A few words from the pen of the artist, appearing by way of preface to a
book, "A Plain Handicraft," may here be quoted to indicate the strong
views Watts took on the "Condition-of-England Question." His interest in
art was not centred in painting, or sculpture, or himself, or his fellow
artists. He believed in the sacred mission of art as applied to profane
things. We see how closely he adheres to the point of view made so
famous by Ruskin. Both Watts and Ruskin, one feels, belong rather to the
days of Pericles, when everything was best in the state because the
citizens gave themselves up to it and to each other. Writing of the
necessity and utility of reviving Plain Handicrafts among the mass of
the people, the painter of "Mammon" says:

"... When the object is to vitalise and develop faculties--the
especial inheritance of the human race, but strangely dormant
in our time among the largest section of the community--the
claim becomes one that cannot be ignored. Looking at the
subject from a point of view commanding a wide horizon, it
seems to be nothing less than a social demand, rising into a
religious duty, to make every endeavour in the direction of
supplying all possible compensating consolation for the
routine of daily work, become so mechanical and dreary. When
home is without charm, and country without attaching bonds,
the existence of a nation is rudely shaken; dull discontent
leading to sullen discontent, may readily become active
animosity. There will not be men interested in the maintenance
of law and order, who feel that law and order bring them no
perceptible formal advantage. In the race for wealth, it has
been forgotten that wealth alone can offer neither dignity nor
permanent safety; no dignity, if the man of the population is