The Norton Anthology of English literature. Volume 2

3. Never encourage imitation or copying of any kind, except for the sake of preserving record of great works. The second of these principles is the only one which directly rises out of

the consideration of our immediate subject; but I shall briefly explain the

meaning and extent of the first also, reserving the enforcement of the third

for another place.

1. Never encourage the manufacture of anything not necessary, in the production of which invention has no share.

For instance. Glass beads are utterly unnecessary, and there is no design or

thought employed in their manufacture. They are formed by first drawing out

the glass into rods; these rods are chopped up into fragments of the size of

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THE STONES OF VENICE / 1331

beads by the human hand, and the fragments are then rounded in the furnace.

The men who chop up the rods sit at their work all day, their hands vibrating

with a perpetual and exquisitely timed palsy, and the beads dropping beneath

their vibration like hail. Neither they, nor the men who draw out the rods or

fuse the fragments, have the smallest occasion for the use of any single human

faculty; and every young lady, therefore, who buys glass beads is engaged in

the slave trade, and in a much more cruel one than that which we have so

long been endeavouring to put down.6 But glass cups and vessels may become the subjects of exquisite invention;

and if in buying these we pay for the invention, that is to say for the beautiful

form, or color, or engraving, and not for mere finish of execution, we are doing

good to humanity.

So, again, the cutting of precious stones, in all ordinary cases, requires little

exertion of any mental faculty; some tact and judgment in avoiding flaws, and

so on, but nothing to bring out the whole mind. Every person who wears cut

jewels merely for the sake of their value is, therefore, a slave driver.

But the working of the goldsmith, and the various designing of grouped

jewelry and enamel-work, may become the subject of the most noble human

intelligence. Therefore, money spent in the purchase of well-designed plate,

of precious engraved vases, cameos, or enamels, does good to humanity; and,

in work of this kind, jewels may be employed to heighten its splendor; and

their cutting is then a price paid for the attainment of a noble end, and thus

perfectly allowable. I shall perhaps press this law farther elsewhere, but our immediate concern

is chiefly with the second, namely, never to demand an exact finish, when it

does not lead to a noble end. For observe, I have only dwelt upon the rudeness

of Gothic, or any other kind of imperfectness, as admirable, where it was

impossible to get design or thought without it. If you are to have the thought

of a rough and untaught man, you must have it in a rough and untaught way;

but from an educated man, who can without effort express his thoughts in an

educated way, take the graceful expression, and be thankful. Only get the

thought, and do not silence the peasant because he cannot speak good gram

mar, or until you have taught him his grammar. Grammar and refinement are

good things, both, only be sure of the better thing first. And thus in art, delicate

finish is desirable from the greatest masters, and is always given by them. In

some places Michael Angelo, Leonardo, Phidias, Perugino, Turner7 all fin

ished with the most exquisite care; and the finish they give always leads to the

fuller accomplishment of their noble purposes. But lower men than these

cannot finish, for it requires consummate knowledge to finish consummately,

and then we must take their thoughts as they are able to give them. So the

rule is simple: Always look for invention first, and after that, for such execution

as will help the invention, and as the inventor is capable of without painful

effort, and no more. Above all, demand no refinement of execution where there

is no thought, for that is slaves' work, unredeemed. Rather choose rough work

than smooth work, so only that the practical purpose be answered, and never

6. Although the Atlantic slave trade had been out-da Vinci (1452�1519), Italian painter, sculptor, lawed early in the 18th century, transatlantic traf-and scientist; Phidias (born ca. 490 B.C.E.), an Athficking in African slaves continued until slavery enian often called the greatest Greek sculptor; was made illegal everywhere in the Americas. Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci, ca. 7. All notable artists: Michelangelo (1475-1564), 1450-1523); and J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), Italian sculptor, painter, and architect; Leonardo British painter.

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133 2 / JOHN RUSKIN

imagine there is reason to be proud of anything that may be accomplished by

patience and sandpaper.

I shall only give one example, which however will show the reader what I

mean, from the manufacture already alluded to, that of glass. Our modern

glass is exquisitely clear in its substance, true in its form, accurate in its cut

ting. We are proud of this. We ought to be ashamed of it. The old Venice glass