New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-02-03
The Idc, and che Actual. A LECTURE.
BrRBv. t. cHArir

The Lecture last night IN Hope Chlpei'
..,o,s the Mercantile LIBRARY AsSoctd0n, vas lis
,ered 10 viii enthusiastic applause By far me m'st
croreed audience Of the season
A. cham, conn, enced bis lecture with rcmhS-
~. that the term IDEAL has two fold meaning
er, what belorgs 70 The province OF art, aud secons
" something in the actual better than the actual
,,ssf To some ex'ent every man IS an i'sAu''-''e
,oc, whose Imagery is the shad0wng OF his inspra-
ton sind the sculptor WHO impar!s life to stone
,rb,,e = M ,nhere Of life without, tS influence !"
is the shirt Of enterprise lnt the soui OF nope
The ipcsssant yesrning Of the human soul MS
,.,is,ton TO an al seen sphere. IL Is the in1eh'
Immortal lie There ale many Who isnch all hher
nIoDsusit;es IN Inc seTdidness Of routine me uni
verse only appeals to them In us utiil,arlan gar'
There are men even OF liberal culture who pfac-
lice their powers sharpening the acuIles OF lucfe
In tie outward universe and the or1er OF iIo'"
dence there IS an adaptation 10 the ideal Inc sloF
Of Science, OF Astronomy, OF Geology consists III
opening 10 Us the grandeur OF the IDEAL Ihele are
things which the telescope cannot see and the Ia
bcra,ory cannot snalyze all around us they s'tnd
AID range in iilim.tsbe and unreachable beauty
Tie childreg OF spirituality, the Poet, me Painter
a1dtle Sculptor. send their inspiration into the soul
ith the sweetness Of the south wind and the ave OK
thunder.
Surely we must believe Mat these must be or
dained 10 stir to fresher feelings, to quicken to NE
faculty OF our nature too lightly estimated Con
sider the enroblirg influence Of the IDEAL. Every
man n. axes his own world. The world IS never the
same 10 the philosopher and the clown me Cnns'
tan and the Epcuresn. The ideal cooFs the ac-
tual ACCORDING TO the ruGty Of our vision ana she
breadth OF our sympathles. some men I'VE more
IN an hour than Others IN n lifetime. Granting tha
F-fIf +rrc
not umos wAen such thl1gs ne Leeded 10 meet the
WORLDS shocks II ls wise provision tnas
the Young are ius2n Cd with the enthusiasm OF
tie IDEAL " young utn err 81 the see OF ei-
feryeScence through tie exercise OF tuc iIeAl'
old men efr through indifference ard diSudst.
The ho1e Of youth may De blasted, 0Ut IS ~ ho'
better that lie AZ The outset should lGect eu-
courageueIil When We march t. the 0ltl1e, ociofe
its terror cones rs II not better The muse sAonid EN-
bQ6y the idea Of victory In all the wiAS OF Inls
harsh ORD, aud in the path Of hardest LABOR, tne
ideal ennobles the actual.
And 7 OF alone does the ideal ennoble the actual
il is tuer than the actual There Is no reason thaI
Uurnhodt gives tue picture OF Nature and Words
worth fictitious one. In fact, the latter Is tae
trueI science-teaches practical ends ana opJecss'
and the scientific mird sees only tAese ehus. IN
splratlon behOlds higher ends and ends nearer 10
the immortal truth. Who would compare tle cfitlc
with the poet Shakspere chuckled win sir Johh
Falstaf and shuddored with Macbeth without thinh-
irR Of the unities OF the drama OF dreams OF MS
critics . =, =,
is he index of DrOgIeSs. COLUMBUS even VIZ
ion OF the New World on his tattered sails. New
ton paused IN his reasoning TO worship whenever
a great discovery has been made II bas been greater
than IFS previous conception Did Franklin, wneh
the ghtHng play about his kite, think OF anything
so cole ss The electric telegraph. In MS case WAS
not the ideal nearer the Truth tnan the actual 30
OF Watts discovery OF Fulton. SO OF all
Faith in something higher than the acsuai IS Tue
soul Of effort essential 90 all moral progress
Ia the development OF character, no sooner Is one
duty fu filled than auothtr opens before us In Ine
mOIal lie, when men live by rules and LOT rom
IDEAL conceptions OF virtue and excellence the result
is rot perhaps immOf atty, but unmorality All youtn
induee IN the IDEAL but the ideal some inauiee is
tie zoe al OF weah-the ideal OF fashion--the lceai
OF superiority. These are IDEALS OF serdtines ana
" ant of faith aud he who confines himself wisno
such limits, will never grow TO be q true man. 10
hive well in the world NO must i've above Is. Inc
IDEAL is of course one element Of moral culture:
ne ed not be afr aid that the men OF our time and
country will be Drawn away into the imaginary
Though the ideals of poetry gave new VI
talty TO thought. they ended IN revolution. That
revolution is crushed, but II will revive, because the
Ice al IS immortal The tendency Of our time is a
spirit that would turn Niagara into washing ma
chine, and split up the cedars OF Lebanon into
cothe pins Conve nience has driven out the Ideal
from thus land Everything is adapted to expediency
~ Even CRIME Is ]ustlhed, because circumstances 70,
0ure it, Some men needed who can think aud
speak tangible and immortal truths. Where would
the world be nov If there were not some men COM
passing such thoughts and speaking them TO the na
tons with tongues OF FIRE, pr0mu gatiDg for the fall
len new resurrection Happy is he who IN his
sI here contribute 10 the exaitaton OF me actual
and the re aliZation of the ideal.
We are bound to add that the effect OF this ad-
mirable lecture was greatly diminished in the de-
livery, by the want of suitable ventilation in the
Chspel. Before the close of the evening, the at
mospbere was in a state which presented lively
IDEA of The Black Hall in Calcutta. A Hall of the
size of Hope Chapel the upper room) with no access
to the outer air by the front door, deep gallery
three sides, and not window on either side for the
whole length ofthe building, is perfectly intolerabe
place for a crowded audience, and we wonder thatit
should DO ever used for an OCCASION when the pop
ulsry Of the speaker leads to the expectation Of
multitude In sefdefense, we must be cautious
about recommending lectures in Hope Chapel while
uieuslns IN ils present. condition.
The Nicaragua Route.
SAN JUAN Dill SUR, NICARAGUA. Jan. 4. 1852
II. n. WOLFE, ESQ. dear Sir: We ar.
anived this place on the afternoon of the I'd