Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-07-08
VOL. XVIII.

grafton of our townsman, the Hon. F. J.
Diekman, before the College Literary So
eieties, on Liberal Culture as an element
in Practical Life"
Theoration was delivered in the Presby-
terian Church, last evening, by the Hon.
F. J. Dickman, of Ohio.
The subject of Mr. DIS discourse was
g Liberal Culture as an Element in Practi-
cal Life" In liberal culture he recogniz-
ed that which opens the mind generally to
the noblest impulses, from the exercise of
the most varied talent-laying open the
vast treasury of. facts and principles,
inferences and countless analogies, which
light up the frmament Of truth; ira
cling the affinities of the scinees
| seizinq upon all that Is useful
and elegant in literature and art, and bid
ding men not to abandon that universally
commended by Lord Bacon, and thus
cease and stop all progression But it
has become an important inquiry, whether
a culture SO ample and so generous, shall
be confined to those whose daily pursuits
| direct them to the still and quiet walks of
learned contemplation, or whether We are
10 find 1t IN an adaptation TO the innumera-
bic eallmgs Impractical life. true civih-
cation viii embrace not merely physical
1 lus-uries- material substaIlns=y Irrrcnan-
] zeal eontrivances, but also a liberal culture,
| which at the same time, like a deep cur
relt, will run through our practical life
/ Then Will there be not merely the pomp,
and pride, and circumstance of wealth,
but the individual will garner the rich
harvests ola Literature indued with a new
| vitality, and full of the gems Of a healthy
| progress Mr.. d. here proceeded to point
out the peculiar fitness Ofthat liberal cul-
ture which he had defined, to some of the
active employments of life, commercial
mechanical and professional, which con-
sumo 50 large proportion Of the time and
| energy Of the world. The claims of com
merce to be deemed a liberal pursuit were
| presented, and it was argued that
small share at least Of that untiring
energy and enterprise now confined to the
/ counting house, might well be directed to the
/ cultivation Of different tastes, and a surren-
/ der to other impulses than those of the
| mart and the thOrOughtare. 1t was also
urged that the mechanic arts demanded a
/ more general recognition at the hands of
| those who have received liberal and scieD-
titc education, so called. The disciples of
Blackstone are as thick as leaves in Val
lambrOsa, but the example of joining schO-
/ lastic attainments with the mastery of some
mechanical art is as rare as it would be
salutary and instructive. It is a fair dues-
tion whether there is not prevalent among
many who wear the armOT of a university
| discipline, foolish disdain of bodily labor
| and dexterity. But such q disdain, in
| whomesOever it exists, should receive the
pointed apprehension ofevery sensible man.
| High mental culture should furnish no ex-
emption from mechanical toll, and the
/ contrary idea is not only at variance with
the teachings of the political economist.
but at war with a republican spirit, and
subversivc Of the true doctrine that TO la
! Dor Is the original destination of the man.
And moi only Is liberal culture demanded
for the merchant and the mechanic, but the
| want of it is oitentimes most plainly seen
| and felt even in one at leastof the learned
professions. The theory and practice of
the common law may sharpen and invigor-
ate, but, as said by Burke, it does not en-
/ large and Gberalize. A comparison was
here drawn between Coke and Lord Bacon
both lawyers, but one harsh and grabbed,
and the other an enlightened philosopher
/ and Grotiu5 in his great work did not fail
TO summon the poets, and historians, and
| philosophers of all past time as witnesses,
whose conspiring testimony would furnish
/ conclusive proof of the cardinal rules of
duty and the fundamental principles of
morals.
Mr.. Dickman closed his discourse bv con-
sidering the influence of a wide-apread lib
/ eral culture, not only upon the Individual,
but upon the national character We sub
| join portion of his remarks substantially
on this topic.
/ Consider with me briefly the Influence of
| this liberal culture upon our national life
| by moulding the national character
through the medium of a high-toned, com
| prehensive and diffused literature By ma
tional character we mean those moral and
intellectual traits which give individuality
10 a nation and distinguish it from all 9TH
I u H., Il
liar manifestation Of those traits in the pol
icy, institutions, laws, manners and customs
Of people; and by literature we mean
something more than emanations from the
press alone. We conceive that it may have
an existence without the alphabet, the tvpe,
or the art Of writing. Among the most
savage tribes, who have never given ex-
preston 10 thought in the written character.
the Bard catches the melody aud rhythm
of his dialect, and leaves poetryto bepre-
served BY oral tradition; while the orator.
in his earnest appeals to his rude and un-
couth listeners, moves the depths offeeliup
and inspires taste that prompts to the
cultivation of a natural and heartfelt
eloquenee. The argument of the ad-
vOcate, the speech of the politician on
| the hustings, the lecture of the college
| professor, and the sermon of the di-
vine, are none the less a part of or
literature because they do not appear in the
columns of the newspaper or in the pages
of the printed book. Behold now the one
ration Of this tarreaching lever, this mower
of worded ideas, this giant force, working
with a mighty energy, and vet silently and
softly like light and attraction, and inc
noiseless influence of the sun. Observe the
plastic effect Of this literature upon the
| collected reasOH-upOn the moral and in
tellectual nature-upon the thinking. the
feeling and the acting-upon the total
character Of the growing population Of our
new born republic, Just now through rrueb
trial and tribulatiOn, hardening into the
bone OF manhood. Observe the new in
pulse 1t may give to industry--the new
sehemesl 1T may start into hie--the new as
pirings and hopes it may awaken-fhe new
reforms and attempts at reform, social and
political, it may set in mOtion-the new
springs Of 'JOy forever" it may omen the
national heart. Observe that impartial
highness which this literature impartetb
10 a nation, as when it made Greece, though
subdued, the mistress of the conquer9r.
Listen TO its oracUlar voice in changino the
policy of States, and erecting a new basis
for their INSTRUMENTATION, as when a
Grotius with his pen taught the world that
even in the midst of arms the laws sbouId
not be silenced.
The authority of letters-the potency OF
thought written aud spOken-you canpo,
easily overestimate in forming the chsrar-
ter and determining the future degree N
the heterogeneous masses that are fbieklv
planting themselves over this continent ..
ours. Can it be that, with the amaIeams :
ton OF races that is here constantly ooino
the intellectual aud moral eharacteFist;css
of our people can remain forever the same
Must there not be modification, if moi
radical change? Must not our natioI :
character assume a novel and somev 10
varying aspect? Must not the old Il, IIi Lns
ments be thrown aside, and new ones ,'IL I'm
pared, and with the change must not =. P5e p5t