*»
ORATION
ON
      EDUCATION,

                 DELIVERED BEFORE

   THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OP A RATIONAL
               SYSTEM OF EDUCATION,

AND A NUMEROUS ASSEMBLY OF LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

     IN ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, NOVEMBER 7th 1811.

          B\ APPOINTMENT OF THE SOCIETY.

              WITH ANNOTATIONS.
          BY JAMES CUTBUSH,

Vice Prendent of the Society, Lecturer on Chemistry, Member of tlit
   Philadelphia Linn<- ;.t and Agricultural Societies, Member of
          the Grand Lodge of fennsylvania, t[C.
The senses arc the gifts of nature, and the primary regulators of our
   iictive powers.                          Prestos'.
Our ideas are acquired through the medium of the senses
                                      L9CK0.
          PHILADELPHIA:

      PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.

Q, F. Goodman, Printer, 87, Callowhill street

                1812, 
dt a meeting of the" Society for the promotion of a ra-
   tional system of Education," JVove  jer Loth, 1811,
  the following resolution was adopted.

  "Resolved that the thanks of this society be pre-
sented to  Dr.  James Cutbush for the excellent
Oration on Education,  delivered by him in St. John's
Church, and that he be requested to favour the society
with a copy for publication."

           Extract from the Minutes.
John Bachman,  Secretary. 
ORATION  ON  EDUCATION,
GENTLEMEN OF THE SOCIETY  FOR THE PROMOTION OF A RA-
   TIONAL  SYSTEM OF EDUCATION.


xjlGREEABLY to the duties of the appointment, I have had the
honour to receive from you, permit me to call your attention to a
subject, which has already awakened the liveliest feelings of the
heart, namely, education.
  In order the better to illustrate this inquiry,  in its most exten-
sive sense,  it may not be improper in the first place,  to ex;mine
the principles of  associations in  general;  secondly, treat of
education,  from the elementary to the more refined branches of
learning; and thirdly, conclude with some moral reflections, natu-
rally resulting from so useful and  comprehensive a theme.
  PirsJ.  Of Man in society.
  At the summit of the scale of our globe is placed man, the
master-piece of earthly creation.   In modern times, it has be-
come fashionable for philosophers, of a particular sect, to speak
of mankind, as having originally been a race of savages, little re-
moved from brutes, and wholly unconnected with one another m
society.
  In such a state, which is.contrary to fact, every man must have
been his own law giver,  his own judge, his own protector,  his
own avenger.  Although man may have so far degenerated as to
have approximated to this state, yet, considering the constitution
of human nature, he never could subsist.   The social principle
is as much interwoven with our nature, as the principle of self-pre-
servation.   No human creature  could long continue in the exer
cise of his rational faculties, without desiring society, and using
means to obtain it, if such means were in his power.
  The law of nature,  that  was originally written on the he.rt of
man, and still continues to be so, expressly  requires  social and
relative duties; and expressly prohibits crimes against sociery.
This necessarily presuppose a a social state. 
4
   If we have recourse to the holy writings, we find, that the mo4
 rnent Eve was created, social and other duties were formed;  con-
 sequently, society was constituted.   The happiness of mankind,
 the means by which it is promoted,  the physical  constitution of
 human nature, the influence of education, and several other sub-
 jects will claim our attention in their proper places.
   There are two enquiries, however, which may be considered in
 this place, namely, man as a  social being, and man in commu-
 nion with God by religion.
   In whateyer light we view associations, it may be Raid, that the
 principle on which they arc erected is implanted in our nature by
 the author and dispenser of all good; and is calculated to produce
 the same beneficial end in  the moral, that the power of attraction
 does in the natural world.*
   This propensity to associate, may be observed in every stage of
 society; from the rude  hunter of the forest, to the polished in-
 habitant  of the city; from  the first  elements of simple societies,
 to the more complicated and expanded associations.  Whether
 it is an instinct or a habit;  whether it  is the  dictate  of powerful
 unerring nature,  operating for the benefit of the subject,  or the
 the result of prudence and reason, consulting individual as well
 as. general good, it is not necessary to investigate.   We feel and
 we know, that it predominates over our species; that it operates
 with the power of both these causes; and that, whether it exhibits
 itself in families,  in literary or benevolent institutions, or in na-
 tions, its spirit is good and its object benificent.
   The absence of this principle in men, or in other creatures, is
 generally attended with ferocious and sanguinary propensities;
 and wherever it prevails, we  find our nature improved, our feli-
 cities increased, and the  general condition of society amelio-
 rated.  The gloomy anchorite, the unfeeling fanatic, and the re-
 pulsive misanthropist, always inshroud themselves  in solitude,
 and seek in vain for that happiness, which they failed of obtaining
 in the busy theatre of the world.
   Independent of these associations, which may be denominated
 natural,  we observe voluntary societies springing up in a thou-
 sand shapes, for the  improvement of our  physical, mental, or
 moral faculties.
   In the whole order  of beings,  from the  seraph down to  the
meanest insect,  all, according to their rank in the scale of exis-
tence, have, more or less implanted in them, the principle of as-
 sociation Avith others of the same species.   Even the most incon-
siderable animals are formed into different ranks and societies, for
mutual benefit and protection.    Need we name the careful ant>
or the industrious bee; insects,  which the wisest of men have re-.
commended as patterns of unwearied industry and  prudent  fore-
sight.  But, does the innate principle of friendship,  increase in

