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614. Influence of Institutions &c. on the pursuit of Truth.-In treating of this topic we shall confine ourselves to the point of view immediiately relating to our subject. Our purpose is to shew the effects of the institutions aud practices of society on the desire after truth and the mode of investigation; and no one will surely deny, that if the minds of children are strongly imbued with particular doctrines, if they are taught to believe that to doubt such doctrines is a crime, if they are commanded to receive them as positive and incontrovertible truths of which no question is to be entertained, if they grow up therefore unaccustomed to examination, the effect must be a state of mind as remote as possible from a fearless and ardent desire after truth, and a conduct, in regard to investigation, in which we shall vainly look for diligence and impartiality.

It may be urged indeed, that instilling doctrines into the minds of children is unavoidable; that they must necessarily learn many things the reasons of which they cannot understand, and take many things on trust because incapable of appreciating the evidence on which they rest. All this is readily allowed. Many things must be taught them for which they can for a while have no other authority than the teacher : but if we really wish to produce in them a love of truth, a desire after knowledge, a spirit of candour, and that integrity of mind which will best preserve them from error, nothing must be taught them as a doctrine which it is their duty to believe, and of which it is a crime to doubt. All the instruction given them should be accompanied with inducements to exert their own faculties, to seek for reasons of what is asserted. All the reverence which they are commonly educated to feel for particular doctrines and authorities, they should be taught to feel for truth itself, and for honesty of investigation. It is under such a discipline that we should expect to see minds of integrity arise which would be blessings to the world.-Essays on the pursuit of Truth.

615. The Excesses of the French Revolution are the darling theme of those who are for maintaining "things as they are;" that is to say, for retaining to themselves an ample share of wealth, and holding the great body of the people in perpetual bondage. The attempt to effect a change by prematurely disturbing the complicated interests of a great nation, was fraught with danger, and led to its natural consequences, confusion and anarchy. Such are the times when men of desperate fortunes, hardened in crime, and endowed with popular talents, assume the garb of virtue, and speak the language of disinterestedness. Once possessed of power, they throw off their disguise, and their designs stand exposed in their native deformity; and because they had previously avowed themselves disciples of Rousseau, Condorcet, D'Alembert, and Volney, they are held up as examples of such characters as the principles of those celebrated writers were calculated to form. Hence Equality and Fraternity,-words which, in a peculiar manner, express

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the spirit of the Gospel,-are, by singular distortion, repeated by those who pretend to extraordinary zeal for the interests of religion, as implying a sanguinary revolution. And thus it is that the names of those who were eminent for their talents and virtues have been confounded with the Barras, the Dantons, and the Robespierres. Whatever mistakes may have been committed by the French writers of the last century, it cannot be denied that considerable progress was made by them towards the discovery of just and practicable principles of society. The horrors of the revolution are to be attributed chiefly to the Noblesse, who, disregarding the wants of the people, and deaf to every proposal of amelioration, precipitated the destruction of the King, and the downfall of the state. The obstinacies, prejudices, and pride of the Aristocracy, would at the present time involve this country in similar calamities, if they were not compelled to yield to the force of public opinion. Reproof of Brutus.

616. Causes and Consequences of Individual Character.-As an illustration, it may not be devoid of amusement to trace the consequences which would have ensued, or rather which would have been prevented, had the father of some eminent character formed a different matrimonial connection. Suppose the father of Buonaparte had married any other lady than the one who was actually destined to become his mother. Agreeably to the tenor of the preceding observations, it is obvious that Buonaparte himself would not have appeared in the world. The affairs of France would have fallen into different hands, and have been conducted in another manner. The measures of the British cabinet, the debates in parliament, the subsidies to foreign powers, the battles by sea and land, the marches and countermarches, the wounds, deaths, and promotions, the fears, and hopes, and anxieties of a thousand individuals would all have been different. The speculations of those writers and speakers who employed themselves in discussing these various subjects, and canvassing the conduct of this celebrated man, would not have been called forth. The train of ideas in every mind interested in public affairs would not have been the same. Pitt would not have made the same speeches, nor Fox the same replies. Lord Byron's poetry would have wanted some splendid passages. The Duke of Wellington might have still been plain Arthur Wellesley. Mr. Warden would not have written his book, nor the Edinburgh Critic his review of it; nor could the author of this essay have availed himself of his present illustration. The imagination of the reader will easily carry him through all the various consequences to soldiers and sailors, tradesmen and artizans, printers and booksellers, downward through every gradation of society. In a word, when we take into account these various consequences, and the thousand ways in which the mere intelligence of Buonaparte's proceedings, and of the measures pursued to counteract them, influenced the feelings, the speech, and the actions of mankind,

it is scarcely too much to say, that the single circumstance of Buonaparte's father marrying as he did has more or less affected almost every individual in Europe, as well as a numerous multitude in the other quarters of the globe. Essays on the Formation and Publication of Opinions.

617. Morning.

The sun is up, and 'tis a morn of May,

Round old Ravenna's clear shewn towers and bay :

A morn, the loveliest which the year has seen,
Last of the Spring, yet fresh with all its green;
For a warm eve and gentle rains at night,
Have left a sparkling welcome for the light.
And there's a chrystal clearness all about:
The leaves are sharp, the distant hills look out;
A balmy briskness comes upon the breeze;
The smoke goes dancing from the cottage trees;
And when you listen, you may hear a coil
Of bubbling springs about the grassy soil;
And all the scene, in short-sky, earth, and sea,
Breathes like a bright-eyed face, that laughs out openly.
"Tis Nature full of spirits, waked and springing;
The birds to the delicious time are singing,
Dashing with freaks and snatches up and down,
Where the light woods go seaward from the town:
While happy faces, striking through the green
Of leafy roads, at every turn are seen,
And the far ships lifting their sails of white
Like joyful hands, come up with scattery light,
Come gleaming up, true to the wished for day,

And chase the whistling brine, and swirl into the bay.
Story of Rimini.

