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SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES
OF
PRIDE OF INTELLECT;
AN  ADDRESS,
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
PHILALETHEAN SOCIETY, OF HANOVER COLLEGE, IA.
&R
July 26«h, 184*. *^    " Cfi^
            I  (/£ ^r',?
            \£  C' ^5 /-*   *
       BY JOHN P. HARRISON, M. D,

Professor of Materia Medica in the Medical College of Ohio.
        CINCINNATI: ^

PRINTED BY J. B. & R. P. DONOGH.

           1842. 
                                         Philal. Hall, July 27t», 1842,
    Dr. Harrison,—-Sir.—In behalf of the Philal. Society of Hanover College,
we solicit for publication a copy of your very able and eloquent address.  Believ-
ing its publication will add much to the  interest of  our society and  to the
College with which we are connected ; we hope you will comply with our request.
                  With sentiments of the highest regard, Yours, etc.
                                        Jno. C. Green,     ^
                                        Jno. L. Trenchard, } Committee.
                                        Jas. N. Saunders,

                                             Hanover, July 21th,  1842.
    Gentlemen:—In reply to your polite request, I herewith put into your hands
for publication, my Address delivered before your Society.  Accept my assurance
 of great consideration and respect, whilst
                                           I remain your Ob't Serv't.
                                                      John P. Harrison. 
 THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES

                            OF

          PRIDE OF INTELLECT.


     Man is  pre-eminently raised  by the  force of his high
endowments of mind, amid the vast creation of God, as the
sovereign proprietor of this earth.  To him, of all the inhabitants
of the  globe is committed the office of  subduing the stubborn
soil, and of converting the elements of nature, by which he is
surrounded, into the instruments of his  will, to advance the
multiplied objects  of his industry, contrivance  and curiosity.
By the power and far-reaching grasp of his genius he is enabled
to build  cities, establish polities,  diffuse on every hand the
comforts  and elegancies of a  refined civilization, and  create
those moral relations which  bind  his heart to the great and
noble ends of his social existence.
     Gifted with an intellectual eye which penetrates the skies,
he is capacitated  to hold correspondence with the Supreme
Author of his being, and to derive from such exalted communion
daily encouragement to  his progress  in virtue, and  augmented
light to his advancement in wisdom.   His erect attitude and open
countenance, on wdiich the emotions of bis soul are engraven in
signatures of dignity, and  beauty, bespeak him as endowed
with no  inferior nature, and as destined to  no  inglorious aim.
Possessed of a body  of wonderful mechanism, most complex in
structure, and the most intricate in function, mysteriously united
to a mind of ceaseless activity, man is apt to  turn an eye of
complacent  regard on his nature, and draw materials of self-
glorification from his capacities and powers. 
4
THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES  OF
     The dignity and excellence of human nature have been the
 theme of many a poetic effusion, and the ground-work on which
 many a fascinating theory has been built.   O ! it is very soothing
 to  the  pride  of  man to expatiate in lofty  panegyric on his
 superiority and greatness, and from a fancied elevation to look
 around, and feel  that in the august temple of nature, he is the
 supreme and central object of admiration and praise.
     But is it becoming man thus  to exult  in ideal excellence !
 Is there not abundant ground for the exercise of a self-renouncing
 spirit,  and should  not a  consciousness of  his  weakness  and
 mortality  rebuke  all arrogant pretentions  from his  bosom, and
 bring him in profound humility to confess that he is
              " A poor, finite object, in the abyss
               Of infinite Being, twinkling restlessly."
     The  design  of the following address is to point out  the
 sources and evils, and to suggest some correctives, of that pride
 of intellect, Avhich is so  universal among mankind.
     From a too conclusive contemplation  of the  range  and
 penetration of human reason a sort of generic pride of intellect
 has sprung, which under various forms has existed in the world,
 but has been developed in its most revolting  features in modern
 times.   An apotheosis of reason has been the  favorite aim of the
 transcendental philosophy of Cousin, Hegel,  Emmerson  and
 other visionary speculatists on the  perfectibility of man.
     With daring hand they have erected an altar to the divinity
 of reason  and on it offered  the incense of  their poetical  and
 philosophic contributions.  In their attempt to deify reason they
 derogate from the excellence of the understanding.  Agreeably
 to their assertions, reason  is the sublime of  human spontaneity ;
 it is fixed, in all its decisions appeals to itself as the ground and
 substance of  their truth.  It  is  the direct aspect of truth ;
 possesses immediate knowledge, and constitutes the whole life of
 the mind in all its activity.  Reason, according to this doctrine,
 takes cognizance of that which is self evident, necessary, absolute,
 infinite, eternal; it is the necessary mediator between God and
man ;—not indeed the absolute God in his majestic individuality, 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
5
but his  manifestation in spirit and in truth ;  it is not the Being
of beings, but it is the revealed God of the human race.   All
truth, says Cousin,  exists  in the human  race.  Humanity is
inspired.  Reason is immediate intuition, as opposed to induction
and  demonstration.   Man, says Troxler, another modern writer
of this school of philosophers, can know all things  only in and
through himself.