      * See the R. W. De Witt Clinton's Masonic Address, 1806 
5
 proportion to the exterision of our intellectual faculties?  This rs
 a consideration of great magnitude.  The cements of the rational
 world'are unbounded.  When they cease,  nature must be dis-
 solved, and man, the image of his Creator and the chief of lib
 voiks, be overwhelmed in the general chaos!
   Civilization undoubtedly depends upon an innate principle; and
 the social duties, which have existed from the days of Adam, ^re
 interwoven with our existence.   The condition of society, how*
 ever,  has been ameliorated from the knowledge of the arts and
 sciences.  The learned Dr. Price is of opinion, that a time will
 come  when  mankind shall arrive at  the summit of all possible
 perfection,  from the extension of our intellectual faculties.   He
 even goes so far as to add, that science will eventually "suppress
 vice and war, and even death itself 1  The pious Bishop of Lan*
 daff, however, is of opinion, that human nature can never arrive
 at this degree of perfection, nor do we think  it possible, consider-
 ing the physical constitution of man.   Though from our weak'
 ness we may gather strength, and from our wants gather plenty,
 yet we, worms of the dust! insects of an hour! can never penetrate
 the secret recesses of nature, and stop, the laws of creative power.
   While we  look up to the cause of all causes....while we con-
 template  creation,  and observe her symmetry  and beauty....while
 we raise ourselves up to eternal reason and study his laws....
 while  we have faith, hope, and charity to lead us in the paths of hap-
 piness.-.while we are animated with heartfelt gratitude for all the
 blessings, both spiritual and temporal, which  we enjoy, we may
 erect  our edifice, not on the sands, but on the rock of ages, which
 the mouldering hand of time can not destroy.
   In society, the principles of honesty, truth, benevolence, charity,
 and justice,  should ever be practised and inculcated. No social
 compact  can  be  honourable, happy and durable, without a com-
 pliance with these requisites.  These  principles should be  im-
 pressed on the minds of youth.
   The many advantages resulting from friendship, whether we
 trace  it through the  circle  of private connexions,  to the grand
 system of universal benevolence, which no limits  can circum-
 scribe, or consider it as a necessary duty, may be compared  to a
 wheel of immense  magnitude, whose revolutions mark the rise
 progress, and usefulness of a reciprocal intercourse of kind and
 generous actions.    As the mercurial  column shows the increase
 and decrease of temperature, so the  social affections either rise or
Jail in the ratio of mutual friendship.  Where friendship is un-
 known, jealousy and  suspicion prevail; but  where that  virtue is
 the cement,  true happiness  subsists.   Patriotism, or love of
 country, is a species  of friendship for the land in which we live,
 for the political and social compact, for the laws: in  fine, for the
 country,  its laws, its  rulers.  The warrior's glory may consist in
 murder, and the rude ravage of the desolating sword; but  the
 blood  of thousands will not stain the hands of his country's frierX
 £[is virtues are open^ and of the noblest kini 
c
   Tt is t: tie, that  " the better men arc,  the  mere they love one-'
 fenother,"  of course, the more durable would be the  friends
 ship, and of a purer kind; i. e. the mind would  be divested of hy.
 poc'icy and deceit.  " The skylle of becommynge gude and fiar-
fygh.r," s-.vs king Henry, the sixth, in an original manuscript,*
 we may add is but little known; and if it is, it is but little practised.
   It m.,y be said, that the excellence of human reason shines with
 a new lustre, from the establishment of societies, or bodies fioli*
 fie.   In them, virtue,  honour,  fear, and interest, variously em-
 ployed or combined, prove the source of peace, happiness and or*
 der.   All  the individuals,  being mutually interwoven together,
 move in  a regular and harmonious manner.  Under the sanction
 of the iaws, the president, governor or magistrate, by exercising
 a lawful authority,  promotes virtue, suppresses vice, and spreads
 around him the happiest instances and effects of his administration.
   In society, as in a pure and fertile climate, talents of different
 kinds spring up, and unfold themselves.  From that the mecha-
 nical and liberal arts flourish.   From thence are born poets, ora-
 tors, historians, physicians, divines, philosophers, lawyers.
   It is a truth, however, that in whatever state man is placed,
 provided  his  mind has been  formed by a proper education, he
 feels a desire to acquire knowlege; and, very frequently, science
 may be seen enlightening and consoling him.
   Man, considered as an intelligent creature, is endowed with
 reason, judgment, volition, which constitutes him a being of the
 first order.  He alone, of all other creatures, enjoys  the gift  of
 Speech. Sometimes with a strong and harmonious voice, he cele-
 brates, in a poem, the virtues of a hero.    At other times, by the
stroke of a pencil, he changes a dull and ungrateful canvass into
 3 charming perspective.  Here do we see him, with the chissel
 and graver in his hand, animating the marble, and giving life  to
 brass.  There, with the plummet and square, erecting a magni-
 ficent  palace.  Now do we  behold him, by the assistance of a
 microscope of his  own invention, discovering new worlds amid
invisible  atoms, or penetrating  the secret exercise and motion of
a particular organ.  At other times, by changing this microscope
a& it were into a telescope,  he pierces into the heavens, and there
contemplates  saturn and his satellites. Returning home, he pre-
scribes or rather determines the laws  of the celestial bodies, de-
scribes their  orbits, measures  the earth,  and  weighs the  sun!
Afterwards directing his flight towards the more exalted regions
of metaphysics, he dives into the nature of beings, examines their
relations, and the admirable harmony resulting from them.f
  Although  amid these physical and metaphysical contempla-
tions, man is a dependant being.  To God, he owes  his admir&».
Me faculties; to God, he owes his existence, his every thing!
• M. S. in the Bodlein library.       f See note P. 
T
   ** Mil77 is sown corruptible; ke will rise incorruptible andglofi-*
•oz/s"; these are the words of the apostlb and philosopher.  The
covering of the seed perishes; the germ subsists, and assures
man of immortality.
   The last mark of the greatness of man, and of his high exalta-
tion above other animals, is the commerce he has with his crea*
tor, by religion.
   Wrapped in the thickest darkness, the rest of the animal crc«
ation are ignorant of the hand that formed them. They enjoy an
existence, but can not  trace the  author  of life.  Though the
beaver may be considered an architect, and the bee a geometri-
cian, yet, they possess only send;we and vegetative life.  But
man, a  reflective  being,  is  exalted above other animals.  H13
rank is  as far above the ape, as the ape transcends the smallest
animalcuiae!   The human mind combines and perfects without
ceasing; that  of other animals, neither perfects nor combines.
Man alone soars to God  the principle;  and, prostrate at the
footstool of his almighty throne, he adores with the proudest sen*
timents of veneration, and "with the most lively gratitude, the In»
effable goodness that created him.
   In consequence  of those eminent faculties wherewith he is en-
ro hed, God condescends to reveal himself to him, and to lead him
as it were by the hand, in the paths of happiness.   The  various
laws he has received from the  Supreme wisdom,  are  so many
great lights placed at proper distances on his road, to guide him
from time to eternity.
   The sensorium of man may be considered as a wn'rrcr, in which
different portions  of the  universe  is painted in miniature, and
which  are reflected when the senses arc brought into action.  If
we compare the intellect of men, the mind will appear as diversi-
fied as any other subject of nature.  If we draw comparisons be-
tween human beings, and infer that some are endowed with more
powerful faculties  than others; will not, I would ask, a perfect
method of education so balance the scale, as to give industry and
application the superiority over natural genius?  If we go still
further,  and from  analogy conclude,  that some of these mirrors
exhibit  but a small number of objects, while others comprehend
a more extensive field, are we to consider this difference as a di-
versity in human genius, or the effect of education?   What is the
relation between the  mirror of a mole, or that of a Newton, o
Luther, or a  Melancthon!  What images were there in the
brain of a Homer,  a Virgil, or a Milton!   That mind which
could have read the brain of a Homer, would have there seen the
Iliad represented by the various exercise of  a million of fibres!*
   Secondly.  Of Education.
  Having thus shown, that man alone is endowed  with under*
Standing, and that  his usefulness and happiness depend on the
• Bee note 17. 
8
 Joitivt.iicn of his rational faculties, wc now proceeed to consider
 education, or the means by which it is promoted.
   The state of society and of government with us, is admirably
 calculated to countenance and encourage learning in every shape.
   Education is the art of forming and managing the mind.  If the
■benefits are so extensive and widely diffused, affecting the rich as
 *weli as the poor, surely  it is a duty We owe society to perfect the
 art, and to establish a  system on the immutable laws of na-
 ture.  Of how much importance, therefore, are those institutions,
 which are formed to promote a rational method of education?
   As a preliminary step to any system, the principle of associa*
 tion should be forcibly impressed on the minds of youth.  Sheri-
 don has expressly said, that in  order to render education ade-
 quate to its purpose, it  must be a fundamental maxim, that it
 should be particularly adapted to the nature of the government...
 and that  the  principles by  which the community is supported,
 ahouldbe strongly inculcated on the minds of youth; for, says he,
 the best education can never produce citizens, who will adhere to
 the maxims of a free constitution, unless they are constantly re-
 minded of the origin of the social compact.
   Whether we contemplate education in this light, or  whether
 we go into an abstruse  or complicated analysis of the mind, or
 whether we trace the progress of the intellect expanding at every
 new sensation, our inference  in this respect must be conclusive.
   The importance of education, and the establishment of this in-
 stitution, is thus portrayed in the preliminary to the constitution of
 the society: "The education of youth in useful knowledge, ought
 to be a primary object  with parents and  guardians.   But more
 especially ought eveiy endeavour to be used in  a religious corn*
munity, to lay a sure and solid foundation for every moral and so*
cial virtue.   Impressed with a conviction of this important  truth,
a number of the members of St. John's congregation, willing to
give every aid within their power, towards the establishment and
support of a rational system of eduaction, have formed themselves
into a society for that purpose."
   The institution is liberal,  and calculated to produce considera-
ble advantages.*
   Learning, in truth, is progressing with such rapid steps, in thia
section of the northern hemisphere, which hut little more than a
century back was a barren clime, that we behold universities,
colleges, seminaries, springing  up in every quarter of the
United States, and diffusing their salutary influence on the genius
and disposition of the people.  Even in our city the number ot
*ree schools, instituted by the benevolence and philanthropy
shall I say of heaven-born characters, are numerous, and have al-
leady ameliorated the condition of the poor.   While a benevolent
■•■ See note 19, 
9
   Howard graces the page of English biography, may  such be cji«
   rolled on the record of American worthies!
      Among the prominent characters who contributed  to the  sup-
   port of charity schools, I would do an  injustice  to my feelings
   were I to omit the name of Mr. Christopher Ludwick,  an old
   and respectable German.  He granted with a liberal hand, the
   sum often thousand dollars, for the purpose of teaching gratis, the
   poor of all denominations in the city of Philadelphia, the districts
   ofSouthwark and Northern Liberties, without respect to their
   country or religion.*
      It were to be wished, that our ideas on education were founded
   more on the nature of the mind, and  the various relations which it
   maintains through the medium of the senses.  Doubtless the rea-
   son of this lies not so much in the want of tenderness and affec-
   tion, as the  Rev.  Dr. ZoLUKOFFi.iif so justly  observes, as in
   wrong and incompetent notions generally entertained of education.
   That is, this duty is but too often confided to the care of providing
   for the life and health of the children; of teaching them some me-
   chanical works and arts;  loading their memory with a multitude
   of words which they do not understand; instructing them  in. the
   rules of external propriety of behaviour and politeness;  warning
   them of the  grosser enormities, which are followed by punish-
   ment and disgrace; divesting them of their natural simplicity and
   openness of heart, and instilling into them the arts of reserve*, dis-
   simulation, and flattery.   Such, indeed, are the ideas of education
   which many  entertain; and such, in truth, has been the fatality of
   many systems of education, from incorrect opinions respecting the
   nature and properties  of the  sensorium.   Education, instead of
   being what it should be, to form the understanding, or the minds
   of children, by producing certain impressions on the  sensorium
   through the medium of the senses, from one degree of perfection
   to another; has generally been a system of erroneous notions, in-
   correct impulses, external show, and too often, of vanity and folly.
   How many instances, it may be  asked, may we expect to find, in
   which a system has been carried into effect,  so enlightened, unre-
   mitted, and ardent, as to produce the advantages of which we have
   spoken?
     Education, it is to be remembered, has the advantage of  taking
   the mind in its original state;  a soil prepared for culture and im-
•  provement, and as yet uninfested with weeds.  The difficulties of
   a solid education may be compared to a kind of preliminary course,
   intended perhaps by  providence as a gradual preparative for the
   subsequent difficulties in life.   While reason exercises the intel-
   lect, and fortifies the understanding; the mind, however powerful,
   and however improved, must be so counterpoised, as  to render
   mental discipline subservient to moral.
"* Sfce note 14.      f ZoLLiKOFBEa'5 S-rrmon' 
10
  In animate, temper governs all.  In man, r. anon rr gulates thi?
temper; and temper  when under due regulations, facilitates,  in
its turn, the execrcise of reason.
  Learn then the temper; if it be vicious, you arc to correct it, by
Skilfully diverting its course, and by carefully avoiding every thing
that may contribute to add new strength to it, and swell the waters
6f such a dangerous torrent.
  How  applicable are the words  of Pope, " The proper study  of
tnankind is man." Numerous are the writings, and diversified arc
the opinions, on the nature and physical  constitution of man.
  In noticing this subject, it may not be  improper to  observe, that
^mankind are  under a thousand  obligations   ta the. immortal
Luther.,  That world would be unjust, were it to take  from
him a single laurel from the crown, which he gathered not for him-
self indeed, but for the one family universal!   He penetrated the
arcana of nature!   He, animated with benevolent and philanthro-
pic fire, not only soared to the sublime truths of metaphysics and
religion; but on more than  one occasion portrayed in brilliant co-
lours, the unbounded influence of mental and moral improvement!
To him, the world is indebted  for  principles and precepts!  To
him, who drew with his pencil, the picture of his divine master,
though  in miniature, education alike  owes its progressive im-
provement!  Perhaps I hear some  one say, where is your proof?
I answer with justice to my feelings, unfold his voluminons writ-
ings, aud you will have incontrovertible testimony.  He was,  in-
deed, an interpreter of Nature,  and of nature's god!   He was
preeminent in every thing, which affected, in any manner, the hap-
piness and well-being of fellow man.  Incarnate word,  first born
of creatures, if it were possible  to transfer this heavenly power,
it was in the mind of Llthfr that  it shone resplendent!
   Nor is the great Melancthon to escape our notice.   lie was
one of the wisest and best of men of his age, and an illustrious in-
strument in bringing about the  great work of reformation.    He
was learned in all the sciences; and his genius, which  emanated
at an early period of  his life, displayed its power over every thing
he  undertook.  He  defended  the  works of Luther, with inde-
fatigable industry;  and gave lectures on theology and education,
to crowded and popular assemblies, to  the  number it is said  of
three thousand persons.  Erasmus, in noticing Melancthon,
expresses himself in the  following emphatic language:  « But
good God!  what hopes may we not entertain of Philip Melanc-
thon; who, though as yet very young and almost a boy, is equal-
ly to be admired for his  knowledge in  both languages?   What
quickness of invention! What purity of diction! What powers of
memory!   What variety of reading!  What modesty and grace-
fulness of behaviour!"  Such was  Philip  Melancthon in his
juvenile days.
   The celebrated Emanuel, Baron, Count Swedenburg, had so
exalted an*opinion of the divine  philanthropy, which dwelt in thv> 
Ji
 i.osom of the amiable Melancthon, that while he co.pit ?,>..;:> 1.,.
 doubts of the felicity of a Calvin, he has assured us oi the cui-
 iial happiness of a Melancthon,  to whom he has given the up?
 peilation of the guardian angel of Luther.
   Nor is it to such men alone as Luther ami Melancthon, that
 we arc indebted for information and improvement;  we might
 name many, who distinguished themselves, though in a less-"/ dX
 give, in emancipating their fellow creatures from the shackles
 of prejudice, ignorance, and superstition, and to whom education
 also owes its improvement.
   The mind of man may be enriched  with learning of a partiru-
 Lv kind, which may be useful or the contrary.  He may  lain,  flu-
 ently of the sublimity of Milton, the majc.<uc 7narch of Dry ben,
 the mellifluous versification of Pope, the hicnour  of Swift,  the
 conceits  of Cowley,  the descriptive powers of Thompson, the
 sweet simplicity of Goldsmith, or  he may quote Homer, Viu-
 c;il, arid Tacitus; but this will be of little avail,  if his mind is
 not enriched with that knowledge  which would conduct him to
 the temple of wisdom and happiness.
   If he is invested with the badge of real learninr-, whose diadem
 is perfection, whose jewel is virtue, he m.iy bulla iX s uperstr <.■<:-
 ture on the adamantine rock of ages, which n.ithcr the eie.neins,
 nor the hand of time, can put asunder.  Consul ring,  therefore,
 the value of an useful education, let us  unite in sentiment with
 Becc aria, that " the most certain means of rendering a people
 free and  happy, is to establish a perfect method of educat;o:i."
   Shall I call your attention to the emphatic language of C it \tes,
 the philosopher, who wished to be on the most exalted eminence,
 that he might cry aloud to the inhabitants cf the city, " O sense-
 less generation! how foolish are ye to  think only of he.po.^ up
 riches, and absolutely to neglect the education of your cuhdr.ti,
 for whom you intend to amass it!"   Being impressed with thev
 important truths, let it be said, that among the duties we owe to
 society, that of properly educating  children,  is not among  the
 least.  In governments,  like ours, every one should know IX
 rights, that he may learn to prize them.  Ignorance is incomju '.-
 ble with free governments, it may  be  called the grave of liberty.
 In the United States, which enjoy superior advantages over oUn r
 nations, in this respect, as in  all  others.,  education has been so
 much attended to, that ignorance bears a smallei- proportion in thp
 general scale, than elsewhere.   Professor Rush1"  remarks, that
 trom a strict attention to the  state of mind in this country, before
 the year  1774, and at the  present time, he is satisfied the ratio of
intellect is as twenty are to one, compared to what  they weie
before the American revolution.  And  Dr.  Morgan,!  so loav-
• See Dr. Hi sii's " Six Introductory I*ectur< 6,"
| tVi .Mokm:;'s Addj*-;s bd'o'c the tr-cccs ol' i!ir tifev. <r.!0^ 
12
back as toe year i?55, justly remain. " O!  let L never be said
in this city, or in this province, so  happy in its  climate and its
soil, where  commerce has so long nourished and plenty smiled.
that science, the amiable  daughter of liberty, and sister of opu-
lence, droops her languid head, or follows behind in slow unequal
pace."
   Public happiness, it must be obvious, depends so much on edu-
cation, in its most extensive sense, that it can not be too leading
an object of our regard.  Every citizen, in every station, ought to
know enough to be able to judge for himself in all the great trans-
actions of life,  and to be proof against the practices of the ambi-
tious and designing.  An ignorant man in the hands of a knave,
is like a mischievous weapon in the hands of a madman; but a
well informed citizen, is not only the guardian of his^own rights,
but the safeguard of the honour and rights of his fellow citizens.
What motive more powerful, more useful, more honourable; what
principle more energetic, to rouse the every passion of the human
mind towards the extension and perfection of education!
   Certain distinctions are not, as some imagine, merely metaphy-
sical, but are established by nature.  On this principle the system
ot Pestalozzi is founded.*
   A. child, says the Abbe de Conodillac,  is taught to give the
name tree, to the first which is pointed out to him.  The next
tree lie sees, presents the same idea, and he gives  it the same
name.  This he does likewise to a third and fourth, till at last the
word fee, which he fiXt applied to an individual, comes to be em-
ployed by him as the name of a class or genus; it becomes an ab-
stract idea, which  comprehends all trees in general.   But when
he learns, that all trees serve not the same purpose; that they do
not produce the same kind of fruit, he will  soon  learn to distin-
guish them by specific and particular names.
   It is obvious, therefore, that the  exercise  of the senses, must
evidently be the direct way to improve the intellect.  The  farther
we penetrate into this subject, the more we  perceive the  impor-
tance of forming the mind agreeably to nature;  and to promote a
spirit of piety and virtue, as an indispensible  appendage to a sys-
tem of education.
   Another error, of which the human mind  is  susceptible, and
Which is probably owing to an imperfect education,  is that of in-
correct reasoning.  The Abbe de Condillac has said,  that in-
stead of-applying observation to the things  we wish to know, we
have chosen rather to imagine them.
   Advancing  from one ill founded supposition to another, the
mind can not fail to bewilder itself amid a multitude of  errors.
These errors becoming prejudices, are often adopted  as  princi-
ples, and we thus bewilder ourselves more and more.  How often
do we advance argument without fact, abuse words, convey vague
• See Mr. Neef's 12mo. on education. 
IS
und indeterminate ideas, and thus, by assuming false data, call thi v
the art of reasoning.
   When matters have been brought to this length,  when crrorr.
have thus been accumulated, there is but one remedy by which
order can be restored to the faculty of thinking; this  is, to forget
all we have learned, to trace back the ideas to their source, to fol-
low the train in which they arise, and, as Lord Bacon  says,  to
frame the human understanding anew.
   We are told in the sacred writings, « Train up a child in the
way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
   The mechanism  of the mind may be shewn by considering  its
operations under several distinct qualities, viz. Sensation, Obser-
vation, Reflection, Apprehension, Memory, Judgment, Cogitation;
which, however, will be considered in their respective place:;.
Sensation is dependent on the senses.  Observation distinguishes
man from the  brute creation. Reflection is the improvement of
reason, which takes its  source in observation. Memory is a quali-
ty or function  of the mind produced by observation, and reacted
upon by reflection.   Judgment enables us to perceive the differ-
ent properties of things, and may be compared to a balance, in
which ideas are weighed.  Cogitation is the conjunctive exercise
of the faculties of the mind.
   He who contrasts the English sensibility with the  irritability of
some nations,  and even of the same  nation, will find a peculiar
character in this respect.  Thus the Frenchman, at the sound of
an unmeaning word may draw his sword, the Turk his scymater,
the Indian his tomahawk, or the Englishman clench his fist.
   Animals of every description, are born with different capaci-
ties of sensation, which may be called  aptitudes, but not ideas; as
ducks, to love water; chickens, to fear it.  Instinctive aptitude
has no relation with intellectual sentiment.
   The faculties of sensation, observation, and reflection, may  be
compared to the chords of a musical instrument, which have ac-
quired their proper tension, through fear, solitude, and doubt: the
remaining faculties may be compared to time,  notes,  gamut, and
bow, which altogether cooperate  to  harmonise the instrument
mind.   When these are agitated by the tempest of passions, the
vessel of reason, must conform itself to the storm, masts must  be
struck, sails must be furled, windows must be darkened, and decks
must be inclined.
  Correct reasoning undoubtedly depends on the right application
or use  of the senses.  In every  sensation, there are two things to
be carefully distinguished; the change produced in  the mind it-
self, and the properties of external objects, which are the causes
of that change.  Secondly,  Sensations are consequently divided
into those ol impulse and of consciousness; the former arc pro-
duced by causes existing without the sentient being, while the
latter have their source within him. Thirdly, In order to produce
sensation, it is necessary for the < arise to act with a certain degree 
14
«.f iorce, aim Tor a certain length of time.  Very weak Impression-,
though acting almost  constantly,  are  without effect, and the
strongest impulr.es, if  only momentary, are scarcely perceived.
2-':Air:hU>, For any impulse upon the organs of sense to be effec-
tual, it is further requisite, that it be seconded by attention of the
mind.   Without the mind is earnestly engaged, or volition em-
ployed, no progress can be made; for us the will governs, however
powerful the external impulse may  be,  it is as necessary for tho
mind to be prepared, us it is for the senses  to be brought into
action.*
  Vifhl'!.  The nature and strength of sensations depend  upon
thro'e circumstances; the  original constitution, in which I include
the present state of the whole frame, as  well as that of particular
01 i'.nos; the force of the external impulse given to the senses; and
l.stiy, the attention of the mind  employed  upon the subject.
Consequently, a sensation of a determined force may be produced
i y tm infinite  number of different proportions,between the exter-
nal  ^gent, and the attention of the mind; as on  the one hand, a
strong perception may take place with little or no attention of
muni, provided the impression from without be very powerful; so
on the other, an equal perception may arise without any external
impulse, by an uncom men exertion of mental attention.   It often
happens, however,  that  both the internal and external impulses
a'v brought  into action:  certain faculties can not exist without
t! is union.
  The surprising faculty  of memory, is founded on this circum-
stance.

      " Each passing form, the pausing1 heart delights,
      And young sensation every nerve excites.
      Oil front sensation', quick volition springs,
      When pleasure thrills us, or when anguish stings-,
      Hence J/ecollection calls with voice sublime
      Immersed ideas from the wrecks of Time,
      AVith potent charms in lucid trains displays,
      Eventual stories of forgotten days'.
      Hence Jleasnri's efforts good with ill contrast,
      Compare the prciiwiit,  future and the past."           IIarwin.

