forcing reforms upon the Academy, left the agitators in a body, and proceeded to take counsel together as to the best means of furthering their aims, and the immediate result was the founding of the Arts aud Crafts Exhibition Society, which, after many difficulties, opened its first exhibition at the New Gallery in the autumn of 1888. The members of the society, who were also most of them members of the Art Workers' Guild aforementioned, were well aware of the difficulties they would have to face in the endeavor to realize their aims and carry out their principles. Their main object, however, was to demonstrate, by means of a representative public exhibition, the actual state of decorative art in all its kinds as far as possible. They desired to assert the claims of the decorative designer and craftsman to the position of artist, and give every one responsible in any way for the artistic character of a work full individual credit, by giving his name in the catalogue, whether the work was exhibited by a firm or not. They also desired to bring the worker and the public together. In spite of all draw backs the richness and artistic interest of the exhibition was generally acknowledged, and the novelty of the idea attracted the public. An exhibition of designs and cartoons for decoration had been held by the directors of the Grosvenor Gallery in 1881, but it was limited to this class of work, so that this Arts and Crafts Exhibition may be said to have been really the first which attempted anything like a representative and comprehensive display of, 'not only designs for work, but the actual work it self, for its artistic and decorative quality alone. It comprised designs and cartoons, modelled work, wood carving, furniture, tapestry and embroidery, and printed cottons; pottery, tiles, and glass; metalwork, jewelry, printed books, binding, calligraphy, and illumination; and undoubtedly included some of the best contemporary work which had been produced in England up to that time. The exhibition was repeated at the same place the following year at the same time, and also the year after, so that the society has now held three exhibitions, and promises another in 1893. It is obvious that exhibitions of this kind involve many more difficulties of or ganization and management than ordinary picture shows. The very fact of having to deal with such a variety of work as was submitted, and the conditions under which work in decoration is generally done (making it difficult for the artist to retain possession of his work for exhibition purposes), made the formation of such an exhibition at all no easy matter. Then there were two open and palpable dangers to be encountered. The danger of being swamped by a great influx of amateur work, as it is generally understood, on the one hand, and the danger of merely commercial work getting the upper hand on the other. To keep 66 Along the narrow strip of herbage strown That just divides the desert from the sown” was a delicate matter, and it was easy to wander off into the regions on either hand. For, in spite of the immense activity and industry, the independent artists in design and handicraft were but few; and, although many inventive brains and skilled hands might be disguised as Company," they had to be discovered; the bushel had to be taken away and the light put upon the candlestick of publicity, and this appeared to be a trial to some. and It might be thought to be of small importance, this matter of assigning artistic authorship or credit for any part of the work where it was due; and it may be quite true that when men have reached the point when artistic tradition and social condition both favor a fraternal co-operation in production, they can afford to sink the individual claim to distinction in the collective pride of saying " This is our work." But we have not reached that stage yet, and it seems only common fairness if individual and artistic responsibility is attached to a work the credit should go with them and be assigned in the proper quarter. In these days of commercial competition and sculptor's "ghost," it is perhaps hardly surprising that the assertion of such a principle might produce a little consternation, and also, in cases of a great multiplicity of cooks, it might easily be understood to be embarrassing, to distribute properly the individual responsibility for spoiling the broth, and, therefore, not wonderful that it should, in some instances, have been shirked altogether. As another indication of the way the wind was blowing, an Association was formed this same year (1888) for the Ad- All these movements may be but fluttervancement of Art in association with In- ing leaves in the wind, but at least they dustry-a somewhat large order. Almost serve to show its direction. The colors everything and everybody had had their of spring sometimes resemble those of aucongresses, and why not art? So an Art tumn; but the former are distinguished Congress was arranged to take place at by a certain daintiness and delicacy, a soft Liverpool in December of that year. It bloom of silver and russet comes over the was properly divided into sections for the woods before the cloud-like