The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-11-26


The history Of mankind shows that great pc
litical and social convulsions are followed b,
periods Of extraordinary intellectual develop
ment The mental activity stimulated at suci
times produces sooner or later great writer's
poets, statesmen, philosophers and men dis
tinguished for remarkable qualities in other re
spects. The effect may not appear immedi
ately, and sometimes many years or genera
ton may pass away before it Is apparent; but
It Is seen In the end. National character, the
spirit Of the age and many circumstances
operate in quickening or retarding the intel
leotual movement thus set in motion, just as
seed sown in rich soil, and under hot SUM-
will spring up and produce fruit much sooner
than in poorer soil and colder climate. Still
by fixed law Of nature, the fruit comes at last
in ONE case a. we'll g In the other. So we
may confidently expect that after our rebellion
there will be an intellectual awakening and
development corresponding to the magnitude
Of the events and revolution we have passed
and are passing through.
The internal conyulsions Of Rome II the
time Of Julius Cesar and Immediately after his
death were succeeded BY that brilliant period
known as the Augustan age. The wars and
heroes Of Rome might be forgotten, but the in
tellectual achievements In literature and art
which followed, and were the consequences of
that revolutionary period, will live forever. 1t
has been truly said that "the poetic and dra-
matte wealth and magnihcence of the era of
Elizabeth and James," in England, known as
the Elizabethan age, "came, for the most part,
out of the passions that had been stirred and
the strength that had been acquired in the
mighty contests and commissions which filled,
in England and throughout Europe, the middle
Of the sixteenth century" From this mighty
awakening period arose, in unsurpassed
splendor, such minds as those of SHAKESPEARE,
Ben Jonson, Bacon, Raleigh, Burton and
others. Another "breaking up Of old institu-
tons and re-edfcation Of the State upon o
new foundation and new principle" in the last
sixty years Of the seventeenth century was
followed by that galaxy Of wits and fine
writer's Of the age of Queen Anne. Milton, Dry
den, Hobbies, Newton and host Of other great
minds rose out of this revolutionary period.
1t is worthy Of remark that this mental raaais-
sance commenced about the same time that the
first newspapers were published. 1t was the
era, too, when medical science, natural phi
losophy, mathematics and natural history were
explored and shed light upon the world.
"The poetical dayspring that came with our
own century" and the extraordinary intellec-
tual developments in so many other respects.
arose with and came out Of to some extern,
another revolution. The American Revolution
Of ITS, and the French Revolution, fourteen
years afterward, upset the political ideas Of
the world. French and German literature had
been silently preparing the public mind for
these changes, and when the sturdy colonists
Of America, from pure love Of liberty, estab-
lished a republican form Of government, the
speculative ideas Of European writer's of
the eighteenth century spread with great
rapidity. The whole framework of society
was upheaved by the earthquake that fol-
lowed. Paris became the great central
volcano. Wars and revolutions agitated
the whole civilized world. II was the greatest
revolution in the history Of mankind, and ii is
not yet ended. We see what effect it has pro-
1uced upon the age In literature, and particu-
arly in the wonderful progress that has been
made in science and the mechanical arts. We
have not felt it so much directly as the people
81 Europe, though it has exercised an influence
over US in some degree. Tho mental excite
ment caused by the astonishing events that
closed up the eighteenth century and at the
of the nineteenth had pow
erful effect upon English literature. A distin-
guished author calls this the last Of three
"great sunbursts" of English literature. Then
appeared Wordsworth, Coleridge, Scott, Moore,
Byron, Shelley, Hunt, Wilson, Charles Lamb,
Sidney Smith and a host Of other brilliant men.
We refer to English history chiefly to illustrate
our views; but the history Of France or of any
other great civilized nation might be taken for
the same purpose.
Reasoning from what has happened TO other
nations we may expect great revival Of mem
tai activity In this country as the natural con-
sequence Of our unprecedented war end the ex-
traordinary revolution we are passing through.
During what we may term the youthful period
of our existence the American mind has been
occupied chiefly in material matters, in
developing the resources of virgin
continent, in commerce, In manufactures
and in the mechanical arts. In these we have
made wonderful progress. In inventions, and
the application of them to the necessities Of
life and the wants OF the age, We are not behind
the foremost nation in the world, and perhaps
we stand first. The same faculties and charac-
teristic mental energy when applied to litera-
ture and the fine arts will give us . pre-emi-
nence in these also. The public mind Of
America is now passing through that fermenta-
ton which precedes great achievements. We
think we see, however, the dawn just breaking Of
new and grand period Of American literature
and art We have reached the full stature and