  We are  fully convinced, that the principles of all knowlege are
Pounded in mind; the mind of man either animated by desire,  or
pressed  by necessity,  puts  in action its various  energies, as we
have just remarked.  We reason correctly when we apply to any
subject those ideas which are derived  from its real nature; but,
if prejudice or any other  cause  usurp the seat of truth,  we  fall
into every kind of error.  We conclude  before we have reasoned,
reason before we  know,  and presume  we know before we have
examined.
» (See note 18. 
15
  In education, the more simple the object is in itself, the sooner
the mind discovers  its various relations, and is  enabled to ria'.
from one truth to another, till it  reach those  that are the most
abstract.
  May we not compare mental improvement to the philosophy
of motion?   In the wheel and axle for instance, the velocity of the
power is to the velocity of the weight, as the circumference of the
wheel is to the circumference of the axle; so in education, the ve-
locity of the mind is to the velocity of the senses, as the circum-
ference of the mind, is to the circumference of the  objects.   In
other words, the action of genius, or reflection, is dependent on
the quickness of the sensations, and the sensations, if of a particu-
lar kind, are dependent on external impulse, exactly in the sam<r
rat,io as power is gained  in the wheel and axle.
  Simonides was led to form a method of associating the ideas of
objects,  to be retained in the memory, by the assistance of em-
blems, ty/io., archetypes, and symbols: hence the utility of demon-
strations, experiments, and the like, in order to impress upon the
mind in a more direct  manner, (viz. by external impulse)  the
knowledge of different subjects.
  It would appear from  this circumstance, that the  heathens de-
rived their religious ceremonies,  from  the  association of ideas
with the object they so worshipped.   But as God  is an abstract
being, he can be worshipped only in " spirit and in truth."
   Memory (1  Cor.  15, 2.) is that faculty of the mind, by which it
retains the images and remembrance of things we have seen, ima-
gined, or understood.
   Mr. Fi.inagle of Baden, has instituted a system for impressing
ideas on the mind, to be  retained  in the memory; and was highly
approved at the Royal Institution, Great Britain, where an exhi-
bition took place before  a numerous assembly of ladies and gen-
tlemen.*
   The best preceptors have recommended the  exercise of the
organs of sense; and, indeed, Rousseau remarks, that "if we
would learn to think, we must exercise our organs, which are the
implements of the understanding."
   The celebrated German writer, Salzman, asks,  " Is an artifi-
cial cultivation of the  senses  practicable?  In other words, can
the senses be cultivated in a degree more than is common?   Is it
productive of any benefit?  In what manner can the senses be cul-
tivated?"   On the practicability of cultivating the senses, he say;;,
" Wc see daily, that a man whose occupation has required the ex-
ercise of his sight, or of his feeling, in  a particular  way, has ob-
tained a great superiority over other men in the accuracy of  it:
and there have been blind men, who, by applying the sense of feel-
ing to that object, have acquired the  capacity of distinguishing
* Seethe Star,  an English Taper. 
16
fXcurs by the touch.  InPiXaux lived a chemist and musician,
who had been born blind.  He learned to read by means of letters
cut in relief, and taught his son to read also.   He estimated his
distance  from  the fire by  the degree of heat it gave, and could
tell when he came near any thing, by the impression the air made
on his face."
  Other instances, of a similar nature, have also occurred.  We
read of Saunders, the blind professor of mathematics at Cam-
brige, having such nice feeling that he could detect spurious coin
among any number of genuine ones.
  We read also of the blind sculptor, who modelled the figure of
the t,reatdukc Cosmo in clay, writh  the greatest accuracy, as he
did that of pope Ub.ban the eighth, and that  of the duke Bbac-
Piant in a dark cellar.  Facts of this kind are the more interest-
ing, as they appear to confirm an opinion long since entertained,
that extensive capacities are hidden in each of the human senses,
v.'hich necessity, want, and disease, the defect of some other sense,
monstrous confirmation, or accident, occasionally discloses.
  Instances sometimes occur, of persons remarkable for some pe-
culiar capacity.   We have  a striking example ofthisinZERA
Colburn, a lad of about eight years of age, whose mathematical
or rather aiothnietical powers, if I may be allowed the expression,
are truly remarkable.*  Our attention is called, on considering
these circumstances, to the system of Pestalozzi, by which chil-
dren acquire in a short time, the facility of determining the power
of numbers, ^ecmetrical definitions, problems, Sec.
  That none of our ideas are innate, but are acquired through the
medium of the senses, is evident from fact, and from the observa-
tions of Locke, the Abbe de Condillac,  and Stewart.  Per-
ceptions and sensations have the same origin.   For instance, the
rays which proceed from an object, strike my optic nerve, I have
ix perception that points out to me the presence of the object. They
affect this nerve,  in a very violent manner;  I  have a sensation,
which I express by the terms grief and displeasure, and vice versa.
  It can scarcely  be questioned, therefore, that the rectitude of a
man's understanding, the quickness of his intellect, and the sound-
ness of his judgment, must be in proportion to the accuracy of his
senses, the facility with which they perform their  functions,  and
the clearness of the perceptions they convey to the mind.   If the
senses be dull and the perceptions obscure, to a certain degree, an
idiot is formed.  This happily, is not a frequent  occurrence; but
if we look abroad, into the world, how many  shall we find, who
judge so erroneously on  various occasions, that you would often
suppose them in want of common sense!   Where this  is not
the  effect of prejudice or passion, it can arise  only from the


  * See the Port Folio, T)r. Mttcueli/s  letter , the files of the National
Intelligencer, and ibe Am-ara. 
17
 chilness of the senses, or the obscurity of the perceptions.   Thru
 the senses are capable of improvement, has already been shewn;
 and if the mind acquires all its faculties through the medium of the
 senses, the exercise of the senses must evidently be the direct w^y
 to improve its capacity;  at the same time that it will prove indi-
 rectly the means of eradicating our pn j unices, and giving reason
 the superiority over the passions.
   However powerful errors may be, the empire of truth, if oncj
 established, will be incomparably greater.  The human mind, like
 a mirror, must be smoothed and polished, freed from false ima-
 ginations and perverted notions, before it be fit to  receive and re-
 flect the light of truth.  We may, therefore, w'.ihthe Pythago-
 iiv. ws lay it down as a maxim,  that human advancements should
 be preceded by, or accompanied with, a suitable degree of purifi-
 eation; for, as the diseased eye endures not, until it be restored to
 health, the view of bright objects, so neither can the mind, without
 due purification, steadily contemplate the beauty and splendour of
 truth.  To doubt cautiously, till you have examined fully, and re-
 strain your assent, till you have  seen clearly, are proofs of reason
 ,ok! force of mind.   How necessary, therefore, is  the exercise of
 the faculties; and it is indeed to education, that we owe the. proper
 use of them.
   Truth is a positive, falsehood  a negative quality.   Truth is too
 health, error, the disorder of the mind.
   Error is that falsehood, which, availing itself either of the weak-
 ness of the intellect, the depravity of the  will, or the undue influ-
 ence of the imagination, assumes the appearance of truth.  As the
 purification of the  mind renders  it a fit : <.:ceptacle for hivine
 truth, so mental improvement, agreeably to a proper method of
 education, can not fail to banish error, give reason  the superiority
 over the passions, and establish truth amid the jarring opinions of
 the world.  On every man it is incumbent, to cultivate a disposi-
 tion of mind which will make him open to conviction, and readv to
 acknowledge and rectify error.
   The diversity of senses, by which the sensorium receives the
 impressions of objects, produces a  relative diversity in  her per-
 ceptions and sensations.  From hence, the passions arise; those
 impetuous motions, those secret inclinations, those restless  appe-
 tites, those urgent desires, which destroy the equilibrium of the
 soul, and impel her towards certain objects.
   Is not truth, in a greater or lesser degree, governed by the sen-
 ses?   If it is, will not an improvement of the senses render the
 mind susceptible of appreciating truth?   In other  words, would
 not a perfect method of education counteract the baneful habits of
the mind?
   Tho' truth be one, and every necessary truth  be obvious, yet
that there is various opinions respecting it among creatures con-
stituted as  we are,  is as certain as that there are  such opinions.
Truth, however, is  seldom the object, iu reason is  selcle-m the 
18
guide: but every mans pride and every man's  interest rc-quire'i
that both should be thought to be on his side.   From hence all
those disputes, both public and private', which render the si ate of
society a state of warfare, the warfare of tongues, pens, and s-.\ ords!
Hence, disputes become contests between man and man, and ]v.r-
ty and party;  instead  of being what they should be, comparisons
o! opinions, of facts, and reasons: by which means each side goes
off with triumph, and every dispute'is a drawn battle.
  A system of correct reasoning ought at all times, and on all oc-
casions, to be instituted; and in learned and line spun theories,
principles ought to be established before deductions  are formed.
To those who establish doctrines  on physical  subjects, without
considering truth,  as the omnipotent artificer, the language  of a
celebrated writer may be applied.   Are these  lovers of wisdom,
these searchers of truth, nothing better  than venders of false
wares, venders of hypothetical systems at best, and often of such
as are entirely fantastical?  If they  are, we might add, that they
put us in mind of a passage  in Plutarch, who  compares the
stoics to ships, that set out under auspicious names,the Success
or Swiftsure  for instance, and who are beaten by tempests in their
voyage, or cast away.  The  great mischief is, that the implicit
passenger, shares the fate of the unwary mariner.  How guarded
and circumspect should we be, before we receive opinions, theo-
ries, or principles, without analysing them  by the test of truth!
   Philosophers, in all ages, have amused mankind with systems
of imaginary knowledge, raised  on fantastical ideas and notions,
instead of confining themselves within the  limits  of real  know-
ledge. Instead of fixing our opinions by evident truth, and giving
the mind any solid foundation whereon to rest, they have involved
us in doubts.  Like  Noctambules, they  have staggered about,
and jostled one another in their dreams. It may be said, however,
that since the torch of experimental  philosophy  has been lighted
up, these hypothetical reasonings have been exploded,  or else
confined under certain conditions in all that relates to corporeal
nature* Notwithstanding the extent of our powers, we can make
no progress higher than ww.v.-■, unless we take creation for our les-
son,  and the ommcient creator for our preceptor.  The wise
man would undoubtedly be confounded by his own wisdom, if he
were not to allow the Deity to discover himself in his works. There
have been men it is true, of this description.  If it  required proof,
I need only  mention  the writings  of Helvetius, Voltaire,
Diderot, De la Metrie, and the whole school of Condorcet.
   The man of reflection, without penetrating the depths of sci-
ence, needs no assistance  from the  philosopher to be infemed,
that he, " who measured the  waters in the hollow of his  hand,
and meted out the  heavens with a span," has so governed the uni-
verse with in\ unable laws, as to evince a providential goodness
• P^note 15 
19
ov. all the things, both animate and inanimate, which arc fern ed,
protected, and supported  by consummate  wisdom."  He  may-
say, indeed, to the philosopher, as Diogenes dm to Alexander,
" Only please to stand out of my  sunshine!"  We are fully  con-
vinced in considering education  in a  more exalted sense,  that
nothing is intelligible in philosophy, but the aciion of matter upon
m. tt-.-r: the power of impulse isthe only sensible and experimental
cause of motion.   We are also of opinion, that  the  knowledge,
which is acquired by metaphysics, although not founded on expe-
riment, as in phvsics, is sufficiently clear with respect to abstract
truth, (if 1 may be allowed the expression,) to afford the most sub-
lime  ideas of the wisdom,  power, and goodness, of the Gkeat
Author  of  all things.
   If  metaphysical science  be wanting, call in  physical, wnicft
is deducible  from the  globe  we  inhabit, and you will  have
incontrovertible testimony.   Testimony  drawn from nature her*
holf, written with tuc pencil of a God!

      " Degenerate minds in mazy error lost
      Mav combat leaven, and impious triumphs boast;
      But while my veins feel  animating1 fires
      And vital air this breathing breast inspires,
      I irate tin to heuven, I'll stretch a pious wing,
      And sing his praise, who gave me power to sing."   Blackmohe.

   Education  if of a proper kind, will lead to true knowledge,
 which becomes an engine of unlimited power in the hand of man.
 It is not, indeed, as Lord Bacon says, an idol of the cave,  an idol
 of the market, nor an idol of the  theatre; but, an idol of God!
   Understanding may be considered the faculty  of perceiving
 things; reason, of tracing causes and effects from a chain of  ideas;
 and judgment, of discerning the different properties of things.
   The exercise  of the mental faculties, even in a philosophical
 view, will lead to truth.   We have   already  remarked,  that the
  soundness of our understanding, reason, and judgment, depends
  on the clearness and accuracy of our  senses.   From the  want of
  exercising the senses, the faculties of the mind acquire a habit oi
  indolence.
    Nothing deserves so much to be shunned,  says Salzman, as
 indolence, mental and corporeal;  for nothing has  occasioned so
 much mischief, so much misery, and  so much unhappiness  in the
 world.   The exercise of our senses,  therefore, is of the  highest
 utility; and certainly it is no small improvement in our system of
 education, that we begin to instruct children more by imprinting
 ideas upon their minds through the medium of the senses, instead
 of filling their heads  with  empty words, which often convey to
 them vague, if not erroneous ideas, and thus lay the foundation of
 many subsequent mistakes in their judgment and conduct.

                          * See note 9. 
iO
  From this principle it follows, as an unerring :.aw, that the
first step to the excitement of an idea, is an impression made up-
on some  one of the organs of sense.  This impression may be
perceived, or it may not be perceived: and, if it be perceived, the
perception  may  be complete, incomplete, or erroneus.   Thus
our attention is called to the truth or falsehood of the perception,
its completeness or incompleteness, and the slumber of the sense.
By rational reflection, by consideration and inquiry, man asserts
his  station among the other creatures of God upon earth.   What
principally distinguishes him from them? What raises him above
them?   What renders him  capable of ruling over them?  Is it
not reason, and the use of it, which consists in reflection, in con-
sideration?   Man is considered a reflective, sensitive, and vege-
tative being.  If so, ought he not to record it as a moral duly to
acquire a love of wisdom?
  When a child is educated agreeably to the tenets  of any pro-
fession, when he is taught that truth, is that quality by -which the
mind is regulated, his reflective powers will be called into redou-
bled action.  Thus,  the reflecting  person revolves in thought:
What is that which  I now conceive?  What are its properties?
How is it constituted?  What results ^ from it?  On what is this
idea founded?  Is it true or false?  What evidences have I in its
behalf?  In what ways does this matter, this truth relate to me
and my happiness?  How should I  act towards it?   In this man-
ner he endeavours to render his conceptions and  ideas of the most
important objects, progressively, more perspicuous, more  com-
plete, more certain, more interesting, more useful.  This is the
business, the daily, the favourite occupation of every  man, who
knows and feels his dignity, and his destination, who asserts his rank
in the scale of creation, and for the earnestness of a being created
for immortality, is in pursuit of wisdom, of virtue, of happiness!
  While we are on this topic, permit me to call your attention to
some of the sayings of Socratks.   Socrates asked Memnon,
the Thessalonion, what was virtue?  He replied, that there was
one virtue of a child, another of a man, another of a woman, one of
a magistrate, one of a master, and another of a servant.  "Very
good," replies Socrates, " I ask for one virtue, and you give us a
whole swarm;" truly conceiving, that he understood not one vir-
tue, who was unacquainted with the  meaning, or definition of the
word.
  Being asked by Georgias  if he did not consider the great kinp
of Persia happy?  " I know not," answered he, " how he is fur-
nished with learning and virtue."
  Socrates said,«that he wondered at those who carved images
in stone, that they took such pains to make stones resemble meri,
whilst they neglect, and suffer themselves to resemble stones!"
   He often said to his disciples, "In the  life of man, as  in  an
image, every part ought to be beautiful."  Being demanded what
nobility was, he replied, " A good temper of body and soul."  On 
21
   -ci ing a young man, who was wealthy, voluptuous and unlearnedi
   "•  Behold," said he, " a golden slave!"
     Many allegorical expressions, not only of the ancient philoso*
   phcrs,but of the apostles in the sacred writings, might be adduced
   to show, that education, which inculcates virtue in  every form,
   was considered in those times as essential to the human constitu-
   tion, to the happiness and well-being of man.   Truly with a cele-
   brated author we might add, that where virtue is the result, it will
   cease to be a task of perpetual watchfulness and contention.   It
   would neither be, nor appear to be, a sacrifice of our personal ad-
   vantages to disinterested consideration8.  Or with ShakspearE
   we might remark, that

            " Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful."

