selves, and
so successfully, that I believe, so far as the desirableness of this or
that method of ornamentation is to be measured by the fact of its simple
honesty or dishonesty, there is little need to add anything to what has
been already urged upon the subject. But there are some points connected
with the practice of imitating marble, which I have been unable to touch
upon until now, and by the consideration of which we may be enabled to
see something of the _policy_ of honesty in this matter, without in the
least abandoning the higher ground of principle.

Sec. XLI. Consider, then, first, what marble seems to have been made for.
Over the greater part of the surface of the world, we find that a rock
has been providentially distributed, in a manner particularly pointing
it out as intended for the service of man. Not altogether a common rock,
it is yet rare enough to command a certain degree of interest and
attention wherever it is found; but not so rare as to preclude its use
for any purpose to which it is fitted. It is exactly of the consistence
which is best adapted for sculpture: that is to say, neither hard nor
brittle, nor flaky nor splintery, but uniform, and delicately, yet not
ignobly, soft,--exactly soft enough to allow the sculptor to work it
without force, and trace on it the finest lines of finished form; and
yet so hard as never to betray the touch or moulder away beneath the
steel; and so admirably crystallized, and of such permanent elements,
that no rains dissolve it, no time changes it, no atmosphere decomposes
it: once shaped, it is shaped for ever, unless subjected to actual
violence or attrition. This rock, then, is prepared by Nature for the
sculptor and architect, just as paper is prepared by the manufacturer
for the artist, with as great--nay, with greater--care, and more perfect
adaptation of the material to the requirements. And of this marble
paper, some is white and some colored; but more is colored than white,
because the white is evidently meant for sculpture, and the colored for
the covering of large surfaces.

Sec. XLII. Now, if we would take Nature at her word, and use this precious
paper which she has taken so much care to provide for us (it is a long
process, the making of that paper; the pulp of it needing the subtlest
possible solution, and the pressing of it--for it is all
hot-pressed--having to be done under the saw, or under something at
least as heavy); if, I say, we use it as