St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-05-04
The Decline Of Enthusiasm.

An eminent New York preacher,
Rev. DR.. Potter of Grace church, took
occasion i'm il recent sermon to speak
against the degrading influence of Gym
ical criticism in life and letters. He
declared that there is no ardOr now as
there was sixty years ago, and no SYM
pathy with those who are ardent, and
that the prevailing atmosphere is sin
gularly discharged of high enthusiasm.
1t is no longer good form to be enthu-
SiaStic in any interest, however lofty :;
young people are taught to style all
earnest exhibitions of feeling, to affect
languid and critical indifference and
to cultivate Il dry, pert and carefully
disparaging habit of thought and eX-
preston. For this discOuraging ten
dency, DIR. Potter holds the prevailing
methods of criticism in art and letters
largely responsible. The tone of cur
rent criticism is cynical and fault-tind-
ing. and new products in art and liter
ature are scrutiniZed with Il view of
seeing what flaws can he found in
them, and with what effect the critic
can diSport himself among the weak
points of the author or artist. The
consequence is that no one dares any
more to bctTay enthusiasm, or to man
ltcst genuine or generous emotion, be-
cause to do so is to invite deriSiOn and
to make himself fair game for the
mockeTS.
We do not know whether this ten
dency of the present generation has
often engaged the attention of preach
erS or moralistS, but there are few peo-
tln "a bn "a all ~ tha i,,A
ences at work around them who will
be inclined to dispute the accuracy of
DIR. Potter's observation or the Justice
of his judgment. An age, whatever its
material advancement or intellectual
achievements, which rigidly represses
its emotions and will not be kindled to
enthusiasm by any ideal, loses II large
part of what is noblest and best in life
We have gone so far in our distaste for
morbid or mawllish sentimentalism,
that we will not tolerate sentiment of
any kind. The effect is seen in relig-
ion i'll Il current Indifference, which is
too indOlent to dispute religious truth.
and far too indOlent to investigate it..
but contents itself with drifting through
life and out of it, not wholly sure
whether anything is quite worth while
\ religiOnist who manifeSts symptoms
of being thoroughly in earnest, and
| who talks of salvation from sin and the
penalties of sin as though it were the
/ supreme need of the soul, is regarded
with il languid and half contemptuous
curiosity as man who must be out of
his mind. In art, in literature, in so
cial life the prevailing disposition is to
make microscopic search for faults,
to distrust motives, to jeer at serious
ness and to depreciate results. The
bright young men who set themselves
up as critics of art and literature in the
journals of the day have "A reputation
/ for smartness to be maintained at any
cost; to review a book or describe a
picture without sending some keen
shaft at the sensibilities of the author
or painter they would reckon dull bus
mess indeed. They make the work
under notice only Il target to fire at, OF
peg to hang their witticisms on and
| if they estimate their public Alright it
cares more to enjoy their .jibes than to
know what the author or artist intend
/ ed, and whether he has accomplished
| it.
The trouble is that cynicism is mis-
| taken for criticism. The man who
laug hs- rather, perhaps, the man VINO
/ laughs at some one else-is the typical
man of the age. We need some quick
enIng impulse to arouse us from OuI
carefully cultivated Indifference, some
thing to teach us that life is earnest
and serious, that emotion is not dis
credltable. that enthusiasm has not be-
come impossible. If this impulse could
come in the form of one of those mighty
religious awakenings with which Oul
fathers were familiar, and which plow-
ed deep into the souls of men, so mucl
the better; for besides quickening the
spiritual life, it would dissipate thi:
murky atmosphere of distrust and in
difference which comes near to strang
ling every high endeavor.- Boston
journal.
Fred Douglass is soon to marry