It has been said, "The camera sees far more than the eye takes in at any given moment, and sees it with an impartiality for which there is no parallel in the human vision." This objection has been answered in the body of the work; it only holds true with bad work, and with that we are in no way concerned.

A kindly critic, who did us the honour of reviewing us in the Spectator, said if our "contention were true, painting would have said its last word, and sculpture would no doubt soon be superseded by some mechanical contrivance, which would be to clay and marble what the camera is to plane surfaces." Now we must break a lance with this reviewer and gentleman; we wish all reviewers deserved the last title. We fail to see why painting should have said its last word - for our contention is true - pace our reviewer. The great fact of colour alone places true painting as a method of expression far above any other method. When photographs can be taken in natural colours, then will be the time to discuss the probable dying groans of painting. As to sculpture, it seems to us useless to discuss the merits of "probable mechanical contrivances;" when they are invented the time will come to discuss them. At present the only comparison that can be made is that between a cast of, say, a hand from life, and a modelled hand. When this comparison is made, the "cast from life" will be found poor and mean - it is not a true impression. The modelled hand may be so, if the sculptor is good. It is of course needless to point out that the principle of tone holds in sculpture as in painting, but the cast from life cannot have subtleties of tone for a very obvious physiological reason, namely, reflex action. If you touch a hand with a foreign substance, reflex action is set up, and there is an alteration in the heights and depths of the modelling, and the play of light gives a different impression. Now, when a living hand is covered with plaster a rough model is obtained - a model of its structure merely, and all the subtleties of tone are lost. Those subtleties would, however, all be given in a photograph, for nothing is touched, and a true impression is rendered of the hand. What more hideous travesty of nature is there than a cast taken from a dead subject - the cast being merely an exaggeration of the faults in a cast taken from life?

Here, then, we must leave photography at the head of the methods for interpreting nature in monochrome, and we feel sure that any one who comes to the study of photography with a rational and an unbiassed mind will admit there is no case to be made out against it as a means of artistic expression. This much has been allowed by very many of our friends, who are at the same time accomplished artists - etchers, painters, and sculptors.

The student must remember, then, that a first-rate photograph, like a first-rate pencil drawing, pen-and-ink drawing, etching, or mezzotint, is far and away superior to a second-rate painting. The greatest geniuses in art will admire the one and will not tolerate the other; but the student must also remember that a false "picture" is worse than nothing.

The student should acquaint himself with the best specimens of the various pictorial arts mentioned in this chapter, and he can do this with little difficulty by obtaining a ticket for the print-room at the British Museum; while in the provinces there are no doubt good specimens at the local galleries. Cambridge, we know, is very rich in Rembrandt's work. The masters in each department whose work we recommend for study are -

Some Masters Of The Minor Arts

In Lead Pencil

Harding and Bonington in Engand, and Ingres in France.

Pen And Ink

Titian, Albert Durer, Rembrandt, Fortuny, Rousseau, abroad; and among Englishmen - Leech, Caldecott, De Maurier.

Chalk

Da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, Rembrandt, Raphael, Titian, Constable and Millet.

Lithography

Harding.

Chromo-Lithography

Greg.

Line Engraving

Albert Durer, and Cousins.

Wood Engraving

Bewick, Thompson, and Linton.

Facsimile Wood Engraving

"The Century," Scrib-ner's, and Harper's Magazines.

Etching

Rembrandt, Millet, Meryon, Rajon, and Whistler.

Facsimile Etching

Brunet-Debaines.

Charcoal

Lhermitte.

Monochrome Painting

Mauve and Rossi.

Mezzotint

Turner's and Lupton's reproductions of some of the plates of Turner's "Liber Studiorum," Smith's reproductions of Sir Joshua Reynolds' pictures, and Lucas' plates after Constable.

Photography

Adam Salomon, Rejlander, and Mrs. Cameron.

Photogravure In Facsimile

A. Dawson, W. Colls, and Scamoni.

Final.

It must not be forgotten that water-colour drawing and etching have both been despised in their time by artists, dealers, and the public, but they have lived to conquer for themselves places of honour. The promising young goddess, photography, is but fifty years old. What prophet will venture to cast her horoscope for the year 2000?