1 AMERICAN PREFACE.
We do not want that: we want an art of our own, and we shall
surely have it one day, as fine as the world has yet seen, original,
springing in its characteristic essence from the soil, from American
civilization. Like all good art it will be rational, not a capiice,
not a trick; it will be founded on those general principles wliich
are teachable, which underlie all art, wliich can be learned by the
people, and when learned will enable them, if not to produce
great original works, at least to comprehend and enjoy the highest
achievements in art.
