The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-05-21
The Dull Despotism of Sense.

yention.
The marked characteristics of our age are a
pervading worship of physical nature as the ul-
innate power over man, and growing content
ment with practical energy as the highest type
of life. The first tendency regards the human
spirit as product of physical nature; so that
nature is the master Of the spirit This is the
curious attitude of our generation towards ma
ture; the will rules it as slave, the spirit sub
mits to it as master This tendency speaking
through the ''New Philosophy aims to cut off
intellectual life from the inspiration that comes
from faith in the higher reaches of our own
nature, and would condemn us to think and
work on the level of physical discoveries, So
Geological laws, utilitarian ethics and unimmor-
talized experiences The Influence of this ten
dency makes our intellectual life cowed and
self-conscious exerting itself under nervous
sense of being watched by science, ready to ieer
at it if it attempt generous ideal flight in any
direction. All through our modern literature,
OF any pretension one sees a strained effort to
resist all higher intellectual enthusiasm as
fever, especially in journalism of the higher
class, in the drama and in felton, which seems
wholly given over to an uninSpiring agnosti-
cism. Primness and accuracy a small scale
is the aim of much of our modern education.
Everywhere there is reduction in the tenn
perature of the human mind. The target is
near and definite, but the bow has lost its elias
ticity and fine vibration it once had when it
was not ashamed to aim at heavenly things.
1t is an unimpassioned age, rejoicing that the
world has outgrown idealism and can now really
go to work.
The practical" spirit of our age, not only
resents this supremacy OF intellect considered
as an end in itself, but it also aims to bind to
its own limited Interpretation and use, the eX-
preston OF intellect in poetry and eloquence.
As the monster Caliban wanted tomarry beau
tiful Miranda in order to escape her service, so
our drudging spirit of so-called practical life
allies itself to poetry and eloquence, in order
to make them servants. In England especially,
this tendency has turned all her poets into solv-
ers ''of problems and helpers of causes"
writes 'Queen Mary in the interest of nation
al Professionalism; Matthew Arnold whistles to
keep up his countrymen's courage while wait
ing for a new religion; Swinburne deifies the
passions as q practical substitute for the Chris
tian religion, which he thinks dead: William
Morris affects to be san idle singer of an idle
day." but really feels it his mission to revive
the pagan spirit in England. Everywhere YOU
see poetry i'll England, either as hearae car
rying off some dead creed hope or inspiration,
or else as a dray bringing in the luggage of
some new creed or inspiration not vet arrived.
But immortal poetry is above all this-has no
anxiety-is universal. The highest intellectual
life will do the best work for the world, by
simply maintaining its faith in life's higher
and invisible verities. Not defying our practi-
cal age, but like Prospero using it as the obe-
dent Ariel of the soul.