ABSTRACT
These lectures, by the author of The Earthly Paradise,-hitnself a practised decorator and artist, or rather, as he prefers to call himself: a 'craftsman,'-were delivered in Birmingham, London, and Nottingham. It would be difficult to give a general account of them, because they traverse very large and not very clearly defined fields of opinion; but it is easy to indicate what is their tendency, to praise their energy and common sense, and even to illustrate the occasional bits of whim, the genial dogmatism, and the poetic fancy which add not a little to their charm and secure for Mr. Morris the sympathy of his hearers. Excellent lectures have been delivered with earnestness equal to his, and yet have moved no one; and men as learned as our author have failed to make themselves heard; but even the truisms of Mr. Morris catch the ears of his audiences, and fix themselves in the memory of most of those who read his books.