     The understanding  is inferior to reason.   It is discursive,
and obliged to collect proof, and  deduce judgments, and in all
such judgments, refers  to  some  other  faculty  as  its  ultimate
authority.  Understanding  is the faculty  of reflection, and is
the seat of all error and immorality.  Its office is  not  to  see
truth, but to arrange it; it is not capable of making any new
discoveries of knowledge but merely shows us the  relations of
knowledge.   It however, can  analyze, draw  comparisons, and
systematize its knowledge.   It acts freely in these processes, and
not involuntarily like the  reason.  It may hence  perplex the
pure intuitions of reason, it may put evil for good, and good for
evil, mislead  the soul and sophisticate and darken its faculties.
Human reason, by internal revelation, which  springs from the
divine spark  that exists in  all  minds, not  being quenched  but
fanned into a flame, is transfigured into the Divine reason ; or, says
De Wette, if you chose, it is brought back into its original purity
and  perfection ; its archetype, grown confused and deformed,
comes up again  distinct and clear.
     With  such wild and  erring fancies these transcendental
philosophers  grow big with high notions of their own divinity.
Thus Fichte asserts boldly that the me is God.   Hegel makes no
distinction between himself and God ; he gives himself out, says
Menzel, for  God.  For  he says expressly, God cannot  know
himself, but in men must first come to a self-consciousness.  This
impious language of these modern Titans needs no comment to
expose  its  vile depravity.   Such  pride  of intellect enthrones
man on the glories of the universe, and spreads universal darkness
over the fair  creation, and  plucking the eternal Father from his
throne, thursts in his place a poor, drivelling, vaporing philosopher, 
6
THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES OF
 who gropes for truth in the misty vacuity of his own blinded and
 infatuated reason.
      But there are men, who, rejecting, with strong feelings of
 abhorrence, the  opinions of  Fichte and Hegel, still urge that
 reason is competent, without any special aid from on high, to
 conduct us to just  views of  truth, and to  empower man  with
 motives sufficient to sustain his  soul  in all  the  conflicts  of his
 moral being.   In the school of fine sentiment, and of  romance
 much is said, most  beautifully, about the charms of virtue, and
 the delights of knowledge, and were we to confide in their day-
 dreams  respecting the perfectibility of man, and  of  the fine
 perceptions of his intellect in the discovery of truth, we  should
 rejoice, with ineffable rapture, that ere  long earth would reflect
 back the image of heaven, and all  error and guilt be for ever
 exiled from the habitations and the heart of man.
     But, alas ! for the  substantiation of these illusive  schemes,
 man  remains  the same peccant, unhappy being he  was  six
 thousand years ago, and the earth continues the scene of  the same
 round of transient pleasures, and of durable pains and penalties,
 it ever has been  since the fall.  There are found individuals in
 society "whose pride of intellect rests upon a basis entirely distinct
 from a high, or extravagant appreciation of the reason of collec-
 tive man.  But while holding in low  estimation the impersonal
 reason, they  in pleasing contemplation of  their rectitude of
judgment most liberally offer opinions to others, as alone entitled
 to approval in'the sight of wisdom.   Contributing in an  especial
degree to such an exalted  conception of their  infallibility of
mind, two operative sentiments  are very generally entertained.
The first is, that sincerity is a proof of  safety in  moral  matters,
and the second, which is ever  found co-existent with the first, is
that,  consistency  requires a  man  to  persist in adhering  to an
opinion once announced.  Pride of intellect is greatly fostered
by these two very prevalent  sentiments, for if sincerity is a just
test of my safety  in moral matters the more  sincerely I believe
that I am right and the more tenaciously I adhere to that decision,
the greater my security.  To  be sincere in our views of truth is 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
7
assuredly a duty of primary obligation, but to make sincerity the
criterion of moral excellence is to offer a premium to ignorant
presumption, Avbich  more  confidently, because  more  blindly,
confides in its views, than does watchful and modest inquiry.
     A very  important  part of  the probation of man  on earth
consists in the liabiliy of his rational faculties to deceive him.
From this  fallible condition of our reason the necessity arises
for a constant vigilance over the data which form the premises
of our judgments, and a vigorous precision in the logical deduc-
tions drawn  from even  Avell  established  data.  Thence spring
daily amendments, and  qualifications  in  conclusions accurately
deduced from insufficient premises, and a frequent abandonment
of vieAVS derived from  false data.  As new  lights emerge, and
fresh disclosures of truth are given, the ingenuous inquirer after
truth, laying aside all pride of intellect, submits his mind to the
influence of  a just philosophy, and " makes each day a critic on
the last."
     Defective culture of the mental poAvers is very apt to induce
pride of intellect.   That culture of mind is defective which is
not  thorough, disciplinary, and  enlarged  ;—which does  not go
down to the depths of  elementary knowledge, and  qualify the
faculties for an alert activity in  self-improvement.  A thorough
education liberalizes the mind from the thraldon of exclusive and
limited  modes of arriving at truth.  But a defective  culture of
the intellect engenders a proud consciousness of  superior parts
in the acquisition of  knowledge, which leads to an  entire neglect
of  the  ordinary processes and  means of intellectual progress.
