On the Distinctive Character of the Various Styles of Ornamentation Employed by the Early British, Anglo-Saxon and Irish Artists

THE practice of decorating, with some kind of ornament or other, such objects as are or have been regarded with more than ordinary interest, appears to be universal among mankind, and to have been adopted in every age and by every nation ; a child cuts notches at regular intervals on his little switch, and a South-Sea islander decorates his favourite Avar club as elaborately as ever monkish artist illuminated the pages of his psalter or missal.It is, however, in the elimination of the various styles adopted by different artists and in different nations, that we look for the result of a higher or lower degree of mental cultivation, and of national prejudices and tastes; for, if we except the few primary principles of ornamentation which are to be found, necessarily, in the earliest attempts of every age and nation, Ave find that the more elaborate a style of decoration becomes the further does it recede from the primitive type, and a more fixed and national mannerism is the result.Every one, for instance, at once recognises the divers styles adopted by the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Chinese, the New Zealanders, &c., because each of these styles is marked by its own peculiar features, which, although they may be traced back to certain simple types, have yet acquired such distinct characteristics as to make themselves known at once to the experienced eye.I think it the more important to dwell on this subject in some detail, because it appears to me that some unlooked-for results of considerable importance, with reference to the early history of different portions of our own country, may be VOL.X

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