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                           4
old or foreign painters and no want
of patronage for those of our own We
do not pretend to know all the artists of
the country but we take such an inter-
est in the arts that we think we
have heard of all the good ones; and
as far as our information extends
we say that they have nothing to com-
plain of The source of the mistake
and disappointment of others is this:
our artists do but begin their education
in Europe: they are sent there as soon
as they discover the first symptoms of
genius and before it is well ascertained
whether it is worth while for them to
go There they seem at first to be
making prodigious advances (for in art,
it is not the premier but the dernier pas
qui coute) and either from impatience
or necessity they hasten home to enjoy
prematurely the fruits of their studies
In so doing they indurate the taste of the
country as it is natural enough they should
having left it before their own was formed
Besides it is so much easier to learn to judge
rightly than to paint well that even with
less opportunity our judgement may at least
have kept pace with the progress of their skill
A taste for the fine arts is but of recent and
has therefore been of very rapid growth among
us It [[page torn]] likely therefore that the