A  primary  education  of the  faculties  should  produce three
valuable results, otherwise some serious error must attach to the
mode, or degree, of  its  action on the  mental powers.  First, a
sound  preliminary education should put the young in possession
of the instruments and means for future advancement; second,
it should discipline the powers, and render them patient of toil,
apt for  receiving instruction, and cautious und  circumspect in
the  adoption of opinions: and third, it should impart modesty,
and a deep  consciousness of  ignorance.    This  last mentioned 
8
THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES OF
effect of a sound training of the capacities of the young is
attained  by a combination of moral with  intellectual culture.
And at the very foundation of all just  moral instruction is the
inculcation of correct ideas of the character of that holy and
august Being, whose breath kindles the fires of human genius,
and whose inspiration giveth understanding.
    Destitute of a correct idea of that finished and consummate
excellence, which alone is found in the  character of Diety, the
mind fashions its conceptions of perfection from its  narrow survey
of human nature, as pourtrayed  in the living  exemplifications
around, or draws the  portraiture from its own interior  self-
inspection.
    The more intensely the thoughts are fixed in the admiring
contemplation of infinite goodness, wisdom and power, the more
entire will be our renunciation of all pride  of intellect.   The
scattered rays of ideal excellence when  found concentrated in a
bright and immutable reality, as seen in the  Almighty, at once
dissipates the vain illusions of human greatness, and brings man
to bow in prostration of spirit at the foot of His throne,  who is
essential wisdom, and changeless greatness.
    Intimately associated with a low and sordid  conception of
the character of God, in its deteriorating influence on the mind,
is the notion of an impersonal deity.  There are many who fancy
that their ideas of God  are coincident with his majesty and
greatness, but who possess no adequate conception  of  his all-
pervading personality.   They think on their divine Creator as
a vast, unbounded, uncontrolable principle  of government;—
with a tranquil, undisturbed serenity pursuing its comprehensive
range  of administration from generation to generation, and with
an irresistible power, acting with calm  regularity and universal
prevalence bringing about  the sequences of events in  nature.
No prescient, moral design, no personal interest, and present
intimacy of communion, will they affix to their heartless contem-
plation of a presiding  Deity.  Thus the universe is robbed of
all its moral attractions by substituting an upholding principle,
 pervading by mechanical force all nature, for a spiritual, omni- 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
9
present, gracious parent, " the source and centre of all minds,''
by whom all the fair order of nature is preserved, and by whose
creative breath all things rose from chaos.
     But we pass on to consider the evils, springing  from  pride
of intellect.   Speculative error will generate practical  error,
especially when  conjoined with  sincerity',  and earnestness of
character.   This truth is  deeply engraved upon  the  tablet of
universal history.   In characters of shame and folly it is  burnt
deep in the brow of that celebrated  philosophy which swayed,
with imperial power, the brightest minds of Greece and Rome.
     The proud  and lofty  estimation in which  their speculative
views  were held  by the ancient philosophers led them to a
contemptuous disregard of the real ends of all authentic research.
Disdaining to be useful, the ancient philosophy expatiated in  fine
terms upon  the dignity of reason, the  sublimity of virtue,  and
the  excellence of human nature.   Utility, in the  schemes of
philosophy advocated in such  glowing language  by Plato  and
Seneca, was put aside as unworthy the special  and patronizing
notice of a cultivated and refined reason.
     The  object of  philosophy,  according to these  learned
ancients, is not to subsen'e the comforts and accommodations of
life ; it is not to direct the mind into researches  which shall tend
to the furtherance of physical enjoyment, but her exclusive  office
is to form the soul, and garnish it with all precious gifts and graces.
Enigmatical and profitless questions made up those perpetually,
revolving disputes, agitated  Avith much keenness  of argument,
among the different schools of  Grecian and  Roman philosophy.
     There was  no rich treasure of valuable facts  accumulated,
to be  transmitted from age to age ;  no hereditary wealth of
mind to pour its copious tides along the barren and waste tracts,
to fertilize and enrich the cold and sterile bosom of society.   In
lofty  march the ancient philosophy  pursued  its way amidst
mankind, and cast a glance of utter scorn on all the pursuits of
every day life.  Physical science lay a despised, neglected object,
for these superlative men of  renown, contended  that the true
philosophy should teach us, not to construct houses, but to do 
10           THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES OF
without them, not to rear the arch, or fabricate cloth, or extract
the metals from the  earth, but to live contentedly in  primitive
simplicity; in stoical apathy spurning such groveling concerns.
     The truth  seems to be that, these  wise men misconceived
the province of reason ;  thejT imagined that reason must divine
instead of interpret nature.   Like the modern transcendentalists,
the ancient  philosophers  were employed in excogitating the
materials of their systems from their own heads, instead of going
to the constitution and course of nature, and assiduously soliciting
responses  from her, in  answer to questions  humbly put  by
themselves.   They dictated rather than enquired, and assuming
the magisterial  tone, demanded a subjection of the economy of
things to the caprices of their versatile genius.
