New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-08-08

and you Will have in its place the vast burn
| ing desert Of Sahara where no green thing grows
and where there is no life. Equality is neither
possible nor desirable The gerat mass can never
be carried forward by men who do not rise abore
| item. What would the mass Of mankind have
been, but for Pythagoras, and Socrates, and KEEP
Ter. and Newton, and Alexander, and Napoleon,
and Washington. Milton and Shakespeare, and
Goethe, and Schiller-or to take men of dltter-
ent stamp sent into the world by God for def
mite and higher purpose, for Noah, and DAVID.
and Paul. and John, and Anselm. Augustine ana
! Fencon. There are labors essential for the race
which only telc are able to perform. Ii there
is to be no higher intelligence than that which
/ the mass can attain TO, the mass can have no
progress. Popular vices are to be withstood po-
pular passions TO be opposed, and popular errors
to be assailed: but who shall withstand thenl--lt
no one is ADORE them 1t is very true that VIZ
tue, knowledge learning scholarship, are to be
sought for the benefit Of the mass but they are
possessed only by those who are dboue them.
And by the many Mr.. BRowNSoN said he did not
mean the poor or iiliterate. Never, said he. @
never measure mans virtue by his wealth, or his
scholarship NIne-lenths of the graduates OF our
colleges are as innocent as the child unborn OF
knowing the meaning Of any metaphysical propo-
sition; and YOU might well try to make a deaf
man understand one OF BEETuoy EMS symphonies
as to make them understand one OF the higher
problems-to say nothing OF solving it.
The science is always for the lew; the practi-
cal benefit of 1t for the many. The Human Race
can never make any progress but by the nstrn-
mentality Of the men fitted for different Offices
and among them is that OF the Scholars Mission,
which is to tabor tcl tie moral, soci0i and intel
lectuaL progress Of man. The prejudice against
scholars arises from no dislike to this general law
of progress but out OF the fact that the few are
apt to consider themselves men of superior capac-
ties and altainmcnts to be used for their own self
sh purposes. This is the essence of all aristocra-
cy;-it grows out of the feeling that they are
endowed with higher powers than the mass not
for the benefit OF the mass but for their own self
ish good. God does not give TO one man higher
powers than another because he loves him better,
but because he assigns TO him his peculiar place.
Thus far Mr.. BRowNsoN said he had spoken Of
the Scholars Mission in general. He wished
next 10 speak Of 1t as If Is modified by the ten
denotes and prevalent doctrines OF our times and
| country. The Scholar will unavoidably be affect
cd by his own age and country. lsit his mission
to spend his energy in defending the study Of the
classics when there is little danger that their study
! will ever be strongly assailed Is it his mission
/
the real danger is from the ultra Democracy of
the times Is it his true mission TO extend and
increase the power of the masscs-when it is al
ready sufficient 10 destroy all who oppose ito
crush all who question the legitimacy of It's deci-
! sions His mission is to do that which without
him never could have been done, and which must
yet be done in order that there may be progress.
The Scholar is one who is out of and above the
masses, He must not Join himself to the crowd
in order TO be borne onward With them, nor must
he seekh impulse from Their pressure iicmi
feel no contempt for the pcopc-but the deepest,
most earnest love: but he must never forget that
he is to be their instructor and their guidc-ncver
their echo nor tool. He must labor evcrmore on
the principle that there Is a standard OF wisdom
and virtue of truth and Justice far above even
the instincts, still more the passions and impulses,
of the multitude. To it he must always appeal ;
he must always 90 forth and act in accordance
with its requirements. He must withstand and
resist the popular current even unto death If 1t be
necessary. The tendency of the age, in this
country especially is lcrelimg tendency-in lit
erature and in morals, in politics and religion, IN
Church and in State. In Literature every thing
is sought to be adapted to the capacities OF the
herd of readers. What is profound is carefully
eschewcd. Almost every able worl. on Phlloso-
ply must be published at the authors own OK
pense. trashy, contemplate novel like Rosina
Meadows, or some of It's kindred, is thrown before
the public, advertised and crowded by the book
sellers, and in few months some ten or twelve
thousand are sold 4 profound work Meta
physics-such as some ihat have been issued from
your own nlstituton-will not attain crcula-
ton of more than five or SIX hundred in FIVE or
six years.
no t, II,
tic tep nothing. Even our Ministers of the Cos
pei are held responsible to the Congregations
which they have been appointed to guide SO that
instead of seeking to discharge their duty, they
are forced TO secure the appreciation Of their peo-
pie. The ministry thus loses thcindependence of
the profession. The pulpit echoes the popular
convictions, the popular prcjudlces, passions and
errors. The old sermons which used to be listen
cd to BY our ancestors arc thought dry and iarsh
and kept on shelves and in chests, to be gazed
at, like old armor Of the middle ages-wmch
men keep and look at IN perfect astonlshment
that there should have ever been men large and
strong enough to wear It, One or two Of these
old sermons have sound divinity enough IN them
to supply modern popular clergyman for all ms
! lifetime, Sundays and weekdays tO-boot. The
religious press IS affected in the samcwav There
IS scarcei question IN religion IN morals OF
any magnitude discussed solidly or earnedIy
among US. Congregations excIaim loudly against
doctrinal sermons, and declare that they tired
of controversy: they want something which shall
affect their feelings, Tor they arctred of thinking
50 that modern preaching has come to be an ope
ration which, like the Mesmeric passes, shall ex-
cite certain emotions-and yet leave the subjects
as much the children of bella before. All things
seem to be unsettled AID unstable. From the
wcll-defined Catcchism of Anselm and Hide
brand we have come to a theology which pub
fishes Tracts, asserting that, so far as Christianity
is concerned, it is matter of perfect Inference