Newspaper Page Text
No. 34. Vol. V.]
ifR. HUMPHREY’S INAUGURAL AD
DRESS.
( Continued .)
The second great branch of education is
tjmtellectual; and this, it must be confessed
’•jf vastly more important and difficult than
4beyirsf. It is the intelligent and imtnor-
Jfsl mind, which pre-eminently distinguish
Mbs man from the countless forms of animat
ed nature around him. It is this, which
ot only gives him dominion over them
fill; but raises him to an alliance with an
iols; and through grace, to converse with
xaod himself. Mysterious emanation of the
Divinity! Who can measure its capacity,
Or set bounds to its progression in knowl
edge ?
B But t his intelligent and immortal pijnci-
HRe, which we call mind, is not created in
Iwll strength and maturity. As the body
Sfcsses slowly through infancy and child
|S)nd, s<> does the mind. Feeble at first, it
dferows with the growth aod strengthens
£®'b the strength’ of the corporeal system.
Mb smote alike ol knowledge at their birth,
rap children of one family, or generation,
have, in this resppet, no advantage over
those of {mother. All, the high as well as
th* low, the rich as vvell as the poor, have
6% rv thii gto learn. No one was ever
J|nrn a Newton, or an Edwards. It is pa
tient, vigo <*oll9 and long continued applica
tion that n lakes the great mind. All must
begin with the simplest elements ofknowl
edge, and advance from step to step w
nearly the same manner. Thus native to!
oent in a chi Id, may be compared to the
‘if mail capit and with which a young merchant
begins in it ade. It is not his fortune, but
ftnly the mi mns of making it. Or it may be
‘-likened to t quarry of fine marble, or to a
Hpiine of the precious metals. The former,
ftpver starts up spontaneously into Cyprian
■Genuses—n or does the latter, of its own ac-
Hord, assumi 1 the shape and value of a shin-
Big current - .; v. Much time and labour ami
■kill are ret piisite, to fashion the graceful
■tatne, and to refine apd stamp the yellow
■reasure.
I In every system of education, two things
Should be I ept steadily in view; —first , that
■he mind itself is to be formed -, is to be
■rndually expanded and strengthened into
fcigorous u nnhood, by the proper exercise
■if it? face Ities ; and secondly, that it is to
■he enrich ‘>d and embellished with various
Sknowledg 9. In practice, however, these
■two thief ;< cannot be separated. For at
.the si.ni time, that the plastick hand of
educativ’ n is strengthening and enlarging
j.jthe mill I, by subjecting it to severe and
Ijometi't ies painful discipline, this very ex
ercise, is continually enriching it with new
4|nd important ideas. Thus, to illustrate
tjhe poiint by a plain similitude, we do not,
.’■when • ve begin with the child, find the in-
Bllect'nal temple already built and waiting
to be furnished ; but we have got to
Inv th< foundation, and carry up the walls,
Jiud fai hion the porticos and arches, while
jape art carving the ornaments, and bring-
Big in all that is requisite to finish the edi
fice at id furnish the apartments. That,
then, (oust obviously he the best system of
ytnentiil education, which does most to de
velops and strengthen the intellectual pow
ers, and which pours into the mind the
richest streams of science and literature.
The object of teaching should nove,r he, to
jSfcxcu-e the student from thinking and rea
soning; hut to learn him how to think end
■season. You can never make your on.
or yniir pupil a scholar, by drawing his
diagrams, measuring his angles, finding
eut his equations and translating his Majo
ra. No. He must do all these things for
himself. It ts his own application that is to
>£ive him distinction. It is cliifibing the hill
*f science by dint of effort and persever
'llloo and not being carried up on other
“jilen’s shoulders.
Let every youth, therefore, early settle
Bin his mind, that if lie would ever he any
thing, he has got to make himself; or in oth
er words, (0 rise by personal application
fßel him always try his own strength, and
ji effectually, before he is allowed so
iJfe'&l upon Hercules. Put him first upon
■b|s own invention; send him back again
and again to the resources of his own mind,
. |||d m ike him feel, that there is nothing too
ba'd lor industry and perseverance to ac
complish. In In? early and timid flights,
let him know that stronger pinions are
liear and ready to sustain him, but only in
4&isa of absolute necessity. When in the
roamed paths of science, difficulties which
slle cannot surmount impede his progress,
‘ Ijpt him be helped over them; but never,
.;*•( him think of being led, when he has
slower to walk without help, nor of carry
ing his ore to another’s furnace, when he
Xui melt it down in his own. To excuse
Cue young men from painful mental labour,
in a course of liberal education, would be
about as wise, as to invent easier cradle
springs for the conveyance of our children
so school, or softer cushions for them to sit
on at home, in order to promote their
licowth and give them vigorous conslitu
|ons. By adopting such methods, in the
Kfooni of those distinguished men. to whom
live have been accustomed to look forsound
Ktprary and theological instruction; for
Srise laws aod the able admmislration of
Ksticc, our pulpits and courts and proses
the missionary.
MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK COUNTY,
sorshipsand halls of legislation, would soon
be filled, or rather disgruced, by a succes
sion of Weak and rickety pretenders
la this view of (he subject, it becomes a
very nice not to say difficult question, how
tar it is expedient to simplify elementary
books in our primary schools; but more
especially, in the advanced stages of a lib
eral education. I am aware, that much
may he said in favour of the simplest and
easiest lessons for children; and‘l freely
admit, that several elementary writers of
the present day, are entitled to much credit
(or what they have done in this humble,
(hough highly important sphere. I am
convinced, however, that even here the
simplifying process has been carried too
far. 1 lie learner, in many case?, receives
too much assistance from hi author. Lit
tle or nothing is left him to find out by his
own study and ingenuity. His feelings are
interested and his memory is taxed ; buthis
judgment is not called into exercise; his
invention is not put to the test, and of
course, his mimbdoes not grow.
