New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-12-13
"THE LOST ARTS"

THR ON MAsrER-WoRKMEN-THE SCIENCE |
AND ART OF THE PRESENT DAY UTILIZED'
Wendell Phillips delivered his famous lecture
mon "The Lost Arts" at steinway Hall, last evening
for the benefit Purchard Institute NOTWITHSTANDING
ing the cold weather the hall well filed The lecture,
winch mas repeated many scores OF times ana mas
been regarded as the brilliant orators most brilliant
production, hut has hitherto escaped photography Is
given below in full:
THE LECTURE.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN; am TO talS to you onshs
about The Lost Arts IA lecture which has grown
snder my hand year sfteri year. and which belongs "
That first phase OF the yceum system before IL
% NEEDLE with political duties or dangerous anu
questions Of ethics; when It was merely an acaue1
stitution trying TO win busy men back 70 pooAs' "s
attic science repeating some tale OF ioresu
or painting some great representative ehAA"0'el'
symbol Of his age think claim purpose poyonu
amoment's amusement In this glance al carry "'4n1"
son. ,,
T. perhaps might venture 10 claim that u was ineu
ana for what is the most Objectionable feature OF our
,a,onal character and that Is seconceit-an unGue
appreciation Of ourselves an exaggerated esaaVe o'
our achievements, Of our Inventions OF our ooruou
tions 10 popular comfort, and OF our place. III iac
~ the great urocesson Of the ages seem 10 imagine
that whether knowledge win die with us or not GER
tAinly began with u.s. lIaughter.l We have plying
estimate tender pity the narrowness, ignorance
and darkness Of the bygone ages We seem TO ourselves
not only nonopohze but 10 have begun the era OF
Hight. In other words, We arc @h H"n"4ue
over with Fourth day Of July spirit OF
eelf-eontent ILaughter.l 1 am always reminded
OF the German whom the English poet Colerdge met at
Frankfort He always took Of his hat with profound re-
spect when he ventured to speak Of himself lkeneWeu
laughtoTl II 10 me the American people might
be painted chronic attitude Of taking on Its nat 10
itsef-lgreat merrmentl-and therefore 1t can be no
vaste of time with an audience in such mood to take
their eyes for momenor the hour or for the present
civilization guide it back to that earliest possible
era that history speaks for And IL 1t were only ior
the purpose OF risking whether boast on the right
line might despair Of curing us OF the habit OF DoasF
ing but might direct 1t better! might lead It's circle
and center ou point, nober Issue than this Of
merely popular comfort and contributions by YANKEE
ingenuity the mechanical imperfeeion OF the age
lIISY's SAILORS AND PRAIRIE Campfire
Well have been somewhat criticised year after year
for this endeavor to open up the claims Of old times
have been charged with repeating useless fables WIN no
foundation. To-day, take the mere SUBJECT OF glaSs'
This material, Pny was discovered by accident
that some sailors landing the eastern coast OF Span
took their cooking utensils and supported them GU the
sand by that they found in the neghoorhood
shat they kindled their e cooked the fish, finished the
meal and removed tho apparatus and glass was lonh0
10 resulted from the inter ana seasahu 'Ilneu W
the heat Well
Ihave been dozen times criticised By number OF
wise men, In newspapers, who have said that this was
very idle tale that there never was sufficient heat in
few bundles sticks produce vrifacon-gass max
OF Missouri Prof Shepherd, who started from Yale Col
lere and Ike q genuine Yankee, brings up anywhere
where there is anything 70 do lLaughterJ
Ibappened TO mention this criticism TO him. "Wen,'
says he "a little practical life would have freed men
from that Doubt" Said he 1--WE stopped last year in
Mexico TO cook some yeDisOn. We got down from our
saddles and put the cooking apparatus on
~ stones we found there, made nre with the wood
i we got there resembling ebony and when We removed
te apparatus pure SILVER gotten out OF tho
bt,f Tho int hea Of
Now" said be, that heat greater than any
necessary 70 vitry the materials Of glass" Why not
SUPPOSE that Pnnys sailors had lighted on some ex-
eesingy hot wood May not be as possible as in this
easel
So ladies and gentlemen, with growing habit Of dis
trust Of a large share OF this modern and exceedingly
scientific cIlc.sm Of ancient Records think we have
been betrayiug Ignorance. and that frequently
when the statement does oos the face OF it to be
sxac,y accurate little investigation below the surface
vlI show that Il rests on real truth. Take, for in
Itanee the English proverb, which often quoted in
my college days.
We ufed to thiuk how little logic the people
hal and when We wanted TO illustrate this in the school
room n was what was called non seQuitur"-tho
eject did not come from the cause named We always
quoted The Engish prover5; "Tenterden's steepe Is
the cause Of Goodwin Sands" We said: How ignorant
spopulati0n"
But when We went deeper into the history we found
that Tie proyerb was not meant for logic but meant
for sarcasm One OF the bishops had 10000 given to
him TO build break waer to save the Goodwin Sands
from the advancing sen. hut the good bhhOpbetng
of the kind Of babOps which Mr. Froude describes in his
lecture that the world would be better il Providence
would remove them from itinstead OF building tho
breatwater 10 keep out the simply built a steepe
and this proverb was sarcastic and not logical that
"Tenterden's steeps the cause of the Goodwin
Sands"
When you contemplate the motive, there the
closest welded logic IN the proverb 90 think
a large share c-tlcsn OF old legends and old
that oyereaps saddle and falls the other side
MASTER ARTISTS IsIMITABLE
Well my fret illustration ought 10 be this material
glass but before proceed to talk Of these Lost Arts
ought IN fairness to make exception and 1t is the
conception or cOnceit which lies here.
over o very large section Of literature there Is o sin
Gar contradiction this swelterrg concet that there
arc certain which the moderns III satisfied
with themselves and contented TO acknowledge that
they ought fairly 10 st down at the feet Of their pIede
SCISSORS.
Take poetry painting sculpture. architecture, the
drama everything in words Of form that
relates 20 beauty with regard TO that whole sweep the
modern world gilds with it's admiration Of the beau
full Take the very phrases that The artist
he wishes 10 20 e. Rome "For what a. ITO study the
masters" We'll. all the masters have been in their
graves several hundred years. We are all pupils.
You tell the poet Sir. that line OF yours would
tnnd one Of Homer" and he IS crazy. Stand in front of
urang the hearing Of tho artist, and compare Its
colorng 10 that OF Titan Raphael and he remembers
Vou fofe,cr remem ber once Sta ndiug In front OF
Lf on marble carved by Powers Vermonter, who had
mgehcss. distinctive love of ART ana perception OF
Issid u on Italian standing, with "wel now,
that seems To 10 be perfection" The answer was:
,fft,Ia NJ fO