Morning journal and courier., 1883-06-27

which crammed with welcome the vast auditory.
 But now. they tell us. naught of song or story
 Can call out such . crowd. except the races
 Even recent graduates are bored to come nigh
 The solemn gatherings of the old alumni.
 Which led to the question that was an- swered near the close of the poem as fol lows
 Is life worth living, when its course reveals
 December lurking in the path of May
 Yes, is our answer, though the spirit feels
 Its plumage dropping and its garb decay;
 Times thefts are gentle, and his passing wheels
 Spill better treasures than he bears away.
 Not all the glories of that spring tide bloom
 Vie with the riches of our harvest home.
 MT. Lewis was frequently warmly applaud ed His poem occupied nearly an hour. The address was by President White, of Cornell university, and entitled, ''The mes sage of the nineteenth century to the twen- tieth." The oration occupied about an hour and half A part is as follows:
 What, now, is the message2
 You remember that striking generalization of Guizot regarding the broad difference be- tween the civilizations of antiquity and those of modern Europe. He shows that the evolution of the ancient civilizations was in obedience to some domi- nant principle, that each sank into immobil- ity or was developed with astonishing rapid ity, onlysto decline just 50 rapidly. On the other hand, he shows that in the great mod ern civilizations of Europe no one principle has ever become powerful enough to exercise permanent despotism over the others; that many strong elements have existed together. stimulating and restraining each other, and that European civilization is far more rich and varied than the ancient, far longer lived, because enclosing in itself principles which constantly renew the youth of modern states
 Since we read Guizot here together we have seen this verified. We have seen Eng land renewed and largely rebuilt. New pow CTS have been called into being, new think CTS have arisen, new classes have gained 1n- fuence, but no one power or thinker or class has held complete mastery. Germany, with its great thinkers, it's commercial class, it's literature, art and science, is 8 new Ger many, stronger, more lasting than the old. Italy has been rebuilt, has become eat and strong, because, besides the principles of le- gitimate authority in Church and State, there has always been kept alive the tradition of liberty, of literature. of science, of art, and to-day her strength lies in the fact that one of these clements is strong enough to take full possession.
 Look now at those States in which one principle has become dominant. Take Spain and you find the civilization and political life of the peninsula brought to naught. And why? One principle has had complete con- trol-the principle of legitimate authority in Church and State. Take Russia and you find the principle of monarchical authority so strong that all others have been paralyzed. The Spanish and Central American republics are under the sway of one idea-ultra demo- cracy-and ont of them all only two show any signs of real life. And now the questio n arises, how is it with our own republic ? and here lies the central point of our message.
 As to the rapid development of 8 civiliza- tion under the sway of 8 single dominant element the United States furnishes a most striking example What produced this rapid development? In our history there has been little of the military spirit, little of the spirit of religious propagandism, still less of the aristocratic spirit, and least of all 8 monarchical spirit. Nor has it been the po- litical spirit. need hardly tell you the one element which has been dominant and all prevailing in the industrial spirit-the trade spirit, or, if you'pIease to give it the name, This spirits the cause of our greatest enterprises = railways, canals, telegraphs, manufactures. City after city made up of lines of shops tell of this spirit. Oar patriotism is strong, as the great crises of our history have proved. But the life of a nation does not consist of great crises, and in ordinary times patriotism does not hold it's owp against the mercantile spirit Of all the great political questions before us the first is the tariff The education of the freedmen, the reform of our civil service, the rectifcation of our electoral system, are hastily passed. by, and our governing bodies are all absorbed in the tariff.
 As a matter of fact, it is the only question Mercantile men and methods have invaded our legislatures as we never in our earlier days thought 1t possible. Take our munici palities-they are certainly the worst in the world and are growing worse every day. And why? The apparent reason is that we have carefully neglected the fundamental principle-the fact that a city is 8 corporation as well as political body, and should be governed as sueh But why is this not seen? Here is the point-it is seen but not acted upon. The mercantile spirit pre- dominates over the political spirit and the city virtually hands over it's affairs to few who make ''politics' business. Take the field of education. Truly great things have been done here. but has our educational de velopment kept pace with our material de- velopment? We have made no such prog. ress in extinguishing ilIiteracy as has been made in Germany, England, France and even Italy. Onr intermediate and higher schools, except in few of the States, cannot be com pared with those born within the last thirty years in soma other countries. Compare the increase in the endowments of our universities with the increase in the Compare the advance in the salaries of professors to the advance in the salaries of presidents of railway companies and banks. and see what spirit is dominant. Take the field of literature. In our college days we had in their bloom, Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Whipple, Prescott, Bancroft, Mot ley, Curtis-some are gone, some are grown old, and do you discern any such array of men now appearing upon the horizon to take their places? do not deny that there is. as much talent-nay even more than formerly, but something has drawn it away from liter ature. Look at art. When we were in col lege, Crawford, Greenough, Elliott, Hunt To1n Do oS1d Rogers were in their prime. Who is there now to take their places? Take finally, the relig- ious element It is indeed great force in our country. It still gives us examples of heroism, it still holds up ideals, but what is it's comparative strength? Suppose that the introduction of Moham mechanism into any one of our great cities were sure to draw trade, necessitate railways, could you not at once secure contributions enough to build 8 mosque that should rival the Tai Mahal? Suppose any powerful preacher in one of our great cities should steadily denounce in the concrete certain dominant mercantile sins, would he not be practically treated as an en- emy of what is best in the city2 Many of the greatest and most wealthy churches in the United States are now supplying their pulpits from abroad l can sec various reasons for this, but underlying them I can see the fact that the mercantile spirit is drawing our stronger young men to profes sions simply lucrative.
 But even the business enterprise of the country seems 10 be suffering from the pre- dominance of this spirit. which is supposed to help it on. Where is our carrying trade? To be sure civil war sadly crippled our com- merce, but surely in twenty years of peace we should have gone far toward recovery. Is this the age of machinery? I grant that America has astonished the world in cer- tain sort of ingenuity, but what have we de- yeloped to compare with the shipyards of England and Scotland? What have we to show in the great foundation industry of iron and steel to be compared with the establish ments of Krupp at Essen and Schneider at Grouse ? To prevent this one strong ele- ment which has developed so rapidly our vast material civilization from leading to weakening and decline, our course is sim pie. We must develop fesrlessiy and with determination other clements which shall take their rightful place, which shall modify and hold in check the mercan- tile spirit. These counter clements cannot be monarchy, aristocracy, militarism; we must have simply the greater fabric of re- ligious, scientific, literary, artistic and politi cal thought. Men who feel the power to do good and great things in literature and art must not put their talents to the service of the mercantile spirit. Our universities must be made centers of power in intellectual life. But above all must the war begin in the in- diVidual-in the young man who feels within