New-York daily tribune., 1844-08-09


But one of the most marked tendencies OF In
tellect in the present day Is occupy itself only
with the subject the news, the knowledge iiie ier
AZURE of the moment Probably near one hundred
times The reading is done now that was done hty
years AGO. But as the circulating sense, like the
circulating coin Of the world, can vary but little
from cenI,Iry 10 century, uuess some great new
American mines OF thought as well as oil the pre-
cous metals discovered, this excess oil reatlns
lik, vast addition OF paper currency really make:
US wiser; on the contrary ITO pursue our nus
,ratinn which must be good one, 30 like have the
two things been held ever since Solomon time, as,
by great issue Of paper money, specie itself Is
brought down 10 the same value SO long as both
pass-so of sense; being for the time, under the
laws OF conrovertbility, no better than nonsense
large part Of its value is lost In New-i orK proDa-
5ly about the same quantity OF milk IL now con-
sumed as was fifty years ago by one'tourtn oil its
present population; and though by dint oi adul-
terarion one quart is made into tour. II may he doubt
ed whether each inhabitants proportion oi the lquid
thus aduerated can do him one-quarter the good
that pure milk would DO. Nay, were he, with pro
digious isenton Of the stomach, 10 do as our read
ers now do and swallow quadruple allowance,
would that mend the matter? u
correspondence Nat. lntelligencer.
The above paragraph contains the plausible
objections to the literature and scholarship of the
present day. 1t IS, that knowledge is d!Bused-
literature current, but that we have not gained
any thing; we have only diluted 1t for The ac-
commodation of greater number. This is very
plausible, but it is great mistake. In the first
place, the illustrations used are entirely false.
New.York city gets now better, and purer, and
cheaper milk than it ever did, in conse queDce OF
one of these difusible ideas OF this age-a Kali
road, which brings tens of thousands Of quarts
daily from the fresh dairies Of Orange County.
Now, take this single idea Of a Railroad, and tell
us, ii you can, what idea in all the Greek Phlio-
snphv was equal to it 2 If there had been hun
dred Platos, aud all merged into one, all their
philosophy would not have been worth to the
million what railroad is.
This "excess of reading" says our Solon, ere
ally makes US no wiser" Suppose that we had
it NOT that we abolished all books since the mid
die ages, what ideas would any of US have OF
things about US? No Steamboat-no Railroad
no oDacuereotype-no Madam road-no Nlorse's
| Tcleyraph-no American Revolution-no NaPo-
| leon-no Bible Societles-no Missionares-no
Schools-no anything that is going ON around
for these things are all learned IN newspapers AND
current literature. These ideas are all new IDEAS
ideas that Archimides end Plato would have
given worlds, if they had them, to have known
Call you this, living on milk and water The
rules of duty and conduct, 1t is true, never vary
They are contained in the Ten Commandments
and Soomon's Proverbs. But what have they
to do, in this connection, with the progress OF
Science and Literature
We hare an American mine Of thought, and
it seems, from The European criticisms and dis
cussions upon it, very saggestirs one OuI
new system OF Government is mine oi thougni
Our whole national life is novelty. 1t is not
described or accounted for in any book OF an
cient OF modern philosophy. 1t Is the science @ OF
Government reduced to practice-the philosophy
Of liberty illustrated by example.
Is there nothing new in this Ii there was
really no such thing as new circulating sense
poor mortals on the highway OF life now. a-days
A man with the old circulating sense " would
be mobbcd at once for differing from the sove,
reign people, and mashed, like cor by rail-
road car because she did not know Invent so fast
What prepares man, being on his farm, to per-
ceive and understand all these new evo!utons on
the surface of the earth, ss II he Was present III
every aclion7 4 newspaper
rCincinnati Chronicle.