The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-11-18

terl0ratlon in the race of statesmen that
we feel most keenly in our present crisis.
There is no doubt that many of these
giants are magnified by the mists of the
past. Still, it must be owned, we think
that there are no living statesmen like
Webster and Clay, Wright and Marcy;
no living poet that CLOVIS with the genius
of Byron; no essayist who begins to COM
pare with Charles Lamb or Hazlitt, or the
brilliant coterie of the Edinburqh or
Bldchacood The wells of philosophy
seem to be pumped dry Herbert Spencer
Is about the only man who can find water
III them. Of the living noyelsts Dickens
anu bulwer ere the only ones who can be
saiu 10 possess high order of creative &c.
mus ana they are the connecting links be-
tween tiie present and the past generation.
are there no intellectual giants now-a-
uay' Is the race dwarfng? We think
nos. The giants are Just as many as ever
but they are learning new trades. The
sciences, both theoretical and nractical
are receiving more Of their attention than
ever before. The intellectual activitv Of
the German, French, English and Amer
lean nations in the domain of science and
material progress, has been prodieioua
since 1910. We do not now allude to the
railroads, telegraphs, tunnels and susDen-
sion bridges-though these are enough to
form an epoch in the history of the race.
Only small part of the record of the sub
lime march Of scientific progress is to be
read in the palpable results known to all
men. The reports of the "French Acad-
envy" of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science" of kindred ma.
tlonal institutions in Germany and the
United States, show the real work that is
being done So do the proceedings, few
of which are published, of the Mechanics,
Chemists and Agriculturists' Institutes
which are now established in ell the great
cities and considerable towns of the coun-
tries we have mentioned. l"Wells' Annual
OF Scientific Discovery "a very valuable
work-presents from year to year des-
criptive list of hearty one thousand discov-
cries and inventions, which are only few,
selected, for their brilliancy and utility,
from the countless number that claim no.
tice. The English "Year Book of Facts"
devoted specially to English scientific pro-
gress, is another annual compendium of
the same kind, as large as modern novel
and great deal more interesting than
most works of fiction. Scientific maya
zines and journals, particularly in England
and America, are swamped beneath the
high tide OfinventiOn that rolls over them.
No one can pretend to give more than a
brief catalogue rdiSOnne from month to
month, Or week to week, of the new pa
tents taken out in London or Washington.
OF all this ceaseless struggle with ma
ture, the general public knows but little.
1t Is only when new metal is discovered,
a new planet found and weighed, new
color separated from coal tar, new can
non eontrived, good for shooting q number
OF miles further than the last best one,
new explosive agent compounded, q new
motor applied to railway travelling, new
plans devised for Swimming over the sea or
flying through the air, new steam ploughs,
reapers, sewing and knitting machines.
and other labor sa7ing and time-saving ap-
paratus, OF infinite variety, contrived and
put into operation for the benefit of man.
that the people take note of what is going
on. 1t is not surprising that persons who
are looking for the highest Developments
of genius in craftsmanship or literature
which were the old paths most frequented
by great intellects-should overlook the
Astounding manifestations of mental activ-
lty in fields of research which to them are
new end unknown.
Genius has been defined to be 4 great
mind turned into a particular channel.
The channel Of this age, into which the
acutest and most original intellects seem
to be turned by the force OF circumstances,
ls that of invention, OF discovery, of con
quest over the brute forces of nature, to
contribute to the personal comfort and MA
terial happiness OF man.