618. Sketch of a Gentleman. -Moderation, decorum, and neatness, distinguish the gentleman; he is at all times affable, diffident, and studious to please. Intelligent and polite, his behaviour is pleasant and graceful. When he enters the dwelling of an inferior, he endeavours to hide, if possible, the difference between their rank in life; ever willing to assist those around him, he is neither unkind, haughty, nor overbearing. In the mansions of the great, the correctness of his mind induces him to bend to etiquette, but not to stoop to adulation; correct principle cautions him to avoid the gaming table, inebriety, or any other foible that could occasion him self-reproach. Pleased with the pleasures of reflection, he rejoices to see the gaieties of society, and is fastidious upon no point of little import.-Appear only to be a gentleman, and its shadow will bring upon you contempt; be a gentleman, and its honours will remain even after you are dead.-Anon.

619. African Interment.—The Hottentot custom of burying the dead is the following:-They come with knives and shave the body, arms, and legs of the deceased, through the thick skin; then they dig a great hole and let him in it in a sitting posture, clapping stones round about him to keep him upright; after comes a company of their women about him making a horrid noise; then they cover the mouth of the hole and leave him in a sitting posture.-Cowley's Voyage.

620. The wise Man has his Follies.-The wise man has his follies no less than the fool; but it has been said that herein lies the difference,—the follies of the fool are known to the world, but are hidden from himself; the follies of the wise are known to himself but hidden from the world. A harmless hilarity, and a buoyant cheerfulness, are not infrequent concomitants of genius; and we are never more deceived, than when we mistake gravity for greatness, solemnity for science, and pomposity for erudition.-Anon.

621. Courage.-Marshall Saxe was cool and deliberate in danger. He usually kept his physician, M. Senac, near his person. At the siege of Tournay he ordered his coachman to drive almost close to the trenches, and then he sprang out, saying to his companion, 'I shall not be absent many minutes.' M. Senac perceived he was near a battery, and the enemy were preparing to fire. As the Marshall was alighting, the physician mentioned the danger in which he should be left. 'Oh, never mind,' replied the warrior; if they fire, pull up the Glasses.' Treatise on Happiness.

622. The Schoolmaster Abroad.-Mr. A. B. fancied he had cause to remonstrate with the schoolmaster, to whom he had entrusted the education of his son, a fine boy of six years of age, who came home at the Midsummer holidays with the slightest possible acquaintance with his a, b, c; but much improved in the use of his limbs, and continually racing about. The pedagogue heard the father's reproaches patiently, and thus defended his athletic tuition: Sir, I did my best for the lad; instead of confining him to tasks, he has been allowed to range about as he pleased, for, sir, you ought to know, that he who runs may read.'--Anon.

623. 1rue Kingly Ambition.—If kings would only determine not to extend their dominions, until they had filled them with happiness, they would find the smallest territories too large, but the longest life too short, for the full accomplishment of so grand and so noble an ambition. Lacon.

624. Influence of Women in the present Time.-The utter subjection of women to the arbitrary will of man, is characteristic of countries

steeped in ignorance, barbarism,and tyranny. The elevation of woman to the intellectual dignity of man, is characteristic of countries blessed with knowledge, civilization, and liberty. Let the despotic nations of the East regard the tender sex as slaves only to their uncontrolled dominion. But let the free nations of Europe prove their superiority in justice, refinement, and religion, by sharing with that sex all the mental pleasures of which they are as capable as ourselves. If incompetent legislators make bad laws, women are as deeply injured by their operations as men. If competent legislators secure good laws, women are as much benefited by the blessings they produce as men, independantly of which, if even men alone were subject to the evil or the good, how could women be indifferent to the happiness of their husbands, fathers, brothers, or sons, of whom such men must consist? From the lips of woman every infant hears the first accents of affection, and receives the first lessons of duty in tenderness and love. For the approbation of woman, the grown-up youth will undertake the boldest enterprise, and brave every difficulty of study, danger, and even death itself. Το the happiness of woman, the man of maturer years will devote the best energies of his body and mind. And, from the soothing and affectionate regards of woman, the man who is become venerable by years, derives his chief consolation in life's decline. Who, then, shall say, that the one half of the human race, and they confessedly the most virtuous and the most amiable, may not be entrusted with an intelligence and an influence equal to our own? To them, when sorrow afflicts us, we consign half our sufferings, and they cheerfully relieve us by lightening our burthen. To them, when joy delights, we give the half of our pleasures, and they as readily consent to share them. They lessen, by their sympathy, the pangs of all our privations,—and they increase, by their participation, the ecstacy of all our delights; they deserve therefore, the full enjoyment of every privilege that it is in our power to confer on them.-Buckingham.-Address to the Electors of Sheffield.

625. Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.-Queen Elizabeth unto the very last year of her life, accustomed herself to appoint set hours for reading, scarce any young student in an university more daily or more duly.

Alfred, notwithstanding the multiplicity and urgency of his affairs, employed himself in the pursuits of knowledge; he usually divided his time into three equal portions: one was employed in sleep and the refection of his body by diet and exercise; another in the dispatch of business; a third in study and devotion: and that he might more exactly measure the hours, he made use of burning tapers of equal length which he fixed in lanthorns, an expedient suited to that rude age when the geometry of dialling, and the mechanism of clocks and watches, were entirely unknown; and by such a regular distribution of time though he often laboured under great bodily infirmities, this martial hero, who fought in person fifty-six battles by sea and land, was able,

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