DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6523#0128
my scarves and shaking them out before it. I do-
not, however, propose to go on that particular line
to-night. I may just say, in passing, with regard to-
it, that the very fact that our Chairman mentioned,
those painted beams in some now dark houses, rather
points to a matter which, to my mind, is of supreme-
importance. The fact that men would paint beauti-
fully without, as the Chairman quite truly said, any
ostentation in their minds means that the sense of
beauty is woven into the very nature of the people ;,
that the artist works for joy in his work and not
simply for making things which he can sell at a
profit; and in estimating the value of a nation, one
always has to take into account the refinement, the-
grace, the delicacy of thought, as well as the delicacy
of the bodies of the people, for it is very largely by
these qualities that a nation lives in history. Modern
Greece is little thought of among the Powers of the
world to-day, but ancient Greece, the Greece of perfect
art, the Greece of perfect literary expression, the
Greece that left us such magnificent architecture,,
such exquisite statuary, that Greece lives in the
heart of every nation and its immortality in hu-
manity is assured. It is partly for the value of
beauty, in the refinement, in the happiness of a
^nation that I would fain preserve, not exclusively
but preserve to a large extent, the handicraft indus-
tries, in order that the man who creates may take joy
m his creation, and that the effect of that on the mass-
not, however, propose to go on that particular line
to-night. I may just say, in passing, with regard to-
it, that the very fact that our Chairman mentioned,
those painted beams in some now dark houses, rather
points to a matter which, to my mind, is of supreme-
importance. The fact that men would paint beauti-
fully without, as the Chairman quite truly said, any
ostentation in their minds means that the sense of
beauty is woven into the very nature of the people ;,
that the artist works for joy in his work and not
simply for making things which he can sell at a
profit; and in estimating the value of a nation, one
always has to take into account the refinement, the-
grace, the delicacy of thought, as well as the delicacy
of the bodies of the people, for it is very largely by
these qualities that a nation lives in history. Modern
Greece is little thought of among the Powers of the
world to-day, but ancient Greece, the Greece of perfect
art, the Greece of perfect literary expression, the
Greece that left us such magnificent architecture,,
such exquisite statuary, that Greece lives in the
heart of every nation and its immortality in hu-
manity is assured. It is partly for the value of
beauty, in the refinement, in the happiness of a
^nation that I would fain preserve, not exclusively
but preserve to a large extent, the handicraft indus-
tries, in order that the man who creates may take joy
m his creation, and that the effect of that on the mass-