270 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
himself, to whom both art and politics, except in so far as they bore directly on life, were alike meaningless, only represented two distinct points at which
the defense of life against barbarism could be carried on The Society
for the Protection of Ancient Buildings has had a long, a quiet, and not a useless life; and has, directly or indirectly, saved many remnants of the native art of England from destruction.
Part of a letter he wrote the Athenaum in this cause reads : " What I wish, therefore, is that an association should be set on foot to keep a watch on old monuments, to protest against all ' restoration ' that means more than keeping out wind and weather, and by all means, literary and other, to awaken a feeling that our ancient buildings are not mere ecclesiastical toys, but sacred monuments of the nation's growth and hope." Mr. Mackail says the principles of the society are given by Morris with unsurpassed lucidity and force in the statement issued by it at its foundation. Of this statement the first and last paragraphs read :
Within the last fifty years a new interest, almost like another sense, has arisen in these ancient monuments of art ; and they have become the subject of one of the most interesting of studies, and of an enthusiasm, religious, his- torical, artistic, which is one of the undoubted gains of our time. Yet we think that if the present treatment of them be continued, our descendants will find ihem useless for study and chilling to enthusiasm. We think that those fifty years of knowledge and attention have done more for their destruction than all the foregoing centuries of revolution, violence, and contempt.
It is for all these buildings, therefore, of all times and styles, that we plead, and call upon those who have to deal with them to put Protection in the place of Restoration .... to resist all tampering with either the fabric or ornament of the building as it stands ; if it has become inconvenient for its present use, to raise another building rather than alter or enlarge the old one; in fine, to treat our ancient buildings as monuments of a bygone age, created by bygone manners, that modern art cannot meddle with with- out destroying.
Referring to a later utterance, of 1892, Mr. Mackail says further : "This has had little public circulation, but gives his best literary quali- ties, his power of lucid statement, his immense and easily wielded knowledge of architecture and history, his earnestness, his humor, and his mastery of biting phrase, with a perfection that is hardly equaled elsewhere. This was the paper on Westminster .\bbey, written by him for the Society for the Protection of .Ancient Buildings. Its immediate occasion was a proposal then being discussed for the 'complete restora- tion ' of the interior of the abbey. This proposal was one the mere
