Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1832-02-16

IihiSoSu, Souiu ~ W SfN
true question in such cases ought to be,
whether in the actual structure Of socie-
lty, il gratifies a reasonable desire, inn
parts an innocent pleasure, strengthens
moral feeling, elevatcs single virtue, or
chastens or relines the varied intercourse
of life. III does, it is still useful in the
truest sense of the term, although it may
not seem directly to feed the hungry,
cure the sick, administer consolation to
the afflicted, or even remove the irksome
doubt oi IA poor litigan' cropping blindiold
through the dark passages of the law.
4 1t is not easy, indeed, to name many
pursuits, of which the inutility is so clear
" made out, that they may be parted
with without regret, or without disturb
ing the good order and arrangements of
society. Some that at short sight seem,
il not frivolous, at least unnecessary, to
men of narrow capacities, will be found
on larger survey, to be connected with
the most important interests. The fine
ants, for instance, painting, music, poe
try, sculpture, architecture, seem almost
the necessary accomPaniments OF state
of high civilization. They are not only
the grace and ornament Of society, but
they are intimately connected with its
IL tkav did M mara th a m
crafty our taste, increase our circle of
innocent enjoyment, warm our magma
tons, or refine our feelings, they might
be fairly deemed public blessings. But
who is so careless, as not to perceive,
that they not only give encouragement to
men of genus, but employment to whole
classes in the subordinate arts? They
not only create a demand for labor; but
make that very labor means of snbsis-
tence to many, who must otherwise be j.
die and indolent, by pressing upon 9TH
er business, sink the compensation for la
Dor, by ruinous competition, to its min
imum price. How many thousands are
employed upon single block of marble,
before, under the forming hand Of the ar
tst, it breathcs in sculptured life? Be-
fore it meets us in the surprising beauty
Of Venus, or the startling Indignation
of an Apollo' Our granite would have
slumbered forever in its Quarries, if ar
chitecture had not, under the guidance
of taste, taught us to rear the dome, and
the temple, the church ofrcligion, and the
hall of Legislation, the column oftriumph,
and the obclisk Of sorrow To what an
amazing extent are the daily operations
of the PRESS! With how many arts, with
how much commerce, with what various
manufactures, is it combined! The pa
per may be made of the linen of Italy
and the cotton of Carolina, or Egypt, or
the Indies; the type and ink of the pro-
ducts of various cimcs; and the text must
be composed, and the slfcetssworled of,
by the care and diligence ofmany minds.
And vet if no books were to be printed,
if no newspapers or pamphlets were to be
struck of, but what were indispensable;,
if we were to deem all classical learning
useless; and all poetry and fiction, and
dissertation and essay, and history, sad
abuse of time and labor and ingenuity,
because we could do without them; and
because they did not plant our fields, or
turn our mills, or sail our ships; ] fear,
that the race of authors would soon be-
come extinct; and the press, busy, as it
now is, with its myriads, would sink back
into the silence of the days of Faustus,
and require no aid from the supernatural
arts of his suspected coadjutor. Sure l
am, that the power-press of your own
Trcadwell, that beautiful specimen of
skill and ingenuity, would be powerless,
and no longer in its magical works de-
light us in our morning search, or in our
evening lucubrations.
i have made these suggestions, not so
much as appropriate to the objects, which
have in view in this address, as to guard
against the supposition in what follows,
that the liberal arts are not worthy of our
most intense admiration and respect"