Morning journal and courier., 1880-02-18
LOCAL NEWS.
For other Local News See secondl lPae ell
Sheffield Scientific School.


 Sheffield Scientific School.
 The Course to Mechanics-RFOfs Fisher
 on sSThe Heroic Element i'm HistOri-
 cal Persons and Eras.o
 The fourth in the annual course of lectures to mechanics was given last evening at the North Sheffield building by Prof. Fisher, of the Yale Theological School, whose name is so wildly known and honored in the theologi- cal world for his scholarship and valuable con- tributions to theological literature. There was a large audience in attendance. The lecturer said:
 My subject Is the heroic element in histori- cal persons and eras. We need not pause long to discuss the nature of heroism or to analyzs metaphysicalIy the feeling which it calls forth. There are forms of human achieve ment and human suffering, as we all know, which stir within us an enthusiastic adm1ra : ton, often not unmixed with awe. They kindle the imagination. They impress the beholder like majestic objects in nature, or like stupendous creations of human art. There is a mysterious likeness between things material and things spiritual the world of matter corresponds to the world of mind. Language, so far as it denotes mental objects and relations, owes it's possibility to this cor E0SpOQOSQCos 4uOuSuL "cdf0S AtS fSSbhAO out of material furnished by the senses. Even the precise language of philosophy is only fossil imagery. Adam and Eve did not talk to one another in blank verse; nevertheless their talk was in figures of speech, which, like the fresh blossoms of Eden, held all the bloom and perfume. Metaphor orystallizes itself into definite symbols of things which the eye cannot see, or the ear hear and these be- come true equivalent of the deepest ideas, the subtlest shades of emotion even an Rde quate channel for conveying the thoughts ot God to man. As part of this dual order of things, sublimity in character and conduct in it's effect on the mind, is like the sublime in natural scenery, or in grand edifces reared by human hands We are inspired exalted, shit ten with awe. The lofty cliff on the sea shore, against which the waves beat, surge on surge, in vain, is recognized as an emblem of Q resolute soul, withstanding the assaults of impetuous adversaries. When the fallen Arch angel, f'with 8 countenance majestic though in ruin, rose to speak, in his rising he seemed a pillar of state." A great statesman upholding the civil fabric is like the column of a tenn pie and the physical aspect of the fallen angel betokened his capacity to fulfill such an office.
 Hero, in it's primitive sense, meant a semi divine parsonage. On one side, at least, he was of celestial percentage. Prometheus, the champion of the human race, who bore an unspeakable torture for their sake, was him. self.a discrowned god. Hercules the typi- cal hero of antiquity, was the son of Zeus. The warriors in tho sieges of Thebes and Troy were of heavenly descent. Even in his toric times, myths of a preternatural cast gather about the hero's name and story, we see in the case of Chsrlemsgne and Alfred of England. Shall we say that something superhuman, glory not of earth, is ever as- sociated in our minds with heroic endurance and heroic deeds? This has been asserted. TL E. IT.. IL ment is an inseparable quality of the hero as he is depicted in poetry and enshrined in the popular imagination. This, at least, may be said that the genuine hero is conceived to stand upon higher than the ordinary plane of human sentiment We attribute to him more elevated range of motive,a more adven- turous spirit, deeper wells of patience. We should not find 1t incongruous, at the moment when he reaches the full ideal of his charac- ter, if light were to irradiate from his brow; as when Pallas sent Diomede into battle
 SsUpon his head
 And shield she csueed Q constant flame to play,
 Like to the autumnsl star that shines in Heaven,
 Most brightly when new ba,hed in oceans tides
 Such light she caused to beam upon his crest
 And shoulders, as shs sent the warrior forth
 Into the thick and tumult of the fight
 The fault of Carlyles delinsation of heroism is it's deiication of force,-that one element He makes energy and sincerity the'two notes of the hero" He says of Mohammed's propa- gating his religion by "a bloody crusade: q care little about the sword l will allow thing to struggle for itself in this world with any sword, or tongue, or implement it has or can lay hold of" i've will let it do beak and claws, whatever is in it." But what If the weapon be consummate, nnasterful du- plicity. Is this heroic? And if go what be- comes of the criterion of sincerity? It is enough, perhaps Carlyle would say, If there be relentless, reckless earnestness in the end afv Iok hn fotf fuI iVoa,r 1rIa serts, 'let him entirely believe in his fetish, "is not in so bad way. It is true that in his look at this subject, he is not always con- sistent with himself, but this adoration of force represents his predominant vein. Hence he sweeps under the one category of heroes men of power in whatever province,- Shakespeare, as well as Luther. Where there is force exerted without misgiving, and with tremendous effect though it be like the action of hurricane, or fiery volcano, the concep- tion of the heroic nature seems to be met. On this theory, if nought but energy is require d, one might find g model hero in Tamsrlane, who left at Bagdad pile of ninety thousand beings. And if unhesitating sincerity makes one heroic, Torquemada administering the Spanish Acquisition ought to stand high on the roll.
