New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-11-06
MIR. WhippIe's Lecture before the Mercantile
Library Society,

OF the excitement of election evening an the
attraction of Jenny Lind's Concert, Clinton Hall
was hled with an appreciatiye and intellectual
audience, by whom Mr.. WH1PpLE' 5 discourse was
received with marked interest and delight.
1t is impossible for u to follow the lecturer
closely through the range of keen, sparkling sa-
tire, acute analysis or telling Illustration in which
his subject was developed We can but give a
slender outline of its character which, we may
remark, was an excellent commentary on the lee
turers leading idea Mr.. Whipple commenced
with the comparison of individual and associative
influence. The association predominates over
the individual, inasmuch as it is the aggregate
force of all its moral power is owned in Joint
stock Formerly trequired great deal of cour-
age to attack community in its manners, its
laws or its sentiments. Now such antagonism is
assumed without hesitation, and its exercise be-
comes the characteristic of the present time.
The modern tendency, in this sense, is to reyo.
utionze even revolution. The astounding flip
pancy with which it is now common to speak OF
the various growths of time, seem to indicate that
Radicasm is already fashion. We may soon
expect to have treatise on World Destroying
Made Easy" after the manner of Mrs. Barbauld.
You will meet at the cafe with gentleman who
will demOlIsh concrete America in the few min
utes he devotes to his breakfast Slavery is fin.
ished with his first sip; the Constitution disap-
pears in the pauses OF his degutition; and the
destiny Of the country is settled while he pays his
shilling. These are they who are in the habit of
playing reform and attiudinizing martyrdom The
world, however, is n vital organic body, and not
mere rckety machine-and it is somewhat ditti-
cult to destroy this world by words alone. The
moral nature of community is not so lightly
changed. Even the timid Conservative, though
YOU bury him under Ciceronan inyeCtive, piping
hot from Burke, or Teutonc rant fresh from Car
lye-though you paste "Doughlace on his fore
head and write ''Flunkey onhis back-wlll but
turn from repeating the truisms Of Conservatism
to repeating those of Reform.
That which forms and reforms and comnluni-
Gates life to the social world, is-Character. Char
acter gives authority to opinion puts meaning
into words, and burns through all things that act
as impedmetts to the weak IN heart and the dull
in brain Character is n measure OF Man 8 capa-
city His understanding may play with Thought,
his conscience iirt with beautiful ideals OF good
ness, bat Character is the root and heart OF his
being 1t is the expression of no particular men
tai quality but of his whole nature, and therefore
governs all his actions Man is nothing unless he
acts and the evidence Of his charactermay always
be found in his works 1t reveals itself through
all masks and specous dsguises and to the pride
of reason and the vanity OF mere opinion, inter
poses its iron limitations
The question has often been raised whether
Character is the creature of circumstances, or
whether circumstances owe their origin to Char
acter To admit the former part OF the question
is to strike out of Character that vital causatlve
energy which is its brief quality; to admit the
latter is to affirm that the mind can create world
out of nothing Either would be caricature not
character. The truth is, circumstances are the
.r;r,ert of character Goethe said: " Every
c of my books has been furnished by thousand
Unrsons My work is the aggregate OF number
Of beiugs and taken from the whole OF Nature 1t
bears the name otGoethe
In practical politics, circumstances will some
| times lift into power small minded natures who
are level with their time and therefore lifted tol
it. No party probably ever succeeded which did
not embody public nonsense as well as pubic
sense One Of the best parties that ever existed
was the old Fcderalist party, but 1t finally made
the fatal mistake of Ignoring popular passions
The success of the English military and nava
commanders depends rs much on their embodyin:
all that is popular in the English character as il
their talent and personal bravery.
The quality that most distinguishes character i
persistence 1t is the quality most admired in popu
larleaders five scrutinize the lives ofmen of gen
us, we shall find that activity and persistence art
their leading peculiarites. Obstacles cannot in
timidate, nor labor weary, nor drudgery DISCUS
them In politics, no mere talent can compensate
for their persistence. In Reform man may d
veil, If the community will fly into passion, AM
thus stimulate him to renewed excrtlohs' ie
character alone can sustain him in perseyern8 Il
the face of that quiet contempt or indifference
with which fat aud lazy community receive
new IDEAS
Mr. Whpple then touched upon the Literar
Character, which he illustrated by reference t
Wordsworth Tennyson and Festus Bailey
Character in Science gave occasion for grano
passage descriptive of Newton, which regre
not being able to give.
Character being positive and persistent, contin
ued the lecturer it can of be predicted
This is substantially true Of National character
and has more than once been exemp!itiad in tht
history of French politics The lecturer spoke o
an acquaintance, who, OH reading the advertise
ments of quack medicines commencing
Health desirable ~ invariably answered No.
an affirmative answer involving the necessity OF
taking the health giving pills. On the same Prin
ciple we should reject Liberty, Equality and Fra
ternity, when Liberty consists in the government
of vigorous clique, Equality in massacre, and
Fraternity ia the election of Louis Napoleon and
the downfall of Rome
There is nothing uncertain or capricous in
Character, if one has deep insight into
it. Its calculation is not confined to prac-
teal life, but is also applicable to lltera
ture AS all vital movements OF Mind are acts
character may be as strongly depicted in tho pro
duction Of book as in the conduct of battle
This is not true alone OF such writers Mon
taigne and Sidney Smith, or Rousseau and Byron,
but also of authors whose personality is not OBJ
truded on our attention in their works. In this
connection Mr. Whipple referred to the power
Of great authors over smaller minds, Conquest
and usurpation are more common in literature
than in real life, Shakspere puts Norman blood
| into our veins and the teudal system into our
minds, Milton gives iron to our will Spinoza en-
tanges our poor wits in hin web of philosophy,
Goethe sleeps US in delight till we fancy
that heroism is something very comfortable, and
disinterestedness one OF the fine arts.
In conclusion, Mr.. Whippe described the grand
those great men who have passed from the com
mon level Of life up into the region of universal
thought. Every step ofsuch men is planted on an
enduring fact-every scene other lives is toun,
tain whence the world is continually rePlenished
with new and nober life The object OF the lee