"The stranger with different ideals in his mind may see nothing but what is repellent in the modern industrial town, and wonder how any one can live there. But the inhabitants do not think so; they are attached to it, warmly maintain its claims, and resent depreciation. They do not want any one's pity, and they have reason; for the truth is that they enjoy life a great deal more than those who pity them. . . . Nor is it true that they take no pride or interest in the products of their great workshops and factories, such as the mediaeval craftsman took in his handiwork. Here again a false balance is struck. The mediaeval craftsman who took pride in his work is the one we hear of, but what of the others? Were there no idle apprentices? Was there no bad work? There was so much that one of the chief functions of the Guilds was to prevent and punish it and to maintain the standard, which was always being threatened by scamped and dishonest work. As for the theory that the men of old worked for use and beauty, not for profit, there never was a greater craftsman than Benvenuto Cellini, or one who took more pride in his work and its beauty. Nor is there a workman to-day who looks
