pretation of itself. The drama, for instance, was written for the purpose of being interpreted by men and women; had it been written to be performed by puppets it would have been written differently. "All good dramatists," says A. W. Schlegel, "have uniformly had the action in some degree present to their minds. . . . The speeches should be so framed that an intelligent actor could hardly fail to give them the proper action." 1 The Sonata or Symphony was written for the purpose of being transmitted by human agency to the ears of an audience. If it had been written to be played by a mechanical contrivance -say a gigantic musical-box-it would have been written differently. The playwright is none the less playwright and the composer is none the less composer, because the one looks to actors and actresses and the other to vocalists and instrumentalists, to give effect to their work; neither are the performers any the more dramatists or composers, because the author thus takes them into

1 Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature, p. 332.

account. It may happen that in the case of a bad play the characters are so poorly delineated that the players are obliged to fill in the deficiencies, or it may happen that a moribund piece of music is electrified into life by the skill of the conductor; and in so far as this occurs players and conductor may be called creators or artists. But bad Art cannot make good terminology, and sincerity in choice of words may well go hand in hand with sincerity of praise for fine interpretation.

Moreover, if we would free our minds from nebulosities, it is not enough to define, at least within certain broad margins, the meaning of the word Art; we must also recognise within Art itself some valuable distinctions. If the proper business of Art be the transmission of an Idea from one mind to another, no vehicle has yet been discovered equal to language, and no form of language equal to Poetry. Again, though language is susceptible of deep study and fine management, it is not a gross and stubborn material, like that of paint and clay, nor is its technique

conditioned by the powers of interpretation of wood and brass, of catgut and sheep-skin; wherefore its manipulation and its technique need not absorb the whole intellect and energy of the Artist, to the great detriment of the study and management of that ethereal material, that exquisite instrument, the Mind itself, from which all Art primarily proceeds. In a word, language is the direct expression of the mind, with no intervention except pen, ink, and paper, the use of which can be learnt in childhood; and therefore if the Poet steeps his mind in Poetry he merely dyes it with its own. native element; there is no need, or at least no temptation, for him to subdue it to the Technique of the Senses. It is plain, therefore, that the rightful place of Poetry is at the head of all the Arts.

In such a matter individual taste goes for little. It may be that outward sight and sound appeal more to most people than the inward sight and sound communicated by Poetry; but if so, it is chiefly because most people expect Art to gratify their senses

rather than to enlighten their understanding.

Whenever, therefore, I am compelled, by the exigencies of common speech, to use the word Art, I beg that it will be understood to include, first and principally, the Art of Poetry; and secondly, the handmaid of Poetry, Music.

CHAPTER II

THE CONSECRATION OF HERESY

Ar this stage of our inquiry, it is perhaps wise to repeat once more that the real and eternal interest of the Book of Job lies in the conflict between Job and his Friends, the spiritual significance of which is of far deeper import than appears on the surface.

What great types, then, in the history of the world do Job and his friends represent? What constantly conflicting powers had the poet in his mind when he delineated their characters ?

There can be no doubt about the friends. They have the two clear "stigmata” of their class-reiteration rather than argument, and the claim of complete and final knowledge. "It is only the head of the Popish Church who assumes the title of God's vice-regent upon earth, but the feeling is nearly common to all the oracular interpreters of the