     The  great ends accomplished by  Bacon,  in  the reform
wrought by the force  of his acute and powerful intellect in
philosophy were,first,to teach man that "he should not arrogantly
search for the  sciences in the narrow cells of human  wit, but
humbly in the greater world;" second, that " the empire of man
over things is founded on the arts and sciences alone, for," adds
he  most appositely, "nature is  only  to  be  commanded  by
obeying her ; and third, that, "access to the kingdom of man
which  is founded  on the  sciences resembles  the kingdom of
heaven, where no admission  is conceded except  to  children.''
Utility and  progress are the grand purposes of the Baconian
philosophy.  It requires that an entire  renunciation of all the
idols of a former philosophy, and of all inherent prepossessions
and prejudices,  should  be made, before man can become the
interpreter and minister  of nature.   Patient  observation of
phenomena, in  their sequences and relations, and the careful
treasuring  up  in  the mind the  laws of  the  procession of
phenomena, with a rigid  deduction from all the  facts  observed,
must be gone through, by every one who aspires to become  the
minister and interpreter of nature.   Pride of intellect is at once
offended at such a method, and breaks away from this toilsome
and humble process to climb  the heights of speculation, and at
one wide glance bring all nature under the eye. 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
11
     In the early stages of the dcvclopcment of reason, whether
in individuals or communities, certain profitless and insoluble
problems call fortli the most ardent efforts of speculative minds.
     In what does virtue consist 1   What is fate and free will ?
Arc all things  fated 1   Is pain an evil ?  Can we be certain of
any, and can we be certain that we are  certain of nothing 1
Can a wise  man  be unhappy ?  These, and  similar  questions
were debated with much earnestness by the ancient philosophers.
And in a later age when men toiled to be frivolous, and seemed
to  delight in treading a petty circle of  endless trifling,  the
following barren topics were debated with pertinacity and angry
zeal.  Is  the essence  of  the mind distinct from its existence 1
If the mind  has freedom of choice, is this  independent will a
quiddity, or an entity ?  Is virtue good because it has intrinsic
goodness, or  has it this intrinsic goodness  because it is good 1
Do angels  pass from one point of space to another, without
passing through the intermediate points ?   Can the Deity cause
a mode to exist without a substance, and whether in knowing
all things he knows universals, or only things singular ?
     Amid the keen and unprofitable contests provoked  by such
questions, no progress could possibly be made in useful knowledge.
     Pride of intellect kept up the  contestation  on  such idle
themes, because men were  unwilling to admit that  questions
which  folly puts, cannot be answered by reason.  Among  our
modern dogmatic, and Utopian wise men, questions equally vain
are every day propounded, and much learned  dust involves  the
combatants, who are struggling to make all men believe that
to their gifted  sight new revelations of  truth are imparted.
Revolving in such a circle,  the mind advances not  a step in
valuable acquisition ; it but beats time, without any  onward
march.
     An appetency for novel things, and a credulous reliance on
extraordinary statements,  are often found in the same person,
who is elate  with a proud  consciousness of superior sagacity.
The advocacy  of wild and  transcendental doctrines ;  or new
and  visionary speculations, with vast pretentions of philosophic 
12
THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES OF
certitude, are the modes in which pride of intellect exhibits its
high conceit of a capacity, not granted  others,  of  detecting
truth as she lurks amid retired haunts, far from vulgar gaze.
     The  mental capacities of others are disparaged by him
who profoundly meditative of his own originality  and force  of
thought, grows  impatient  and intolerant, when opposition rises
against his announcements.  Thus your thorough  dogmatist  in
any newly fabricated  crudity,  which he baptises with the  name
of science, has his ire awakened whenever you hint an objection
or hesitate assent, to his proposition.  He has  entered the
kingdom of science not as a little child, humbly asking  to be
guided,  but as  a giant,  prescribing  terms,  and  demanding
submission.
     Two additional  evils arise from pride of intellect,  of  a
character still more grave than any yet enumerated.  Misan-
thropy and infidelity  are  the  legitimate offspring of arrogant
pretentions of mental power.
     Pride of intellect leads the man, who feels the stirrings of an
oracle within, to dictate peremptorily his opinions, not to suggest
and  explain them.  Meeting  with  hostile demonstrations on
every hand to such an offensive and aggressive mode of making
known the revelations of  the light  burning within, and finding
his darling theories treated with ridicule, or perhaps, with rude
banter, the dogmatist becomes soured ;—laments the degeneracy
of the age, and the blindness of those  who will not acknowledge
his superior wisdom, and defer to this authority.
