Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-01-10
A Lecture by Rev. e. H. Chaplin.

A large audience gathered at Mechanics
Hall last night, to listen to what Rev. E. II.
Chaplin might say on the "Orders of Nobili-
ty." The lecturer passed briefly over the ii
tied aud hereditary nobility, as not within the
scope of his lecture, and considered the es-
sence of true nobility as manifested in work,
in thought, in life The sphere of action,
where a man recognizes his work and faithful
ly does it, was a noble one and it was the tcay
of doing the work which conferred the nobili-
ity. 1t was the most shameful thing in the
world-the shame of legitimate labor. Mr.
Chaplin discovered the corner stone OF slavery
in this view of work, and he said some good
things concerning the tendency to poetic labor
and practically shirk it, mixed with very lit
tie cant concerning the noble, industrious
boot black, as contrasted with the ignoble lazy
| gentleman.
A broad view of the question revealed that
every man has peculiar field, and that brain
work is the arduous task allotted to some.
But those WHO shirk and sneer at manual labor
"a great army-are continually rushing into
the professions with general insufficiency OF
qualifications, and imagining themselves, IN
their offices, lifted greatly above the manual
laborer. These thinkers at law, at physic, at
| politics, The might have added, at lecturng-
for there gresham lecturers, though Mr.. Cha
pin is far from being one of them,) were shown
in a very unpleasant light, and therefore
truly. This mean and skulking notion pro-
duced congestion in the professions, and begot
a class of people who will do nothing for their
own support-sprouts from the family tree,
with suckers reaching into the paternal money
bags-whbse aim is life, liberty, and the pur-
suit of happiness, which they construe rather
peculiarly, and pursue their happiness, usually,
with a fast horse. Mr.. Chaplin asked that a
proper respect be shown for the heraldry of
the rolled up shirt-seeve, and wasted some
words of severity on young ladies who are dis
gusted at laboring young men, and who marry
''genteeP' profigates and fools; for how can
the matter be better arranged? Fools to fools,
and merit to merit, in whatever station found.
He continued AS all nobleness is in the
mind, therefore nobility of thought ranks high
er than nobility of work. great thought is
valuable in that it goes down to future genera
tions, and, like the circular ripple caused by
the fall of pebble into the water, it widens
intellectually. Nobility of thought was char
acterized by seriousness, and it was to be Ia
mented that we were fallen into such a funny
age when the tendency is to throw every OBJ
ject into humorous perspectye-a fatal thing
for ourselves. He nobly indicated the Puritan
character, and said that, if there was not as
much 'fun" in the days of the Commonwealth
as in those of the Stuart reign, there was more
decency.
The closing part of the lecture was devoted
to those traits of the nobility of life which are
represented by Inconsistencies, communica-
ton, aspiration the Inconsistencies of self
which led man to death for an idea; the
communication of sympathy and nobility of
life by noble presence; the aspiration and
continued longing for something higher and
illustrating by abiding to what Plato,
Shakespeare, Dante, the old philosophers and
poets, had by noble literature done to devel
ope noble life.