five thousand, do; if not for less than twenty
thousand, do; never mind being imposed upon: there is nothing
disgraceful in being imposed upon; the only disgrace is in imposing;
and you can't in general get anything much worth having, in the way of
Continental art, but it must be with the help or connivance of numbers
of people who, indeed, ought to have nothing to do with the matter, but
who practically have, and always will have, everything to do with it;
and if you don't choose to submit to be cheated by them out of a ducat
here and a zecchin there, you will be cheated by them out of your
picture; and whether you are most imposed upon in losing that, or the
zecchins, I think I may leave you to judge; though I know there are many
political economists, who would rather leave a bag of gold on a
garret-table, than give a porter sixpence extra to carry it downstairs.

That, then, is the first practical outcome of the matter. Never grumble,
but be glad when you hear of a new picture being bought at a large
price. In the long run, the dearest pictures are always the best
bargains; and, I repeat, (for else you might think I said it in mere
hurry of talk, and not deliberately,) there are some pictures which are
without price. You should stand, nationally, at the edge of Dover
cliffs--Shakespeare's--and wave blank cheques in the eyes of the nations
on the other side of the sea, freely offered, for such and such canvases
of theirs.

90. Then the next practical outcome of it is--Never buy a copy of a
picture, under any circumstances whatever. All copies are bad; because
no painter who is worth a straw ever _will_ copy. He will make a study
of a picture he likes, for his own use, in his own way; but he won't and
can't copy. Whenever you buy a copy, you buy so much misunderstanding of
the original, and encourage a dull person in following a business he is
not fit for, besides increasing ultimately chances of mistake and
imposture, and farthering, as directly as money _can_ farther, the cause
of ignorance in all directions. You may, in fact, consider yourself as
having purchased a certain quantity of mistakes; and, according to your
power, being engaged in disseminating them.

91. I do not mean, however, that copies should never be made. A certain
number of dull persons should always be employed by a Government in
making the most accurate copies possible of all good pictures; these
copies, though artistically valueless, would