New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-03-13
CULTURE FOR TODAY.
Hamilton Mabie's Address Before Political
Education League.


That duty lies IN doing not tho nearest thing but
the highest: that what one would do greatly he
must do with his whole heart; that there is one
culture OF exclusion and accomplishment and an
other culture OF sympathy and vitality and mat
America will develop American type or culture
these few Of the chief lines OF Thought y.
the lecture which Hamilton w. Mahie delivered
bcfore thu League for Political Education yesteE-
day on culture for To-day.
u recall one Of the most charming men this
country ever produced" Mr.. Mabie said IN part
He Wns a statesman. a scholar In three OF four
fields and yet. while impianung love OF arr IN
.N.-s no discouraged any attempt 70 create IL no
WIS out OF tune with his time; he touched mo
great realities through the work OF others H,''
AZ frs, hand, and he perceived the creau'e III.
pulse through art. but never looked Tot or le'' II
s,,-r,pg IN real lie He had what many eau cunt
-, ~, ris culture was the possession OF a class
:, vas esoterio, derivative. delicate ana ih'el-
iectral form OF epicureanism. ms CAT ''o N1''
ure Of accomplishment -.
az :, ~. contrast with Il n second type OF cult
mr.. that represented by another great American
,s,-,o-,.tts, and man OF letters. man OF tho
,-or15 vet fresh and eager. with freshness OF tle
HOY in him to the end ! remember taking w
him IN q little Western Massachusetts, town atter
his return from long stay In Engiahc- hv vi" W.
q eanneI shirt and was smoking a pipe AHohg
o,t-or things he told about dining at windsor
- always had an idea he said. that when you
went TO "a palace you had a new kind OF dinner
hut ! found Il the same roast oeei anu p'N"'
pudding we had IT home
..yvrea I told that to Charles Dudley warner nc
replied: Well II Lowell had been In CHINA ne
would have known bettor-hc would have known
that there are two kinds OF dinner with tho ac-
cent on the 'areD.
his sympathy with the life OF his time, In his
sympathy with his countrymon Cho was
master Of tho dialect OF one section OF 10 and
In the way in which he drew his impulse, not from
art, but from the times in which he lived, Lowell
represented that second type OF culture-the cult
Of power.
THAT other type Of culture-the culture OF &C
complshment, 1 havo called it Grom what Mr.
Mabie said later ii appeared that Charles sumner
the representative OF this type)-puts Its
stamp a class. 1t lends charm 20 society, but
it bears no fruit 1t is initiative. affected and
tends become provincial. To DO able TO use
uently the language OF and literature; TO make
frequent comparisons between things IN this coun-
try and abroad: 10 use the word Renaissance fire.
Cucutly and with air Of having the key to
that complex and battling period at ones disposal
these some OF the signs OF this initiative. not
genuine. culture
Each country and each period has its own type
Of culture. Culture at the root IS the application
Of the fundamental ideas Of race TO life and TO
the education Of the individual. The Teuton. the
Engllshman and the HIndoo each has his type
OF culture, CaCn totally different from tho other.
The most cultivated Hindoo is not tho cosmopoll-
ten. but he VINO expresses most clearly the HiHdoo
type OF social and individual qualities. Cultivation
ought intensity. not eliminate. 1t ntonsiies the
qualities oi the rosc-it should intensity the in
Then ar. Iah.e turned TO Goethe as tho repre-
is be SAID "a house az Wo,mar which fs unique
% lis oppression Of perfena.ts. lt ~ large.
rlupie. free 81 the suaogtsius effect Of most mod
en- !urnishing Perhaps us most impresslye quahty
hno" Goethe begins 10 seem Ola lasa4o4ed and
We cay AIS style Is stiH and autguat,d, yet thero
iife or more sancy interpreted IT, or VINO can DO
more fraiuuly =tudi,d-noue whose sanity is a
Is a more ucrfltt axp6noEt or Vial culture.
In receiving TO live rcro!utely in tho whole tho
good tle atuiiuL Goethe uttered his protest
revolt wac SO radical that 1t came near 10 pagan
ism: Yet Be- enc sense his own lie was one OF
ton uIon h.s work opened him to the criticism Of
ways see That 10 90 not The nearest bug the hish-
Get work D. one - cGty toward soelely. -Ana 10
he must 90 with his whole heart. This calls. not
only iur sacrifice on mo part Of the individual but
ing SO .E-ol iunate Tor TIC creative temper IS 10
be swamped with orders, for the young author to
e. ts az 5, - 81 ,ts Ss1,,ar,je ~, he s0I AMI
has depleted thousands who had not the courage
sier Who has The rover TO thrill and stir from the
ruipit immcfiateiy ne is besicged 10 speak at I
Temperance meetings. purity leagues. missionary
every subject s. lie diiutes himself dlssipatss
himself. ana after ten years Of that people begin
SAY: Yes. mir. Dash is very fine. but
De hasn't fulfilled his promise
Not the nearest work. but the highest. Charles
Darwin was one OF the men who believed that to
be Ais duty lie never did but one thing IA his
life lie never sat on boards. and ne lived quite
apart from the ethical life OF his time. Many in
claimed his attpntion-many OF them worthy
claims-yet he resisted them All. and gave his life |
20 the formulating OF one lava law that has
saved a host Of the best and OF the
time from despair. that has been the salvation OF
these later generations.
What this country needs is men who can lock
the doors upon alien interests. who bear 20
he sg1i VIII 10 heir ffa Orl-
IL you ask for comDctent in almost any field, !
you find plenty OF them. but OF masters there |
few. We want men who can take time 10 20
the root OF things Life needs developing OF |
activities. but IL needs fertiiZng at the Al