hosen music of liberty only. Other messages are there in
the wonder of wind-swept heights and the majesty of silent deep--messages
that, if you will listen to them, will give you the wonder of all new
imagination, the treasure of all new beauty.

We spend our days, each one of us, in looking for the secret of life.
Well, the secret of life is in art.

HOUSE DECORATION

A lecture delivered in America during Wilde's tour in 1882. It was
announced as a lecture on 'The Practical Application of the Principles of
the AEsthetic Theory to Exterior and Interior House Decoration, With
Observations upon Dress and Personal Ornaments.' The earliest date on
which it is known to have been given is May 11, 1882.

In my last lecture I gave you something of the history of Art in England.
I sought to trace the influence of the French Revolution upon its
development. I said something of the song of Keats and the school of the
pre-Raphaelites. But I do not want to shelter the movement, which I have
called the English Renaissance, under any palladium however noble, or any
name however revered. The roots of it have, indeed, to be sought for in
things that have long passed away, and not, as some suppose, in the fancy
of a few young men--although I am not altogether sure that there is
anything much better than the fancy of a few young men.

When I appeared before you on a previous occasion, I had seen nothing of
American art save the Doric columns and Corinthian chimney-pots visible
on your Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Since then, I have been through your
country to some fifty or sixty different cities, I think. I find that
what your people need is not so much high imaginative art but that which
hallows the vessels of everyday use. I suppose that the poet will sing
and the artist will paint regardless whether the world praises or blames.
He has his own world and is independent of his fellow-men. But the
handicraftsman is dependent on your pleasure and opinion. He needs your
encouragement and he must have beautiful surroundings. Your people love
art but do not sufficiently honour the handicraftsman. Of course, those
millionaires who can pillage Europe for their pleasure need have no care
to encourage such; but I speak for those whose desire for beautiful
things is larger than their means. I find that one great trouble all
over is that your workmen are not given to noble designs. You cannot be
indifferent to this, because