green drapes separate discussion of painting, architec. them for the coming summer. When we ture, sculpture, and decorative or applied see delicate and harmonious dyes and patart, as the phrase goes. It may be men- terns in the fabrics of the windows of comtioned here that the Society of Arts had merce; when we see dainty gowns in the before this formed a special committee to street, expressing the fair forms of their arrange for lectures and discussions on wearers with the grace of flowers; when the applied arts," and had also offered we see a certain sense of relation and harprizes to art workmen for excellence in mony of tint in the most ordinary arrangevarious departments of handicraft, and had inents of paint and paper in our interiors ; held a small exhibition of such works in when our chairs and couches not unfretheir rooms in the Adelphi. Well, the quently show lines of good breeding; Congress at Liverpool duly met, and every when we find books on the table which one having a particular axe to grind have been considered by their printers and brought it to the common grindstone of designers as works of art as well as of public discussion. It was a fairly repre- literature, and thus give a double pleasure, sentative parliament. The Royal Acade- since they satisfy more than one of the mician sat down with the Socialist; the senses-well we begin to think that somescientific color theorist fed with the prac- thing has happened to us; some new spirit tical decorator; the industrial villager has breathed upon the land, that such refaced the manufacturer; the art critic and finements should be possible to the modthe painter mingled their tears; and all crate citizen, remembering that such things were led to the pasture by a gentle fine art but a few years ago could not be had for professor. Some home truths were spoken, love or money. We might still be happy and there were many interesting papers were it not for the whirlwind of trade and and discussions, but whether we were the whirligig of fashion, which occasionreally nearer solving the problem how to ally seem to coquette with art, as a child bring about the marriage of art and indus- plays with a toy, but soon turns away to try is doubtful, though the association had continue their mad chase after a supposianother campaign at Edinburgh the fol- titious "novelty." Happily they leave lowing year, and one since at Birmingham. some quiet corners unswept, as they have Association and discussion among people always done, or wo could never have of common interests is, of course, good, known what the homes of our ancestors but art is a subject by its very nature diffiwere like. But how many still does Engcult to deal with in words, although per- land hold of those delightful places full of haps more is said about it in these days the pathos of passed time, where each than almost any other subject. dumb thing of wood, or iron, or copper, each fragment of faded tapestry seems to have the speech of romance, "A hair perhaps divides the false and true." We have no word symbols for defining those delicate shades of difference so important to the artist, and to be perpetually qualifying is fatiguing. It is useful to consider art in its relation to life; to consider how it is affected by economic conditions; to study its history and influence and the lives of its workers. even proceed a certain distance with general principles, but finally we must get down to the solid ground of practice to solve its real problems. One can new toys in front of a rich tapestried background, full of great deeds and roinances. In America the idea could not occur, and the absence of such suggestion is no doubt much felt by the more cultured and thoughtful, especially after visiting Europe. It may partly account, too, for the more fantastic character in the architecture of some of their recent country dwellings, which are full of ncoks and corners and odd gables and stairways, as if their designer wished to make up by his invention for the absence of old-time sentiment. Some of us appear to be trying to turn England into another America, forever scheming railways where they are not wanted, cutting down trees and clearing away old dwelling-places, and insulting even the green fields with advertisements. (This last is a recent innovation which ought to be promptly stopped, if we care for the scenery of our country.) Anything that interferes with extra percentages is as dust in the balance to such. In the destruction of beauty of any kind, however, is involved the destruction of the faculty of its perception and appreciation. The artistic capacity and sense of beauty must be fed by the contemplation of beauty, or both will in time perish. We cannot really satisfy one of the senses unless we satisfy them all. It is often said, "You must sacrifice this or that to comfort and convenience ;" but it is quite possible to have every so-called comfort and convenience, and yet to be anything but happy or comfortable. Unless the utilitarian succeeds in eliminating the sense of beauty and art altogether, the natural man will still revolt against the tyranny of mechanical and artificial conditions. Such revolts make