     From the proud eminence as  a philanthropic teacher  of
ignorance, and the humane guide of the blind, he descends into
the  gloomy region of misanthropic spite, and  growling  male-
diction.   Perhaps  already has he rejected revelation, ere  he
descended from his proud height of reformer and critic. Reason
has told him that he must make her decisions and expositions the
test of the word of God.  "Nature," he oft repeats with a sad
misapplication  of the quotation,  "is elder  scripture writ by
God's own hand."  And  as he has held familiar converse with
nature, having been admitted  into her very audience chamber, 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
13
 he asserts, that no religious doctrines are to be received as true,
 unless  they  have the approval of reason, and are coincident
 with rational views of man and of the universe.  But  what are
 the intellectual  circumstances of man when he sits  as  judge
 upon what is reasonable to accept as coming from heaven.   Has
 passion and prejudice not enfeebled  his reason ?  Has error not
 spread a cloud over it ?   Is reason unfettered  by  pride, or not
 reduced to servitude  by false education  ?  Docs not the  moral
 state of the mind very frequently decide the judgments it makes 1
 Docs not the affections spread a discoloring medium .around the
 the entire horizon of reason, and are not all objects seen through
 that distorting medium ?
     But what precise signification are we to attach  to the term
 reason, when it is said that reason is to be the judge in matters
 of revelation ?  By reason is often meant  the  faculty  by which
 we investigate truth, detect error, draw inferences from premises,
 and by consecutive  argument establish propositions.   Reason
 in this sense  can  be no judge, for it is only  a messenger sent out
 to explore, and bring  back information.   It is but the  intellectual
 power searching after truth, and by a perception and appropria-
 tion of evidence, through comparison, arrives at just conceptions
 of things.
     Very  often, however, the Avoid reason  is employed  to
 denote the sum of notions and sentiments which constitutes the
 standard by Avhich the reasonableness of any matter is judged.
 In this sense  a man may say that any proposition is agreeable to
 his reason, or contrary  to it, or above it.   If the position  he is
 called to examine appears accordant to the" collection of notions
 in his  own mind, which  he regards as indubitably certain, then
 it is agreeable to reason.   If irreconcilable Avith Avhat he looks
 upon as unquestionable  truth, then  it  is  contrary to reason.
 Or, if  out of the range  of his mode of thinking it is above his
 reason.  Evidently the  standard must fluctuate in each man's
mind as he advances in knowledge.  Thus, it seems unreasonable
to all  uneducated persons, that water should  be  composed of
two  principal supporters of combustion, and  that oxygen and 
14
THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES OF
hydrogen, the most inflammable of substances, in combination,
should extinguish flame.  And to the reason of the ignorant the
proposition that, the earth revolves on its own axis, and that the
sun in  reference to the earth stands  still, there is a positive
contradiction.  And, besides, what is meant  by reason being a
judge in religious matters ?  Is the judge to exercise an authori-
tative power of dictation, and peremptorily to decide a priori what
the testimony should be to establish the truth ?   Or, is the judge
to preside in conducting a fair examination,  by  which he  shall
distinguish and form  correct  conclusions  agreeably  to the
evidence 1
    The office of reason is to examine the validity of the claims
of revelation to our  acceptance by a calm, impartial scrutiny
of the  historical,  prophetic,  miraculous,  and  internal  moral
evidences and attestations, which accredit and establish its high
pretensions.   But  in  pride  of reason  to  decide  whether  a
scriptural doctrine  is true upon the narrow ground that it is
agreeable to our slender mass of ideas, is a position fraught with
the most revolting scepticism, of a  being at best  but "darkly
wise"—who refuses the light of God's throne, because it partakes
not of the light emitted by the sparks of his  own kindling.
     Correctives of Pride or Intellect.—These are, first, just
conceptions of God's character and attributes; second, an abiding
consciousness of the liability of human reason to be misled  by
the erring lights of earth, and our deep need of  divine illumina-
tion ; third, a free and generous culture of mind ; fourth, mental
discipline commenced in early life, and carried on through the
years of mature existence ; fifth, a correct estimate of the limited
range of man's intellectual powers in the discovery of truth ;  of
the necessary imperfection of all human knowledge, and the
failure in practical  results of much that we know.  Knowledge,
of itself,  is  altogether inadequate  to  protect  the mind from
inflated feelings of superiority.  The consciousness of  mental
acquisition promotes  instead of diminishes extravagant ideas of
personal  worth, just  as the  accumulation  of  wealth,  or the
possession of social  influence, conduces to give  the man  an 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
15
exalted opinion of his merit, and to induce a complacent sense
of his relative importance among his fellow men.
     The  adventitious  motives which  urge  men to  acquire
knowledge are as various as those which actuate to the procure-
ment of wealth.   The love of distinction, tho desire of influence
and the hope of securing the means of  physical enjoyment and
of  worldly accommodation, arc very  frequently the strongest
inducements to the acquisition of knoAvledgc.   A great degree
of  cherished pride, and  a jealous sensibility of human opinion,
often accompany through life those distinguished for genius, high
talents, and extraordinary attainment.   The love of knowledge
operates with urgent  force and  vividness upon many ingenuous
minds,  but other, and perhaps more potent influences are con-
stantly at work to impel men to the cultivation of their intellec-
tual powers.   Unless the mind  is directed to some nobler aim
than that, to the attainment of which  the majority of literary
and scientific men, are  aspiring ; unless the  thoughts traverse
some higher sphere of contemplation than the ordinary interests
of  life can afford ; unless abstract  excellence inflame the ima-
gination, and enliven hope, and warm  the generous sensibilities
of  the soul, the individual becomes  steeped in  selfishness and all
bis meditations are imbued with high conceits of his oAvn vast
consequence ;
           " He builds  his  little Babylon of straw,—
            Ecliocs the proud Assyrian in his heart,
            And cries, behold the wonders  of my might."
