e revolt into conformity,
and the sworn friendships fade away into dull indifference. Always? Well,
no, not exactly.

In this instance the plans and dreams found form; the revolt was a
revolution that succeeded; and the brotherhood existed for near fifty
years, and then was severed only by death.

Without going into a history of the Preraphaelite Brotherhood, it will be
noted that the band of enthusiasts in art, literature and architecture had
been swung by the arguments and personality of William Morris into the
strong current of his own belief, and this was that Art and Life in the
Middle Ages were much lovelier things than they are now.

That being so, we should go back to medieval times for our patterns.

A study of the best household decorations of the Fifteenth Century showed
that all the furniture used then was made to fit a certain apartment, and
with a definite purpose in view.

Of course it was made by hand, and the loving marks of the tool were upon
it. It was made as good and strong and durable as it could be made. Floors
and walls were of mosaic or polished wood, and these were partly covered
by beautifully woven rugs, skins and tapestries. The ceilings were
sometimes ornamented with pictures painted in harmony with the use for
which the room was designed. Certainly there were no chromos and the
pictures were few and these of the best, for the age was essentially a
critical one.

A modest circular was issued in which the fact was made known that "a
company of historical artists will use their talents in home decoration."

Dealers into whose hands this circular fell, smiled in derision, and the
announcement made no splash in England's artistic waters. But the leaven
was at work which was bound to cause a revolution in the tastes of fifty
million people.

Most of our best moves are accidents, and every good thing begins as
something else. In the beginning there was no expectation of building up a
trade or making a financial success of the business. The idea was simply
that the eight young men who composed the band were to use their influence
in helping one another to secure commissions, and corroborate the views of
doubting patrons as to what was art and what not. In other words, they
were to stand by one another.

Ford Madox Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Arthur Hughes
were painters; Philip Webb an architect; Peter Paul Marshall a
landscape-gardener and engineer; Charles Joseph Faul