     " Virtue," says an eminent ethical writer,*  «is the doing good
   to mankind, in obedience to the will of God."
     Friendship, the guardian angel of social affection, (like the lamb
   the emblem of innocence and purity,) is like other mutual obliga-
 ,  tions, influenced by education.  In tranquil scenes, we behold this
   virtue calm and moderate, burning  with an equal glow, improv-
   ing the soft  hours of peace, and ameliorating the human heart,
   while it heightens the relish of every social duty.  On the other
   hand, it crowns the lover of his country with unfading laurels,
   gives a lustre to his actions, and consecrates his name to the latest
   ages.
     The Hebrews, Egyptians, and Greeks believed, that they could
   more effectually teach their youth maxims of virtue, by calling in
   the aid of music and poetry.
     When we read of a Regulus exposing himself to the most
   cruel torments, rather than break his word, a Cyrus and a Scipio
   giving public examples of continence and wisdom, all the ancient
   Romans so illustrious and so generally esteemed leading a sober
   and steady life; and on the contrary meet with actions of treachery
   and the like in great and considerable  persons, surely we could
   not hesitate a moment to pronounce in favour of virtue.
     It  would appear from the writings of antiquity, that the art of
  sculpture, which is capable not only of adorning a palace or a
  theatre, but of producing excellent moral effects, by representing
  in  a forcible manner the vices, or perpetuating the  virtues  of
  mankind, was well known among the Greeks, from whose statues
  in  the Vatican,  much of the merit of modern artists is derived.
  These statues, no doubt, were intended to remind them of certain
  •bligations and duties, as well as to serve for ornamental decora-
  tions.
    The writings  of the ancients afford some excellent precepts.
  " Esteem," says Pythagoras^  " is a great part of good educa-
t. tion,  to be able to  suffer the want of education in others "
• Palet
f Stodjeus. 
22
  We read of Cato, the Roman censor, who told his friends, that
of three o dugs, if ever he happened tobe guilty, he always repented:
if he divulged a secret; if he went on water when he might stay on
dry L.nd; and if he let a day pass without doing, or endeavouring to
do some good.  It was a custom, in those days, to inculcate si-
lence.  Pythagoras, indeed, made it a preliminary requisite  for
his scholars to « keep a tongue of good report" for five years, pre-
viously to their initiation into his doctrines.*
  Anaxauchus when taken, says PLiNY,before he would divulge
the doctrines that had been intrusted to him, bit his tongue in the
midst of his teeth, and afterwards threw it in the tyrant's, face.
  The Athenians, it is well known,  had a statue of brass to do*
Clare this virtue; the Egyptians a God, and the  Romans a God-
dess.  If a virtue of this kind was so preeminent on the altar of
Israel and of Rome, how much more should the christian virtues
and graces adorn the human character of modern times?
  As education comprehends not only elementary,  but transcen-
dent learning,  it may  not be improper to take a view  of know-
ledge, and examine the various relations of man.
  If we, therefore, contemplate the system of knowledge, from
the consideration of man in his relations, we can not fail to per-
ceive the  beauty,  order, and perfection in the various subjects
emanating from the divine will.
  The analysis of knowledge, considered with respect to the  dif»
ferent relations of man to  natural beings, to himself, and to other
men, forming three important heads, will afford an interesting
topic for animadversion.
  With regard to general relations.   We consider mathe-
matics and quantity, including arithmetic  as expressed by num-
bers, and algebra, as expressed by letters and signs, together with
extension, comprehending elementary and transcendent geome-
try, as forming interesting branches of this head.
  Nor is motion,  considered with  respect to bodies subject to
our observation and power, as in mechanics;  nor in statics, hy-
drostatics, dynamics, hydronamics, and hydraulics; nor  in astron-
omy and dialling, are we to lose sight of Nature's unerring laws.
  If we view particular  relations, embracing  physics and
chemistry, with the numerous divisions and subdivisions, as light,
optics,  catoptrics,  dioptrics,  electricity, magnetism, pneumatics,
acoustics, meteorology, isfc. a successive study of these sciences will
bring us to  observe the globe,  and the various changes taking
place in, about, or m relation with it.  Or, if we consider indivi-
dual relations, which natural history affords, as the doctrines
of  geology,  cosmogony,  cosmography, minerology, botany; or
as  it respects the beings which  inhabit the globe,  as insects,
viJheUs, reptiles, fish, birds and quadrupeds, surely  so vast  u fieid
* jAMBLipHTS. 
23
for contemplation and research, will awaken the every passion of
the human  mind!
   Man, considered as a physical being, acquries aknowledge
of his frame by anatomy and physiology;  and for the means of re
medying the causes that  derange the economy of his system, he
calls in the aid of surgery, medicine, and pharmacy.
   Man, considered  as  an  intelligent being,  is gifted with
sensations orfaculties of various kinds: Hence he has understmdr
ing, memory, imagination, sleep, dreams.
   The reciprocal action of the body  upon the mind,  produces
wants of different  kinds: hence it is, that sensations of pleasure
and pain, desires, passions, judgment,  volition, necessity, take
their origin.  The art of judging of the  intellectual faculties, by
the construction of the head and features, constitutes the doc-
trines of craniology and physiognomy.
   The mode of communicating our thoughts is through tHe me-
dium of. peech; in relation to which grammar and logic are to
be considered. Our thoughts may also be communicated by signs,
gestures,  characters, or symbols.  By eloquence, poetry,  mu-
sic,  Sec.  certain passions are expressed.
   In a state of civilization, agriculture, or the art of cultiva-
ting the earth, the fine arts, the mechanic arts, social compacts,
and duties,  are the result.  Hence the use and application of mi-
neral, vegetable, and animal substances; of painting, sculpture,
architecture,  writing, printing;  formation  of governments and
societies; of religion, jurisprudence, morality,  politeness.
   Under the head of policy we  may inc.ude the rights of na-
tions,  history, voyages, geography, war, land and naval tactics,
comprehending fortification, artillery, Sec.
   These various subjects, taken together, may be said to form a
 more extensive system of education. Many of them, however, arc
 not essential in the  ordinary purposes of life, and such as arc,
 constitute the different professional and scientific studies.
   The man whose mind is enriched by  the knowledge of sci-
 ence, is a  useful citizen  and  an ornament to  his  country.
 But, notwithstanding learning is a powerful instrument in the
 hand of man, if his conduct is not upright in every sense of the
 word, to constitute him a good man, he  becomes in fact a dange-
. rous friend,  and a dangerous citizen.
   A moral education is, therefore, as  essential,  as a scientific
 education.   There is, indeed, a wisdom in virtue, as there is  a
 w isdom in knowledge.
   As God is the fountain of all goodness, of all wisdom,  so man,
a reflective being,  should be the fountain of all virtue! And,
while he inculcates the  precepts of truth, religion, and all the
 social duties, he will assert his dignity and station upon earth.
   This leads us to make some  observations, on the nature and
 meaning of wisdom.
   " They  who earnestly seek for wisdom,"  says  Cicero, "are
 called philosophers,  for  philosophy  is  nothing more than a love 
^
of wisdom."  The  wisdom of which the sacred writings speak,
has several significations.
  Wisdom is taken for that prudence and discretion, which ena-
oles man to perceive what is proper to be done, according to
the circumstances of time, place,  persons, manners, and end of
doing. Knowledge directs a man what is to be done; but wisdom
directs him how to do things duly, conveniently and fitly. It was
this sort of wisdom that Solomon  intreated of God with so much
earnestness, and which God granted him with great liberality.*
  Wisdom is taken  for quickness of invention, craft, cunning,
and stratagem, of which we read in the book of Exodus. It is also
used  for doctrine learning, and experience.
  In  Acts vii. 22.  it is said  of Moses, that he was learned  in all
the wisdom of the  Egyptians; « He was instructed in the knowl-
edge of those arts  and sciences, for which in those times the
Egyptians were famous."
  Wisdom is also  used in Holy writ, for other purposes,  as for
true piety, the wisdom of Christ,  natural instinct, sagacity, Sec.
  The following extract from the book  of Proverbs will show in
what light, and of how much importance, wisdom is considered.
  " Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that get-
teth understanding; for the merchandi2e of it is better than the
merchandize of silver, and the  gain thereof than fine  gold:  She
is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire
is not to be compared with  her.  Length of days are in  her right
hand, and in her left are riches and honour:  Her ways are ways
of pieasentness, and all her paths are peace: She is a tree of life
to them that lay hold upon her,  and happy is every one that re-
taineth her."
   In the same scriptural view, it is wisdom that teaches us, that
the Omnipotent Jehovah is like  " unto a wall of fire about his
chosen people, and a munition of rocks to defend them from every
enemy and every evil."
   In order to contemplate the beauty, the splendour of wisdom,
in its every sense, let the mind be fitted  and prepared by a proper
education.  The mental darkness, shall we say, will  then be dis-
sipated, and the light of wisdom, like the noon-tide sun, show
forth its resplendent corruscations!  Like Pomina, the goddess of
autumn, she will shower down the fruits of physical and metaphy-
sical  knowledge,  and steer the  bark of human life, through the
Scylla and Charybdis,  the shoals and the quicksands of ignorance
and superstition!
  Wisdom, it is said,  can  not exist without knowledge, though
knowledge is often found without wisdom!
   Man is so much the creature  of education, that his acquired
habits become immovable centres, upon which he coordinates all
his actions.  Certainly then, wisdom, in eveiy sense of the word,
oun-ht to be forcibly impressed on the juvenile mind.
» t  Kivcs, iii. <\ 1?, 2S. 
  When the great Pythagoras presented himself for the firsj
time, to the admiring eyes of Greece, at the Olympic games, be-
ing surrounded by the Grecian sages, he addressed them in ail his
wisdom and erudition.  Astonishment siezed the multitude; they
with one voice, demanded by what title he should be called.  He
answered, that their seven sages had taken the name of wise men,
for his part,  he wished  no other title  than  a lover of wisdom.
From this time, the name of philosopher became  a  general ap-
pellation among the learned.  The era of philosophy, however,
commenced about the forty-ninth Olympiad; when the attribute,
or degree, of wise, was conferred onTHALES, being then in the fif-
ty-ninth year of his age, and the remaining six, who constituted
the seven sages of Greece.
  Philosophy in fact, embraces all kinds of knowledge which has
wisdom for its object; and is derived from the Greek word Philos,
a lover, and Sophia, wisdom.
  Philosophy, founded in wisdom, supported by truth, embraces a
wide field of objects.  Like many other subjects, however, it has
been abused, perverted, and used for bad purposes.  Hence,  in
the days of St. Paul, he bids the Colossians beware, " lest any
man spoil them through philosophy."
  In Acts, St. Luke relates, that when  St. Paul came to Athens,
he found Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, who made a jest of his
discourses; and no wonder, as they  placed the chief happiness in
pleasure, and denied the providence of God. This, in the lan-
guage of the apostle, was false wisdom.
  Let us now offer a few reflections on the nature of genius.
  It has often been asked, what is  genius?   Of  all the terms to
which strong signification is annexed, opinion has been most va-
ried concerning its definition.  The ancients believed it inspira-
tion: the moderns every thing but this. Montesquieu consider?
it as an effect of climate; Helvetius,  of a favourable education.
Dr. Johnson defines it, " that energy, which collects, combines,
amplifies, and animates; active,  ambitious, enterprising; always
imagining something/greater than is known; always endeavour-
ing  something better than it performs;  that power,  without
which, judgment is cold, and knowledge inert."
   Dr. Rush describes genius as reason on wings, and reason as
genius on foot.
  Men  of genius, in the language of a celebrated  writer,* are lu-
minous  points on the great disk of society, which shine after
the sun  of power and prosperity has  withdrawn its beams, and res-
cue the  nations they adorn from total darkness, in the long eclipse
of time.
  Expert men, says Lord Bacon, can  execute and judge of par-
ticulars one by one; but the general councils and the plots, and
the marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned.
* Mr. Dsnnie 
                            26

With the poet we might add:

     " V.'ith "•<»•  ; ty steps the man of genius trench',
     His knowledge opens, and his wonder spreads/'

  Men of genius have indeed emancipated  the  human family,
from the shackles of ignorance.   On the first dawning of science,
the veil, which obscured the mental vision of thousands, and tens
of thousands, was torn asunder.   The  light of knowledge pene-
trated the dark abodes, and raised the sublunar ytemple of wisdom,
the guardian genius of science, on the ruins of elder time.  Like
the Phoenix rising from its ashes; learning has arisen with a new
lustre!  Like the arch of heaven, supported by the pillars of wis-
dom and strength, it has spread from pole to  pole!  Like the zo-
diac, on which the northern and southern signs are marked, learn-
ing is a circle illumined by the constellation of virtues!  But it is
to genius, whatever may be its origin,  that we owe the  incentive
to action: laudable ambition, or  a motive  equally powerful, im-
pels the mind to pursue certain objects.
 • To attain  excellence in any art, Aristotle says that three
things are requisite; nature, study, and practice.  Without indus-
try, knowledge can not be acquired; genius will soon be exhausted,
if the soil is unenriched by foreign stores.  It will have no mate-
rials to work upon,  no ideas  for imagination to  combine; and it
can become fruitful only in proportion to its resources.
  The best writers on education, among whom I notice  with plea-
sare the celebrated Fordyce, observe, that parents should take
care, that what they teach their children is suited to their natural
genius ami constitution; and in minds of a superior order, the na-
tural genius should rather be restrained  than  impelled.   Again,
we find that genius has been considered a negative  quality.
Hence, Helvetius says, that it is the result of education.  Is ge-
nius self-existent?  It is  a quality, not a principle of the human
mind.
   " To be self-existent, endued with Almighty power, and to will
with infinite wisdom, are the adorable perfections of  the first
cause."
  As it  requires genius  to form, plan,  and oftentimes  to carry
into execution, we may assert, by  carrying our position thus far,
that genius in this instance is self-existent,  and co-existent with
infinite wisdom.   But in man it is a  quality of the intellect
brought into action, either directly  or indirectly, by the senses.
Genius may, therefore, be owing to the clearness  of our  percep-
tions, and the accuracy of our senses?   On the contrary, it may be
said, that we all possess, in some shape or other, certain desires
to pursue certain objects, which are  actuated  by a motive called
natural  genius.  Here the  motive governs the volition, and the
 will, by thus being impelled, act according to the impulse.
   Does not  reflection and instinct, or a  natural aptitude, form
 what is called genius in the human  species?   In the brute,  in- 
27
 stinct is peculiar; and by no means influenced by reflection; there
 fore, it has no relation with reason.   If such is man, he may be
 justly styled a reflective being, and the master-piece of earthly
 creation.
   Lastly, If the theorem is correct, in the doctrine of optics, that
 the angle of incidence  is equal to  the angle of reflection, or, in
 chemistry, that the union of oxygen  and hydrogen forms water;
 we are of opinion, which is by no means original, that the mind cc-
 quires all its relations through the medium of the senses; and that
 genius is a quality, which, considered in one view, predisposes the
 will to  accomplish certain things.   Hence Dr. Johnson justly
 remarks, that without it judgment is cold, and knowledge inert.
   It must be obvious to  every mind, that the extensive influence
 of a well cultivated understanding, not only in promoting our hap-
 piness, but in  adding to the advantages which a kind providence
 has bestowed on us, affects all  classes of society equally alike.
   Learning is, therefore, entitled to the attention of the pair sex.
   In referring to ancient days, we find illustrious  females justly
 distinguished in the temple of science.  If we unfold the pages
 of history, we read of an Atossa,  Hipparchia, Pamphillia,
 Agillis,  Paulla, Li eta, Fabioi.i.a, and many others,  who
 flourished as eminent of their sex in the different departments of
 science.
   Pythagoras instructed not men only, but women; and indeed
 the Stoics, Epicureans, and even Academics, delivered their les-
 sons freely to both sexes, and all conditions.
   Who was more learned than  Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, by
 religion a Jew?  We have the testimony of her conqueror himself,
 the Emperor Aurelian, to her character, in his  letter to the
 Roman Senate.   Besides being acquainted  with  Latin, Greek,
 Hebrew, and  other  languages, she wrote  the Alexandrine and
 Oriental history, and was also celebrated in military tactics.   She
 headed an army of 700,000 men.
   We are told in " Ccelibs in search of a wife," that  the woman
 who derives her principles from the bible, and her amusements
 from«intellectual resources, from the beauties of nature, and from
 active employment and exercise, will not pant for beholders.   She
 lives on her own stock.   Her resources are within herself.   She
'possesses the truest independence.  She does not wait for the
 opinion of the world, to know if she is right; nor for the applause
 of the world to know  if she is happy.
   In the infancy of Rome, the  education of women  consisted in
 learning the duties and employments of domestic life; such as
 cooking, spinning, weaving, and sewing; which were taught  them
 by their mothers or relations.  But  when Rome  aspired to that
 flourishing state, which marked the  era of her improvements, as
 the arts and sciences  became more general, the education of the
 women began to-be extended on a larger scale; and to the domes-
 tic duties taught them by their mothers, were added such parts of
                               4 
zs
 pi/mc education, as were thought necessary for cultivating their
 minds:  this education we know, from the storv of Virginia, they
 received at public schools; where sciences and Hterature, no longer
 confinded to rigid philosophers only, began to assume a softer
 form, and to suit themselves to female talents and genius.
   But  how exalted does the female character appear, when we
j«ead, that they preached in public, supported controversies, pub-
 lished and defended Theses, filled the chairs of philosophy and
 law,  harrangued  the popes in  Latin, wrote  Greek, and read
 Hebrew;^ nuns became poetesses, women of quality divines, and
 young girls, with a softness of eloquent enthusiasm, publicly ex-
 horted the christian princes to take up arms for the recovery  of
 the Holy land!  We  are furnished  with a variety of interesting
 f.cts, by Dr. Alexander, in his History of Women.   " We pre-
 tend not,"  says he, in  speaking of female education, »to chalk oui
 the plan in  which women should be educated; only, this we ven-
 ture to affirm, that it should, if possible, be such as to  avoid igno-
 rance on the one hand,  and pedantry  on the other; ignorance
 makes a female  companion contemptible, pedantry makes her ri-
 diculous;  nor is it easy to say, which of the two is most disgust-
 ing.''*

      " The brightest forms through .Qfectation fade
      To strange new things, which nature never made"     Yovno-.

