246
THE ARCHITECTUREOF
HUMANISM
Science in a lordly equipage. And,
as
they were
flushed with
wine and fullof thegayest andmost
ingeniousproposals,Tastejoinedtheircompanyand
went in search of new adventures. And whether
these
were to
his liking,
or
whethersome
mischance
befel,itiscertainatleastthatheneverreturned.
Criticismwasnownomorethego-between.
But
shewasneversobusyorsogarrulous. Shewrotethe
longest letters and addressed them to Taste.
She
went and gossiped
with
his
new companions. She
became tiresome: no one cared to see
her. But
Architecture,
at
last,was
weary ofthe struggle,and
saidaloudthat Taste hadgrown corrupt
;
whereby
her pridewasmade easy,and
Arcadiawasforgotten
quite.r Butthe minor
actorsintheplay.Commerce
andScience (withRomanceand Morality,for
these
also—eventhelast
—
were
booncompanionsinTaste's
debauches), have
differentaccounts to give of
the
matter,thatarefullofscandal.
Theyhavesuborned
theNursetosay
thatTastewasbuttheir
creature,
and
that theyand nothe were the lovers
of Archi-
tecture
—
^which,indeed,
is nowtrue,but in Arcadia
she cared
for nobody but Taste,
as any one can
discoverbyinquiring.
Forwhich
reason, andin order
that thestory of
whattherehappenedmay
laterbetoldwithout
preju-
dice,thisbookhas
soughttoset
outthecausesofthe
quarrel and may in
conclusion be
permitted some
