The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-01-15


ASSOCIATION
A lecture Was delivered IN Hope Chapel, last
Monday evening, by Professor G. w. Greene, Of
Brown University, Providence, on the grounds
for confidence in the triumph Q. the liberal cause in
Europe
The learned professor said re desired to state TO
the audience the hopes Of tie reople-the hopes
Of tie freedom Of Europe. He said he spoke to
them Of hope, at moment when the last hcpe
appeared 70 re extingashed; but he spoke with
trust, and IN mistaken confidence, for he spoke,
not in he name Of day q an hour, bet Of tina:
everlasting period 10 which the transient testimony
Of day was lost in tie great movement OF ages
tie movement which combined TIE whole eternal
progress Of humanity. There had been darker
days than these, There mad been years, and even
centuries, in which TIE human mind seemed to
have forgotten its birthrignt, and surenderedit It.
self TO apathy and mute resignation and ssill,
within the bosom Of sleeping masses tie great
work went On, forming su.e inevitabi:y-bu.
il was tie work OF the vii which guided human
passion and human error 70 pure and noble lands.
Il was almost ,ruism that nothing vss harder to
study than the history OF our times We were
depressed by mass Of details, and with
oewildeying ard conflicting testimony. We
were too close TO the subject too much
under the influence Of passion--to enable us TO
form just CONCEPTION. The PAST, also, had iss df
fcultie; it was all in Itself complete, and even car
RED KS great deal farther lack than we d-eamt
Of yet if the win but stretched its arms Ear enough,
it could always clasp 70 Us the whole, for the end
was there, as well as the beginning, and we knew
whe. that end was. We knew VINO the great men
were, and who was merely the man Of the mom ent;
what events passed which set mark so deeply
the great shores Of tine bUt take the Roman EN-
pire we could not feel towards that Coliseum Like
those who lived within lis shadow; We had seea
the fragments scattered wide we could see the
causes Of mighty influence, an depreciate what we
could not share. Therefore, lei them study contem-
porary history. In the history OF the past we must
seek, in The events the principles which produ ,ed
them, and which, when they remain with other
principles Of the human mind; it will take its p see
by the side Of, and become the OF, new pro-
gress. This was the law we should endeavor to ap-
ply to the hopes Of the people Of Larope. They re-
membered how suddenly the French revolution of
lippes throne. ofthree days glory, set up in an ex
traordnary manner, and for nearly eighteen years
he was designated as the Nspoleo1 Of France.
Only three weeks before his fall he had heard
q celebrated lecturer proclaim him to bs the
wisest prince il Europe. The learned r-ofes-
sor then reterred to the various means which
lea to his downfall heyoiution was dread
fu thing; it tossed to and fro, as in tempest,
the human passions. which, when once let loose,
were more fer.e than the widest war of the ele-
ments But who was it :hai ade reyolution!-
great event which changed the aspect Of society, in
which the greatest individual was anything more
than the man OF the OCCASION sustained by the very
circumstances which he seemed to control! What
would Napoleon have been if he had begun in l7S9
instead OF go! If Cromwell had not Joined the
Roundheads, but had sided with the Cavalier party.
would he have filed the position he did! IL was
useless to resist the rules of development which
God had planted in every nation. If you accepted
the principle. you must take its consequences-you
must not attempt to turn it from its course The
Professor proceeded to comment upon the position
and social power Of the French people at the time of
the abdicaten of Louis Philippe, and his conduct
towards them. He alluded to the abuse which had
been made of the word g order" 'Order regns
Louis Philippe when announcing the fall &C tina.
devoted city. Poland, hemmed in as she was by
despotic powers, could not but fall: Louis PHI
hppe was fully prepared, and coerced his subjects
by military power The founders of his govern.
ment were the people; and by what tenure could
he have held the crown except by the will
Of the nation; and for what purpose, if
not to render that natien happier and be-
ter! At the period Of his downfall, the
republican party was in minority, and the
sheck came when least expected, and fen musket
shots decided the fate of the throne and the king
This event made him stand face to face to, and
shrink from, the men whom he had betrayed
Therefore, the revolution Of February was the
necessary result Of the revolution of July There
were elements in France out Of which useful
monarchy might have been constructed, if used for
the benefit of the people; but they were converted
to individual am biton, and while they laid the
foundation Of throne, they laid the stone of
republic. The Professor glanced at the rise and
progress Of the power Of the people on the Euro
pean continent and at the tyrannies which had been
exercised by different States. He remarked that
great lesson in history was faith. No man who had
read the history of the past could doubt the future
len years were some good part of human life: but
what were they in the life of State There was
no broken link which contested the great chain Of
the future to the past. Let them look a. Europe
at the present moment, and compare her state with
that which existed twenty years ago He could
see nothing to justify the gloomy rehodings which
he heard around him. Republican France had, in
fact, fallen, and the man who might have taken
place among the benefactors of mankind was trying
to build up a throne which prince, during twelve
years of glory, had failed TO build up. He con-
sidered the election Of Louis Nap oleon was great
error, though natural one. He examined the
state and position Of the National Assembly, aud
rec ounted the acts they had committed in autago-
nsm to the interests Of the people. The great step
was the expedition to Rome, conducted in the name
Of rcEgion and social order then came the aggres-
SIGN on the PRESS and the gradual extinction Of its
freedom, by fines and Imprisonment; and the next
blow was the destruction Of popular education.
The learned Professor entered into detail Of the
ccrruptions which had formerly existed in France,
and enlarged upon the advantages and justice of
republicanism in an eloquent harangue, aud re-
sumed his seat amid much applause.
The Mercantile Library Association.
The annual meeting OF the association for the purpose
OF receiving ereports of the Treasurer and the Board
of Directors and Tor the transaction Of other business
was hel last evening The Hon. Charles King presided
The Secretary read the minutes Of the last meeting
which were confirmed and also the Treasurer annual
report from which ii appeared that total receipts
for the past year amounted to sel2 60 cents and the
expenditure to s. 45s Sc cents leaving balance Of
"a cents of which Sill 20 hat been alresdy sppro
priated Ii was duly adopted
Mr. OAKLEY read the annual report Of the Board Of
Directors which congratulated the members upon the
success Of the institution. 1t stated that some fear
was expressed at the last annual gathering but the
career Of the institution stil continued successful
I 1t was oniy surpassed by tho li5rare, Of Her.
ward College the Library Company Of Philade
phia, the Boston Athen@um and the Congressional
Library at Washington in the number OF volumes, bu
not in usefulness influence The number Of members