LECTURE I.* AUTHORS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO LIFE. THERE has existed in all ages a class of men, called at different periods by different names, but generally comprehended under the name of Authors. They hold the same relation to the mind of man that the agriculturist and manufacturer bear to his body; and by virtue of their sway over the realms of thought and emotion, they have exercised a vast influence upon human affairs, which has too often been overlooked or denied by earth's industrial and political sovereigns. Operating as they do on unseen substances, and working silent and mysterious changes in the inward man, without altering his external aspect, they have strangely puzzled the whole horde of bigots and tyrants, and have written their Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin on the walls of earth's proudest palaces. On the occasion of a literary anniversary like yours, I am aware of no more appropriate subject, none which is more likely to bear, remotely or immediately, on your own future pursuits and professions,-than this of Authors; and in tracing out some of their relations to life, I think I can inflict less tediousness upon you than if I had selected some topic with a more resounding name, and admitting of more ambitious disquisition. My object will be to set forth their moral and intellectual influence, the physical necessities which have modified the direction of their powers, and the discrepancies observable between their internal and external existence. This will involve a consideration of their relations to their age, to booksellers, and to domestic and social life. You must pardon Delivered before the Literary Societies of Brown University, Sept. 1, 1846. |