   Having thus shewn the importance of learning, permit me to
 call your attention to  another subject, connected indirectly  with
 the improvement of the mind, namely, the gymnastic  exercises.
 No writer has so clearly pointed out the benefits which arise fron*
 them, than Salzman.  While they tend to promote a sound mind,
 and a healthy constitution, they are calculated to form an impor-
 tant item in any system of education.  And, as Salzman justly
 remarks, if the advantages are so great, it may be asked, how is
 it that we commonly forget the improvement of the body, though
we are fully convinced,  that neither  wealth nor title, neither
learning nor worth, can protect the  feeble, the unhealthy and the
infirm, from the lamentable effects of their  condition?  Shall we
 say, that learning and  refinement, are to health and bodily perfec-
tion, what luxuries are to necessaries?  Or, shall we say, that ra-
tional amusement tends to releive the mind at intervals, from se-
rious  occupation, and prepares and invigorates  it for fresh exer-
tion?
  In Ecclesiastes (xii. 12.) we read, thatwwcA study  is a weari-
ness of the Jlesh.
  Gymnastic exercises may consist in leaping, running, jacula*
(ion, wrestling, climbing, ballancing, lifting and carrying, walk-
ing, military exercise, bathing, swimming, &c<
• 9ee note W. 
i49
  Mercurials, who wrote h's celebrated work on  CrrmnaY?
iics, not for the antiquarian alone, but as a physician, to excite
his contemporaries to receive the beneficial exercises of the an-
cients, as the means of improving the  bodily strength and health
of mankind, expresses himself thus:   « The ancients had so high
an opinion  of gymnastics, that  Plato  and Aristotle, not to
mention others, considered even a commonwealth  as  defective,
in which they were neglected."
  The public solemnization of these exercises, united with  those
of the mind, at the Olympian, Isthmian, Pythian, and Nemcan
games, which were far from mere sport, sanctified the lofty senti-
ments of these people, and even their  religion.   The remotest
parts of Greece poured forth their multitudes, repairing by land
and sea, to the first provinces of the Peloponesus, the fertile  fields
«f Elis.  From Sicily, Italy, Asia Minor, and partiularly from the
great Peninsula, they flowed to Olympia, to be present at the
games formerly instituted by Herculus, and revived after a long
interval, by LYCuncusand Iphitus.
  Thucydides tells  us, that in very remote antiquity, there were
ct games of bodily exercise and of music, in which cities exhibited
their respective chorusses."   In testimony of this, he quotes cer-
tain verses from Homer's hymn to Appollo.
  A German writer, in advancing certain arguments in favour of
bodily exercise, very  justly remarks,  that there is not a greater
and more reprehensible mistake in education, than the raging pro-
pensity of compelling children to extraordinary mental exertion,
and exacting from them a rapid progress.  This is the grave both
of their health and their talents.
  Among the means  of improving the health,  bathing is particu-
larly recommended.  " The same writer adds, that he considers
the cold bath as an essential object in a good physical education;
and a bathing  place as  an indispensible appendage to a public.
school.
   If there is an intimate connexion between the mind  and  bodyT
certainly the exercise of the senses, in every shape, will continue
to keep up the proper tone and vigour of the mental faculty.
   After acquiring the rudiments of  education, the pupil will be
susceptible of obtaining a correct knowledge of the arts and sci-
ences.  Here a rich  harvest will open itself to his view.
  Natural history, comprehending zoology, botany, and mineral-
ogy; chemistry, astronomy, natural and experimental philosopny,
and other collateral branches of science,  will present a vast fund
of inexhaustible treasure.*
  Of how  much more importance is a knowledge of the sciences,
with respect to our immediate comforts and happiness, than the
dead languages?   At least we are of opinion, th^t in collegiate
education   ceo much time is taken up  in the acquirement of Latin,,
• See note X3, 
oO
 Greek, and Hebrew. However useful they may be in their place,
 they can never add to our use, happiness, and rational pleasure, as
 much as the arts and sciences.  On an examination into the com-
 parative merits of each, permit me to call your attention to the
 Manchester  Memoirs, in which you will find a correct, though
 impartial analysis of each.
   What is the great object of learning?  It is to ameliorate  our
 condition, by adding to those advantages, which we naturally pos-
 sess.   What are  the advantages  of learning?  They are, indeed,
 many.  What would avail the deep and speculative enquiries by
 which the learned attempt to penetrate the source of inkinitr
 wisdom,  if their labours did not produce benefit to their fello ,v
 creatures?
   Why does philosophy stand highly conspicuous?   Because it
 affords pleasure, promotes  our interest,  supplies our necessi-
 ties, and adds to the general happiness of mankind.
   Researches in philosophy tend to  make the minds of its stu-
 dents cheerful, tranquil, and happy;  and the science itself may be
 considered as the most sublime and refined species of drama; hut
 with this difference  only, that here the entertainment and instruc-
 tion are produced, not by fictitious scenery, but by real exhibitions
 of the operations and changes of nature.
   Burg,  a celebrated writer on education, considering the utility
 of philosophy, thus expresses himself: It would be of great advan-
 tage to youth, if they could as a part of education, have an  oppor-
 tunity of seeing a  course  of experiments in natural philosophy.
 They would there learn  in the  most entertaining manner, the
 grounds, as far as known, of the noble science of physiology. And
 in seeing a regular series of experiments and observations in me-
 chanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, optics, astronomy, chemistry,
 and the like, would have their curiosity raised to the highest pitch,
 and acquire a taste for knowledge, which might not only lead them
in after life to pursue their own  improvement in the most valual
 ble ways, but likewise may, by  furnishing an inexhaustible fund
of entertainment, supercede every kind of frivolous pursuit.
  It may be said, that when the pupil is taught to contemplate the
 handy work of his creator, his genius will  be awakened, and  the
wisdom and goodness of God will be pictured in every study.
  The animal,  vegetable, and mineral kingdoms will open a rich
harvest to their minds; and in the language of the poet, will ac- ^
 Custom them to

     " Find tongues in trees, books  in the running brooks,
     Sermons in stones, and good in every thing."

   Dr.  Priestley remarks, that  it is the greatest recommendX
 tion of these studies, when they are conducted in a proper man-
 ner, that they tend in an eminent degree to promote a rpv ' rf
ficty. 
31
   To him, who studies the vegetable  creation, or the science 6t
 botany, knowledge and amusement will go hand in hand.  His
 herbarium will always afford pleasure; and  the sexual system ot
 Linnaeus, being interwoven with the study, will awaken his mind
 to the contemplation of the order and harmony in the vegetable
 kingdom.
   To him, the book of nature lies constantly open.  He reads as
 he walks along: every field  is a new chapter, every leaf is an
 object of attention,  and every flower a prize.*
   Mineralogy, which treats  of the mineral kingdom,  will also
 contribute to pleasure and profit; and in the arrangement of his
 cabinet, he will find, that although the specimens are inanimate,
 they are susceptible of a regular order, agreeably to the Werne-
 aiAN system of classification.!
   Zoology, which embraces the animal kingdom  from man down
 to the class  of  Zoophytes or plant-animals, will present to his
 view a science no less diversived than useful.
   How pleasing and instructive, how sublime and magnificent,
 is the study of animated nature!!:
   The contemplation of creation would prove fruitless, did it not
 lead us to aspire incessantly after the divine being, who has
 raised up men whose  sublime genius explores  their  beauties,
 and who become their interpreters.
   It is not a  part of society, but  the whole, or ought to be, that
 is interested  in science;  for, on the other hand, well grounded
 philosophy is the  parent  of arts, commerce, and agriculture,
 which are the vital principles that promote the well-being of ci-
 vilized states: Nor is it less efficacious in fixing  the principles
 of religion.
   That knowledge, which is  acquired in the school of Infinite
 Wisdom, far excels in value the seven times refined silver of
 Parvaim, or the gold from Ophir and Uphaz.   Let us, therefore,
 ronclude by offering such reflections as are adapted to this all-
 important subject,  and, while  we add  with Lord Bacon that
 " knowledge is power," may we be the more and more impres-
 sed with these principles.
   Thirdly.   The  philosopher who neglects the  traces  of an all-
 governing deity, in the contemplation of nature, and  contents
 himself with  the  appearances only of the material universe, and
 of the mechanical Jaws of motion, neglects what is most excel-
 lent; and prefers what is imperfect to what is supremely perfect,
 Finitude to infinity;  what is narrow and weak to what is unlimited
and almighty, and what is perishing to  what endures forever.
Those,  who do not attend to the manifest indications of supreme
 wisdom and goodness perpetually appearing before them, where-
ver they turn their views or enquiries, too much resemble those
ancient philosophers who made night matter, and chaos the ori
p-inal of all things.

         • See note 21.    | See note 22.    i  S.--C :. .to ?3 
S3
  When we view the galaxy of illustrious characters, who have
lived not for themselves, but for fellow man, who have been wor-
kers in the vineyard of religion, virtue, and science, ought it not
to awaken the iiveliest feelings of our hearts!  There arc men,
wdiose fame will live forever:  these  are the benefactors of man-
kind:  their glory will embrace all the future generations of men.
Who can stop the progress of their works! What can check the
progress  of truth!  As soon might  man stretch forth his feeble
arm,  and say to yon bright orb of day, retire and cease to slvmv
While human nature is cemented by every social duty, while the
whole human family are linked together,  and ever have been
from  Adam to the present day, may these truths shine in the cc n«
stellation of virtues, and be indellibly stamped on the tablet of our
hearts!
  Although it is  said, that  we are  imprisoned for a while  in a
small obscure planet only to enjoy such a  portion of light as  •$
suitable to our present condition, and that we should wisely im-
prove each glimmering ray; yet a time will come, and the wisest
know not how soon, when we  must draw all light from the eter-
nal source of light;  and instead of contemplating the divine  ar-
chitect in the works of his hand, we shall then contemplate
the workmanship in the omnipotent author thereof!
  How interesting would the sight be! How  agreeably would our
curiosity be flattered, were we permitted to penetrate into the
first principles of nature!   Anew world would  disclose  itself to
our view; nature, then become tranparent, would no longer coo»-
cealher ways from us. Her laboratories and workshops would
then be thrown open.   Here we should see  her  collecting  the
principles of metals; there behold her preparing the colour of the
rose.   Farther we might trace her footsteps into the wonders of
light  and electricity.  In other places,  we should observe her
sketching the outlines of a plant and animal.*
  With  respect  to  the  power of God, as manifested in all his
works, it is in the heavens that it  still secma to beam forth in its
greatest  lustre.
  By his power acting there, he directs the revolutions of the
planets,  determines the circumstances of their motions, and fixes'
the times of their revolutions.  As  a general  at the head of an
army, he gives the signal to the heavenly bodies, and immedi-
ately they shoot forth, and proceed in their proper orbits. It is in
consequence of the laws laid  down by him, that the xxpon goes"
round the earth in a month.

       10 r this the moon, thro' heaven'-; blue concave glides-,
       And into motion charms th' expanding tides;
       \\ hilt earth impetuous round her axle rolls,
       Exalts her wat'n zone, and sinks the poles.   Falcone's.
* See note I? 
  It is he that has combined the two motions of the earth, one
i.v which we obtain the vicissitudes of day and night;  the other
bv winch the seasons of the year are brought about.  He it is,
who, at the  appointed  times, sends salutary  winds and fruitful
rains;  who gathers together the waters in their sources, and cau-
ses  them to flow from thence in the  beds of the rivers to their
great receptacle, the sea.  It is he  who makes ti e buds to open,
the fruits to ripen, and ordering all things according  to their dif-
ferent nature; regulating their birth, their growth, and their dis-
solution.
  The whole universe conspires to celebrate his praise, from
whom it derives all its majesty and beauty.  The sun, that shines
in brightness declares the ineffable splendour of its Almighty
creator.   The  moon  and stars  proclaim  to  an understanding
heart, the adorable power of the hand  that guides them.   The
earth, so richly  stocked with  productions of higher and lower rank,
with the various kinds of vegetable and animal life, pa'nt in strong-
est terms the riches of the divine nature, frora whom issues all
that adorns the earth, improves the mind,  and delights the senses;
governing  all things  with infinite wisdom, goodness unlimited,
power uncontroled.*
  " O Lord! how manifold are all  thy works, in wisdom thou hast
made them all; the earth is full of thy riches."t
  "Hearken unto this,  O! man.  Stand  still  and consider  the
wonderous woVks of God."|
  The book of nature, whose pages contain an inexhaustible fund
of matter, is replete with  lessons of instruction, both moral and phy-
sical.'  While it shews  the  extent of his works, the  wisdom ar.d
riches of the divine mind, together  with the wondrous  works cf
creative  power, it  proves that the laws of Gaoare coeval with
creation, and coexistent  with infinite wisdom,

      Before revolving years began,
      The whole Creation's glorious plan,
           Almighty wisdom laid;
      But till the appointed time should pass,
      A void, deform, chaotic mass,
           The Universe was made            Clay.

  " We feel,"  says Bishop  Watson,  « the interference of the*
deity every where,  but we cannot apprehend  the nature of his
agency any where.  A blade of grass cannot spring up,  a drop of
water cannot fall,  a ray of light cannot be emitted from the sun,
nor a particle of salt be united, with a never failing symmetry, to
its fellow, without him; every secondary cause we discover, is but
a new proof of the necessity  we are under of ultimately recurring
*? him as the one primary cause of every thing."
* ^.dams.    j- Psalms.    * Job.
$ See note It- 
J4
  Well might a writer of antiquity assert, that " God saw every
thing that he had made, and behold it was very good."
  The contemplation of nature drawn from the study of science,
is, it is true, governed by the volition. " Every man," says Pa ley,
« has a particular train of thought into which his mind falls, when
at iicsure, from the impressions and ideas that occasionally excite
it; and if one train of thinking be more desirable than another, it
is surely that which regards the phenomena of nature with a con-
stant reference to a supreme intelligent author.'

      "To me be nature's volume broad displayed;
      And to peruse its all-instructing£age,
      My sole delight."

  In contemplating the works of creation, or studying the invert.
t'ions of art, let us never forget the divine source from vyhich they
proceed; and thus, every acquisition of  knowledge, will prove a.
Jesson of piety and virtue.

      The liberal arts by thee designed
      To polish, comfort, aid, mankind,
          We labor to improve.
      While we adore Jehovah's name,
      Pour on our hearts thy melting flame.
          And mould our souls to love!            Nichols.

