AMATEURS.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2607, 17 May 1877, Page 3

AMATEURS.

" What is an amateur? " is a question now being asked on all sidesjin connection with music, the stage, sport, and even spelling-bees. Tho question is one to which it is difficult to give a simple answer, so different are the conditions of the various professions to which amateurs attach, themselves. The amateurs of rowing* irac ing, and cricketing are dignified iby the naoie of gentleman. An amateur soldier afranc-tireur, or in extreme cases, a brigand. There are professions, in fact, to which it is"an honour, and others to which it is not an honour,

•to belong : and' this should bo borne in '■ -mind by those who would exclude from 1 the category of " gentlemen," iv the sporting sense of the word, all who are not gentlemen in the ordinary; social sense. No one requires of a " gentleman rider " that he shall produce his pedigree, or that he shall give proofs of having received a liberal education, or of having adopted a learned or distinguished profession; it is- sufficient that he does not ride for a livelihood. So of rowing men, and athletes of all kinds. There is a clearly: marked distinction between those who.exercise their muscles with the view i of gain, and those who do so for the sake of pleasure; and from love of competition. In 'corihection, however,, with art and I,' the question mtist be regarded "in a difierent ,way. One cannot saybroadly that it, is: either creditable or dis^ creditable to be a ipainter, a musician, or a writer, Thehonour of these callings is for those who attain a certain degree of excellence in them; and such expressions at "gentleman painter," ''gentleman musician," or " gentleman writer " would be ridiculous. The curious drivel sometimes offered to the public under the name of " vers de societe'' is supposed to be' the work of amateurs. Readers are expected to look upon it as the result of occasional fits of devotion to the muse on "the part of gentlemen who could do belter if they seriously tried. • Great allowances are made in every race to those who have never won- a prize, and still greater allowances to v those who have .never tried for one. But the poetical •trifler who writes with an affectation of languid interest about subjects which possess ho interest at all is often a most laborious workman, and only an amateur in so far that his work' perhaps is amateurish: " It would bo absurd, however, to apply the term " quack " to a poet or to an artist of any kindw.ho merely failed. The awkward and commonplace versifier who puts forward.' a. volume of so-called " poems " declares himself to be what he is not equally with the quack who styles himself surgeon or physician. But the latter knows that he is an impostor, whereas the other suspects notning of the kind and—probably without taking in any one else—begins by deceiving himself. J? The occasional practitioner in art or literature is distinguished from the regular practitioner not by th} prefix of " gentleman," nor by the name of " quack," but'by'the vague,title of " amateur." . The amateur may be an idle man who, in the intervals of .idleness, occupies himself with the art he loves, but without devoting .himself to,- ft seriously ; or he may be a man with some regular pursuit, .artistic or otherwise, which he quits from time to time for another pursuit, which he turns to for relaxation or by way of diversion:' Thus, the eminent French painter, Ingres, was an amateur violinist; Mendelssohn was an amateur painter in water-colours; the German tale writer, was an amateur composer. "Amateur composer" is a description which might be applied to Mendelssohn, also to Meyerbeer, and in the present day to Flotow, if the ordinary definition of •• amateur " as one who cultivates an art for its own sake, and not for thesake of gain, could be accepted. The-three comSosers just named were none of them ependent on their art as a means of livings and Heine has told us how Meyerbeer's mother once boasted to him that her son " was not obliged to compose ;" a point as to which Heine ventured to differ with the old lady, seeing that Meyerbeer was " obliged to compose," not by external circumstances, but by his inward nature. These examples will suffice to show—and in literature the number of similar examples that might be cited would be enormous—?that amateurship by no means consists in not working with a view to gain. ! It may be said, however, that the true amateur not only does not "work with a tiew to gain, but does not under any circumstances accept money for his work. According to this distinction Byron would have to be regarded as an amateur—as a sort of a " gentleman poet"—during- the firitparfcof-his career jaiiid as .a mere poet, from the date, of his beginning to 'receive payment for his poemi.. The fact is* excellence iv literature is incompatible with the- idea,: of.. amateurphip. ; Nory practically, is the,highest degree of cultivation ever attained in; any art except by those whoi jgive" themselves up id' it Entirely; who,,'in other swords, are :^n6t amateunf^^-rp^amjatea^shipj then, a question ofmeritla^:cot degrees, jn- merit? Certainly not^ "Otherwise Dickens, an amateur actor, ;Would have had to be placed above" numbers of regular actors; while actors without number woulcbltn'd themselves let down ,to the positiocß?f amateurs^ Dickens was justly considered an amateur actors/but because " he did not act,habitually. In the great majority of c"ase> there would be no injustice in calling the amateur a "dabbler." But the fekegt definition " amateur " is "■ occasional;"cultivator''. of whatever art the amateur happens, to.cultivate. Wheja ' the ■•■■occasional cultrvatpr meets with enough success to induce him to become an habitual cultivator? he is no longer an amateur. ■, ,- " :■ .; Itis above all inthe musical world that amateurship flourishes. Any one : who plays or sings more, or less successfully seems to be thought' entitled to the name of amateur? and the organisers of Mr Brinsly Eichards" recent'musical bee took cognisancel of an entirely new class 'of amateurs, described as "amateur young ladies." An:".amateur young lady" must, we should- think, be a "young person "who behaves as a. lady now and then, as-iftbr snow how shY likes it, and afterwards, relapses into'her normal condition. -Amateurship is to art'what flirtation is to love. t .;/,■ „:„. ,;*