Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-10-08
1The Good Old Tirncs,,,

LECTURE BY REv. NJ. j. SAVAGE, CT BosroN-t FEN
INd OF THE CLAIMING cougsE.
The Unitarian Church was full but not crowd
ed-as it should have been-last evening" This
su iience included many OF our most cultivated
literary people. Before the lecture began, q
charming musical prelude was enjoyed, Bradley
James playing most beautiful voluntary on the
organ, and the Ingleside Quartette," composed
nf Messrs. Rhosds, Lobdell, and Stone, and DR..
Oge, rendering two songs, Evening" by Rein
hart, and Lovely Night" by Chwatal, i'll the
best manner.
Slightly after 8, the music concluding, Rev.
Mr. Israel introduced the lecturer, announcing
that the next OF the Courne would be delivered
two weeks hence by Col. L. w. Hlgginson. MIR.
Savage then took up his tlieme, " The Good Old
Times" In the centre OF memory's pictures, he
said, stands the old house at home. and he pro-
ceeded to draw its surroundings, with tho recol-
lections OF childhood. Proceeding from this, he
said the Past always assumes an ideal exaggera-
ton of proportions. Homer described the feats
Of preceding heroes, yet Homer's warriors
became heroic to those who succeed
ed. | should like, said Mr. s., to SEQ
copy of the daily EuDtrates Adcertiser, pub
ished in Mesopotamis, about the time Noah was
two hundred years old. It's editorial page, no
doubt, was filed with lamentations over the
degeneracy of the time, and the decay OF bodily
vigor complaining that mon now only lived two
or three centuries, instead OF enjoying ripe
old age.
Childhood, to which we are supposed to look
back 80 regretfully, has its sorrows. They are
Rs large ia proportion AZ ours. The lecturer
would not desire to live single year over again,
not month, not a week. The best times. thus
far, were now, and Le sought the future to make
them better. He pointed out the illusions of
childhood, by the ideas he had OF his school
teacher, when a boy and afterward Courtship was
not 40 entirely blissful n dream nor need mar
RED llfe suffer by comparison, il husband and
wife choose but to smooth the way. The Age
of Romance and Chivalry, i'll which many an lni-
ayinatiye young lady floats, sustained by "1van-
hoe or the charmed verses of Tennyson, are
bnr creations of fancy In those times, for
the few who enjoyed luxury and figured in the
records of chivalry there were multitudes in
degradation and suffering. II any creature on
earth has cause for rejoicing, it is the modern
woman.
The speaker drew an unfavorable picture Of
tho Past al compared with the Present, re!i-
glou-ly, socially, aud politically, and gave vigor
20 his conclusions by many citations and anec-
doteB. We must. he said see things as they
are not reverence the past because 1t is past,
but use 1t az guide and monitor drawing wis
dom from the experiences, and building on the
principles ii has developed.
The lecture WAS very entertaining, presenting
the needful variety of thought and treatment.
Mr.. Savage employs illustrations freely and with
good effect. At times his enuncation was
somewhat hurried and consequently indistinct,
hut his more careful elocuton is extremely Of
tive. He left on the midnight train for Boa-