New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-01-11
THE HALF CENTURY ;
A DISCOURSE,
PREACHED BY REV. 4. H. CHAPLIN.
In Murra,-st Church, Sunday ESeain1, Dee. % 1850
A DISCOURSE,

There are certain moods OF the nlno Wneh "
ascends from the particular to the universal.
Gazing upon the majesty of nature, 1t becomes
absorbed in the universal essence, or lost in the
immensities Of God Forgetting immediate ia
terests and as 1t were, casting aside its owa per-
sonality it looks oat as mere spectator upon
wide measures Of time-the solemn tract Of his
tory and the ever fowiDg current Of events. This
faculty may induce habit Of mysticism and Of
proitless abstraction but, if rightly employed. 1t
is a source of grand inspiration and Of the most
pregnant wisdom.
In some such mood appears to have been the
writer Of the book OF Ecclesiastes, or, at least,
the person whom he represents az speaking. He
had had an intense experience of life. He was
liking over Irael," and therefore possessed Of
ample power and opportunity. And he attempted
TO solve the problem of existence. He sought
what efficacy lay in the accumulated fruits Of wiz
dom, or could be brought out from its hidden
mines But he was not satisfied. He applied
the test Of pleasure. He built houses, he planted
vineyards, he laid out parks and gardens, and
gathered about him all the agents Of sensual de-
light Still, it was all vanity" and striving
after wind" Then he wthdraws into the region
Of meditation. He compares wisdom and folly.
and with blended criticism and precept, surveys
the passing occurrences OF the world And, In
the passage connected with the text, he rises int
one of those cancellations of which l spoke
He takes into view the great scope OF things. The
transient is placed in opposition with the perma-
mentor with those perpetual changes which are
but the developments OF a stedfast plan. Human
Ixxfn f1a in fla tic
theater that embosoms them, and among the pro-
cesses that work through and beyond them-the
tong winds, the untired sun, the waters that cir
culate like life blood and the ceaseless operation
OF time, rolling its generations, wave after wave'
into eternity
We are concerned now, my friends, not so much
with the particular lesson which the wise maa
drew from these meditatons and which perhaps
lacks the cheerfuness and breadth Of Christian
philosophy, as with. the direction, OF his thought
in the words before US. Such reflections are Pc
culiarly appropriate at the commencement or ex'
piration of long periods of history-when we are
enabled to take in at a comprehensive glance the
workings of an era Not only doour CONCENTRATIONS
Mt such iunctures lend striking emphasis to nstruo
tions which are developed by the least movements
Of time, but they are broad enough for the evolu-
ton Of certain general truths and results. And.
standing at the close of half century, it seems
proper to take such aretrospect Although, accord
ing to the common measurement, fifty years com.
prise more than one age OF man, STILL taking some
latitude, the words Of the text may be spoken now
with a special significance" One generation
passeth away, and.another generation cometh. -
One great period is accomplished, the Sun stands
on the meridian and will soon descend into the
afternoon of the century, The evening Of that
century few, if any of us, will behold, and We
have the singular opportunity therefore. of ponder
ing upon large and definite epoch, with which,
at the same time, we have lived in contact, and
which is fresh to our experience.
From this great field of topics l can. Of course.
only make selections, and must confne myself to
a few suggestions which / trust will DO appro-
pirate to the present place and hour. The series
of events in all their phases and bearings will be
more fittngly enlarged upon through other agen'
cies than the pulpit, and for the crpwded and ex'
traordinary details Of the period we must look TO
volumes of history and tables of chronology. II
would transcend the compass OF an ordinary dis
course to enumerate them. | merely pro-
pose to throw out some general statements and
reflections.
Although we are prone to exaggerate events
that are near to rs, we may safely say that the
past half century is one of the most extraordinary
in the annals Of the world. One Of its most
striking features, is its dissimilarity TO the age
just preceding apparent upon the whole surface
and existing in the heart Of things. 1t has been
well observed by another, that the twenty-five
years of revolution and warfare in Europe which
followed upon the popular outbreak In Franco. in
1882 seemed to place an interval Of centuries be-
tween the last and the present age" Whether
these and events in our own land are to be con.
sidered the causes the agents Of this change
the change itself is wildly apparent, in msnnerf
customs, literature, ideas, every department Of
human action. The roots of the past remain. Of
course, and our nature is identical through al mu
tations. but new spirit has exploded and. like
some great geological CONFUSION, detached our
era by remarkable chasm from all previous pc
RODS.
Considering more specifically some of the con-
stituents Of this peculiarly, we remark that 1t has
been an age of astonishing material achievements.
This is illustrated by that series Of brilliant td
umphs which man has gained over Nature. 1t
has been, emphatically, the era Of science. Almost
coeval with the commencement Of the century,a
new life and vigor were poured into every Dc.
partment of discovery and invention. Physical
Geography, and the Science Of Races, may DO
said to be births of the period. The progress OF
Chemistry has been such as to render the books
of fifty years ago comparatively worthless, and al
the present phases of Geology belong to this time
The strange features Of Electricity and Magnet
ism begin to reveal themselves, the earth Is ex
plored to its barriers of Arctic and Antarctic ice
while Astronomy has extended It's golden links