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possible with the great outlines of the different branches of science; with the most important conclusions which have hitherto been formed in them, and with the most important desiderata which remain to be supplied. By such general views alone we can prevent ourselves from being lost amidst a labyrinth of particulars, or can engage in a course of extensive and various reading, with an enlightened and discriminating attention.-STEWART.

QUESTIONS.-1. By what method may our acquired knowledge be put on a level with our original speculations? 2. What reasonings is it important to commit to writing? 3. What plan of reading is commonly followed? 4. What are its disadvantages? 5. Why should a proper selection be made of the objects of knowledge? 6. What is useful before engaging in any particular pursuits? 7. What will an acquaintance with the great outlines of science prevent?

LESSON 6.

Hymn to Science.

Scho'liast, a writer of explanatory notes.
Soph'ist, a plausible but false reasoner.

SCIENCE! thou fair effusive ray
From the great source of mental day,
Free, gen'rous, and refined,
Descend with all thy treasures fraught,
Illumine each bewilder'd thought,
And bless my lab'ring mind.

But first with thy resistless light
Disperse those phantoms from my sight,
Those mimic shades of thee,
The scholiast's learning, sophist's cant,
The visionary bigot's rant,

The monk's philosophy.

Oh! let thy powerful charm impart
The patient head, the candid heart,

Devoted to thy sway;

Which no weak passions e'er mislead,
Which still with dauntless steps proceed
Where reason points the way.

HYMN TO SCIENCE.

Give me to learn each secret cause;
Let numbers, figures, motion's laws,
Reveal'd before me stand;

Then to great nature's scenes apply,
And round the globe and through the sky
Disclose her working hand.

Next to thy nobler search resign'd
The busy restless human mind
Through ev'ry maze pursue;
Detect perception where it lies,
Catch the ideas as they rise,

And all their changes view.

Her secret stores bid Mem'ry tell,
Bid Fancy quit her airy cell

In all her treasures drest;

While, prompt her sallies to control,
Reason, the judge, recalls the soul
To truth's severest test.

Say from what simple springs began
The vast ambitious thoughts of man,
That range beyond control,
Which seek eternity to trace,
Drive through the infinity of space,
And strain to grasp the whole?

Then range through being's wide extent,
Let the fair scale with just ascent
And equal steps be trod,
Till, from the dead corporeal mass,
Through each progressive rank you pass
To instinct, reason, God!

There, Science, veil thy daring eye,
Nor dive too deep, nor soar too high,
In the divine abyss;

To faith content thy beams to lend,
Her hopes t' assure, her steps befriend,
And light the way to bliss.

Then downward take thy flight again,

Mix with the policies of men,

And social Nature's ties

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The plan, the genius, of each state,
Its interest and its power relate,
Its fortunes and its rise.

Through private life pursue thy course
Trace ev'ry action to its source,
And means and motives weigh;
Put tempers, passions, in the scale,
Mark what degrees in each prevail,
And fix the doubtful sway.

The last, best effort of thy skill,
To form the life, and rule the will,
Propitious Pow'r! impart;
Teach me to cool my passions' fires,
Make me the judge of my desires,
The master of my heart.

Raise me above the vulgar breath,
Pursuit of fortune, dread of death,
And all in life that's mean:
Still true to reason be my plan,
And let my actions speak the man,
Through ev'ry varying scene.

Hail, queen of manners! test of truth!
Hail, charm of age, and light of youth!
Sweet refuge of distress!

E'en business you can make polite,
Can give retirement its delight,
Prosperity its grace.

Of pow'r, wealth, freedom, thou the cause,
Foundress of order, cities, laws,

Of arts inventress thou!

Without thee, what were human kind!

How vast their wants, their thoughts how blind!
Their joys how mean, how few!

Sun of the soul! thy beams unveil !
Let others spread the daring sail
On fortune's faithless sea:
While undeluded, happier I
From the vain tumult timely fly,

And sit in peace with thee.

MATHEMATICAL STUDIES.

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LESSON 7.

Usefulness of Mathematical Studies.

Axioms, maxims, self-evident propositions.

Anal'ogy, resemblance--see Hedge's or Jamieson's Logic. Physics, natural philosophy, or the doctrine of natural bodies, their various appearances, affections, motions, operations, &c. Of all the sciences which serve to call forth the spirit of enterprise and inquiry, there is none more eminently useful than mathematics. By an early attachment to these elegant and sublime studies we acquire a habit of reasoning, and an elevation of thought, which fixes the mind, and prepares it for every other pursuit. From a few simple axioms, and evident principles, we proceed gradually to the most general propositions, and remote analogies: deducing one truth from another in a chain of argument well connected and logically pursued; which brings us at last, in the most satisfactory manner, to the conclusion, and serves as a general direction in all our inquiries after truth.

Mathematical learning is likewise equally estimable for its practical utility. Almost all the works of art and devices of man, have a dependence upon its principles, and are indebted to it for their origin and perfection. The cultivation of these admirable sciences is therefore a thing of the utmost importance, and ought to be considered as a principal part of every well regulated plan of education. They are the guide of our youth, the perfection of our reason, and the foundation of every great and noble undertaking.

Mathematics are very properly recommended as the best remedy to cure an unsteady and volatile disposition. They teach us to reason in a clear and methodical manner. They give a manly vigour to our understanding, and free us from doubt and uncertainty on the one hand, and credulity and rash presumption on the other. These studies are calculated to teach exactness and perspicuity in definition, connexion and conclusiveness in argument, carefulness in observation, patience in meditation; and from no exercises can the scholar go better prepared and disciplined to the pursuit of the higher branches of knowledge. The benefit to be derived from them is thus stated by Mr. Locke: "I have mentioned mathematics as a way to settle in the mind a

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habit of reasoning closely, and in train; not that I think it necessary that all men should be deep mathematicians; but that having got the way of reasoning, to which that study necessarily brings the mind, they might be able to transfer it to other parts of knowledge, as they shall have occasion." Mathematics, according to their proper definition, constitute the science of quantity, either as subject to measure or number. They are pure and mixed. The former consider quantity abstractedly, without any regard to matter or particular bodies; the latter treat of quantity as subsisting in bodies, and consequently they are intermixed with the consideration of physics, or experimental philosophy.

KETT'S Elements of General Knowledge.

QUESTIONS.-1. What habit does an early attention to mathematical studies produce? 2. What is said of their practical utility? 3. What are they calculated to teach? 4. How is the benefit to be derived from them stated by Mr. Locke? 5. Give a definition of mathematics. 6. How do pure mathematics consider quantity? 7. Mixed?

NOTE. Pure mathematics are arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and fluxions: mixed consist chiefly of mechanics, pneumatics, hydro-. statics, optics, and astronomy.

LESSON 8.

Imagination.

We do not merely perceive objects, and conceive or remember them simply as they were, but we have the power of combining them in various new assemblages,-of forming at our will, with a sort of delegated omnipotence, not a single universe merely, but a new and varied universe, with every succession of our thought. The materials of which we form them are, indeed, materials that exist in every mind; but they exist in every mind only as the stones exist shapelessly in the quarry, that require little more than mechanic labour to convert them into common dwellings, but that rise into palaces and temples only at the command of architectural genius. This power of combining our conceptions or remembrances in new assemblages is termed imagination.

The most sublime exertions of imagination are made by

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