from another source. Whenever
I think of Homer, which is not often, he walks before me, solemn and serene, as
in the vision of the great Italian; in countenance neither sorrowful nor glad,
followed by other bards, and holding in his right hand a sword!«
    »That is a finer conception than this,« said Flemming. »And I perceive from
your words, as well as from this book, that you have a true feeling for Art, and
understand what it is. You have had bright glimpses into the enchanted land.«
    »I trust,« replied the lady, modestly, »that I am not wholly without this
feeling. Certainly I have as strong and passionate a love of Art as of Nature.«
    »But does it not often offend you to hear people speaking of Art and Nature
as opposite and discordant things? Surely nothing can be more false. Nature is a
revelation of God; Art a revelation of man. Indeed, Art signifies no more than
this. Art is Power. That is the original meaning of the word. It is the creative
power by which the soul of man makes itself known, through some external
manifestation or outward sign. As we can always hear the voice of God, walking
in the garden, in the cool of the day, or under the starlight, where, to quote
one of this poet's verses, high prospects and the brows of all steep hills and
pinnacles thrust up themselves for shows, - so under the twilight and the
starlight of past ages do we hear the voice of man, walking amid the works of
his hands, and city walls and towers, and the spires of churches, thrust up
themselves for shows.«
    The lady smiled at his warmth; and he continued: -
    »This, however, is but a similitude; and Art and Nature are more nearly
allied than by similitudes only. Art is the revelation of man; and not merely
that, but likewise the revelation of Nature, speaking through man. Art preëxists
in Nature, and Nature is reproduced in Art. As vapors from the ocean, floating
landward and dissolved in rain, are carried back in rivers to the ocean, so
thoughts and the semblances of things that fall upon the soul of man in showers
flow out again in living streams of Art, and lose themselves in the great ocean,
which is Nature. Art and Nature are not, then, discordant, but ever harmoniously
working in each other.«
    Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm. Flemming spake with such evident interest in
the subject that Miss Ashburton did