MR. A. C. BENSON AND WILLIAM MORRIS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 134, 29 February 1908, Page 12

MR. A. C. BENSON AND WILLIAM MORRIS.

William Morris, is the subject .of Mr. A. C. -■Bonbon's article in ■ the January number of «'tH6 --"Cornhill," and it- is full of charm. . ,w ;"AIL-.that aftornoofij' 1 ' ho ,says,. "among thrquiet' fields, ; with, f ,.t]ie .white; clouds rolling' up' over the the wolds, I was ! -haunted with th'o .thought ! s :of; that burly ■iguro ill the groat head : Iwitli,. its curly hair iSpdibeird-; .the? eyes ftfeat' so guarded Jand,unobservant, aiifj',that yet saw and noted, every smallest detailj tlie big clumsy' hands, apt 'for- such .dolicaoy. ,of work; :to seo .lnm in his' 7 : rough 'bluersiiit,!'.his .' easy 'rolling gait, wandering' about, stooping to look ;■ at' the .flowers' m the 1 bods, ior glancing up: at tho/'slq, or-sauntonng off 1 to fish m the stream,ior .'writing sivif'tly in the iparlour, : or working :at his doom ; so bluff, so kindly, so blunt in address, so unaffected, loving all that ■.he : f.ull-bloodod : ana restless life.runnnig.'soivigorously.in his veins. "In. the -middle; of ■ all this, happy activity a .cloud came over his ■ nimd, bloljting out the sunshine. Partly, , perhaps, -private sorrows had something.to do with it; partly, perhaps, a weakening of .physical fibre, after a life of; raormQUS-'produotirtty' and restless oiiergy; ! made itself felt.', But these wero onlv incidental causes. What began.to weigh i upon ?him : ,was-tlje; thought-of all tlief toiling thousands .of humauity, v.'hose l(ves of labour, precluded them from tho onjoymont of all or , nearly all of the beautiful things that were to him the-very essence of lifo; and, what was:worse' still, he perceived that the ; ver j-faculty, of-.higher ''enjoyment was lacking, ~.tho,instinct. for. beauty having been atrophied and . almost by. sad inheritance.: He saw.: that l .not. only , did the workers; not feel th?.!.joyful love of tart -and ..natural.•beauty but' that- thev could not havo enjoyed' sueh if they wore to be brought.near, to .them ;• and then oamo.tho i^^a^ : -and- a soulless thing. >./, He " saw round him beautiful old 'houses like-his.own, old- churches -which spoke of a high natural instinct for fineness' of,form . an4>detailes&f- fclji 11 gs■ seenitid to - stand for. a---widespread .'and'-.lively .joy in simple beauty which seemed to have vanished out of the world. In : ancient times it was natural to ,the{old builders, if thiay. had; -say./a 1 .barn to make'jt, strong and 'seemly . and gracefyl; to'buttross it with stono; to , stow cnro. aivd thought .upon coign and win-, dow-ledge'and dripstone, to prop tho roof on firmiand shapely.rbeams;' aud to cover :it. with ' hohest:.;sF6ne !; feach, one -'of. which- had an individuality,of,,jt?.v9\vn. ~/., . " "But now he sawthat if people bmlt naturally, they : ran 'Up,,flimsy: valla of. bridlt, tied them together with iron rods, and put a ourvedi'roof'.afvgalvanisod iron pn tho : top,It was bad enough that it should bo built so, but: what -'Iwas 'SvorseJs'tiir was that no one saw or. .heeded, .thoji,difference'-; • they thought .they.now- stvle^was; mote" convenient, / and tlie question' of beauty.'never: ontered thoir, minds at all. They- remorselessly pulled down, or jpatched meanly and sordidly, Vthe, old work. '■4nd.thus lie began to'feel that;liioderh. art .was!.''an essentially artificial thing, a -luxury existing for a few leisurely people, and no longer - based ,on a deep universal instinct, He thought that art was wounde.d'to death byjcompetitioh: ind.hurry.'arid vulgarity.'and. rnaterialisrh't and'that.jt must ,die down alto' ,gether v bofofo: a 'swoct 'natural product., could; . ; gvsisi teipliui^ed- into; Socialism.':' And ..thetts at^'^ast^aftcr^ •of intrigue-and squabble, and- jealousy, one lafterc.ahpthdr./of the organisations ; h'o : .jdihed ;brolje,a. i ;do\v , ri*, Half gratefully ■ and iluownfully- he disengaged i hunsolf, not Ik)-. .'oaii'so;;he .did not believe -'iiv his' principles, jbuti;becauso ho saw.that the diiticulties were 'insliperablq. ; He came back,to'tlie old life;, ,;h6,:.fl,ung himself with, renewed 'ardour into i Ho bogan. to-w'rito 1 ;th6 beautiful ; and romantio prose tales, •with. .tKeii'Xenchanting . titlGs',i.:whiclj- are, perhaps,'; ;his"' characteristic work.V He learnt; by slow, degrees that a clean sweep of. an evil system cannot be made, in a, period or a ]ife;.timgv by '-'an individuals"' however serious :.or strenuous-lie may be ;'. lie' began to perceive' is .tojmt ideas ,in .practioe,: first*' be thore,' clearly ,'d«K apprehended;'and that it is toTurgo TOon -.to'; a'. life' of. which tlioy hayajpqixohceptioh and for which thoy have .no;;deSirei' ' ' . .- ;

had always hold it to bo a sacred 'duty for people to live, if possible, in whatever among beautiful things; and one man iiv one jzenor Tatibir-has.-over-affeated*-3p ihuoh' in this tlirectioiy. Hq has, indeed, leavened and educated taste; ho has destroyed a vile and hypocritical tradition of domestic art; by his he .has 'opened, a dooj 1 ; for, countless minds' into a veniotc and fragrant region of unspoilt rojnahcsv;! and" more still than this, he remains .arg&Kuwplo ,of!';on9 ; ; who made a great and triumphant resignation of all that he most, dear-, the sake of. doing vhaivhe thongßi;to-bftlrigW.' He was'iiot an as,catjc, gjvingtup 'what is half air encumbrance'and, hiilf.a : terror, nor was lie naturally: a" melancholy and detached person; but he gave up work which lie loved .passionately, and» a life, which ho lived in a full-blooded, generous. w&y,.that ho might,try to share.'his bjessingsj . others',-, out ■ of. a supreme; pity for thoso less richly endowed than himself."