hed perfection as far as it may, it deteriorates, sickens,
corrupts, and finally is thrown aside--superseded, hidden, and
overlapped by a newer fashion; and the worst and latest effort
discredits in the eyes of men, the splendid successes that preceded
its fall. Though the next succeeding phase may be less worthy to live
than the last, yet, carrying with it the freshness of a new spring, it
is acceptable for the time being.

The moral I should draw from this is, that you cannot force style; you
may prune, direct, and polish it, but you must accept that of your
day, and only in accordance with that taste can your work be useful.
Not accepting it idly or wearily, but cheerfully, on principle,
seeking to raise it; refusing by word or deed to truckle to the false,
the base, or the lawless in your art, or to act against the
acknowledged canons of good taste. Not for a moment should ambition be
checked, but it should always be accompanied by the grace of modesty.

To the young decorator or artist who feels the glow of original design
prompting him to reject old lines, and follow his own new and perhaps
crude ideas, a few words of warning, and encouragement also, may be of
use.

In art, as in poetry, we may recognize the Psalmist's experience: "My
heart burned within me, and at the last I spake with my tongue."

In small as in great things, crude ideas should not be brought to the
front. No one should give his thoughts to the world till his heart has
_burned_ within him, and he has been _forced_ to express himself.

Another wise saying, "Read yourself full, and then write yourself
empty," also applies to art. Knowledge must first be accumulated
before you can originate.

Wait till your experience and your thoughts insist on expression;
then subject the expressed idea to cultivated criticism, and profit by
the opinion you would respect if another's work, and not your own,
were under discussion.

It is true that taste is surprisingly various. Some will dislike your
design, because its style is a reflection of the Gothic; another may
be objected to as being frivolously Oriental-looking and brilliant,
whereas the critic likes only the sober and the dull. Few are
sufficiently educated to appreciate style: and we cannot rule our own
by anybody's opinion; but we can generalize and find something that
shall be agreeable to all--something approaching to a golden mean. The
artist for decoration should be sensitively alive to any