 But we cannot eliminate from heroism the righteous element. There may be single qualities to be sure, such as courage, invinci- ble perseverance, bold enterprise, which, when contemplated by themselves inspire admira- tion, even though the ends aimed at are not such that conscience can approve. But when regarded as a whole the hero is spoiled by the alloy of baseness or brutality. Critics have disputed on the question who was intended by Milton to be the hero of ''the Paradise Lost" Some hold that it was Adam, the first man, who was vanquished and lost the good which the second Adam regained. But, what ever was the poets design, there is some truth in Taine's remark that the finest theory in connection with this Paradise is Pandemon- ium; and the thoughts of the reader turn in- voluntarily to the leader of the Revolt against Heaven as the grand figure in the poem, and one in whom the author, whether unconsciously or not embodies many of the feelings of those who, with him, stood among the adher- enta of she lost cause in the great struggle for the commonwealth. When, however, with regard to 8 character in history or poetry, we cease to fasten the eye upon the single traits like those adverted to-; and distinctly perceiving that the animating spirit is low, selfish, unrighteous, we experience reaction of feeling. Admiration is chilled and may give way to reproduction, even to disgust and Look for example at one of the heroes of antiquity, Alexander. As | B military genius he has hardly had a superior, his chief fault as a commander being Rn sx- cess of personal daring,-a fault which itself, as in the case of Henry W. of France, excites ! B romantic admiration, especially when the subject of it comes of unhurt. His genius l as soldier admits of no dispute, it was the I praise of Hannibal. But when we look at the l Macedonian conqueror more closely we find | him not less violent in his revenge than wrath | ful Achilles whom he took for his model. We see his hands stained with the blood of per | sonal friends who had done no wrong. We find that the old idea of his intending to Hell | Ienize Asia is fabulous; so far as this work | was done at all, it was accomplished by the | Diadrehi after him; that his real purpose was | not to HelIenize Asia, but to Asiatize Europe. He wished to make himself a despot, after the | Persian model, with the whole world under his | feet, and might, perhaps, have succeeded had | it not been for the drunkenness that out short | bis days. When we look at the dark side of l she picture, we may judge that the pirate was | not so far wrong who, when condemned by ! Alexander, told him that he had only done | what the conqueror was doing himself on a | large scale; and we may agree with Nie- | buhr who calls Alexander an adventurer, r,-one | who, in the spirit of gambler, staked his all, | without need upon military success. It is | hard to see how an admirer of Napoleon can | think of the mendacity of his hero, which l gave rise to the saying ''as false as bulle- | in, of his interruptions eagerness to build | 1p thrones for himself and his brothers, at | 1is undignifed petulance when he was called, | mt hooh bY1E fo ry1ffar nY1 Sk HAIana iu |