Page 219 - erewhon

Let me return, however, to the Erewhonians. Nothing
surprised me more than to see the occasional flashes of
common sense with which one branch of study or another
was lit up, while not a single ray fell upon so many others.
I was particularly struck with this on strolling into the Art
School of the University. Here I found that the course of
study was divided into two branches—the practical and the
commercial—no student being permitted to continue his
studies in the actual practice of the art he had taken up, un-
less he made equal progress in its commercial history.
Thus those who were studying painting were examined
at frequent intervals in the prices which all the leading pic-
tures of the last fifty or a hundred years had realised, and
in the fluctuations in their values when (as often happened)
they had been sold and resold three or four times. The artist,
they contend, is a dealer in pictures, and it is as important
for him to learn how to adapt his wares to the market, and
to know approximately what kind of a picture will fetch
how much, as it is for him to be able to paint the picture.
This, I suppose, is what the French mean by laying so much
stress upon ‘values.’
As regards the city itself, the more I saw the more
enchanted I became. I dare not trust myself with any de-
scription of the exquisite beauty of the different colleges,
and their walks and gardens. Truly in these things alone
there must be a hallowing and refining influence which is in
itself half an education, and which no amount of error can
wholly spoil. I was introduced to many of the Professors,
who showed me every hospitality and kindness; neverthe-

1 Erewhon