It may indeed be said that the tongue of poetry is occasionally
silent, and the hand of painting sometimes stayed; but this seems not to
affect the ever-living principle which I claim as their characteristic.
They are heard and seen again in their season, as the birds and flowers
are at the coming of spring; and assert their title to such immortality
as the things of earth may claim. It is true that the poetry of
barbarous nations is rude, and their attempts at painting uncouth; yet
even in these we may recognise the foreshadowings of future excellence,
and something of the peculiar character which, in happier days, the
genius of the same tribe is to stamp upon worthier productions. The
future Scott, or Lawrence, or Chantrey, may be indicated afar-off in the
barbarous ballads, drawings, or carvings, of an early nation. Coarse
nature and crude simplicity are the commencement, as elevated nature and
elegant simplicity are the consummation of art.
"When the Spaniards invaded the palaces of Chili and Peru, they found
them filled with works of art. Cook found considerable beauty of drawing
and skill of workmanship in the ornamented weapons and war-canoes of the
islanders of the South Sea; and in the interior recesses of India,
sculptures and paintings, of no common merit, are found in every
village.
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