The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-08 00:00:00

best lesson which learning can bestow is to teach
humility; no one who rightly comprehends the
wonders of the universe will fail to recognise his
own comparative insignificance, and the same prin-
ciple applies in some measure to a nation. It is not
being puffed-up and conceited that will raise any
land to the pinnacle of greatness, or sustain a people
in the day of trouble and the period of trial. This
has been manifested most strikingly dur log tho late
calamitous period. Lord HARTINGTON said with
correctness that they have not exhibited some of the
qualities that less cultivated nations have done in
their position when put to a similar trial. Most im-
portant lessons may be learned from these reflec•
dons, and some of the chief foundations of a stedfast
course consist in the mingled influence of fortitude
and meekness. Self-sufficiency may strut its brief
hour on the stage of prosperity, but never can sup-
port the chill blasts of adversity, nor enable
its possessor to meet reverses with dignity.
The young cannot be too much imiressed
with this all-important truth, and no culture wili
make them fitted for the uses of existence if it does
not render them at the same time self-possessed,
and moderate in their pretensions. Lord HAlt
TINGTON brought the subject back to its original
place by inquiring how and in what manner could
the best and purest education be given. He held
out as an inducement that institutions of this kind
enabled many persons to obtain a sound knowledge
of their and if they acquired a taste
forthe study
own language,of
the great masterpieces of our
country, they would be preserved, to a considerable
extent, from anything that was " base, ignoble, and
iniquitous." The remarks on Lancashire, in the
fearful ordeal to which it has been subjected, were
replete with taste and feeling of the highest order.
No one can deny that the suffering has not been
unmitigated, since it has called forth the expression
of sympathy which, real and earnest, is one of the
greatest blessings of humanity, and also it has
exhibited so many traces of heroism that our
country has good reason to be proud of her sons,
who have been tried by a severer test than any
past experience has exhibited, and gone through
a sharper struggle than any war that has been
waged on the battlefields of history. Lord HAR-
TINGTON concluded by drawing a sort of parallel
between the prostration that had fallen upon us,
and the reviving prosperity which the Northern
States now boast of. There can be no doubt it is
an illusion, and will soon show the instability of
their expectations. When this crisis is past we
may better appreciate oar strength, and at all
events its sources will be more lasting, while they
will inevitably begin to find out their weakness,
when all their seeming wealth and power will vanish
as the baseless fabric of h vision. There is no
merit in not preparing for the emergencies of the
events that common sense must foresee, and the
recklessness of such a course will entail inevitable
losses of a sad and serious nature. Lord HARTING-
TON'S address will be found to contain some solid
information, and some lessons of political wisdom
and moral reflections, that will be sure to produce
beneficial effects upon those to whom they were
communicated. They may be led to think for
themselves, without which no learning can profit
them, and to seek to avoid the errors which they
may fall into. The fruit of the tree of knowledge
may be sweet or bitter as it is wisely chosen, and
the secret of the selection is worth knowing. At
all events, the teachers of wisdom will inculcate the
doctrines of self control, and the benefits and bless-
ings of instruction can never be manifested in a
higher or holier manner than when they enable
heir recipients to meet the calamities of life in a
spirit that looks beyond and above them, certain
that they cannot be overwhelming if they leave
untouched the feeling of self respect, and secure in
their final discomfiture in so far as concerns their
victory over the better part of our nature.