OUR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 603, 24 September 1853, Page 6

OUR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS.

Sir— Among the hereditary legislators which give stability and character to the House of Lords, there is no one of higher intellectual and moral standing than that distinguished nohleman, the Earl of Carhble. The present age is regarded by some as peculiarly that which the prophet had in view when he spoke of a time in which "many should run to and fro, and knowledge be increased." Certainly in no former period of the world's history did there exist such a wide-spread zeal for communicating, or so general an appetite for acquiring knowledge, as now ; never were the people so disposed to learn, or our first-class men in science and literature so ready to teach ; and it is one of the many claims on public favour of the Earl of Carlisle, that he should have been the first of his order to take his place in the lecturer's desk, and to teach large audiences, both by example and precept, in the mode most accordant with tbe practice, and best suited to the requirements of the time, how much of at once rational and innocent enjoyment may be derived from the cultivation of literary tastes and habits.

In the end of March last, the noble Earl delivered a lecture in the Mechanics' Hall, Aberdeen, on the poetry of Pope, originally delivered before the Mechanics' Institute and Literary Society of Leeds. At the close of tbe lecture, a resolution of the Mechanics' Institution was read by the Lord Provost, constituting Earl Carlisle an honorary member of that Institution. His lordship, in an admirable response said, " I cannot adequately tell you how sincere my wish is for the growth and progress of those classes whose moral and intellectual good embraces all that is really hopeful in this land. I wish I could persuade all of you, as far as opportunity offers—each in his separate way — to do something in your day to discountenance and check that which I look upon as the great prevailing evil in our country — in Scotland, as well as in England— the tendency, in one word, to drunkenness. Total Abstinence Societies may do something to check this very demoralising, and, I fear, spreading tendency. But while I would not discountenance any such praiseworthy efforts, I will not say that the root of the evil is to be reached in that way. You may pretend to impose restrictions, but the proper use of the gifts of Providence is not to be denied to the creatures of Providence. What I think is a more effectual remedy for the evil is, better education, greater attention to industrious habits, and, above all, the diffusion of religious principles." Thus spoke one who has devoted much of his valuable time and great talents for the benefit of his country and the welfare of mankind ; and whose exertions in the cause of philanthropy and literature are acknowledged and appreciated by all ranks and classes of bis fellow-countrymen. This is the age of accelerated motion. Improvement in her march has called to her aid the iron arms of steam. See how the mechanical mind of Europe is becoming developed, and mark the impulse given to the world by steam machinery, steam navigation, railway travelling, and the electric telegraph. Observe the growth of freedom from the old condition of absolute slavery and modified serfage to the present condition of sane and wholesome liberty. Witness the progress of commerce from its fettered stage of almost universal monopoly and restriction, down to its present, but not last, measure of emancipation. Look to our neighbour Continent in all her vastness of territory, there even now, we can observe the shadow, at least, of a great and coming empire, in a land which realizes more than the fables of the poets, to which whole troops of Argonauts are bound, and which eclipses in its golden wonders the gardens of the Hesperides, or the sands of the Pactolus.

We must then be up and doing in these earnest times, or we shall soon be called lagmen. Our motto must be " Onward " and " Forward," or we shall soon be left alone in our unenviable glory. Let us first and foremost unfurl the banner of Education, till it waves over an educated, population. In waging war with ignorance, we have this for our encouragement, that many victories have already been gained, and amid all obstructions, let the hope still cheer us, that many more are yet to be secured. And, let us cease not from our warfare, till we can display our standard, engraven with a thousand victories, in front of some of the last strongholds of ignorance, and rend the air with the conqueror's shout of "unconditional submission." It is a noble triumph — " above all Greek, above all Roman fame "" — to make men better, and wiser, and safer ; to make good citizens of them, and intelligent men, and reputable heads of families. Be it our endeavour then to come together in a spirit of thorough sympathy to promote common objects and the general good — to diffuse an interest for whatever refines and whatever elevates the harsh lineaments of man's inherent ruggedness — and to make, as occasion and facilities present themselves, the beautiful in nature, tbe fair in art, tbe lovely in character, the sublime in duty, and the holy in practice, the common heritage of the whole family of man. I am, &c, Thomas D. Nicholson. Nelson, 20th Sep., 1853. -