The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-12-03
The Ideal and the Actual.

The following is an extract from sketch of the
eloquent lecture delivered by the Rev. Mr.. Chaplin,
formerly Of tins city, before the Mechanics Inst-
tute.
The term IDEAL ne said. had a two fold concep-
ton-what should be, and what is. Ii implies the
perception of something better in the actual and
something better than the actual. He would use
the ideal az an element of human culture. IL
some extent, man is an idealist The artist th,
poet, the philosopher are only rare illustrations u
this axiom There II no period of life without il,
influence. II is the spring Of all enterprise, the
very vitality of hope; and there are moments when
the most worldly minded is visited by it. But the
ideal Is something dried up, by neglect, by neccs-
sty or by sOrdidness II Is this state of things
which makes IL important for ne "a devote some at
tention 10 the ideal. az a means Of human culture.
When we contemplate nature, every thing il full OF
nature The glory Of geology and astronomy fills
the mind with ideality and cxhaustezs beauty.
The ideal il eternal while the actual is shifting and
varying. The speaker then showed the adaptation
Of certain men 10 the ideal. The practical benefit
of chershing the conceptions Of the ideal was then
touched upon. IL shapes and directs the actual "a
can be shown in every day life. The maginaton
has been regarded more as cNcrcsccncc than an
original element Of our nature-at least by some.
But it must be educated and cultivated a. much a.
reason. Even suppOsing that, without education,
il lifts u above the world, not draw conso-
latiOn and hope from the ideal, when the actual Is
overcome with the difficulties which surround il.
The wild ina gnatons of youth: even hey should
never b. realized in after life. il j. better that the
outset Of the course should furnish such encourage
ncnt. The dust Of nOontde should not encounter
the morning traveller. Works II romance, which
tend 60 expand the ideal, were referred to- and in
reply 10 arguments made against them, that fiction
frequently accomplished more than fact and in proof
with the example If Ulysses and other fictitious no
rocs before them. II the sailor boy can ina CINE
himself link in the great chain Of commerce which
governs the world-if the newer 81 pine log can
reflect on IL Origin-On the sunshine aud the rain
beating through it. branches-if be- can cOntcui-
plate IL growth and progress surely his labor j.
,lignifcd, and he with IT, Such is the influence Of
the ideal, which has sustained mon Of science in
their discOveries-such ~ Newton and Others; and,
although some may have failed, yet Franklin,
Watt Newton, Fulton, and others in their widest
visions did not contemplate the full fruition Of their
ideal imagination Another point connected with
iic IDEAL was it. illimitability, which Mr. Chaplin
dwclt on at some length Mr. Chaplin then die.
roursed on the actual IT, phase Of labor IN fact
he said, this j. age Of the idolstry Of labr II
would seem ~ If wc are doomed, lik, Sisiphus
never 10 be done with labor. In confusion he re-
commended young 10 bolietc more in the ideal
and to cherish -Onsthing better than the actual.
Ict them not b. afraid of being called dreamer,
aud If mockri Jet them refer 20 those who have
staJycd in rirrcts, Whose ideas th, practi.
cal sincws and the glory Of the times. Rich. Rep