epochs, and when the human mind is deeply stirred, it is sure, sooner or later, to find expression in some revival or new form of art. A great intellectual revolution has taken place in the last half century: a great social revolution is preparing, or even now progressing. Whether art will again be able to sum up and express adequately in monumental form the new life and its aspirations, as it expressed the heart of ancient life in Greece and mediæval Europe, must depend upon its power of appeal, and this again must depend upon the sensitiveness to form and color on the part of the people. In England the domestic sentiment is so strong that enthusiasm for large public works is rare, and opportunities for sculptor or painter to express anything like the generic thought of their time, or to touch the pride or hopes of the nation rarer still. It is true, we have our frescoes of English history at the Houses of Parliament, but they cannot be said, with the exception of the work of Mr. G. F. Watts, to have been conceived in an epic spirit. The art that is capable of illustrating this spirit is what is called decorative art: but the art which can cover large mural spaces with a people's history and legend in noble and typical forms; the art which can lift our souls with large thoughts, or enchant them with a sense of mystery and romance, can also be a familiar friend at our firesides, and touch each common thing of every-day use with beauty, weav ing its golden threads into the joys and sorrows of common life, and making happy both young and old.-Fortnightly Review. viewed with complacency or accepted without difficulty for so many ages. And not only the sentiment of our day, but what we take to be its more highly evolved moral perceptions, are shocked beyond expression at the doctrine that countless multitudes of mankind will burn forever in hell fire, out of which there is no possible redemption. Our experience shows that not a few persons have abandoned Christianity on account of this dogma, which also constitutes the very greatest difficulty for many who desire to obtain a rational religious belief and to accept the Church's teaching. Is, then, the doctrine against which so strong a repugnance is felt, really one essential to Christianity; and, if so, can it be a belief reconcilable with right reason, the highest morality and the greatest benevolence ? The following pages contain suggestions offered in reply to this important question about which we have found so widespread an interest to exist. They have been written under a deep sense of responsibility, with an earnest desire to study the question honestly and impartially; not in the spirit of an advocate, still less in that of a lover of paradox. They are addressed to Theists to those who believe in the existence of a God infinitely wise, powerful and good. It would obviously be absurd to argue concerning the nature and meaning of any doctrine, considered to be a revealed doctrine, with men for whom there is no God to reveal it. Secondly, we assume that our readers agree with us in accepting the doctrine of the soul's immortality and moral responsibility; our actions carrying with them consequences which extend into our future life. As we have done before (when considering the compatibility of Evolution and modern Biblical criticism with Christianity), so here also, we take the teaching of the Catholic Church as our standard. We do this not only because it is our inestimable privilege and unspeakable happiness to belong to it, but also because no other test could be so useful to Christians of all denominations. For if it should turn out that the oldest, the most authoritative and dogmatic Christian body should not have committed itself to any dogina about hell inevitably conflicting with reason and conscience, the members of more recent and less dogmatic bodies may (possibly with one or two exceptions) be relieved from uneasiness as to their own obligations in such respect. We repeat that our sense of responsibility is extreme, as is our desire in no way to trifle with so solemn a question. For the minds which are disturbed and distressed by difficulties about hell include many among the best of mankind. It is the very nobility of their character, the tenderness of their sympathetic feelings and the keenness of their perceptions concerning justice and benevolence, which make these difficulties seem to them so insurmountable. They would rejoice to find their distress needless; and to afford that satisfaction to such persons would be to us an exceedingly great consolation. We feel, therefore, the more bound not to blink any difficulty and to do our best to be scrupulously impartial and candid. In setting out to consider what is Catholic teaching on this terrible question, we are fortunate in being able to refer to two recent publications in English. The first of them is a book by the late Henry Nutcombe Oxenham* (devoted to setting out what the Catholic doctrine on this subject really is), which has not only met with no censure, but has been very generally approved of. The second publication † is an anonymous article written by a very distinguished theologian, and published in a periodical the name of which is a sufficient guarantee for the thorough orthodoxy of the writer. 