Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1863-11-12
NaticraI Struggles and their Influence upon
Intellectual DeyelOpment-An Eloquent Pas

lEAtract from Address by PARxE GOODWIN, the
oecaslon Of the recent laying of the corner stone
city.]-
It IS an event in the history of any city or
nation, when its leading citizens come to.
gether to lay the foundations Of a sunerh
structure to be devoted exclusively to Art,
1t marks double rise in the genial currents
OF our civilization; the existence. in the first
| place, OF demand for other satisfactions and
other enJoyments than those of material ma.
| ture, and IN the second place, of class com.
| petent by their genius and skill to sunnIv +ba
exigencies Of that superior interest.
| We assemble, under the soft splepdor Of
these autumnal skies, and amid the misty
many-colored glories of this second summer
| OF the year, to beg i'm the record, in a durable
and effective form, of this substantial pro.
gress. lmpelled by no debasing lust of gain,
with no vanity or shallow per.p, under the
promptings of high and almost holy senti-
ment of reverence, we propose to rear an
altar to the Beautiful, where the active min
| listers in her service may yearly bring their
richest offerings, and the broad brotherhood
of her faith may come up to perform their
protoundest worship.
Here let me observe that, strange as il
may seem, l cannot but think you have chosen
both an appropriate and propitious time for
this inauguration. Strange, indeed, it must
seem that l should connect this hour of a
desperate war, in any favorable sense, with
the serene and gentle arts of peace. Weare
in the midst of stupendous national con-
vulsion, when the earth heaves as with the
birth OF earthquakes and the wild air sobs
with the shouts and walls of conflict Borne
on every southern breeze comes the flash of
crossing arms and the deep thunder of the
cannon; and even while l speak, perhaps,
many brave heart sinks, many manly form
goes down, as the angel Of death sweeps by,
in discriminating wrath.
| But you that have before heard me dis
| course to artists know that it is a favorite
theory of mine that the mighty struggles in
which nations are put to their noblest strain.
are but the tempestuous spring time and
seed-time of glorious summer of intellectual
| grOwths. In these crises, or supreme mo-
ments of life, when the soul of people is
| called to exert the heroic virtues-when all
| that is strong and grand in human resolve,
and all that Is enduring and God-like in hui
man patience, is summoned to trial when
| whole communities are led to cast out of
| their consciousness whatever is low, and
groveling, and selfish, to make room therein
| for an influx of the divine and generous SEN
| timent of selfsacrifce; when the universal
mind Is fused, as by spark of Heavens
/ lightning, into unity of disinterested and
| irresistible emotion, whether it be of patriot
ism or religion, then the soul of the people is
lifted into the true creative sphere its
thoughts and feelings glow with spontaneous
activity; and the higher spirits Of the time,
catching its subtlesJ essences and finer eIectrici
ties, blossom up into wonderful forms of love
illness and power. And then, too, come the
| ppaS vi 1p arot hp pul
cial destiny
| 1t has often been remarked that there have
been certain periods in history which mark
| the efl1orescence OF the arts-when they seem
| to attain their most brilliant development:
| and these, hastily enumerated, may be de-
| scrlbed In general terms the age of Peri
cles in Greece, of Augustus in Rome, of the
Troubadours in early Europe, of Lorenzo di
Medici in Italy, of Louis the Fourteenth in
France, of Elizabeth in England and the
nineteenth century in more modern times
| Now why were these ages so distinguished?
Was it because of the patronage which kings
and princes are supposed to have lavished in
/ munitcent gifts upon artists and academies?
As well ascribe to that source the stars which
| glitter in the skies, the CLEAN of sunsets, or
the awful music Of the winds in the woods
Patronage may foster what is already born,
1
| Ne; those ages were great, because the spirit
of the people, raised by the mighty events in
which they participated to celestial heights
OF enthusiasm, energy and unity, could but
overflow in all the appropriate intelle ctuaI
manifestations.
Greece, in the age of Pericles, had lust
| emerged from the gigantic wrestle with Per
STA, in which her spirit, sublimated into unex-
ampled viGor by unexampled efforts, bloom
ed and bourgeoned into Eschylus, and Phidi-
as, and Plato and Demosthenes From the
| lnterneclne conflicts of the civil war in Rome
sprang the silver splendors of the literature
which Illuminated the reign of the first EN-
| perOr When Europe, impelied by unvers-
al outburst Of religious enthusiasm, flung
herself in countless hosts upon Asia for the
| rescue of the Holy Sepulchre, then first arose,
| like forest of tapering shafts and pointed
arches, the mighty Gothic cathedrals, while
| the lays Of the Tr0ubadours and the tales of
| the TrOuyeres broke forth like a twitterino
| chorus OF birds IN the mornings of spring.
No Medcean grace, but the fierce conflicts of
the Italian republics, aroused the genius of
Italy to its almost snpefhuman strength, and
crowned her laurelled head with the eternal
masterpieces of Da Vnci, and Michael An
cello, and Raphael. The religious and civil
wars of France, not the luxurious but effem-
| mating protection of Louis Quatorze inspir-
| ed the finest models of French style, while
| the passions and strivings of the Reformation
| the grand tournaments of the mind-the
daring spirit of maritime adventure and sci
| entifc discovery, the new enterprise and
| freedom and aspiration, the almost universal
| ferment of thought which followed the re-
| lease Of society, and especially of England,
from the despotism Of the middle age,
wrought the brain of mankind into the glow
| and energy necessary to produce the magnif-
cent personality of Shakespeare. Thus, too,
not to pursue the line of proof tediously,
may we not hope that out of the throes and
commissions Of our darkened and strenuous
Present may be born Future of grandeur
and radiance Nay, may we not discern on
the very smoke wreaths of battle the same
glorious Bow of Promise which the divine
benignity paints on the storm-clouds when
the tempest Is oVerpast ?
But, to attain that lofty consummation, our
artists and our public must learn to estimate
art in its true dignity and character; not as
a frivolous pastime, like the antics Of Harle-
quin not as minister to ostentation, like a
fashionable upholster-not even as better
sort of schoolmaster teaching finer selfish
ness-but as, indeed it truly is, the purest :.
and best effort of the purest and best minds
in their purest and best hours. Art amuses
US, it is true, like many meaner things but it
elevates while it amuses; it delights US, but it
ennobles us through that delight. it instructs
US, but it informs US, or forms US inwardly,
while it instructs. The genuine product of
mysterious fusion, which blends the Sense
that sees all beauty with the Wisdom that
nprcejyes all law End tho ova hat