ABSTRACT
The interplay of action and reaction is one of the laws of life; which, like an infallible instinct, wiser than we, restores in us an equilibrium which we exercize our ingenuity in destroying. This interplay of natural compensations explains to some extent the variations of taste, less capricious than they might seem to be. The modern taste in architecture, and in the various forms of decoration, tends without question to bareness, simplification, the elimination of fussy ornament. An acquaintance with the abysmal depth of evil concealed in human nature is of course an experience, but it is assuredly incompatible with a certain Franciscan candour which offers another and possibly more extensive experience. Traditions, whether they relate to dress, or customs, or morals, are complicated things, as confused as the ancient portions of our cities. Madame Bovary says, "that Emma Bovary is a Pecuchet in petticoats, who makes love as the other takes up agriculture or phrenology".
