most beneficial to mankind at large, is in general the most easily acquired. Its acquisition would not in the least interfere with the performance of their regular avocations, as it could all be acquired at leisure hours. It would habituate them to rational reflections and trains of thought, and gradually unfold to their view new and interesting objects of contemplation. It would have a tendency to prevent them from spending their hours of leisure in folly or dissipation, and would form an agreeable relaxation from the severer duties of active life.

SECTION III.

On the Influence which a General Diffusion of Knowledge would have on the Progress of General Science.

WE have already seen, that the diffusion of knowledge among the general mass of society would eradicate those false and superstitious opinions which have so long degraded the human intellect, would introduce just conceptions of the attributes of the Deity, and of his operations in the system of nature, and would avert, or at least greatly mitigate, many of those physical evils to which the human race has been subjected. Although these were the only advantages to be derived from the general dissemination of knowledge, they would be sufficient to warrant every exertion which the friends of science and of humanity can make to accomplish such an important object. But these are only a few of the many beneficial results which would, doubtless, flow from the progress of ra

tional investigations and scientific pursuits. Knowledge, in its progress through the general mass of society, and among the various tribes of mankind, could not long remain confined within its present boundaries, but would, in all probability, enlarge its circumference nearly in proportion to the extent of its diffusion. The man of erudition and of science, who now exerts his influence and his talents to enlighten the minds of his fellow-men, would be laying a foundation for the expansion of his own intellectual views, and of those of his successors in the same pursuits, in future generations. As a small body of snow, by rolling, gradually accumulates to a large mass, so that portion of knowledge we already possess, in its progress through the various ranks of mankind, would have its volume increased, and its present boundaries extended, so that new scenes of intellectual vision and enjoyment would be continually opening to the view, In accordance with these views, I shall now proceed to illustrate the position,

That a general diffusion of knowledge would tend to the rapid advancement of universal science.

We are placed in the midst of a scene where a vast multiplicity of objects solicits our attention. Whether we look around on the surface of the earth, or penetrate into its bowels, or turn our eyes upwards to the surrounding atmosphere and the vault of heaven, we perceive an immense variety of beings, celestial and terrestrial, animated and inanimated, continually varying their aspects and positions, all differing from each other in certain points of view, yet connected together by various relations and resemblances.

Science, in the most general and extensive sense of the term, consists in a perception of the resemblances and differences, or the relations which these objects

3

have to one another, and to us as rational beings. To ascertain the almost infinite number of relations which subsist among the immense variety of objects which compose the material and intellectual universe, requires an immense multitude of observations, comparisons, and deductions to be made by a vast number of observers placed in various circumstances and positions; or, in other words, the discovery of an immense number of facts. All science may therefore be considered as founded on facts; and perhaps there would be few exceptions to the truth of the position, were we to assert, that the most sublime truths and deductions, in every science, when stripped of all their adventitious circumstances, simplified, and expressed in the plainest and most perspicuous terms, may be reduced to so many facts. This position might be illustrated, were it necessary, by an induction of particulars from the various branches of mathematical and physical science. That "a whole is greater than any of its parts," that "the square described on the hypothenuse of a right angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares described on its remaining sides," are facts, the one deduced from observation or simple intuition, the other from a series of comparisons. That the sun is the centre, around which the planetary bodies revolve,—that a projectile describes a parabolic curve,—that the velocities of falling bodies are in proportion to the spaces run over,-that fluids press in all directions, that the pressure of the atmosphere will support a colunin of water to the height of above thirty feet,—that the elastic spring of the air is equivalent to the force which compresses it, -that the angle of incidence of a ray of light is equal to the angle of reflection,-that the north pole of one magnet will attract the south pole of another,-that

E

the air we breathe is a composition of oxygen and nitrogen, and a variety of similar truths,-are facts, deduced either from simple observation and experiment, or from a comparison of a series of phenomena and experiments with each other. Now, every comparison we make between two or more objects or ideas, is an act of the mind affirming a resemblance, or a disagreement between the objects compared; which affirmation, if deduced from a clear view of the objects presented to the mind or senses, is the declaration of a fact.

If the above sentiments are just, it will follow, that every person possessed of an ordinary share of understanding, and whose organs of sensation are in a sound state, is capable of acquiring all the leading truths of the most useful sciences, since he enjoys the senses and faculties requisite for the observation of facts, and for comparing them with one another. And if such a person is capable of receiving into his mind. truths already ascertained, he is also, for the same reason, qualified for discovering new truths or facts, provided he be placed in such circumstances as shall have a tendency to present the objects of his pursuit in the clearest point of view; that he have an opportunity of surveying them on all sides, and that his attention be firmly riveted on their several aspects and relations. That one man, therefore, excels another in these respects, is chiefly owing to his mind being more particularly directed to the contemplation of certain objects and relations, and his mental faculties concentrated upon them. When a person, devoted to scientific investigation, discovers a new fact, it is not, in the majority of instances, because he possesses powers of intellect and organs of sensation superior to the ordinary endowments of humanity, but because

he was placed in different circumstances, and had his attention directed to different objects, and was thus enabled to perceive relations and combinations which had been either unnoticed by others, or which were placed beyond the range of their observation. Genius, then, which is generally attributed to such characters, may be considered as consisting in a concentration of the rays of intellect upon any particular object, art, or science, arising from a lively taste we feel for that particular study. It may be compared to a burning lens, where the scattered rays of light are rendered powerful by being collected into a point.

In so far, then, as we are able to direct the faculties of the mind-however moderate a degree of vigour they may possess-to the fixed contemplation of scientific objects, in so far may we expect that new relations will be discovered, and new truths elicited. Sir Isaac Newton was one day asked, "How he had discovered the true system of the universe ?" He replied, "By continually thinking upon it." He was frequently heard to declare, that "if he had done the world any services it was due to nothing but industry and patient thought, that he kept the subject under consideration constantly before him, and waited till the first dawning opened gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light." Had this illustrious philosopher been born of barbarous parents in the wilds of Africa,-had he been placed in circumstances widely different from those in which he actually existed, or had not his attention, by some casual occurrence, been directed to the grand object which he accomplished, in all probability, his mind would never have ranged through the celestial regions, nor have discovered the laws of the planetary motions.

Many important scientific facts require only a cer