ABSTRACT
The essence and charm of that unquiet and delightful epoch is ignorance of self as well as ignorance of life. This, which is not so much a vocation for art as an impatience of all other honest trades, frequently exists alone; and so existing, it will pass gently away in the course of years. Perceiving recondite merits very hard to attain, making or swallowing artistic formula , or perhaps falling in love with some particular proficiency of his own, many artists forget the end of all art: to please. There should be no honors for the artist; he has already, in the practice of his art, more than his share of the rewards of life; the honors are pre-empted for other trades, more laborious and perhaps more useful. But the artist steps forth out of the crowd and proposes to delight: an impudent design in which it is impossible to fail without odious circumstances.
