The New York herald., 1873-01-21
DEMOCRACY.

~S~~~AAS W hAOmHy ww8Eu ASCOC nOE VA ~
Unconscious Influcnce-What It Has
Dcno 10 Exalt the Individual and
Modify Society.
lecture was delivered last evening In Steinway
Hall BY tho Rev, Henry Ward Beecler upon the
unconscious influence of Democracy" before one
OF the largest audiences that the room ever hold.
The platform was also crowded with an imposing
array OF the most prominent names both In the
professions and In the ranks OF men OF anairs II
10 needless to add that the lecturer held his listen
ers spellbound until the close OF his address.
y Having explained what the democratic principle
was, and how powerful and universal was its In
luence all over the modern world he went on to
say that formerly the
LEARNED GLASSES
lived In themselves, but were now forced to live in
the public. The power Of the newspaper was
merely because Of its being the form through which
the thought OF the people was expressed. Our
journals, as they now were called, could not have
existed In any but democratic age. He could
not, however, say what would be exactly the fu-
ture Of society under democratic influences, for
society refused to sit for its portrait All that he
proposed to do was to show the changes 1t had
already undergone and the influences now actively
at work within 1t. Tho spread OF the democratic
principle had had Its arst ans t1,rs effect In
At one time the unit Of society had been the
family. Now IT was the individual while the
family, politically, was unknown. At least every
individual man was unit, for society as yet still
looked at-the woman through the man. BY this
more e while the State the church and
ali other organizations were less powerful. 1t
was now held that the strength OF a State was IN
proportion to the strength OF the individuals that
composed It, But we ought not to
merely for what they DO and produce, for the poor
and helpless might have q real and spiritual value
to the community greater than other men who
were apparently much more important factors Of
prosperity We had begun to learn that the strong
were only safe when they protected and aided the
weak and that . State ought to be built up fr0m
the well-being Of al parts Of the structure Men
were strong and rich, or else the whsle fabric
would fall in ruins This intensity OF indvdualism
had, II was feared BY some, tended towards the
ISOLATION OF MEN i.f faRtssrfA l
one from the other. But this was o mistake for
individuals came together more freely than ever
CO.. Consolidation. - We had in America an arstccrscY
OF wealth which lasted as long as the snow, which
banked Itself up and then melted away for this
principle. Every man. said democracy. ought to
grow rich and strong as his natural superiority
snS but tSes q Sd not Wast an sra a
t0cracy; they wanted only the
Artist ARisTooRAoy OF TALENT u..,
privilege, II made naturally superior men more
powerful than ever. Revolutions had also been
ons mot where Ws ss
thought, free speech and free action. There was
change-constant change, put 1t was too gradual
to put down wars, which had usually arisen from
the jealousies or ambitions Of the powerful
had at least in Europe had the good eject of show.
Ing the working classes OF all lands that their
interests were Identical, and that peace was
favorable to the professions, which needed the
criticism and appreciation Of an enlightened and
I'm
and more general, and that remnant OF con-
tempt for the common people which STILL
most philosophers and scientists and pro-
fessional men would then disappear. Mr.. Beecher
ts on 70 we sSe
people we should have learned men, who would
be rewarded far
by the people as their patrons than they had been
In the past by kings and mobiles. THIS interde
pendence OF the learned and professional classes
cine had already been greatly improved by the in
tellgence Of the common people. At one time the
ntd the " se Me
knew nothing at all about life or the laws of heath
Yet how this had changed Now, the average citi-
than the doctor OF not many years ago. Then how
the knowledge Of law had had spread +, through the
Ing, for they seemed to be as well employed as
It was great mistake to suppose that the days
Of art had gone by because the people were new
its only patrons. We should have no more Sistine
chapels, no grand works such as the old masters
used to paint, but we should have instead land.
scapes and domestic scenes, and everything that
touched the thoughts and hopes Of the people. But
perhaps 1t was In ,the00gy that the democratic
principle had caused most changes. Old forms
and practices and creeds were being tinkered and
coopered with desperate energy, but it would be
all In vain. There would always be religion, but
the philosophy Of religion was human invention,
and was, therefore, subject to changes that were
| inevitable. Some old system had said that man
| had no rights that God ought to respect but de.
mocracy had shown us the Injustice OF this and it
| would be abandoned. Mr.. Beecher closed by an
eloquent imaginative picture OF the brightness OF
| the coming and ultimate future OF the world