Artcannotclaimtobeonalevelwithphilosophyorreligion, , , asisprovedbythefactthattheMahometans, andmanysectsofChristians, , whetherChristianorGentile, hasnotbeen ‘woodorstone,’ ‘holesandcavesoftheearth’; inthesecondorthirdgeneration, theyhavehadmosques, temples, churches, , likethefirstrevelationofthem, hascomefromwithinandhasgenerallydisregardedexternalceremoniesandaccompaniments.

—when, asinthethirdBook, heinsiststhatyouthshouldbebroughtupamidwholesomeimagery; andagaininBookX, , whichsomeofusalmostdeify, havefallenshortoftheirhigheraim, ; ; andtobanishartwouldbetobanishthought, tobanishlanguage, ; eventheMahometanwhorenouncestheuseofpicturesandimageshasatempleinwhichheworshipstheMostHigh, ; , whentheybecomefamiliarizedtous, arealwaystendingtopassintotheformoffeeling.

; heisprotestingagainstthedegeneracyofpoetryinhisowndayaswemightprotestagainstthewantofseriouspurposeinmodernfiction, againsttheunseemlinessorextravaganceofsomeofourpoetsornovelists, againstthetime-servingofpreachersorpublicwriters, ‘paintinferiortruth’ and ‘areconcernedwiththeinferiorpartofthesoul’; ,—’thebeautywhichmeetsthesenselikeabreezeandimperceptiblydrawsthesoul, eveninchildhood, intoharmonywiththebeautyofreason.’