butwhatshallhehaveenjoyedmorefullythanamorningofsuccessfulwork？Supposeitillpaid:thewonderisitshouldbepaidatall。Othermenpay，andpaydearly，forpleasureslessdesirable。
Norwillthepracticeofartaffordyoupleasureonly；itaffordsbesidesanadmirabletraining。Fortheartistworksentirelyuponhonour。Thepublicknowslittleornothingofthosemeritsinthequestofwhichyouarecondemnedtospendthebulkofyourendeavours。Meritsofdesign，themeritoffirst-handenergy，themeritofacertaincheapaccomplishmentwhichamanoftheartistictempereasilyacquires-thesetheycanrecognise，andthesetheyvalue。Buttothosemoreexquisiterefinementsofproficiencyandfinish，whichtheartistsoardentlydesiresandsokeenlyfeels，forwhichinthevigorouswordsofBalzachemusttoil\"likeaminerburiedinalandslip，\"forwhich，dayafterday，herecastsandrevisesandrejects-thegrossmassofthepublicmustbeeverblind。
Tothoselostpains，supposeyouattainthehighestpitchofmerit，posteritymaypossiblydojustice；suppose，asissoprobable，youfallbyevenahair\'sbreadthofthehighest，restcertaintheyshallneverbeobserved。Undertheshadowofthiscoldthought，aloneinhisstudio，theartistmustpreservefromdaytodayhisconstancytotheideal。Itisthiswhichmakeshislifenoble；itisbythisthatthepracticeofhiscraftstrengthensandmatureshischaracter；itisforthisthateventheseriouscountenanceofthegreatemperorwasturnedapprovinglyifonlyforamomentonthefollowersofApollo，andthatsternlygentlevoicebadetheartistcherishhisart。
Andheretherefalltwowarningstobemade。First，ifyouaretocontinuetobealawtoyourself，youmustbewareofthefirstsignsoflaziness。Thisidealisminhonestycanonlybesupportedbyperpetualeffort；thestandardiseasilylowered，theartistwhosays\"ITWILLDO，\"isonthedownwardpath；threeorfourpot-
boilersareenoughattimesaboveallatwrongtimestofalsifyatalent，andbythepracticeofjournalismamanrunstheriskofbecomingweddedtocheapfinish。Thisisthedangerontheoneside；thereisnotlessupontheother。Theconsciousnessofhowmuchtheartistisandmustbealawtohimself，debauchesthesmallheads。Perceivingreconditemeritsveryhardtoattain，makingorswallowingartisticformulae，orperhapsfallinginlovewithsomeparticularproficiencyofhisown，manyartistsforgettheendofallart:toplease。Itisdoubtlesstemptingtoexclaimagainsttheignorantbourgeois；yetitshouldnotbeforgotten，itishewhoistopayus，andthatsurelyonthefaceofitforservicesthatheshalldesiretohaveperformed。Herealso，ifproperlyconsidered，thereisaquestionoftranscendentalhonesty。Togivethepublicwhattheydonotwant，andyetexpecttobesupported:wehavethereastrangepretension，andyetnotuncommon，aboveallwithpainters。Thefirstdutyinthisworldisforamantopayhisway；whenthatisquiteaccomplished，hemayplungeintowhateccentricityhelikes；butemphaticallynottillthen。Tillthen，hemustpayassiduouscourttothebourgeoiswhocarriesthepurse。Andifinthecourseofthesecapitulationsheshallfalsifyhistalent，itcanneverhavebeenastrongone，andhewillhavepreservedabetterthingthantalent-character。Orifhebeofamindsoindependentthathecannotstooptothisnecessity，onecourseisyetopen:hecandesistfromart，andfollowsomemoremanlywayoflife。