considerable amazement to myself that I had not thought of it before; but, on the contrary, in what I had intended to say, been misled, hitherto, into quite vain collection of the little I knew about either Turkey or Russia; and entirely lost sight (though actually at this time chiefly employed with it!) of what Little Bear has thus sent me the flower out of the dawn in her window, to put me in mind of,-the religious meanings of the matter.

I must explain her sign to you more clearly before I can tell you these.

2. She sent me the living dianthus (with a little personal message besides, of great importance to me, but of none to the matter in hand), by the hands of an Irish

* I believe the following entry to be of considerable importance to our future work; and I leave it, uncorrected, as it was written at the time for that reason.

1

[For this passage, see the Introduction to Vol. XXIV. p. xliii.; and compare Letter 20, giving account of the picture of St. Ursula's Dream (Vol. XXVII. p. 342, and Plate VIII.), and Letters 75, § 1, and 88, § 6 (below, pp. 54, 385).]

2 [See below, p. 45. Ruskin in his notes for the Index compares Letter 75, § 7