Morning journal and courier., 1883-11-22
Matthew Arnold in New Haven.

Opera House last evening drew out highly cultivated audience numbering 600. The Opposite of sweetness and light" the essayist and poet, was attended to the lecture by President Porter, of Yale, whose guest the distinguished visitor was during his stay in our city. A few Epeople wereswaiting out
 side the Opera House to get glimpse of Mir.
 Arnold when President Porter and Mir. Ar mold alighted from the carriage. On enter
 ing upon the stage MT. Arnold was greeted
 with shower of hand elapping, to which he
 responded with lowing thrice, and then the
 two gentlemen seated themselves. They sat
 a moment or two and MT. Arnold engaged
 Yale's president in conversation. It was not
 upon science or the humanities, but was evi- dently with regard to the lecturers manu-
 script rack and the light which was to illum- inc the ornate pages of said manuscript. The audience busily employed their eyes during the interval in serutinizing the gentleman who was about to address them. President Porter happily introduced Mir. Arnold, ex- pressing no doubt that the distinguished gen tleman would have a very attentive and ap preciative audience and bespeaking for him many listeners who were numbered among the admirers of his works, and an audience eager to welcome him. MT. Arnold stepped forward briskly and opened his evenings work. He has the thor oughly English gait and was attired in the conventional full dress of the lecture room His profile and the general aspect of his fea- lures are far from lilly defined by the prints in the store windows. His mannerisrns did not affect his audience. He resorted occa- sionally to the written pages of his lecture, but for long intervals seemed quite independ- ent of them. His face and figure reminded gentlemen present of George Wm. Curtis. He had the finished air of the cultivated and refined gentleman. His hair and side whis- kers are very dark and unsprinkled with gray, while his physical presence denoted the possession of good degree of muscular pow or and activity in harmonious combination
 with the aspect of the scholar. Literature and Science'' was the topic of the lecture It
 was tentative refutatioAof Professor Hux-
 ley's position that natural science is the only
 means of true education and that literature
 bellies lettres, is of no avail. MT. Arnold
 prefaced the main issue of the lecture with
 reference to Plato's judgment upon manual
 labor as 8 hindrance to the souls flight and
 high mental requirements, short as
 igueble. 'Plato's view was impracticable as
 related to this age, and especially to
 such a democracy, to such working
 community as the United States. The
 lecturer evidently in this matter could not
 say ''Plato thou reasonest well. D We must
 apologize for Plato, as his reflections under
 this head were deduced from seeing all the
 manual work, the trades in the hands of
 slaves. He lived in community where the
 warrior class. the scholar. the nobility stood
 alone in monopolizing honor. Here in
 this land Plato's reflection was not applica
 ble. The speaker proceeded now to the
 main issue, the relative claims of physical
 science and the bellies lettres, and said :
 ''Some of you may have met with phrase
 of mine which has been the object of good
 deal of comment; an observation to the eff
 feet that in our culture, the aim being to
 know ourselves and the world,- we have, as
 the means to this end, to know the best that
 has been thought and said in the world.
 Professor Huxley, in his discourse at
 the opening of Sir Joshua Masoass col
 lege, laying hold of this phase, ex-
 pressed it by quoting some words of mine,
 which are these: Europe is to be regarded
 as now being, for intellectual and spiritual
 purposes, one great confederation, bound to
 8 joint action and working to common re-
 suit, and where members have for their com
 mon outfit knowledge of Greek, Roman
 and eastern antiquity and of one another.
 Special, local and temporary advantages bsing put to account, that modern notion will, Tn the intellectual and spiritual sphere make most progress which most thoroughly carries out this programme Now, on my phrase, thus enlarged, Professor Huxley remarks that I assert literature to contain the materials which suffice for making US know ourselves and the world. But it is not by any means clear, says he, that after having learned all the ancient and modern literatures have to tell us, we have laid sufficiently broad and deep foundation for that criticism of life which constitutes culture. On the contrary Professor Huxley declares that he finds him. self wholly unable to account that either na- ture or individuals will really advance if their common outfit draws nothing from the stores of physical science. An army without wea- pons might more hopefully enter upon a campaign upon the Rhine than man devoid of knowledge of what physical science has done in the last century upon a criticism of life. This shows how needful it is for those who discuss matter together to have common understanding as to the sense of the terms they employ--how need full, and how difficult What Professor Hux- ley says implies just the reproach which is so often brought against the study of belles-let- tres, as they are called; that the study is an elegant one, but slight and intellectual; a of Greek and Latin and other cr- things of little use to anyone whose object is to get at truth. Renan talks of the superficial humanism' of @ school course which treats us as if we were all going to be poets, critics, orators, and he opposes this humanism to positive science, or the critical search after truth, and there is al- ways tendency with those who are remon- strating against the predominance of letters aI, k1 kDv,1 olIo lettres, and by belles-lettres 8 superficial hu- manism, the opposite of science or true knowledge,
 ''In regard to knowledge of Greek and Roman antiquity, which is what people call humanism, MT. Arnold said that we mean more than superficial humanism, which is mainly decorative. We mean by this that 8 knowledge of classical antiquity is scientific when the remains of classical an- Eiquity are correctly studied in the original languages. This is Wolfs definition, and he is perfectly right"
 Passing on the lecturer referred to Profes- sor Huxley and said: Professor Huxley holds up to scorn medieval education, with it's neglect of the knowledge of nature it's poverty of literary studies, it's formal logic devoted to showing how and why that which he church said was true and must be true.' But the great medievaI universities were not brought into being, we may be sure, by the zeal for giving jejune and con- :emptible education. Kings have been out nursing fathers, and queens have been out nursing mothers, but not for this. Our unI- versailles came into being because the SUD- posed knowledge delivered by scripture and he church so deeply engaged mems hearts, and so simply, easily and powerfully related tself to the desire for conduct the desire for beauty-the general desire in men as OiotimR said, that good should be forever present to them. All other knowledge was dominated by this supposed knowledge and vas subordinated to it, because of the sur passing strength of the hold which t gained upon mems affections by lllying itself profoundly with their Iense for conduct and their sense .or beauty. But now, says Professor Huxley, conceptions of the universe fatal to he notions held by our forefathers have been 1 breed upon us by physical science. Grant l 0 him that they are thus fatal, that they l must and will become current everywhere, | md that everyone will finally perceive them l o be fatal to the beliefs of our forefathers. 1 The need of humane letters, as they are | ruly called, because they serve the para mount desire in men that good should be for 1 ,ver present to thsm-the need of humane l etters to establish relation between the new and our instinct for beauty, our | instinct for conduct, is only the more visible. | The middle age could do without humane let l CTS, as it could do without the study of nature,