  Finally, We flatter ourselves that we have shewn, that ele-
mentary and transcendent education, properly so called, should
consist in impressing sensations on the minds of youth: that me-
taphysical reasoning enlarges our perceptions of abstract things,
and the attributes of deity; and that physical reasoning relates to
material universe, and the laws by which it is governed.
  . How important, therefore,  is learning in every  shape....in pro-
moting our happines, in adding to the general welfare of society,
and, above all, in affording exalted ideas of the great I am, whose
perfections are coexistent with creative power.
  As  in the mechanic powers (the lever, the wheel, the axle,
the pulley, the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw) by which
n:an is enabled to raise great weights, and overcome great re-
sistances, so education has the advantage of overcoming our pre-
judices, and giving reason the superiority over the passions-
  Or, as the chemist who subjects bodies to the action of agents,
in order  to  compose and decompose, so the mind when sub-
mitted to the operations of a proper education, is fitted and pre-
pared for a variety of states, and conditions in life.
  Or, as the natural  philosopher, who examines  the properties
am! erects of the material  universe; or, as the astronomer, who
determines the revolutions  of the  planets,  their distances, and
other celestial phenomina; or, as the mathematician, who tests
truth by the power of numbers, so education in  its every  sense
produces a thousand advantages, and  far excels  the  ddusive
dreams of the imagination. 
    Education is not an Egyptian mystery, a Phoenician tnar.iin, a
 Pythagorean secret, or a Druidical rite, but it is the art'of form-
 ing  and managing  the mind.  Its principles arc pure: Its ef-
 fect  universal, not confined to any  nation, tongue, or language.
    The senses, we have said, are to be considered as the gifts of
 nature,  and the primary  regulators of our active powers; as by
 them alone we are conscious of the distance, nature, and pro-
 perties of external objects.  The five senses, namely, hearing,
 seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting, are indeed pre-eminent.* Ilea*
 son properly employed confirms the documents of nature, which
 arc always true and wholesome; she distinguishes the good from
 »he bad; rejects  the last with modesty, and adheres to the first
 with reverence.
    In  truth, in  the testimony  of nature given by the senses, as
 well  as in human testimony given by information, things are signi-
 fied by signs.  In one as well as the other, the mind, either by
 original principles or by custom, passes from the sign to the con-
 ception, and  belief of the thing signified.
    The inconceivable  wisdom of an  almighty being is display-
 ed in the structure of the mind,  which extends its power over
 every branch of science; and  the better we  understand  the na»
 ture and use of the faculties, their defects and disorders, we shall
 apply them with the greater success.
   We have shewn, that on the mind all our knowledge must de;
 pend.  Although by anatomical dissection  and observation, we
 may become acquainted with the body, it  is by the  anatomy of
 the mind alone we can discover its powers and principles.
   Was it the survey of nature, and the observations of her beau^
 tiful proportions, symmetry, and order, that first determined man
 to imitate  the divine  plan, and plant society  and social duties
 under the vine  and fig tree? The transcendent goodness of the?
 almighty fiat is every where distributed.   When we bring
 Within the focus of the eye the variegated carpet of the terrestrial
 creation,  and survey the progress of the vegetative  system, our
 admiration is justly excited! When  we extend our views  to  the
 animal creation, and contemplate  the  varied clothing of every-
 species,  we are equally struck with  astonishment!  When we
 trace  the lines of the divine pencil in the beautiful plumage of
 the feathered tribe, how exalted  is our conception of heavenly
 work!  When we descend into the bowels of the earth, and explore
 the mineral kingdom, every mineral will  proclaim the  handy
 work of an almighty  creator!  When we survey the  watery
 element, with all the  inhabitants of the mighty ocean, the same
 supreme  intelligence is marked! When we exalt our views
to  the more noble and elevated parts of nature,  and survey the
 ;elestial orbs, ms wisdom shines with renewed Jnstt-eJ
* See not/.-. 7*
    S 
30
  " Let ail  the people of the earth know tut name and tear
thee," says Solomon, in his invocation to God.
  Man is a microcosm, or a world in miniature.* Man is a labo-
ratory,^ in which various chemical operations  take place. Man
is a machine, in  which the mechanic powers  perform the most
important functions!.  Like a plant he springcth up,§  Like a mi-
neral, of clay he was formed^. As the dissolution  of  man occa-
fuons  his decomposition, so the  separation  of the elementary
principles, or constituent parts is a law of nature, and confirms the
Scripture « that to dust he must return."
  However exalted the character of man may be,  let him hum-
ble  himself and  ask, what are all  the externals of majesty, the
pride of  wealth, or charms of beauty, when nature has paid her
just debt? View life stript of her ornaments, and exposed in her
natural simplicity.  In the grave  all fallacies are detected,  all
ranks are levelled, all distinctions are done away.
  " Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose
the bands of Orion**?" No. Canst thou stop the solar, stellar,and
lunar motions? No.  Proud short-sighted  mortal! Humble thyself
in the « dust and ashes," and on the bended knee implore the be-
nediction of almighty God. Engrave not in hieroglyphical signs,
in typical figures, or in allegorical emblems;  but let your life in
every part, as Socrates says, be  beautiful as an image, youv
translation through this vale of tears, be worthy of imitation, and
written in legible characters on the tablet of  eternal truth,
  What is  moral  truth  that we regard itl What is religion that
it is as sweet as the  honey of mount Hybla, or as healing as
as the balm of Gilead!  What is wisdom that  we court her
charms, and admire her gracesl What  is  virtue, the hand
maid of moral truth,  that it is  so dear in our affections!  What is
happiness, that we desire her presence! What, indeed, are all
the pleasures of life, the enjoyments of the mind, and the grati-
fications of the body,  if that spiritual commerce  with God is cut
off!  They sink into oblivion; they vanish as a shadow!  What arc
moral, civil and political institutions, if they are not the true me-
dium in which intellect operates to systematize chaos, or change
contingency to order! If I sow wheat, do I reap apples? If I plough
my ground, does that produce a habitation! Therefore,  as causes
can produce nothing but direct consequences, it is evident that e*
very institution  is a medium in which an effect is the result of or-
der, and the effect productive of some end.  As upon the econo*
my of the memory depends, in a great measure, the  strength
or weakness of the intellect, so upon the economy of man irj
his various relations,  depends his happiness, and the  contrary.
Such, therefore, is the intimate relation between  happiness,  anil
mental improvement.

* ? :c note I-     f $ce note 2-      •  See note a       § See note 4
                ^y t:'ee(rnt<.- 5.       ** Job. 
37
  May that Eagle* ever be the emblem of our national character:
with her wings expanded, may she protect our civil and religious
rights....with her tallons open,  may she  display our wisdom and
power; wisdom, in presenting a peace-offering unto all the nations
of the earth; and power, in showing that our rights are sacred,
not to be insulted with impunity.
  May that ARcnf be emblematical of the arch of heaven; and the
pillars of the Corinthian order, by which it is supported, be like
the maintenance to our  globe!  In  wisdom  it was formed;  in
strength it is preserved^
  May that burnt offering§ be allegorical of the incense of
piety offered up on the altar of our conscience; which, though
imitative of ancient worship, is emblematical of that adoration wc
owe  to the first of beings!  Him first, him midst,  uiMlasjt, him
without end!||
  May the language of Job inspire the lover of nature:  Ask now
the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and
they shall teach thee; or speak to the earth and it shall teach thee;
and the fishes of the sea shall declare it unto thee.f
  May the amateur sympathise with every object around him!
May universities, colleges, seminaries, diffuse their salutary influ-
ence on the genius and disposition of the people!
  May our schools of wisdom be schools of virtue; and may oua
temples of learning, dedicated to our God, be sacred to the me-
mory of our patriotic and benevolent countrymen!  May  pos-
terity quote the zealous and praiseworthy of this our day, for par-
allels and example!  And may all the institutions of learning re-
main on the record of time, as so many monuments of human in-
dustry, to perpetuate the era of intellectual light!
  How sublime are all the faculties of the mind, thoughts that
wing infinity; apprehensions that reach through eternity; a fancy
that creates; an imagination that contains a universe; wishes that
a world hath not wherewithal to satisfy; desires that know neither
end nor bound!  It is endued by thee with divine prerogatives,
invested with spiritual powers, and enabled ardently to aspire af-
ter the felicities of heaven.
   May we be the more and more convinced, that as industry is the
Wealth of a nation, so knowledge is the wealth of the mind.  Like
a spectator in entering a palace, who examines the different apart-
ments,  their symmetry and decorations, so the  philosopher in
  * The carved eagle, which supports the sounding dome of the pulpit.
  f The arch, which is decorated in a superior style, with ornamental car-
ving, supported by two fluted columns of the Corinthian order.
  X See note 6.
  § The emblems in the form of an urn, which serve as ornaments on the
chapiters of the pilasters.
   bee note 7                    U See note 20. 
3$
Qpntcmplating the building erected by the Almighty architect,
views the apartments, their beauty, and the several ends for which
they were designed.
  Lastly.  If we,  as a people, possess so many advantages, inter-
woven with the constitution of our beloved country, let us appre-
ciate their value.   And, while our land floweth with milk and ho-
ney, may the  din of arms never  be  heard!   May thousands and
tens of thousands sow, as the husbandmen of old, in fertile ground,
and reap the benefits of peace, liberty, and knowledge!  May the
corn of nourishment, the wine of refreshment, and the oil of joy,
stimulate us in works of wisdom, charity, and benevolence!  May
he who holds the sceptre, who fixes the destinies of nations, so
implant in our bosoms these important truths, that we may become
co-workers in the vineyard of virtue and science, everbearng
in mind the inestimable gifts of God to man. And when these plea-
sing recollections shall have passed away, may we, one and .11, be
translated to that temple of perfection, of supreme felicity, not
nmde with hands, eternal in the heavens!,. 
NOTES,
     1. JW.2.V, a world in miniature.   Ft Is said, that man unites in himself
all the powers and qualities which are scattered throughout nature.
   2. Man, a laboratory. It has been clearly shewn that various processes
are constantly going forward in the human system, dependent on the opc~
ration of chemical affinities.  The conversion of various kinds of food intti
blood,  a fluid of comparatively uniform composition and qualities; the pro-
duction of animal heat by the action of air on that fluid, as it parses through
the  lungs; and  the changes which the blood afterwards undergoes in its
course through the bocly,....are all, exclusively, subjects of chemical inquiry.
   3. Man, a machine.   The  animal body may be regarded as a machine,
obeying the same laws of motion as are daily exemplified in the productions
of human art.   Man  has been considered by anatomists, as a system of all
the artificial machines united in the human fabric;  they have found the
lever, the pulley, the axle in the wheel, the wedge, and even the screw, or
at least something resembling each  of them in his person: thus  his arms
have been compared to levers; the head to a wheel turning on its  axle; the
diagrastic muscle, that assists his swallowing, to a rope running over its
pulley; the glands as lifting up their fluids in the manner of an artificial wa-
ter screw; and his teeth have been compared to wedges.
   The inconceivable  power of the muscles,  which are supported by the
bones, has been exemplified by La Hire and Desaguliers in one or two
remarkable instances.  The one of a man, who supported a cannon  of four
thousand weight.  The porters of Constantinople are known to carry each
a  weight of nine hundied pounds; they lean upon a staff while loaded, and
are unloaded in the same manner.
   There are many surprising feats of strong men that have come under ob-
servation; some of which have occurred in this city.
   4. Man springeth up like a plant.  The growth of the body may be com-
pared to the growth of a plant: hence man is said to possess vegetative life.
On the economy of vegetables, see professor Barton's Elements of Botany.
   5. Like a mineral, ofchni lie -was formed.  This  allusion  to  a  mineral,
though figurative is literally true. There are several passages of Scripture
which speak of man being formed of the dust of the earth. The Lord God
formed man of the dust of the earth,   Genesis, ii. 7.
   The  creation of man, is alone sufficient to excite our admiration;  we are
lost and bewildered in our contemplations.   Chemists have discovered in
man, and in other creatures, acids, alkalies,  earths, metals, besides other
substances.
   \Ve are struck with astonishment when it is considered, that the recipro-
cal action of the solids upon the fluids,  is the cause of life, and this very. 
40
action continued is the natural cause of death!  Death, the grand leveUev
of human greatness, is followed by other laws, which relate to the decom-
position of the body.  Here, in the process of putrefaction, the elementary
principles  arrange themselves in a new order, part of which become gas-
eous and fly off, another part forming various compound bodies, whilst the
residue assumes the state of mother earth.  Though such is man, as to his
earthly covering, yet his soul is immortal, and soars to God.   Hence wc
arc told, that man is sown corruptible; he -will rise incorruptible and gloritw.
  Dr. Darvvis pursues the same idea, with respect to chemical decompo-
sition, in the following lines:
       Hence, when a monarch or a mushroom dies,
       A while extinct the organic matter lies;
       Hut, as a few short hours or years revolve,
       Alchemic powers the changing mass dissolve;
       Emerging matter from the grave returns,
       Feels new desires, with new sensations burns;
       With youth's first bloom a finer sense acquires,
       And Loves and Pleasure* fan the rising fires.
  It was said of old, that the Creator -weighed the dust, and measured the wa-
ters, when he made the world.   The first quantity is here still; and though
man can gather and scatter, move, mix,  and unmix, yet he can destroy
nothing: the putrefaction of one  thing is a preparation for the being, and
the bloom, and the beauty of another. In Ecclesiasticus  (xviii. 6.) we have
the following  expressive words; As for the -wondrous-works of the Lord, then:
nay be nothing taken from them, neither may any thing be put unt»  them, nei-
ther the ground of them be found out.
  Young,' Tatham,| Pringle,*  Bacon,§  Jones,^ Halley, Wat.
son,** De Luc,-fj-  Boerhaave,  Tucker,**  Comyn,§§ HuTTON,ffl
Priestly,*** and many others could be  named, whose writings would
afford abundant testimony of the insufficiency of human nature, while they
shew that we must ultimately recur to the cause of all causes, and that the
ultimatum of human knowledge is the "will of God.  Hence man may, in the
exercise of his intellectual faculties, discover the proximate, or even some
of the remotest causes of many of the  phenomena of nature;  but, in at-
tempting to ascend from cause to cause;  he will  soon find his faculties be-
wildered, and be obliged to resolve all into the -will of Deity....the great first
cause of all things!
  Ui.Black ,-j+f late professor of chemistry in the university of Edinburgh,
justiy remarks, that if the affinity of the elementary principles of bodies,
were suffered to change or decay, the ocean would have been different in
regard to composition at present from future times.   The oak,  says he,  is
the same now as it was in ancient days;  and the acorn will always produce
the same tree, namely, the oak.  From this idea,  Democrates asserted
th.it all things -were formed of atoms, and the Greeks taught, that fire, air,
water, and earth, (which  they called elementary)  gave rise to secondary
caus; ■«.
  The elements, or the first principles of bodies, are  indeed so proportion-
ed, that none of them might either predominate or fall deficient.   In truth,
the destruction of one body, is the preparation for another, for as it is  by
composition and decomposition that things are  brought about, so it is, that


