We live at such a feverish pace in our modern world that we sometimes forget that not so long ago craftsman were still able to work unhurriedly and with a real love of creation. It is important that we should be reminded that we are in danger of losing a heritage of incalculable value. As more is done for the comfort of man, so he seems to become more and more incapable of doing anything for himself. Our world is spinning around too quickly to allow us to think clearly, let alone to create things of eternal beauty.

¿ Eugéne Fabergé at Paris in May 1952

Having had more than half a century to improve on the predictions of Eugéne Fabergé, modern man has undoubtedly destroyed more heritage than has been created in the accelerated post-Korean War era.

As more is done by many for some, the incapable next generation is clearly reflected in the chronic obesity of children in many developed countries. Thinking and creating for oneself, as we did as poor children without the "benefit" of store-made toys and television, has been replaced by a sense of entitlement to being "entertained", morning, noon and night.

Eugéne was a son of the famous Karl Fabergé, the maker, with his shop of creative artisans, of the first Fabergé egg in 1885 for the Empress of Russia. Going on to create a generation of outstanding heritage items in jewelry, the Fabergé output came to a sharp end with the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the advent of 70 years of soul-destroying communism.

As with many totalitarianisms, to which one should include a number of religions, that ideology was also body-destroying, if you happen to be an artisan or other type of intellectual, for freedom of expression, politically or materially, is one of the great no-noes of communism. As with the "Cultural Revolution" in China, intellectuals and heritage were destroyed in equal measure in a demolition derby of monstrous proportions, a revolution to kill culture, not create it. Eugéne would have understood Chairman Mao's great crime against heritage and humanity from his Russian experience, including the sale of Fabergé items of national heritage by the government in the years following the revolution.

The Fabergé quotation is to be found in the revised edition of Held In Trust, which, with the sub-title "For Everyone, Forever", is described by president Bill Holmes as "a comprehensive account of the buildings, lands and artefacts under the stewardship of the Bermuda National Trust".

Put another way, one might say that the duty of the Trust is to preserve "things of eternal beauty", especially those things that have been created at Bermuda by people and nature. That is one of the essential characteristics of heritage, which consists of things of abiding beauty that have been handed down to us over the ages. Implicit in much heritage is the assumption that many such things of eternal beauty cannot be made again, for cost, age of production, or lack of materials and workmanship, to number but a couple of reasons.

The outstanding buildings of the Bermuda Dockyard, built in the very hard local limestone, or the beaches of the south shore can never again be created, although "Forever" is a long time, so one might hedge the bet. Portable heritage, such as the recently noticed Hurd Survey of the 1790s, is almost impossible to recreate.

The Hurd Survey was never copied until the Bermuda Maritime Museum obtained a digital duplicate in 2008: had it been destroyed in the London air raids of the Second World War, we would never have been able to appreciate its external beauty, which reflects and records the state of Bermuda on land and under the sea (in its reef formations) a century before the Savage Survey of 1899.

The 1899 survey was the "guide" for the monumental Architectural Heritage Project initiated by the Trust in 1985: the Hurd survey will augment that work and cause revisions to earlier conclusions, as it is likely the most comprehensive survey of Bermuda between Norwood in the 1600s and Savage in the late 19th century.

Because of their singular and insular development, Bermuda houses are one of the island's most enduring things of eternal beauty, or heritage assets, and the National Trust possesses a number of fine examples of that vernacular architecture. From houses where earlier generations were born, the Trust also holds or cares for a number of cemeteries, which are not only beautiful for their natural settings, but for the styles of graves and monuments found therein.

Then there are the areas of eternal Bermudian beauty, wrought by nature and also by men in this small place, in the wetlands, woodland nature reserves, coastline and island preserves and farmlands. The Trust also holds major collections of Bermuda cedar and other furniture, Bermuda silver, paintings and other portable heritage, that has been preserved in former generations because of an appreciation that they were things of eternal beauty, created by artisans the like of which are only seldom replicated.

In recent years, the Trust has also appreciated that archaeological remains (including standing buildings) are also part of Bermuda's enduring heritage, if more fragile than other categories. With all its heritage assets, the Bermuda National Trust, as outlined in the revised edition of Held in Trust, also has an obligation to record heritage and to disseminate that knowledge, not only to hold it. That responsibility is acknowledged in its research and education programmes.

The Bermuda National Trust holds in trust more than two per cent of the land mass of Bermuda, including some 55 historic buildings and nature reserves on over 75 properties, in addition to its large collection of portable heritage in its museum collections. It holds in trust a microcosm of the island and its history.

As Jacques Cousteau wrote in 1984: Different in degree, not in kind, the islands of the world are like pearls of a necklace, and they encircle the world-a ribbon of delicate and irreplaceable gems. Insert the word "heritage" before "gems" and one has a better understanding of what is held in trust by the Bermuda National Trust on this small island, certainly for everyone, and hopefully forever.

Author's Note: All photographs are from Held In Trust, now available in bookstores.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. This article represents his opinions and not necessarily those of persons associated with the Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm or by telephone to 332-5480.