New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-01-07

uted as to have an the drsdsery, and no, have any
share in the feast or al the enjoyment a, the feast
without any share in the labor thus every works
ard every man enjoys In looking upon the over
whelmipg activity Of our time, observed Mr.. g. in
contemplating the sublime things it had done AM was
doing il was 10, the magnitude Of eject that we
feel ts grandest import but rather in the manner
of producing them Those sublime things were the
creations Of voluntary agency-they were the ofsprng
Of private enterprise asking counsel from legsa-
tors, and accepting no dignity from GOyernusents-
they were the coDcevings Of independent minds-the
triumph of manly industry. No monarch could claim
them the gory Of bis reign for il was out OF the life
of the community that they came the spirit OF thou ht
full ability, end tie energy Of strong hears was in
thennot the glory Of master did they show, but the
glory Of the people. The achievements OF antiquity.
especially hose Of the ancien; East but the mon
uments ofsayes-thc witnesses at once of.yranny and
grief. Properly they were the shame of those who
commanded their erection, but time had punished
their vanity by giving their names 10 oblivion He
(Mr. g. did not know how he should feel il the
presence of such objects; but after the first emo
ton which the evidence of power instinctively
excited, his mind he thought would rise superior to
such huge naterisis. lie did not think that the con
temptation Of the mere nes-yeness and mster0ls1l OF
thoce vast ltuoures Of the East would overcome thH
vitality and spTiiuslism Of his soul. He Thought
rather that be would realize in their massive mlsonry
and monstTous sculpture bu; embodiment Of saw
age will snd savage art that mistook bulk for suOluty
In contemplating great cities-n Cling with the
Of life that filed hem-n adrniring their harbors
and the fleets lying within them and which connected
the nation with the word-in gazing with pleasure and
astonishment upon their miles of shops, and ware
,oJ I,U - tal01
in observing their railroads, canals aqueducts-n
thinking upon the immensity Of their manufacturing
forces-n all that genius gave them OF art civilization
of refinement and riches of luxury-in whatever they
had Of magnifcence or power, recognized the tri
umph Of free industry It this spirit that pervsded
them, and impressed them all with a seal of majesty,
which no triumphs Of despotism, ancient modern,
ever had or ever could have. Those who engaged in
the production Of utilities, participated in the
good Of them, not perhaps all equally, but more
equally in the measure of their claims than the
multitude OF the toilers ever did under any for
NOR civilization. The work of times was for
benefts-to sustain life-o comfort adorn it. Con
trast this with the Of some Of the works of
antiquity. For what did the Coliseum and other anti
qutes Of Rome cost such enormous sums, and absorb
such vast quantities OF labor Merely to provide for
the exhibition Of rage and slaughter and pain and ter
rorl The work OF time was for the benefit not of
the few, but Of the manyfor benefits that could not
lie monopolized-that however disproportionately
shared, yet were universally shared. The work too
was a living work not the concentration Of human
energy into dead piles but the expansion of active
forces which ripened harvests, produced the
seed for harvests abundant 1t the work too,
that promised continuance Of peace wars appeared
to have been the especial pursuit of nations in an
cient times-but now a-days in free and prosperous
States the value Of labor rendered OF in
finite expensiveness. The work of our age con-
nected too with respect and dignity. Common toll
now honorable in all and he alone was Caitif,
who could be dishonest enough to endeavor to escape
it. or be idle without shame. There was vast spen-
did grandeur he conceived In the utilities which the
work Of the age created. The man must indeed be
obtuse to whom the first perception of great in
vention or machine did not present something of the
ideal too. Indeed he never looked at the snortng,
putting bubbliDg steam horse hurryng thousands along
its iron truck that he was not startled with
prise. And he most thoroughly sympathized with the
establishment of the real flesh and blood horse behold
ing his rival exclsiming by his looks plainly as
thought the words spoken Ny occupation gone
daughter and applause) The social power
Of our age if possible, energetic in the exc
ry out high moral objects, seemed feature to es
pecialy characterize the age Humble a. their work
might sometimes appear-in ragged schoos-in domes-
tic missons-in encouraging sanitory regulations-or
in all those other intended TO bring enghten'
ed sympathy into contact with poverty and misfortune
the work had an importance which those only could
feel who had trayersed the regions in which such
tons were required Throughout the entire social fab
ric there many sick spots that earnestly recon-
mended themselves to the attention of those agencies
for good The Gins of the day were plainly enough to
be seen many of them were Of erced-of the concu-
piscence of gain-and if of ths-tbey the sins
of sham and show, and vanity They were not sins
that surrounded themselves with any majestic illusion,
or that glowed with any display of any my
biological celestial lght-nor they sublime
with any terrific power. And yet our
age might also be termed the age of extreme benevo
lenna no charity had the world equal to that
of our tmes-so kind far.reaching, encirclins.
The human bonevolence of our day was like divine
Providence made visible and made active-as minute
in its agencies it absorbing in its character for
while it encompssed in its anxiety the whole circle OF
mortal sorrow and want at the time labored to
relieve every specific ill., The lecturer proceeded
TO examine the connection existing between the thinker
and the age in which he lives and described with un
usual beauty oil dlcuon anu hiustrauoh INC ioue w
which the historical thinker for instance brought the
impressions of his living mind to bear upon the living
present. and through that medium explained the past
The who would reform the social condition oil the
age psssionatey in earnest In this as in every
thing else the spirit Of our age showed itself reflective
1t went into the center Of institution and invesgst
ed the rules Of its existence il traced back It's history
and examined i:s origin. Herein we had IMPLIED
also, the critical tendency of the age; every
institution questioned for its end or utility But
Social Philosophy was as active in construction as
was in criticism Methods innumersble were started
from day day, by which society was to be essentially
improved, or entirely remodelled Old vices were
taking ofthe catalogue OF despair and hoping hu
msnity placed them in the list of possibilities Science
too concerned itself most devotedly with social us
some OF them Il would cure-some OF the most hopeless