Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-11-12
LProm ID NeK York Herald. i.

OcroeENAKrAN LEcruREs-Old Men on The
Rostrum. Elsewhere will be found q report of
the interesting lecture delivered last week by
President Tyler before the Richmond Me-
chanics' Institute. This is the second efortofs
the anne sort made by the venerable EXPRESS
dent, and is, we understand, to be followed by
others on subjects connected with his personal
Experiences. 1t seems to be necessity with
men who have occupiedhigh oficiaEpo sitions to
keep up their relations with the public through
this OF other channels. The sweets of political
influence and magsterial functions once tasted,
it is impossible for the majority of public men
to initiate the example of the patriotic Roman
who retired contentcdy to his plough after hav-
I ing filled the highest Offices in the State 1t
would appear as if the mental and physical
qualities which elevate them to posts of dignity
and power leave them no taste for the retirement
and repose which others seek after long lives of
labor. The conclusion is that their organization
must differ from the generality of mankind, and
that they must be endowed with n vitality grea-8
ter than ordinary Inortals
AS an evidence of this assumption, we have
only to point to the recent remarkable lecture
delivered by the octogenarian Lord Brougham,
on the occasion of the erection OF q statue TO
| Sir Isaac Newton in his native town. Taking
into account the wear and tear through which
this remarkable man has passed, we believe
there is no record of so extraordinary an effort
| at his advanced age Lord Lyndhurst, to be
by the vigorso his understanding and his won
Ederful powers of memory; but though the ages
of the two men are about the same, there is
great difference in their capacity for work.
Lord Brougham is not only a great talker but
t.great writer, and Snatches only brief intervals
| of repose from his abors. Lord ELyndhurst's
industry is spnsmodic, and is confined to i'm.
portant political questions and the occasional
decision of the judicial appeals brought before
| the Lords.
The lives OF. our retired statesmen are not
wanting in: examples of this diStaste for repose
and revived thirst for occupation. Amongst
many wesmay cite John Quincy Adams, Colonel
Benton, Mr.. Everett and several other distin-
guished statesmen, who have filled up the
measure of ordinary lives of industry, and who
might, therefore, have been supposed glad to
avail themselves of the indulgence and quiet
usually deemed indispensable to their age. In
| the American character this spirit of restless
activity, from the cradle to the grave, is more
observable than in that of any other people
4 It's condition of climate, as welllas of educa-
ton; and we must not, therefore, plume our.
selves upon any deduction of intellectual superb
GRITTY to which it might lead. The man who, in
this country, ceases to work while there iswork
in him, can only count on short lease of his
life. We do not possess anatmosphere in which
social enjoymentS can be cultivated with i'm
punity, and to old men there remains no alterna-
tive but regular occupation or death. s.
We know no way in which the surplus ener-
/ gy of veteran politicians can be more profitably
employed than in the lecture room. There they
can instruct and amuse the rising youth of the
country by their experiences, and at the same
time crafty that tendency towards sef-lauda-
ton which is natural to old people. In.this way
they may form useful links between the past
and the present generation, and serve as land
marks to the progress we are making.
|