Having done this, you must place your workman in the midst of beautiful surroundings.  The artist is not dependent on the visible and the tangible.  He has his visions and his dreams to feed on.  But the workman must see lovely forms as he goes to his work in the morning and returns at eventide.  And, in connection with this, I want to assure you that noble and beautiful designs are never the result of idle fancy or purposeless day-dreaming.  They come only as the accumulation of habits of long and delightful observation.  And yet such things may not be taught.  Right ideas concerning them can certainly be obtained only by those who have been accustomed to rooms that are beautiful and colours that are satisfying.

Perhaps one of the most difficult things for us to do is to choose a notable and joyous dress for men.  There would be more joy in life if we were to accustom ourselves to use all the beautiful colours we can in fashioning our own clothes.  The dress of the future, I think, will use drapery to a great extent and will abound with joyous colour.  At present we have lost all nobility of dress and, in doing so, have almost annihilated the modern sculptor.  And, in looking around at the figures which adorn our parks, one could almost wish that we had completely killed the noble art.  To see the frockcoat of the drawing-room done in bronze, or the double waistcoat perpetuated in marble, adds a new horror to death.  But indeed, in looking through the history of costume, seeking an answer to the questions we have propounded, there is little that is either beautiful or appropriate.  One of the earliest forms is the Greek drapery which is so exquisite for young girls.  And then, I think we may be pardoned a little enthusiasm over the dress of the time of Charles I., so beautiful indeed, that in spite of its invention being with the Cavaliers it was copied by the Puritans.  And the dress for the children of that time must not be passed over.  It was a very golden age of the little ones.  I do not think that they have ever looked so lovely as they do in the pictures of that time.  The dress of the last century in England is also peculiarly gracious and graceful.  There is nothing bizarre or strange about it, but it is full of harmony and beauty.  In these days, when we have suffered so dreadfully from the incursions of the modern milliner, we hear ladies boast that they do not wear a dress more than once.  In the old days, when the dresses were decorated with beautiful designs and worked with exquisite embroidery, ladies rather took a pride in bringing out the garment and wearing it many times and handing it down to their daughters—­a process that would, I think, be quite appreciated by a modern husband when called upon to settle his wife’s bills.