     As a matter, therefore, of mere intellectual advantage it is
incumbent on every cultivated man to form just conceptions of
the character of Him, in whom all  the beams of knowledge are
centered, and  avIio  alone  possesses the  fulness of  Avisdom.  A
reverential posture of mind toward the great and august Fountain
of  wisdom abases all arrogance of mind, and disenchants us of
the illusions of human glory.   Connected with the formation of
correct view  of God's  character,  is the humiliating estimate
which man should form of his  own intellectual greatness, and
of the  inherent tendencies of his reason to be blinded by passion, 
16           THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES  OF
by prejudice, and worldly interest. Therefore, under a deep sense
of the incompetency of human wisdom to penetrate the mysteries
of our being, and solve the dark enigmas of our origin, present
trials and future destiny, let us lift up our intellectual eye to the
throne of Supernal Light, for illumination, and guidance.
     An  education  which prepares  the mind for  being a mere
instrument, by the employment of which fortune, distinction, and
power may be acquired, is not a free and  generous culture of
the faculties.   That is a good education which not only fits a man
for acting well  his part in life, and which adorns him for his
appropriate sphere, but which also developes, in harmonious pro-
portion, all his powers of  thought, and all the sensibilities of his
heart.  An extensive intellectual education, or an education of
thought  and not  of principle, only capacitates  a person for
exercising adroitly and successfully the implements, and means of
secular success.  A free  expansion of the moral nature  com-
municates an aggrandizement of thought and emotion, and lifts
the mind up to the comprehension and enjoyment of those great
interests of  our  spiritual  and immortal nature,  which ennoble
and purifiy the heart, and prepare for holding communion with
the Father of spirits.
     Early parental, and  scholastic discipline exerts a benign
effect on the  whole course of a man's life.  From the cradle,
through  all the intermediate  periods of life to old age, man
requires  the  controlling hand  of discipline.  By  discipline we
are taught the necessity of obeying  law, and of being directed
by a wisdom superior to our own.  Self education or a dilligent
discipline over one's self, implies  two things,—the  love of  excel-
lence  and the power of self control.  Self discipline should
nurture the germ of high moral feeling after excellence, and by
the interposition of the will, energetic from  love of excellence,
all inordinate, debasing  affections, and impurities of  thought
should be banished the sanctuary within, and pride of intellect
repressed, as altogether inimical to genuine nobleness of soul.
Pride glories in what it possesses, has faith in itself, and  is
imperious, and intolerant, and exacting, whilst true nobleness of 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
17
soul is modest, and liberal, and scarce approves its own goodness,
and is continually seeking approval from conscience, and from
God.   A  sober consideration of the limited range  of  mental
power  possessed by  man  for the  discovery of truth,  of the
imperfection  of  all  human knowledge, and of the failure in
practical  fruits of much of our knowledge, should  check pride
of intellect, and teach us to carry our faculties meekly.  Of all
the inhabitants of  this  globe, man is the  most helpless  and
imbecile at birth.   Look  at this  negative  of  humanity ;  this
blank without superscription—or any signatures of thought and
feeling—and what is there here of  mental demonstrations to
glory in ?   How  slow and arduous is  the advancement of this
young creature in the ways of virtue and knowledge !  See how
the attention flags and what unceasing discipline is required to
keep it alive  to mental improvement!  How frail the memory,
which lets slip  so much  valuable knowledge, after it has  been
toilsomely  deposited in its grasp !   How sluggish the faculties,
which require constant provocatives to incite them to  the pursuit
of truth !   How weak the capacity to prosecute abstract science,
and  how few reach  any height  in such attainments ?   How
soon fatigue oppresses, and inertness seizes the brightest powers
of thought.
     Then reflect that all  our knowledge has to come through
restricted avenues ; that  the sight, hearing,  and touch are the
great inlets to perception, and that deprived of these sensitive
inlets how utterly null is the exercise of reason.  Again, man
has no intuition  of things, he is born ignorant, and  remains so
until by a slow process of acquisition, ideas are accumulated.
Of the  essential constitution of  matter and of mind, of the
mysterious ties which bind soul and  body together,  how  little
do we know.   And  reflect that  aside from revelation, what
darkness and incertitude rest on the mind as respects the char-
acter of Deity, and  how  awful the doubts  which agitate  and
terrify the soul when it looks beyond the dark sepulchre.
