Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1863-11-11
Nauonaf Struggles and their influence upor
ihteheeiaa' Deyelopment-An Eloquent Pas.

! sage.
Extract from an Address by pARKp G oDwrS. ON tn.
| of the Vstionai $500 laying of the corner stone
city. Desish III Ne" YORK
IL Is an event III the history of any citv
nation, when its leading citizens 60 ~
gether to lay the foundations of - ~
structure to be devoted exclusively 70 a.
/. 1t marks double rise in the genial o''1 Art-
of our civilizations the existence. in H. ms nus
place, of demand for other satisfactions a,s
| other enloyments than those of material '
| ture, and, IN the second place, of class Co.
petent by their genius and skill to supply tba
exigencies of that superior interest
| We assemble, under the soft splendor of
| these autumnal skies, and amid the misty
many-col0red glories of this second summer
of the year, to begin 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 pomp, 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
o. her faith may come up to perform their
| profoundesJ worship.
| Here let me observe that, strange as II
may seem, l cannot but think you have chosen
both an appropriate and a propitious time for
| this Inauguration. Strange, indeed, it must
I seem tflat SLouIU COuUtCL lLlS uOuf OF
desperate war, in any favorable sense, with
! the serene and gentle arts of peace. Weare
| in the midst OF a 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 | speak, perhaps
many brave heart sinks, many a manly form
goes down. as the angel of death sweeps 10y,
! in Understanding wrath.
But you that have before heard me dis
| course 10 artists know that it is a fayorite
theory of mine that the mighty struggles in
| which nations are put to their noblest strain,
! are but the tempestuous spring-time aud
| seed-time of glorious summer of intellectual
| growths. In these crises, supreme mo-
ments of life, when the soul OF a people is
| called TO exert the heroic yirtues-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
| grovelng and selfish, to make room therein
for an influx of the divine and generous SEN
. timeut of seltsacrihce; when the universal
mind Is fused, as by a spark of Heavens
lightning, into unity of disnterested 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
| activitE; and the higher spirits of the time,
catching its subtlest essences and finer electrici
| ties, blossom up into wonderful forms of love
illness and power. And then too, come the
eras which are the eliminating points in So
| cial destiny.
/ 1t has often been remarked that there have
! been certain periods in history which mark
/ the etfiOTesccnce OF the arts-whcn they seem
| To attain their brilliant lyvalprula,,t
and these, hastily enumerated, may be de
scribed in general terms as the age of Peri
| Giles 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 II because OF the patronage which kings
and princes are supposed to have lavished in
munihcent gifts upon artists and academies
As well ascribe shat source the stars which
glitter III the skies, the CLEAN of sunsets, or
the awful music Of the winds in the woods
! Patronage may foster what is already born
| but the breath OF the Lord alone gives it life.
Ne; those ages We're great, because the spirit
of the people, raised by the mighty events in
l which they participated to celestial heights
OF enthusiasm, energy and unity could but
/ overflow in all the appropriate intellectual
manifestations.
/ bitStt, III INC aye OF L circles, Dau lust
! emerged from the gigantic wrestle with Per
STA, i'll which her spirit, sublimatcd into unex-
: ! ampied ylgOr by uneXamplcd efforts bloom
ed and bourgeOned into Eschylus, and Phdi-
as and Plato and Demosthenes. From the
internccine 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 a univers-
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 TrOubadours and the tales of
the Trouveres broke forth like a twittering
chorus of birds in the mornings of spring
No Medicean grace, but the fierce conflicts of
the Italian republics, aroused the genius OF
Italy to Its almost snperhuman strength and
crowned her laUrelled head with the eternal
masterpieces of Da Vinci, and Michael An
gelo, 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 m0ritime adventure and sci
| entifc discovery, the new enterprise and
freedom and aspiration, the almost universal
terment Of thought which followed the re-
| lease Of society, and especially of England
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 tediousIy,
may we not hope that out of the throes and
commissions Of our darkened and strenuous
| Present may be born a 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 contamination, our
artists and our public must learn to estimate
art in It's true dignity and character; not as
| a frivolous pastimc, like the antics of Harle-
gum not as a minister to ostentaton like
| fashionable upholster-not even as a better
| sort of schoomaster teaching a 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, 1t is true, ike many meaner things, but it
eleyatcs while it amuses; it delights US but it
ennob!es Us through that delight; it instructs
| US, but it informs US, or forms inwardiy,
l,R,T