   * Essay on the Powers and Mechanism of Nature.    f Scale and Chart
of Truth, p. 133.    t Discourses, &c.    § Novum  Organtun.    ^f Scr-
mons, vol, 2, 92.    ** Chemical Essays.    ff Lettres Physiques et Mo-
rales sur 1' Historie de la Terre, p. 109.    ** Light of Nature.    §§ Ser-
mons,   ffif Geological Tracts.     **■• Sermons, &c.     jfj- Black's
'Tiemistry. 
41
the Uu •-> of the material universe affect the animate a-d inanimate accord-
ing to the circumstances of time, place,  situation, and affinity.   How su-
premely perfect is the hand that guides  them!  How truly harmonious are
(he laws of god!   Although we see as through a glass, darkly, vet, for
this g'impse of celestial goodness, we are  indebted to sci e nce.  It is a kcti
m the hand of man, placed by Providence to unlock the second causes, the
action of matter upon matter, and to ameliorate the human heart.  Like
die Egyptian, when he beheld the Nile periodically overflow it banks, fci'-
tilizc his land, and then peaceably retire within its proper limits, without
examining into the cause, and probably attributing it to their tutelary deities;
so man, divested of knowledge, may indecrfobberve the changes in nature,
and draw conclusion upon conclusion, till his mind is bewildered,  and a'
hist he gives up the pursuit, for want of method, system, or order, or in other
words, for the want of science to direct him.
       " The sacred seer, with scientific truth,
       In Grecian temples taught the attentive youth
       With ceaseless change how restless atoms pass
       From life to life, a transmigrating mass;
       Whence drew the cnlighten'd sage the moral plan,
       That man should ever be the friend of man;
       Should eye with tenderness all living forms,
       His brother emmets, and his sister worms."     Darwin.
   Man considered in  his present state,  seems only sent into the world to
 propagate his kind.  He provides himself  a successor, and immediately.
 quits his post to make room for him.
       -----------i        ------ Ilceres,
       Hoeredem alterius, velut unda supervenit undam.  Horace, Ep. 2.
   6. In Job, xxvi. 11,  we read of the pillars of the earth.  These arc met u
 phorical expressions, that suppose  the heavens and the earth to be as an
 edifice raised by the hand of God, and founded upon its base or foundation;
 which appears from these words in Jon, xxxviii. 4, 5, 6.  Where wast thou
 when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understand-
 ing.  The opinion of the ancients respecting the earth, is, that it lay upon
 a flat, and that the heavens were its extremities.
   " When earth's foundation first was laid by the Almighty artist's
 hand," it was then the laws of the universe were established, and order and
 symmetry displayed the ineffable wisdom ofthe omnipotent Jehovah;
 hence it is said, that these pillars represent -wisdom and strength,  " Wheie-
  fore are the foundations thereof fastened, or who laid the corner sto7ic there-
  of."  Job.
        " On liquid air, he bade the  columns rise,
        That prop the starry concave ofthe skies;
        Diffus'd the blue expanse from pole to pole,
        And spread circumfluent ether round the whole."   Blackloc40
  Or,
        " Its corner stone and arch still perfect stand,
        Nursed by his care, and fostered by his hand."
                                            Mitchell's Eulogium.
    7.  Burnt offering.  We read in  the sacred writings of several  kinds of
 offering.  The Holocaust, or, properly, burnt offering,  ofthe Hebrews,
  was a peculiar  kind of offering.    Those that offered  oblations  of bread
 or of meal, offered also, oil, incense, salt, and wine.   " In  all thy offerings,
 thou shall offer  salt." Lev.  ii. 13.   Salt being a symbol of friendship.
 There were also burnt offerings of incense,  wliich were burnt in vessels ol
  different shapes.    In the book of Kings we read, that Solomon burnt iv^
  cense in high places, and on the altar.   Burnt offering, however, is applied
  v.hcre a sacrifice was  made agreeably to the Hebrew cUbtoo? 
4£
   "The Persians,'? says Herodotus, " reject the use oflemplcs, altar.-,
smd statues.  The tops of high mountains, are the places ch> sen for sacii-
iices."
   In most ofthe christian churches, wc find emblematical represent lions
ofthe kind of which we have spoken; which, independent of serving as or-
naments, tend to reverence (if f mav be allowed the expression) the primi-
tive worship noticed in the Old Testament.
   8. It is true,  that the man of reflection may observe the admirable har-
rnony, which constitutes the unity ofthe universe, and draw from the book
of nature, the conviction of a  supreme intelligence; yet it is equally true,
that if his mind is enlarged by Science, if of a particular kind, he will learn
the mutual relation founded on invariable laws that exist in nature, observe.
the action of matter upon matter, and be enabled the better to appreciate
the wisdom shown in the  formation, use and properties of bodies.  He will
also discover, that however important a knowledge of the material universe
might be, if he  extended his contemplations to the heavenly bodies,  ha
Would find the same supreme intelligence displayed in a greater degree.
      " Who can this Held of Miracles survey,
      And not with Galen- all in rapture say.
      Behold a Cod! adore him, and obev."
                                   Blackmore,  on the Creation.
   The wisest of men cannot pry into the arcana .of heaven; nor can they di-
vine to-day what to-morrow may bring forth.   Wc can never  modify the
effective causes, but we may so far determine their action as to draw gene-
ral conclusions.  Hence Newton* observe-, that " there are agents in na-
ture able to make the  particles of bodies  stick together by very strong at-
tractions; and  it is tlie  business of experimental philosophy to find them
out."   That bounds have  been set to human knowledge, is evident from
the language of Jon, (xxxviii. 7.)   Hitherto shall thou come, but no further;
and here shall thy proud -waves be stayed.   There have been men,'it is true,
who have justly received  the appellation  of interpreters of nature; among
whom Si- Isaac Newton stands preeminent.f
      " Immcrtal Newton thus with eye sublime,
      Marked the bright periods of revolving time;
      Explored in nature's scenes the effect and cause,
      A .id, charmed, unravelled all her latent laws."
   Our Franklin  also,  whose philosophic mind was a temple of wisdom
in miniature, was another of the bright luminaries of genius.
      " His soul a  royal  sheet of texture fine,
      Impressed by virtue, with a stamp divine;
      The heavenly author read it in the skies,
      But marked no errors, in the fair revise."     M'Elro y.
   Permit ine to add, that our cityt boasts the origin of  many illustrious
characters, whose  literary labours  stand  high on  the pinnacle of fame.
Heroes in science  and in Battle,
      " The Gods the Saviours of their native land."      Barlow.
  9. If ve trace the human mind from the cradle to the grave,  We are to
trace it also through the  labyrinths of truth and error, and view educa-
tion either directly or indirectly in fitting the mind for  various occupy
tions.   In whatever light man is considered, he  is  so much the creature
of education, that his turn or inclination is directed by an impulse,  which
fits him  either for intellectual or corporeal exercise.  Hence the primary
impulse is followed by the exercise of the mind,  if of a professional kind,
or ofthe body, if of a corporeal nature; and  more frequently  of the two,


   * Principia.     t See Maci.aurin's account  of Sir Isaac Newton's dts*
roveric-..      * ^cc Mease's Picture of Philad.-iphia 
43
in which both the mind  and body  are employed  fleneeitig, thatdia.
covtrics and improvements have been made in the fine and mechanic arts,
in natural and  experimental philosophy, in natural  history,  mechanics,
chemistry, &c. Hence it is also, that wc see man in the exercise of his daily
avocation, or  study, animated by desire, or pressed by necessity.
   10. With respect to female education, much may indeed be  said.  It is
absurd to suppose,  that  the fair sex  is to be denied  the temple of sci-
ence, and as absurd to imagine,  that their mental faculties are not as  well
•alculated for  even- kind of  learning as those of the  male. We  might as
well distrust their charms,  as to deny this position!  See an  interests
ingwork, entitled " Letters, for  Literary ladies" and also, the "Parents
Friend."
   11. A view of ethics or  moral philosophy, drawn from  nature, though
established upon immutable laws, will  receive new strength from  an inti-
mate union with revealed  religion :  we have had occasion  to remark, that
true philosophy is an engine of unlimited power in the hand  of man;  that
this knowledge  would illucidate some important subjects, intimately con-
nected with our happiness; and that while it serves  as a check to our ambi-
tion or pride,  it would show, that the Bible of God  and the book ofJVaturG
arc mutually blended, and mutually prove each other.
   Whether Ethics be considered the doctrine of pure morality, as derived
from nature or from  the Bible, certainly there is  no source so  pure and
wholesome from which  it  can proceed as from the  sacred writings.
   12. Nature never designed, that man should penetrate into the  first cau-
ses, or the first principles.   What we  call elementary principle may in-
deed be compound;  <br those bodies  heretofore considered simple,  as wa-
ter, have been discovered  to  contain two or more  elementary parts.  But
were man educatcdin the school, the workshop, the laboratory of nature,
his curiosity might be satisfied.  " We see" indeed, as tlie scripture says,
as "  through a glass darkly."
   " To torture nature, without a hope, were fruitless." Geologists,  among
whom Mr  Kirwan stands  preeminent, have it is true penetrated the globe,
and have established their doctrines for  the  greater part, on the Mosaic
account of creation.    Vide Kir-wan's Geology.
   13. In the doctrine of meteorology alone, many interesting facts come un-
der notice. W ater, for instance, is  carried into the atmosphere either by spon-
taneous or slow evaporation, which,  when it  rises  to a certain height,  is
acted upon by the combined  attractions of aggregation and electricity'; it
then assumes the form of clouds  ; by a nearer approximation, water is for-
med,  which, being- of a greater specific gravity than the atmosphere, des-
cends in the form of rain. Sometimes this conversion of aqueous vapour into
water takes place near the surface of the earth ; hence fogs, &c. are pro-
duced:  If the water in falling,  passes through a colder region (at or be-
low 32 degrees of Fahrenheit) ice is  formed,  which descends in  the state
of snow or hail.  So  that natural philosophy,  and indeed all the sciences,
are ofthe highest utilitv : and are mutually illustrative of the various sufe-
jects which they  embrace.
      ******* Water restrained  gives birth
      To grass and plants, and thickens into earth;
      Diffused it rises in a higher sphere,
      Dilates its drops,  and softens into air:
      Those finer parts of air again aspire,
      Move into warmth,  and brighten into fire:
      That fire once more, by denser air oer'come,
      And downward forced, in  earths capacious womh,
      Alters its  particles,  is fire  no more,
      But lies metallic dust, or pond'rous ore,'*             FftiojJ.
                                6 
4.1-
   ^f]ve waters, says Job speaking ofthe effect of frost, are hidden as with a,
M'>!•<■■; alluding to the formation of ice.
  Speaking of the phenomina of nature, the production of ram, &c. Browne
has given the following elegant lines:
       " The whole and every part proclaims
         His infinite good-will;
       It shines" in  stars, and flows in streams,
         And bursts from every hill.
       We view it o'er the spreading plain,
         And heavens, which spread more wide;
       It drops in gentle showers of rain
         And rolls in every tide."
   Again,  water is considered,
       " That chief ingredient in Heaven's various work?,
       Whose flexile genius  sparkles,in the gem,
       Grows firm in oak,  and fugitive in wine,"     Armstrong.
   The reader will be amply recompensed by  perusing  a highly interests
ing work written by a lady, Mrs. Charlotte Smith, entitled " Obser-
vations on the ocean," in wliich this  subject is m>  ably  treated,   that it
v.-aid do  honor to sir  Isaac \tewton himself.   Children  might be in-
structed,  in the operations of nature in this manner:
   Thus:  What is water?  A?is. A compound of two elements called oxygen
mid hydrogen.  How is it carried into  the atmosphere? Ann.  By evapora-
l.ir.  How does water become  vapour? Ans-.  By uniting with the matter
of heat, or caloric.  \V hat brings the particles  into  contact, so  as to form
clouds, and then rain? Ans.  By  the combined attractions of aggregation
and  electricity.  How docs  the  attraction  of  aggregation operate?  Ans.
Bv overcoming the repulsive force produced by caloric or matter of heat,
its constant operation is to bring the particles nearer each other. How does
the electric fluid operate? Ans. It acts nearly in the same manner, and is ne-
cossitrv n the formation of clouds, as Dr. Franklin clearly demonstra-
ted.   \\ by does the electric,  fluid pass through  the cloud, frequently from
one extremity to the other; Ans. In order to restore the equilibrium. Why
does lightning Strike the earth? Ans. Because the cloud being  overcharged
cannot retain the extra quantity of electricity,  and is therefore necessiated
to pass to the earth,  and is frequently  attracted by houses, barns, &c.
Wii\  are lightning rods used to preserve dwellings, ships, &c. Ans.  Be-
cause metals are better conductors, and therefore attract the fluid with
more energy. Why is a nimbling noise or  tliunder followed  by a flash of
lightning?  Because in its passage t > the earth,  a vacuum is formed, which
is immediately filed,  with  considerable rapidity,  by the contiguous air.
*\ hat is the atmosphere composed of? Am. It is composed,  as necessary
to its constitution, of two distinct airs or gases. What are these airs.  Ans.
Oxygen gas, and azotic gas.  What is oxygen gas? Ans. It is vital air, or
«jr necessary for the maintenance of life as well as combustion, and other
important processes of nature and art. What is azotic air? Ans.  It is, of it
self,  injurious to animal  life, and is that air which serves princip lly to
dilute t lie vital air ofthe atmosphere, so that  a just  equilibrium may be
preserved in many natural processes.
   It is obvious, however, that in order  to  impress on the juvenile mind
the knowledge of these subjects, it is essential  that the pupil should be ac-
quainted with the sciences.  It is not necessary he should have a profound
acqaintance with philosophy; but a general outline, as Burg and Priest-
iev  have remarked, will be sufficient to treble him to account for n.ivural
jftid other phenomina.
   An interesting iaseriptien.  ef &&Fubli# Instruction in France is given in a 
45
work, entitled S?:<-fc!ic* <m France,* "originally written in (.• rni.m, 1807, to-
gether with an exposition of the system of M. FouRcrov, in which the
whole plan of education is so arranged, that the pupils obtain a knowledge
ofthe sciences before their education is completed.
   1-1  The- progressive improvement of the mind in the city and vicinity of
Philadelphia, is consi lerably indebted to the library, which was institn-
o d many vears  since uneler the auspices  of that illustrious sage,  Dr.
J'ha nklin, and has increased in. the number of volumes.   This added to
the liOg:.ni»n Library, forms a collection to the number it is said of better
than tv'.city thousand volumes, which, I think, were originally divided into
throe classes, nainelv, of Reason, 'ismorv, and Imagixa now.
   Sc\cr.d institutions  of charity, for the education of indigent children,
have been established in some parts ofthe United States, by the Society of
Free Masons:  and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, have it incontempl.i.
ti >n to establish an extensive, charity school, on the principle of the one,
founded by the Grand Lodge of England.   May all such endeavours, built
on the broad basis of charity, receive the plaudits of an enlightened people!
Nothing can  add  more to the  dignity of the human character,  than un-
bounded charity and love, and the establishment of those institutions which
are calculated to ameliorate the human heart.
   15.  The human mind delights in speculative reasoning.   It can scarcely
receive two connected facts without wishing to draw a general conclusion.
It  is this spirit of generalization that has given rise to some or the most sub-
lime, as well as the wildest  theories.  In truth, that without it, the mind
would be nothing better than a wild chaos of facts.
   Instead of a well constructed  temple,  throughout the whole of which
r -igns the most perfect hannonv, it would  be a mere eiuarr;,  in which al-
though the materials for constructing the temple are contained, yet they
are in so rude  and degenerated a state that they are neither useful nor ele.
;,-e nt.   Such, however, is the fact, that whatever system is not founded o»
truth must fall.
   " Although the arguing from phenomina," says Sir Isaac Newton, in
his Principia, "be no demonstration of general conclusion, yet it is the best
way of arguing which the nature of things admits of, and is looked upon as
so much the stronger by how much the induction is  more general.
   To unfold the beautv and harmony of the universe, by a well digested
philosophy; todevelope'aplan of vast extent and of uninterrupted order; to
penetrate that minu, which could only have conce. - eel in perfect wisdom,
and executed  with unbounded power; are only a few ofthe effects, which
are the immediate result of scientific truth.
   16.   Since the invention of Prin t i no, which may be justly called the
"  A it that embalms all other arts,"  mankind have been enabled to trans-
mit unimpaired their knowledge and improvements  to  posterity.
   About the jear 1430, a gentleman, by the name of Lauren it iis, an in-.
habitant of Harlem, was walking in a u ood near the city, and amused him-
self with cutting letters ofthe alphabet upon the rin$l of a beach tree, which,
for fancy-sake, he impressed on paper with  common  writing ink, and print-
ed one or two lines, as a specimen for his grand children to follow.  This
amusement was practised until he discovered a plan of cutting on pages of
wood,  the letters and words necessary to convey lessons  of  science  and
nuraliu to his young pupils.  This appears to be the  origin  of printing.
To'he  art of printing, savs the celebrated  Dr. Kxox,  the world owes Uie
reformation.  It has been justly remarked, that if the books of Llther
had been multiplied onlv  by the slow process of hand writing, they must
hi ve been few, and could have been easdy suppressed b\ the- combination
of wt-<ith and power.  But poured forth in  abundance Uom the press, tbey

