Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-11-09

ssTherc were Giants an Those Days.
/. We seem to be living 10 an age Of mediocrity.
The statesmen Who govern us; the novelists'
poets and essayists who try 70 entertain anc M
strrci us; the philosophers who speculate on the
unistaomable mysteries of the human mind: The
theologians; and several other classes oil people
vho follow certain walks Of intellectual labor IN
which past generations have been renowned,
seem 10 be only second or third rate. There are
apparently no statesmen like Richeleu, MazaTin
Pitt. Sir Robert Peel. jefferson, Hamilton, Clay
or Webster; 10 novelists like lie Sage, Creyanies.
Yielding Smollett. Scott or Cooper: no essayists
like jeffrey. ssdnes Smith, Christopher North,
Tallourd. Macauley or Irving: no poets like
Goethe. Schiller. Byron. Cray. Campbell, Moore.
Beranger and some Of the elder American bards;
no philosophers who dive as deep and come out
dry (or wet, as the case may be- as Hobbies.
Schleirmacher, Scheling, Kant, Hegel, Locke,
Sir William Hamilton. Jonathan Edwards. and
dozens more that might be named; no theology
cal writer's like Chillingworth, Paley, Butler, and
scores Of Others. mot few American.l nov dead
and gone, whose names adorn the backs OF port
" volumes 10 every we'll regulated ministers
library And so on in a number Of other depart
mepts of intellectual toll. A long catalogue OF
historic names could be quoted to prove an ap-
parent falling of in the mental aptitudes or in
dustry Of this generation, IN both the old and
new world compared with the past century or
two. or even the past generation
People still live, and great many OF tbem,
who talk of the giants Of those days and
moan over the intellectual degeneracy OF the
age: and certainly with a good show Of reason
when they speak OF modern statesmanship, which
really does seem TO be nothing but a system Of
paltry expedients and makeshiits, animated by a
spirit of narrow and vndictive partisanship. Ii
is the deterioration IN the race OF statesmen that
we feel most keenly in our present crisis
There is no doubt that many OF these giants
are magnifed by the mists of the past Still, il
must be owned. We think, that there are no liv
/ ing statesmen like Webster ana Clay, Wright
and MacY 10 living poet who glows with the
/ genius Of Byron; essayist who begins TO com
pare with Charles Lamb or Hszlitt, or the bril-
liant coierie Of the Edinburg or Backwood
The wells Of philosophy seem to be pumped dry
/ Herbert Spencer is about the only living man
who can be said to possess a high order OF ere
alive genius, and they the connecting links
between the present and the past generation.
Are there no intellectual giants now days
Is the race dwarhing? We think not. The q
ants are just many as ever, but they are learn
ing new trades. The sciences, both theoretical
and practical, are receiving more OF their atten
ton than ever before. The intellectual activity
/ of the German, French, English and American
nations in the domain OF science, and mate
/ rial progress, haze been prodigioos since 1910
We do not now allude to the railroads, tee
graphs, tunnels ana suspension bridges-thougs
these are enough to form an epoch in the histo
~ of the race Only a~small part of the re
cord Of the sublime march of scientific progress
is to be read in the palpabe results known to al
men.
The reports of the French Academy" o.
1.-THE British Association for the Advancement o
Science of kindred national institutions in Ger
many aud the United States. show the real wogl
/ that is being done SO do the proceedings, few
of which published, of the Mechanics
Chemists and Agrculturists' Institutes which
are now established in all the great cities anC
considerable towns OF the countries we have
mentioned wells Annual of Scientific Dis
coyery'-a very valuable work-presents from
year to year descriptive list OF nearly on,
thousand discoveries and Inventions which ar,
only few, selected. for their brilliancy and utl
ity, from the countless number that claim no
tice. The English Year Book of Facts, de
| voted specially 20 English scientific progress Il
another annual compendium of the same kind
large a modern noyel--and great dea
more interesting than most works of fiction
Scientific magazines and journals. particularly il
| England and y merica. are swamped beneath th,
high tide Of invention that rolls over them. No
one can pretend to give more than brief cata
~
week. OF the new patents taken out in Londor
or Washington. Ii
OF all this ceaseess struggle with nature. the
general public knows but little. Ii il only wher
new metal il discovered new planet founc
and weighed, a Iew color separated from Goa
Jar, new cannon contrived good for shooting
nu nber of miles further than the last best one
a new explosive agent compounded a new motor
applied to railway travelling. new plans devised
for skimming over the sea flying through the
air. new steam plows. reapers, sewing and knit
ting machines aud other labor saving and time
saving apparatus of infinite varieties, contr:ved
and put into operation for the benefit of man
that the people take note Of what is going on Il
is not surprising that persons who are looking fol
the highest developments Of genius in statesman
ship or literature which were the old paths mos
frequented by great Misunderstanding quite over
look the Astounding manifestations OF mentalac
tivity in fields of research which to.them new
| and unknown.
Genius has been defined to be great mind
turned into particular channel. The channel
OF this age. into which the scutest and most
original inteects seem to be turned by the force
| of circumstances, is that of invention, of dis
covery, or conquest over the brute force of ma
ture. of contribution to the personal comfort and
material happiness of man.-New York Journal
of Commerce