Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-07-23

Pron Fcisou's hearsss en- thss Ocoa.icu sfl
his Inauguration at Harvard.
Prof FELTON,, on the occasion of his inauRu-
ration as President Of Harvard College, made
an eloquent address, from which we make
these extracts :llH e1
ln HOMER.
Homer inherited from his birth every grace
with which the gods have ever crowned their
darlings. His vigilant eye let no object,
great or small, escape its lightning glance;
his ear drank in the melodies Of nature and
art; his exquisitely strong nerves vibrated 10
every breath of heaven, every yvoice Of passion
stirring impulse Of the soul. But he stored
his mind with all the knowledge Of his age.
He Travelled over the ancient 0reoian world,
and with keenness Of observation which no
naturalist Of modern times has ever surpassed,
he noted the phenomena Of nature on the
bosom OF the stormy sea, on the resounding
shore, in the silence of the star-lit night at
the rising of the sun, at the setting OF the
Pleiades. And when the inspiration came
upon him, and his thoughts voluntarily
moved in harmonious numbers, the thought,
aud knowledge, and discipline were there;
the listening thrOngs at the Ionian festivals
knew that they stood in the presence Of the
greatest creative intellect-the wisest of
men-the favorite Of the heavenly powers.
THE ENGLISH COLLEGES.
The effects of the education there obtained
are wonderful and admirable. We see a
digni6ed and learned clergy; statesmen blend
ing the classical tastes they have acquired
there with manly abilities in practical affairs,
adorning, the drudgery Of business and the
details of official duty with the graces of the
sacred muses.; Canning and Pitt and Fox re-
freshing their energies exhausted in the strife
of the Senate, or with the cares of govern
ment, by gladly drinking at the Pierian
spring; Brougham writing essays on ancient
eloquence aud translating Demosthenes; Car
Isle filling the interval between two vice
royalties by studying on the spot the topo-
graphy Of Troy; Gladstone illustrating the
scholarship Of the age, while unbending from
the severe tolls of arranging the budget,
adjusting the revenues of mighty empire,
by writing three volumes on Homer, which
henceforth no students library can be with
out--these great scholars and statesmen tell
US what the higher forms Of English educa-
ton do for the leaders of thought and action,
in our mother-land.
CLASSICAL EDUCATION AND TRAVEL.
| Socrates deemed himself happy that he was
about to migrate after death to blessed re-
| gion where he should meet and converse with
the souls of Homer and Hesiod, and Other
good and famous men. The scholar now may
enjoy the anticipated happiness Of Socrates
He may read the very words, glow with the
very thoughts, fill his memory withlthe very
images that revolved in the capacious genius
of the old Ioniau singer, whose undying verse
| still reproduces the Tablespoonful Shore echo.
ing with the multidinous FLASHING of the sea
and once again repeople the plain of Troy
over whose silent fields the Simois and
| Scamander steal their languid way, with
heroic forms, as the traveller, Iliad in hand
sweeps along the sparkling waters, with Ida
| Gargarus, and the Mysian Olympus in sight
while Tenedos, and 1mbros, and Samothrace
| rich with immortal memories, fash likt
gems on the bosom of the Hgean deep. Al
English gentleman-Mr. Cabot-owns tn,
immortal plain, and is reclaiming it will
British capital from the exhaustion of centu
ries of barbaric possession. But the geniu
of Homer holds It by an older title, inalien
| able, recognized by the whole educated world
and the scholar who sails its waters anC
treads its shores is the guest Of him who ha!
possessed it by the right Of song for NOR,
than 5000 years. . tt.....,lr r. .4. ,
| Is it not something, too, to tread the Bems
| that illustrious rock-and recall the males
| tic words of Demosthenes, which entranceC
the souls Of his countrymen, and kept tn,
arms of Philip and Alexander for twenty
years at bay-the very words of matches
| grace and resistless force wherein the mas
/
thing to repeat the very words in which Plate
delivered bis divine philosophy to his disci
| pies, while the breezes played among the
| wierd olive groves, sacred to Minerva, anC
the silvery waters of the Cephissus wen
murmuring by, more than two thousand year
| ago2 When Cicero visited Athens, he turned
aside at the Peiraic gate and passed up tn,
plain to the shady walk of the Academy, tha
he might refresh his soul with the exaltin(
associations ofthe spot, even before he behelt
the wonders Of art that crowned the Acropo
lis, or conversed with the accomplished mel
who in that age still crowded the gardens
the schools, the Lesch@ and the porticos. tt
the scholar of the present day the enjoymen
is more exquisite, the delight of such associa
tions more intense.
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
Public and private munifcence has bull
and fitted yonder library and these Learned
halls. The same generous spirit has en-
dowed these professorships. Have the OBJ
jects Of all these noble endowments an,
costly sacrifices been attained2 Are all thes
diligent labors, these watchful cares dali,
and nightly exercised by the academic body
rewarded by the bright accomplishments ant
honorable characters of the young men WHIT
annually go forth from these ancient hall
into the busy world2 If not, let the ancien
halls crumble TO the earth; let yonder nobl,
library be scattered or burned by invading
barbarians; let yonder museum, which nov
contains in its ample spaces an organi
world, be leveled brick by brick, and tn
naturalist who rules there return to the Ian
whose great loss we have thought our ez
eeeding gain in his coming. But no, tn
halls, libraries and museums shall stand, an
their means of progress and utility shall b
indefinitely enlarged. The naturalist sha
stay where he is. There is no end to tn
public and private blessings they confel
Proudly and gratefully 60 before the worl
with these graduates of Harv ard; from tn
noble man who stands at the head of th
long catalogue of illustrious names, to tn
class that received their diplomas yesterday