    Consider the imperfection attached to  every  species of
scientific inquiry.  Astronomy, the most perfect of  the sciences,
             3 
18
THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES OF
requires much in the way of observation, and  inductive and
deductive reasoning to advance it to perfection.  The nebulosity
of the heavens, the movements and nature of  comets, the paral-
lax of the  fixed stars, these and  other interesting subjects?
demand much additional investigation.  Chemistry, another very
advanced branch of physical science, has been prosecuted with
intense ardor, and a rich variety of results, within a few years,
but still  the most eminent  chemists  lament the  deficiencies
attached to their analyses  and syntheses and  pant after higher
degrees of certainty  and utility in this department of human
knowledge.
    A still greater degree of imperfection belongs to medicine,
to law, and to the art of government.  Medical science requires
much augmentation  of  light; though  not a stationary, it is  far
from being a perfect science.
    The law is replete  with uncertainty, decision conflicts with
decision, precedent  overrules precedent, and  new laws are,
almost every day, supplanting old enactments.   Endless disputes
are waged on the best forms of polity, and on the constructive
meanings of organic  law.
   Lastly, reflect on the very circumscribed application  which
can be made of human  knowledge.
    In ethics how afflicting the deficiency of practical results,
where there exists expanded conceptions on the great questions
of right, and duty.  How  few practice half of what they know
on these subjects !  And then look at the difficulties  of reducing
to practice  the wisest  plans for the  improvement of society.
Obstacles perpetually  beset the  way  of the  most  excellent
legislative  provisions for the prosperity of a people.  It  seems,
according to the experience of society, that abstract perfection
in a  legal  reguluation was fatal  to  its beneficent practical
operation.
     Perfection  dwells  not on earth, though there exists much
excellence among men.  Human virtue may  be carried far,  but
it can never proceed beyond the reach of danger.   Human
knowledge is kept within narrow limits, is conversant with a small 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
19
 number of objects, and  profoundly versed in a very restricted
 circle of research.  Our speculative views  far transcend our
 ability to  substantiate  and  render  effectual our  knowledge.
 Scientific  investigation  goes far beyond art:   Age after age
 elapsed, under the pressure of the most urgent circumstances,
 before the printing press, the steam engine, and the rail road were
 invented, and yet how obvious to our minds seems the suggestion
 of their invention.
     In review of the limited powers of mind in the race, of the
 deficiencies of human knowledge, and of the practical inutility
 of much  of that knowlckge, should not all pride of intellect, all
 assumption of mental glory, be rebuked ?  And  should not
 every ingenuous, philosophic mind be  ready to admit that,
            " Reason's glimmering ray
              Was lent, not to assure our  doubtful way,
              But guide us upward to a better day."
 That better day  has  dawned on our world in the revelation
 from on high ;  the day  spring has taken  hold on  the  ends of
 of the  earth, and  through its precious influence the universal
 reign of truth and goodness will be secured  unto all mankind.
 Gentlemen of the  Philalethean  Society :—
     In the buoyant period of life which you now enjoy, earnest-
 ness and  sincerity of character are   qualities,  honorable  and
 attractive.  Inactivity of mind, and  disingenuousness  of soul
 are  disgraceful  at any  age, but when  found  in  youth  they
 resemble the decayed and withered branches which deform a
 beautiful and vigorous tree.  But the tendency of all our qualities
is  to excess.  Earnestness of character  often degenerates into
empassioned self will, and  sincerity may become  offensive to
others by exhibitions of harsh and unfeeling bluntness. Earnest-
ness often leads to pride of intellect, and  ministers to impatient
vehemence  at opposition to a favorite  opinion.  Hence intoler-
ance, and a spirit of unfair  representation of  an  adversary's
statements,   l'arlizanship is thus engendered, and truth is often
sacrificed 'tb trie promotion of victory over an opponent.  The
desire" of surpassing, in itself,ia neither good nor bad, but partakes 
20           THE SOURCES. EVILS AND CORRECTIA'ES OF
 either of goodness or viciousness according to the  complication
 of other feelings in the breast of the agent.
      Emulation  does not  necessarily  create  enmity,  but is
 entirely consistent with kindliness and  magnanimity.   Without
 emulation, or a desire of  excelling, no young man can ascertain
 his relative powers in the acquisition of knoAvledge.   Pride of
 intellect is discountenanced  by generous competition, and one
 great benefit which is derived from a college education  is that
 which results  from the collision of  kindred  minds, by  which
 comparisons are instituted, presumptuous ignorance reproved, and
 industry and zeal aroused in the pursuit of literary excellence.
 A college life is highly conducive to evolution of latent talent.
 Indeed  it is  a miniature, in the spirit of emulation  which it
 awakens, and  in  the rewards of approbation  and distinction
 which its honors confer, of the great world into which each of
 you, with eager steps, will ere long, rush.
     Gentlemen, life is but a series of competitions ;—a protracted
 scene of emulation ; a succession of comparisons of our relative
 powers.  What  would human  existence be, debased  as  it so
 often is by sordid cares, and shorn of its splendor by selfish aims?
 were there no stirring impulses  derived from  an honorable
 ambition to excel 1  To " provoke to emulation" was the wish of
 an apostle, and each pursuit of life, in proportion to its aptitude
 to elicit  a fervent  aspiration  after excellence, is more or less
 congenial to the great purposes of individual and social progress.
