tial difficulties of
the draftsman, and has a fair general knowledge of the laws of design,
but no acquaintance with their application to the art of wood-carving,
then the two factors which will most immediately affect his progress
(apart from natural aptitude) are his opportunities for practise, and
his knowledge of past and present conditions of work. No one can become
a good carver without considerable practise--constant, if the best
results are to be looked for. Just as truly, without some knowledge of
past and existing conditions of practise, none may hope to escape the
danger of becoming, on the one hand, dull imitators of the superficial
qualities of old work; or on the other, followers of the first
will-o'-the-wisp novelty which presents itself to their fancy.

If use of the tools and knowledge of materials were the only subjects of
which a carver need become master, there would be no way equal to the
old-fashioned one of apprenticeship to some good craftsman. Daily
practise with the tools insures a manual dexterity with which no amateur
need hope to compete. Many traditional expedients are handed down in
this way that can be acquired in no other. There is, however, another
side of the question to be considered, of quite as much importance as
the practical one of handicraft skill. The art of wood-carving has also
to fulfil its intellectual function, as an interpreter of the dreams and
fancies of imagination. In this respect there is little encouragement to
be looked for in the dull routine of a modern workshop.

There are, therefore, two widely separated standpoints from which the
art may be viewed. It may be looked at from the position of a regular
craftsman, who regards it primarily as his means of livelihood; or it
may be dealt with as a subject of intellectual interest, based upon its
relation to the laws of art in general. As, in the first instance, the
use of the tools can not be learned without _some_ accompanying
knowledge of the laws of art, however slight that acquaintance may be,
the method of apprenticeship has the advantage of being the more
practical of the two; but it must be accepted with all the conditions
imposed upon it by the pressure of commercial interest and its usages:
conditions, which, it may easily be imagined, are far more favorable to
the performance of dull task-work, than to the adventurous spirit of
curiosity which should prompt the enterprise of an energetic student.

On the ot