of Art, not that of
drawing and painting only. We wish that every boy and every girl shall
learn something--and it matters little whether we make him draw,
design, paint, decorate, carve, work in brass or leather, whether we
make him a musician, a painter, a sculptor, a poet, or a novelist,
provided he be instructed in the true principles of Art. Imagine, if
you can, a time when in every family of boys and girls one shall be a
musician, and another a carver of wood, and a third a painter; when
every home shall be full of artistic and beautiful things, and the
Present ugliness be only remembered as a kind of bad dream. This may
appear to some impossible, but it is, on the other hand, very possible
and sure to come in the immediate future. It is true that, as a
nation, we are not artistic, but we might change our character in a
single generation. It has taken less than a single generation to
develop the enormous increase of Art which we now see around us in the
upper classes. Think of such a thing as house decoration and
furniture. We have to extend this development into regions where it is
as yet unfelt, and among a class which have, as yet, shown no
willingness or desire for such extension.

All this has been said by way of apology for the practical scheme
which I venture now to lay before you. You have already heard from Mr.
Leland's own lips what has been for five years his work in
Philadelphia, you have heard how he has brought the small arts into
hundreds of homes, and has given purpose and brightness to hundreds of
lives. I have followed this work of his from the beginning with the
greatest interest. Before he began it, he told me what he was going to
try, and how he meant to try. But I think that, courageous and
self-reliant as he is, he did not and could not, at tho outset,
anticipate such a magnificent success as he has obtained. You have
also heard something of the society called the Cottage Arts
Association, founded by Mrs. Jebb, by which the villagers are taught
some of the minor arts.

This Association is, I am convinced, going to do a great work, and I
am very glad to be able to read you Mrs. Jebb's own testimony, the
fruit of her long experience. She says, 'We must give the
people--children of course included--opportunities of unofficial
intercourse with those who already love Art, and who can help them to
see and to discriminate. We must teach them to use their own hands and
eyes in doing actual Art w