 Two species of reward lie in perspective along your path of life.
 One species  of reward,  which the  nobler few seek  after,  is
 adapted to the  more  elevated part of our nature,—the  other is
 addressed to the wants of physical well being.  The first  refers
to the insatiable longings  of the mind for virtuous activity, and
 the cheering consciousness of our having accomplished, in part
 at least, the design of our mission on earth.   The second  looks
to the material  recompense of the toil endured, and in equivalent
returns of physical gratification seeks the highest boon.   The
one is spiritual, and is enlivened by the radiance of heaven, the
other is corporeal, and is encouraged and upheld by the pressing
exigencies of time and sense. 
PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
21
     Addict yourselves to the higher, nobler ends of your exis-
tence, and  animate  your efforts  by motives drawn from  an
honorable desire to excel, and  from a holy anxiety to do some-
thing for the good of society.  Let me suggest three inducements
of great weight, which  should  prompt your  daily exertions ;—
the desire to excel, the desire of doing good—and the desire of
pleasing God.
     Be your standard elevated.  By the power of abstraction
form to  yourselves some exalted  model, or take some living
character of virtuous  worth and intellectual  greatness as your
exemplar, and be determined to push onward your upward path
of life, till your feet are planted on the heights whence you may
rejoice at the dangers passed,  and  look in modest assurance
upward for the smiles of heaven.
     Remember your endless destiny, and ever keep  " in the
eye and prospect of your soul"  the interminable march of your
immortal  being, and  in  humble, confiding submission  to  the
direction  of Supreme Wisdom, enter upon that  course of life
which shall receive the  approbation of your own consciences,
and  of good men, and of God.  Mental obedience is  a very
important mode of probation, and a moral habit of mind, well
regulated to submission, is as requisite to the reception of truth,
as to the obserA'ancc of duty.
     Clouds enshroud the plans and  purposes of  God ;  a  few
scattered  rays of his goodness and  justice  emerge  from his
throne, and  are transmitted to our perception through the works
of his hands.  But in the declaration of God in his son Jesus
Christ, there shines, in strong  and  glowing beams, the  divine
holiness, justice and love, which throw a  warm and broad light
of certainty, hope, and immortality, on  this  dubious and per-
plexing scene of things.   The feebler light of reason can never
dispel the obscurities which rest  on heaven's plans.  And although
the written word  reveals enough to satisfy the humble enquirer
after truth, and to assure  the  mind on the great questions per-
taining to the origin, present condition, and future prospects of
man, yet  an unhallowed  and  prying curiosity  never will  be 
22
THE SOURCES, EVILS AND CORRECTIVES OF
 satiated by the the disclosures of the Bible.   It offers no  food
 to  a restless appetite  for  that which merely ministers  to the
 speculative tendencies of the mind.   A part only, a very small
 part of  God Almighty's  wide administration, and  of the un-
 searchable depths of his essence, is disclosed.   Whilst this par-
 tial disclosure of his ways is available to all practical purposes,
 it is unsatisfactory and repugnant to  pride of intellect.  Instead
 of meeting this measured  communication of truth by sceptical
 murmurs, let us be reminded that the state we are passing through
 is initiatory7, not  final ; is  a trial, a  warfare, a pilgrimage, and
 that for the pure rewards of constant and  victorious  virtue we
 must look forward to the unclouded manifestation of truth in that
 day,  when faith  will be  lost in vision, and  hope in fruition.
 Dismiss  all arrogant pretensions  of  mental superiority, and  in
 modest and persevering application strive for a larger measure of
 knowledge.  No human being can claim immunity from error,
 and therefore no man can safely dispense with a perpetual and
 vigilant  examination.   However confident we may be that we
 are free from error, no one should feel secure, for even were we
 to attain perfection, in  this life we can never be certain of it.
 It is only when we are strenuously awake in the pursuit of truth,
 and anxiously watching against error, that  knowledge exercises
 its requisite practical impression  on  the  heart, and on the life.
     Gentlemen, you are fairly embarked on the ocean of life ;
 —many wrecks are strewed on the waves around your buoyant
 barks.  Like a skilful and cautious navigator keep your reckon-
 ing with care,—" keep a good look out,"—and  take an observa-
 tion when  opportunity  offers.  With your chart and compass
 aboard, fix your  eye, on  the bright polar star of  man's im-'
 mortal voyage, so that when  the  storm  rages—and  the surges,
 rise  high—and rocks and quicksands threaten to wreck your <
 bark, your hope may be as an anchor, sure and fixed, and above
 the noise of the billows, deep calling unto deep at the noise of.
 the water spout, the voice of Him who lays his hand  abroad on
the deep, and stills the tumult of  the sea, may be heard by you
saying, " fear not, I am with thee,  be not dismayed, I am thy
God."