Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1860-11-29
.Beecher on Young America.

The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher gave a lee
ture last evening in the large Hall of the
Cooper Institute on Young America. The
hall was crowded Mr.. Beecher spoke first
of the natural connection between old age
and conservatism and between youth and
progress In every free community there
was a party of youth; there was Young
France, Young England, Young Ameri-
ca, and now, thank God, Young Italy
Cheers. This youth had union of safe
sense with personal independence, verging on
impudence, and of irreverent pertness of
speech with an intention of politeness-men
liked such contradictions. They liked to
imagine sailors as rugged as oak trees, but
with hearts like little birds nests up in the
branches. The Young America was suppos-
ed to be the best blood, born in the best coun-
try, under the best government in the world,
and no government ever had better citizen.
1t took more to MAKE the trimmings of man
now than it took to make man 500 years
ago. The man could not be confined in his
growth. In China they dwarf trees so as to
grow an oak in fower-p And it was
very convenient to have forest so that it
could be taken in doors out of the storm. 1t
was very convenient to have Church. pot, or
State-pot, in which to grow men, with
circle beyond which they could not extend.
But the true man said God gave me my
girth, and shall grow up to that!" We had
no homogeneous national cha racter; the
country HAS too large. Only in small eoun.
tries was such thing possible We should
in hundred years have a New England man,
struck out as sharp as coin; Middle
States man, a Gulf States man, and Pacific
States man. There were some few essentials
to national greatness Of them the first was
physical vigor. Our rasteful, sensual leg
islation must be given up. A man who had
exercise unless he were rich and could afford
his carriage There had descended to US an
idea that he was fungus. Laughter. i
There are thousands of men who are willing
to work day after day from morning to night
but it was with reference to time when they
could retire and do no work. Now no man
had any right to retire until the sexton shut
the door behind him and screwed it down.
Motto work was disgraceful in youag man
or an old man, who had vigor enough left to
work with. For this reason we were bound
fo Oiu chop rorE-r aho
an l land-room, to every man. The great
Educating ground of men was their sphere of
work, where they worked out their theory
into practice. Work of some kinds, egricul-
tural work, was already respectable in Eng
land. Royalty took pride in breeding pigs,
and our piggeries were vocal with Prince A.
ber.'s breed. Sir Charles Fox was builder
and contractor, and Sir Joseph Paxton the
Duke of Devonshire's gardener. New times
for England. We in. this country ought to
have higher moral principles in our action
than any other alton. But it had not been
so. We had also a right to expect great in
dependence and liberty of thought. Moth
ing was so responsible as this Freedom to
think without servile adherence to profes-
siopal formulas was fer this country. Art
was no longer for artists alone. Learning was
confined to no learned class religion to no
consecrated tribe of men. The priest had
right to judge; so bad the laymau. The
great intelligent mass of the outer commune
ty were coming to be the supreme and final
judges. The artist, the scholar, the priest
starved here if they served not the people,
A thousand years ago theirs was famous
dispute as to the keys of Peter. He had one
back and one gold. one for up there and one
for down there. The man who held them,
held the rudder of the world; they were the
real rulers, let who would be crowned. The
1 Catholics thought they had the keys; the
Protestants thought they had them; but
there gradually grew up sentiment of pow
er among the people, until all the people
found that they could 60 to God themselves
and whoever had the big key, each man and
woman and child had little key with which
he could get into the Kingdom of Heaven. -
And so the people said 10 the wrangling
priests: " Jingle your old Keys as much as
you please; we have got some ourselves p
This was the great growth of the people,
which in these days was swallowing up all
classes We might expect in youth, youths
fulnass. Some gardeners pruned off the side
brush from trees but although it made them
very fine, it weakened their stem they were
good for nothing when trained. There were
men trained to piety, excessive narrowness,
to carry the right eye with great propriety,
to carry the left eye so as to have no i'll infu.
ence, to rut his feet one before the other with
great propriety, never to swing his hands
except with great propriety-living to be
proper FOOLS This could not be held up as
an ideal except when i: was an old head on
young shoulders; man that begins back
end foremost-it was piteous. We had a
right to demand that young men should not
be conservative. Woe to the land whose
young men were conservative. And he that
has ears to hear let him hear for never were