66 It is most certain that the Catholic Church is definitely committed to the doctrine that souls condemned to hell remain there for all eternity and that all of them suffer the loss of the Beatific Vision of God (the pœna damni), while a portion of them further suffer what is technically denominated the pœna sensus-the equivalent of bell fire.' Universalism, or the final restitution of all men, is (as Mr. Oxenham has conclusively shown) utterly irreconcilable with Catholic doctrine. It is interesting to find that the Eastern Church (such a remarkable "survival" of earlier conditions) teaches the same doctrine. In The Orthodox Confession of the Catholic and Apostolic Eastern * Catholic Eschatology and Universalism (London, W. H. Allen & Co., 1878). "Everlasting Punishment," an article in the Dublin Review, vol. v. (third series), 1881, p. 117. Church," we find to the question "What is to be thought of those who die at enmity with God?" the following reply *: "Some will be chastised with heavier, some with lighter punishments, but all forever, according to the Scripture." Again, in the full Catechism of that Church, question 383 is: "But what will be the lot of unbelievers and transgressors?" and the answer is: "They will be given over to everlasting death-that is, to everlasting fire, to everlasting torment, with the devils.' 8. 66 To show that the teaching of the Catholic Church is at least in harmony with that of Scripture, we need only refer to Matthew xxv. 41, 46, Mark iii. 29 aud ix. 47 and 48, and Revelation xiv. 11, aud xxi. That the damned also do not acquire better dispositions is implied in Rev. xvi. 10, 11, where we read: And they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their wounds, and repented not of their deeds." 66 is not wonderful when we recollect how in Isaiah (xxxiii. 14) we read of "everlasting burnings," in Jeremiah (xxiii. 40) of "everlasting reproach," and in Daniel (xii. 2) of everlasting contempt. 66 The various Protestant sects generally followed, as concerns hell, the teaching of the Church; and Lutherans and Calvinists, Anglicans and Puritans, were in this perfectly agreed, and it is notorious that, until recently, the almost universal teaching of the Protestant clergy was that for the righteous there was everlasting happiness, and everlasting condemnation for the reprobate. That between those who are eternally excluded from heaven there are differences of condition-it may be enormous differences-is freely admitted both by Greeks and Latins; but it is no less true that such differences are declared to be nothing in comparison with the difference which exists between those admitted to the Beatific Vision and the most favored of all those * Quoted by Oxenham, op. cit. p. 204. + See his Sketches of Jewish Social Life, p. 180. who are excluded from it. Purgatory has nothing to do with the question here discussed, since it is but a passing, temporary state. The Church sets before men but two kinds of eternal existence-an eternal existence in possession of the Beatific Vision (that is, heaven), and an existence in eternal exclusion from it-which is hell. This has ever been Catholic teaching. In our parish churches it was customary to have a painting of the Last Judgment over the chancel arch. In the middle was a representation of Christ enthroned, as a judge; on his right hand were the just ascending to bliss, while on his left demons drove lost souls into the widely gaping jaws of hell. The same subject was often portrayed on the richly sculptured fonts of Gothic cathedrals-as may be very well seen at Amiens. The often grotesque realism and the monstrosities of such representations are apt now to raise a smile, but it was far otherwise with those who first conteinplated them, to whom they were a part of that" Bible for the people" which on all sides, in their places of worship, simultaneously appealed to their senses, their imagination, and their reason. The lessons inculcated by such imagery were in full accord with what was taught from the pulpit and by the writings of divines of those and of antecedent ages. They taught plainly that there were eternally in hell unspeakable torments (pœna sensus) in addition to the state of lossthe pana damni. This was the unanimous teaching of Saints and Fathers-especially homilists-such as St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, and so many more that it would be useless to attempt to enumerate them here. There can be no question but that the Catholic Church is irrevocably committed to the doctrine that not only are the damned damned for all eternity, but that their condition is least inadequately represented by images of the most extreme and varied torture. This teaching has been familiarly brought home to the people in the most startling and appalling manner by preachers and popular writers, age after age. Although the Church never hesitates to condemn what it deems erroneous teaching, it has never (so far as we know) condemned even that repulsive and widely known book entitled Hell Opened to Christians. This work was published |