             * Kofffe (fee press »f J. & A. Y.  Humphreys. 
4jj
 ipfread over the land with the rapidity of an inundation, which acquired ad-
 ditional force, from the efforts used to obstruct its progress.   He who un-
 dertook to prevent the dispersion ofthe books, once issucel from the press,
 attempted a task no less arduous than the elestruction ofthe lhelra.   Thc
 reformation of Luther was truly distinguished as one ofthe most glori,-
 qxxs events, which the discovery of printing produced.
       " Could Favstus* live, by gloomy grave resigned.
       With power extensive as sublime bis mind,
       His glorious life a volume would compose,
       As Alps immortal, spotless as its snows.
       The stars should be its types, its press the age—
       The arth its binding—and the sky its page;
       In language set not Babel coidd o'erturn—
       On leaves impressed, which Omar could not burn.
       The sacred work in Heaven's high  dome should stand,
       Shine with its suns, and with its arch expand,
       Till Nature's self, the Vandal torch should raise,
       And the vast Alcove of Creation blaze."
   " The invention of letters, as well as Uie invention of printing, has addrA
 considerably to the felicity of mankind. Before the former was known, the
 human family may be said to have been perpetually in their infancy; as the
 arts of one age or country died with their inventors."  Botanic Garden;
 tiote on Papyra.
   17.  Speaking of man, it may not be improper to add, that near six thou-
 sand years have elapsed since the creation.  At first there were only  two
 human beings.  When the flood came upon the earth, which was 1656 year-i
 from the beginning of time, these two  had increased according to a mode.
 rate computation, to the number of 10,734,418,240  persons.  From Noah
 and his family sprung the present race, and are supposed to be only about
 550,000,000 persons.   See the Political. Irithmetic.
   We ought to remember,  that in the great scale of existence, the whole
 family of mankind are upon a level with each other, notwithstanding the
 oecessary subordination in the political compact, which was wisely institu-
 ted by our forefathers to preserve order ami harmony.   Government way
 instituted to form men into good citizens and subjects, and for mutual pro-
 tection; for each individual in fact, by the mutual tyc, one to  another con-
fetitutea the nation, the political union.  Government in  ancient, as well as
 in modern times, was either monarchical, aristocratical, or tlemocraticaL
 We read in the Bible of kings, elders, rulers, governing provinces, districts,,
 Sec. either directly or indirectly;  consequently,  different forms of govern-
 ment were in existence.
   18.   When we experience ourselves to produce any effect, it is by voli«
lion; i. e--*»y an exercise or act ofourwillto  give it existence, that we de
it.  All r-- n'er belongs to mind; or nothing is  powerful but a mind,  or a
principle, of intelligence capable of giving existence to certain effects,  by
its vilition that they should be produced.   \\  e, ourselves, have power, or
call ourselves active in no other sense; and we cannot pronounce any other
being active, but in that sense alone   TurnbulPs Moral and Christian Phi,
tusophy.
  In Ecclesiasticus, (xvii. 5.) speaking ofthe senses,  we are told, That man
received the use of the five operations ofthe Lord, and in the sixth place he
imparted to himunderstanding, and in the seventh speech, an interpreter of the
 Cogitations thereof.
   " What the mind speaks, says the Chaldaic Oracle s,f it speaks lg wide!--
tfanding."

   * To whom some attribute the invention of printing.
  J^iASWrt UiStory offhjjosophy. 
4-r
  \9.  The affairs ofthe 9chool are managed by a committee consisting ot
Daniel Urautioam, John Cheiner,  Charles Schaffer, and
Adam Klkfeliit.  Joh n Goo dm an, F.sq. the president of the society,
is the president ofthe committee.
  Mr. Bachman,  the teacher, deserves much  honour for the order and
system in the school, which, we are happy to find, has its full complement
of scholars.   To Mr. Bachman the  society are indebted for its present
flourishing state.   The pupils have progressed considerably in their edu-
cation.  The  exercise of  the  mind, in  composition (which is drawn from
Certain questions put to them)  is particularly attended to, and is '-roduc.
tive of many advantages.   Premiums are given.   The elegant mc-didl-ons
of General Gates  and the taking of Burgoyxe, which are struck ou
purpose are awarded.  It is hoped, that when the plan shall be extended
every branch of useful learning will  be taught.
  Some four or five years since, I wrote  an Epitome of Chemistry, at
ihe request of Mr. Greiher, (\s hose expanded and liberal mind saw at
once the utility of this science) for the use ofthe school.
  Dr. Barton, professor of Materia Medica, anel X.v.val  History,  in the
University of Pennsylvania, was also engaged in the Botanical department.
  Mr. Creiner himself  planneil a system of education, which embraced
the necessary scope of learning, and founded on those immutable laws, so
essential informing as-well as miuiiiging the mind ofyouth.
  Much has been saiel respecting Mr. L.vcaster's  system of  education,
" Flis improvements," says a late writer,  " are in  the cheapness of schools,
their activity, their oreler, and their emulation.  A scheme of economy
hitherto unprecedented, as he has demonstrated that the annual sum of
300/. sterling is an  adequate expense for  instructing bne thousand boys iy
reading, writing, anel arithmetic, by one person."
  The Edinburgh Reviewers say, that '• a more beautiful,  a more orderly,
and a'more affecting scene, than the school of  Mr. Lancaster, it is not
possible to behold.   The  progress  of the children is rapid beyond all be-
lief; and evinces, in the most gratifying manner,  the extraordinary effects
which are producetl upon the human mind by the arts of cultivation."
  20.  There are several other prominent passages in scripture bespeaking
the handy workofGon.  In most all the books ofthe Old and New Testa,
ment, we find it written, that the study  of creation, (acquired  indeed in the
school of infinite wisdom,) will afford  extensive views of the natural and
moral worlds. It is well known, that the ancients adored the sun;  hence
they termed it the heart of heaven.   The sun, to rule and govern by day, as
the Psalmist says,  may well have excited their admiration in the contem-
plation of creative power.
  It is thought to be the sun,  that the Phoenicians worshipped under the
name of Baal, the Moabites under the name of Chemosh,  the Ammonites
by that of. Moloch,  and the Israelites  by the  name of Baal, and by the
Ming ofthe host of heaven.  They also adored the Moon, whom they called
Jlstarta, and the  Queen of heaven.   See  Cruden's Concordance.
  Job (xxvii. 11.) says, Iv/ill teachyou by tlie hand of God.  Ceirinthians, xi,
14.  Doth not even nature itself teach you,  &c.   Many more  passages of th&
like nature  might be adduced, in  which this study is pointed out in the
strongest terms.
  " Certain it is, says Lord Bacon, " that God worketh nothing in naturfc
tut by second causes; and if they would have it otherwise believed, it is
mere imposture, as  it were in favour towards God, and nothing else but to
offer to Uie Author of Truth the unclean sacrifice of a lie."
  " There are,"  continues the same writer,  " two  books  or volumes of
Study laid before us, if we will be  secured from error;  first, the Scripture?
rerwtingj tke w'<& tf Ge», an* |fee front arcs .* pressing hj» power, where* 
48
 ofthe latter is a key to the former;  and both  written by  tlie J„: cr of tlie.
 qne eternal God."  See note 11.
    21.  The species of vegetables already known are more than 40,000, and
 additions are daily  making to this number, by new discoveries.  !s it pos-
 sible, that so bountiful a provision can be made by nature uliinnveiy for the
 use of man?   Yes:   "for him she  has  covered the earth with plants; and
 the igh their species be infinite in number, there is not one but may be con-
 verted to his use.   She has  selected some out of every class to minister to
 his pleasures, or his support, wherever he shall please to fix his habitation.
 Others serve for his bed,  for his roof, for his clothing,  for the cure of hU
 disease, and for the fire of his hearth."                 St. Pierre.
        "  Soft roll your incense, herbs, and fruits, and flowers,
       In mingled clouds to him, whose sun exalts,
       Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints."
   In every study, we are presented with new views: hence Thomson ',.;,
 the following emphatic lines:
                                " The philosophic youth
       To Nature's voice  attends, from month to month,
       And day to day, through the  revolving year;
       Admiring,  sees her m her every shape,
       Fecis all her sweet emotions  at his heart;
       While truth divinely breaking on his mind,
       Elates his being, and unfolels his powers."
   22.  The study of mineralogy is indeed extensive;  for nature has present-
 ed so great a diversity of minerals, arising from the union ofthe primitive
 earths, &c,  that we behold in  the cabinet of the naturalist the number of
 some thousand specimens.   This science has been divided into classes, in
 the following order:
   1. Oi yctognosiae, which comprehends Mineralogy, in particular.
   2. Geognosia, which treats of the mode of formation, relative structure at
 well as the relative position of mineral masses.
   3. Mineralogical geography, which describes the geographical position.
 of mineral substances.
   4. Mineralogical chemistry makes us acquainted with the kind, quantity,
 ©r proportion of mineral substances, as is effected by analysis.
   To a cursory  observer, the earths appear infinitely diversified; so much
 so, that  he  would  probably  think the  different kinds are innumerable*
 However, notwithstaneling  the  varied appearances of the earth uneler our
 feet, of that ofthe furrows ofthe field, and ofthe mountainous parts ofthe
 wo. id, whose diversifieel strata present to our view substances of every tex-
 ture and  of  every shade, the whole is only composed of nine primith e
 earths;  anel as three of these occur but seldom, the variety which is pro-
 duceel by  tlie other sir becomes the more remarkable.  This may fairly be
 adduced from the infinite skill ofthe Deity, as it " bespeaks an artist mas-
 ter of his work, acquainted witli his materials."   To give a still  greater
 variety to  the works of nature,  these earths are endowcel with an affinity
for acids  and metallic  oxieles, v. hence arise the spars, gems, and preciou.3
stones of every colour and every  species.
       " The  unfruitful rock, inipregn'd by thee,
       In dark retirement forms the  luciel stone."          Parke.
  The celebrated Cornwall mines of England, were known and wrought i«i
Che time of Diodorus Siculus, forty \ears before Christ.   For a description
ef these mines, see professor Sillem an's travels.
  Many mineral  substances,  says Pliny, were known and used by  the an-
cients.  In various parts ofthe Bible we read of stones, gems, meals, &c.
Iron was in use in the time  of  Moses, Dent. iv. 20, viiL 9.   Homer de-
scribes the '■>■ brand driven into the e)e of Polyphemus, as hissing like roS.
l^pt iron iuiniuv^od in water: 
49
       >; And, as when arm'rers temper in the ford
       The keen-  'ged pole-a\, or the shining sword,
       'Jlie r<  '-hat metal hisses in the lake,
       So in hi., o e-ball liiss'd tlie plunging stake."   Odyssey, book ix. 465.
   Lucretius alludes to the early use of copper in these words:
           Prior aeris erat, quam ferri cognitus usus.    Lib. 5.
   The met.ds are generally found mineralized by acids,  sulphur, oxygen,
 &c. forming ores.
   2.3. Zoology. This science, (a branch of natural history,) comprehends
 the beasts, birds, fishes, insects and reptiles.   The most interesting works,
 adapted to the capacities of youth, which treats on this subject, is,  "The
 Beauties ofthe Creation," by Riley.  To which may be added, " Ander-
 son's History of Quadruped's," the " Studies of Nature,"  by St. Piep.rk,
 Goldsmith's " Animated  Nature,"  Bonnet's " Contemplation of Na-
 ture."   To the more advanced pupil, Turton's Linnaeus  and Shaw's
 Zoology will be of inestimable value.
   Joyce's Scientific Dialogues may also be consulted.
       Content of spirit must from science flow;
       For 'tis a godlike attribute to know.             Prior.
   24. The great Creator has made an invaluable present  of the senses, to
 be the inlets of innumerable  pleasures, anel the means ofthe most valuable
 advantages.
   The eye commands the most enlarged prospects.  Consisting only of flu-
 ids inclosed with  coats, it  shows  us all the graces and glories of nature.
How wonelerfuJ, that an image  of the highest mountains, and the wielest
landscapes should enter the small pupil! that  the rays of light should paint
on the optic nerve, paint in an instant of time, paint in their truest colours
and exact lineaments, every species of external objects!   The ear consists
of an outward porch  und   inner rooms.  The hammer and the anvil, the
winding labyrinth,  and the  sounding galleries, these and other pieces of
mechanism, all instrumental to hearing, are inexpressibly curious.
   Taste is another capacity, which, together with that of feeling, have their
peculiar properties.
  The crowning gift that augments the benefits arising from all the  senses,
is speech, which,  it is unnecessary to stale, produces innumerable advanta-
 ges.   See an interesting work,  entitled Rapports du Physique et du Moral
 de I'Homme. Par P. I. G. Cabunis. See also Reid on the Intellectual powers
 ofM"n. 
ADDENDA,
  1. STNCR the precceling pages have been put to press, professor I$a«u
to s informs me, that his Principles of Botany, a work calculated for young
beginners,  (whether male or female) will appear in a month or two.  A
Work of this kind is much wanted.   As it is adapted more particularly to
the  neighbourhood of Philadelphia, where plants of a certain description
are  common, it will be of more advantage to the  amateur of our city.  His
treatise on Zoology, will also appear in a short time.
  2. Having had occasion to  introduce tlie name of Dr. Luther, it may
not be improper to adel,  for the information of my  readers, that proposals
have been issued for publishing by subscription,  a  striking likeness of the
Doctor.
  " This work," says the prospectus, " is  undertaken by several persons in
this city, not from pecuniary motives respecting  themselves, they consider
it as a tribute due the memory of this illustrious hero ofthe christian church,
anel to stimulate men of taste to make themselves acquainted with his his-
tory.  The services  rendered the world by the great reformer, are daily
more and more appreciatcel. Jn the county of Mansfeld, in Germany, a lite-
rary society is at present engaged in collecting the means for raising a
suitable monument'to his memory.   From a small work some time since
published at Halle, entitled " Dr. Martin Luther's Monument, &c." the fol-
lowing part of a  paragraph is  extracted.  ' We therefore  hereby make
known to all venerators of tlie great Luther,  in all parts of the earth, that
in the year 1817, we shall ere ct, on the jubilee day of the reformation in
the  county of Mansfeld, on an elevated place, a monument, worthy of his
greatness and of human gratitude.'   And in  the same work the following
observation is  maele, respecting the French nation   ' The important prize
question proposed by the National Institute at Paris, on  ' the spirit and in-
fluence of the reformation by Luther,' is a louel  acknowledgment of his
greatness, by  the most learned anel eminent characters of that nation. And
who was it that solved that question?   Villers, acatholick, an  exiled  citi-
zen of that people.' Numerous passages might be quoted from the writings
of men in different parts of Europe, who view and acknowledge his merits
with an impartial and  unprej udiced mind.  We may therefore reasonably
hope and expect, that in  America, where the  free investigation of religious
truths if, the constitutional  right and priv ilege of every individual, encou-
ragement will be given to the advancement of a small tribute of respect, to
the memory ofthe man,  who,  at the risk anel hazard of his life, so much
contributed to the establishment of that sacred right.
   " Tlie print sixteen by twenty inches, will be delivereel about the begin-
ning of May next, at five dollars a copy for the first impression and three
-dollars fifty cents the second."
  The execution and delivery of tlie work is guaranteed by Messrs. John
Gooelman,  John Greiner, Daniel Braeutigam,  Isaac Wanipole,  and Adam
Eckfeldt, by whom subscription^ are received.