Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-07-07

tend to il because the pursuits of labor In
Yolve some law of science-some senti-
ment of beauty. But TO give these ten.
denotes their due effect there must be men
tai cultivation. When ignorance is the
handmade of labor, these laws OF science
and taste are sealed book. The ignorant
laborer is but one remove above The tool he
works with. But when enlightened mind
comes TO the pursuit Of labor, these laws
Of science and taste are revealed and the
laborer eleyates his pursuit aud is elevated
BY it. 4aaa -a>s4 ASest-
The intelligent farmer who follows the
pillow does not see merely the soil turned
over by 1t, but his cultivated mind dEells
upon the terminating principles OF the seed,
and has sentiment OF beauty is appealed to
by dwelling upon the hills and valleys and
forests that surround him, and upon the
plant as il unfolds itself in beauty, and
upon has helds OF grain waving gracefully
10 the summers breeze.
The intelligent mechanic sees in all his
pursuits some prineip pie Of science appealed
to, and he sees the sentiment of beauty in
volved in almost all his efforts.
How is it with the sculptor and the pain
ter? They work with the chisel and the
brush; their pursuits are as much me-
chanical operation as the work of the
builder or the machine maker. But their
cultivated mind sees through every chip
from the marble, and through every tint
upon the canvass, the forms of life and
beauty that are to come forth from their
iabors.
So it is with the cultivated mechanic.
| lie sees through every movement of his
| plane, through every strske of his hammer,
| the perfect object of utility and beauty
which he is creating. And what is this
sentiment of beauty in material objects :?
| 1t IS that sentiment in the human heart
/ which is the handmade of virtue. Beauty
in the natural world is the same as beauty
| in the moral
| We go back TO our iorefathers, we com
template their purity, their patriotism, and
| their noble deeds, and our hearts warm
and expand with pleasurable emotions.
We look upon the beautiful objects of
nature and art, and the same pleasurable
emotions warm and expand our hearts,
The God of Nature has imprinted on ali
his works forms and colors of beauty, and
doubt not, this has been done to lead to
the cultivation of that moral beauty in our
| lives which his own preeepts demand of US
This sentiment Of beauty SO strongly ap-
pealed to in the pursuits of labor must,
through the mental culture of the laborer,
lead to greater degree. of purity in the
public and private life of the nation.
The influence of this cultivation upon
the higher development of all TIE arts of
life, and especially upon those usually
called fine arts, is almost too obvious to
dwell upon. These are arts that involve
almost solely the sentiment of beauty. The
daily appeal to and cultivation of that
sentiment in the intelligent laborer must
lead to the rapid development of those
arts. Their development must come from
the intelligent laborer. Think you that
the millionaire Of the spindle or the cotton
field will ever create immortal specimens
Of beauty in painting, sculpture, or
architecture, or that they will be
| called forth by the orders of the
wealthy patron No a,y countryule1s
pheg E.lI be created by the hand of labor,
whose sentiment Of beauty has been cult
waited by the intelligent exercise of his art,
and they will be called forth by the syn pa
thetlc appreciation of numbers
Was it wealth and patronage that called
4
surely not ltwas the cultivated democracy
OF Athens. That democracy were educated
by their public assemblies, by their schools
| OF philosophy. They were educated in all
the forms OF physical grace and beauty by
| their Olympic games. They were educated
in all the sentiments Of natural beauty 10y
| their stored streams, mountains and val
| legs, bathed in an atmosphere pure and in
| MIGRATING. This democracy, thus educated,
demanded their taste to be satisfied by the
building of temples whose perfect beauty
IS yet unsurpassed. They demanded for
their qualification that the canvass and the
marble should give forth forms of life and
beauty, that are still the envied objects of
imitation throughout the world. They
demanded that their thoughts and their
deeds should be embodied in prose and
verse, whose excellence are still the models
OF correct taste to the educated youth of all
lands
As high an education is within the reach of
the laboring democracy of America. They
have the power of numbers aud the aid
and sympathy Of the wealthy to accomplish
it.
They can, if they will ii, be educated
IN schools unapproached in excellence by
the schools of philosophy in ancient Greece.
They can be educated ia morals by teachers
deriving their authority from Deity HIM
self. They can be educated in patriotic SEN
tlments by the deeds of a noble ancestry.
They can be educated in sentiments OF
beauty by the intelligent pursuits of their
own arts, by lofty mountains spanning con-
tinents and losing themselves in the clouds.
| by noble rivers winding through every
variety of climate, by gentle hills em-
bosoming within themselves valleys and
rivnlets that charm and delight, and all
dotted throughout with homes of beauty
and taste When all these sources of educa-
ton have had their proper influence, the
| laboring democracy of America. like the
democracy of Athens, will demand their
national history and national life to be EN-
bodied in forms of perfect beauty andtaste
that can never die.
] would not have you infer that nothing
has been done for the laboring democracy
of our country. Much has been done.
Great has been its advance in our own
country, and the silent influence of our
institutions is raising il up in the mon
arches of Europe.
The products of its taste and skill,
4 gathered from All parts OF tue world to the
most brilliant capitol Of Europe, are call
Jog forth, while am now addressing YOU,
the admiration and homage Of the beauty
and wealth, the nobility and royalty of
the world.
1t is making itself felt in its political
influence amongst the nations of the
world. A few months since all Europe was
startled with the fear of war between
Prussia and France. This shock extended
across the Atlantic. Stocks rose and fell.
Fortunes were made and lost. So great
was the dread Of war that Representatives
Of all the crowned heads of Europe were
assembled in London to devise Terms OF
peace between Bismarck and Napoleon
While this august assemblage was being
held another party appeared on the scene.
The laboring men of Prussia met, and
rendered 10 their brethren in France feel
ings Of peace, friendship and good will.
This tender was cordially reciprocated, and
this scene, of the working men OF the two
nations clasping the hands of each other in
friendship, did more to bring aboutthe spirit
Of peace than all the efforts Of the distin-
guished representatives Of the great
| crowned heads OF Europe.