Moreover; too many, who would he
thought student? ot a distinguished rank, by
having their abridgments and elemen l * and
conversations and other patented stern-’
type continually before them, early imbibe
toe per-ua-ion, ilfat almost any science mav
he mastered in a few weeks ; and, of course,
that the time which used to be spent upon
languages, the matbematicks and other
branches ot a pqhtick education, was little
better than thrown away. Even m oOr
Colleges, sad partly I am apt think from
the same cause, there is much complaint of
needless prolixity and obscurity, in some
nf the larger classical book?. It seems to
he granted, that every thing should lie made
as plain and easy for the learner as possible.
Hence, to he held in check during a long
and painful hour or more, by a single pro*
position in Euclid, is considered eu intoier
able hardship by those, who dislike nothing
so much as close productive thinking. It
seems never to have occurred to
minds, that this is the very kind of exercise,
which is indispensable, to give scope and
energy’ to (he intellectual powers.
In itself considered, it would be very
agreeable, no doubt, to master conick sec
tions, quadratick equations, sphericks and
fluxions, nil in n month. Rut if tUt* could
he done, the student would lose incompara
bly more, than he copld possibly gain by
the saving of time and labour. He would
los'e all the advantage wtiich he now de
rives, from a long course of severe mentui
discipline. Indeed, could all ihe fields of
science and literature be. explored in a few
week?, or months; could some new meth
od be iuvented to supersede the necessity
ofhard study altogether, joe consequences
would be truly deplor&.e. That hour
would mark the boundaries of human im
provement. From that moment, the march
of mind would retrograde. Within one
generation, there would be no giants, left
in the earth; for how con'd the race he
perpetuated, without the aliment which
has in time past added so many cubits to
their stature ? Once release man from the
necessity of bringing his powers into vigo
rous action, and nothing could prevent him
from sinking into sloth and imbecility.
Let me here, in connexion with the fore
going remark?, offer a few thoughts upon
the method of teaching by lectures; a mode
which is so highly and deservedly popular
in the most flourishing institutions of our
couutry, as well ns in all Ihe foreign Univer
sities. Without lecturers, in various branch
es of science, no College could maintain a
respectable standing for a single year; and
it is greatly to be wished, that more profes
sorships might he founded in most of our
[niblick seminaries. But even here, there
are certain limits, beyond which it would
not be wise, nor safe so go. It is easy to
see, that so much nf a four years residence
in College, might betaken up in hearing
lectures, as to leave but little time for hard
study. Nor is this all. When a young
man knows, that he is surrounded by distin
guished professors,-who are all the while
thinking and writing for his benefit, he will
be apt to excuse himself from close appli
cation, and to rest contented with what he
can take down, nr remember in the Lec
ture-room. This arises from that kind of
vis inertia, which must be reckoned among
the laws of our fallen nature. We are, for
the most part, so extremely averse to men
tal effort, that if We can find substitutes to
trim the midnight lamp, we shall employ
them, even in spite of conscience and our
belter judgment. Who is there that would
not prefer taking as many eagles as he
wants from the hands of the coiner, to
bringing np the ore from the dark caverns
of Potosi, and carrying it through the mint
by the sweat of his own brow ? Let every
student, then, be 00 his guard ag unit those
temptations to indolence, which lurk be
neath some of his highest privileges. Let
him be thankful for the assistance of able
professors, but let him depend more upon
his own industry than upon (hem. It were
better for a young roaD never to hear a lec
ture in College, than to estimate his attain
ments by the amount of instruction which
he receives, rather than by his own dili
gence and success in study.
I cannot dismiss the present topick, with
out adverting to the new modes of itinerant
o f a., , e , ti3Po , itioDg aPd bS/a
lecturing , which are becoming f-xlremoly
fashionable in various parts of our country.
T o condemn them in the gross, would he
doing injustice to some individuals of distin
guished merit; for it cannot be denied, that
they have reduced much valuable informa:
tion, to a cheap and portable form, and have
in this way contributed to diffuse a taste for
science and literature among all classes of
people. These are honourable excep
tions; but what shall we say of those pe
dabtick smatterers in every thing, who are
coming up upon the breadth of the land;
whose advertisements stare os in the face
from a thousand hand hills and ne^s-papers;
who are ready to promise, and ifjyon please,
to bind themselves for a very trifling coo
sideration, not only to point lout a much
shorter road, than even a roytil one, to the
temple of fame, but to conduct ifeir marvel
ling followers of the very pinn-.cle, before
the disciples of Bacon, Newtoi and Reid
can fairly begin to rise, by the atr.ient steep
and rugged path. What need according
to these wonderworking teaefers, of six,
or ten years study, when they an lay open
all the arena of science in has as many
weeks or evenings ! Nay so fir is this lit
erary necromancy sometimes (arried, that
even a single Ipcture is expeted to do
more for the awe stricken tyro, than he
could gain bv months of the closest applica
tion in the old way. While I repeal to your
own observation, for the correctness of this
statement, I am far from wishing to hold up
any meritorious individual, to pnblick re
probation, or contempt. Let every one
receive the just reward of his ingenuity and
usefulness. Equally foreign is it from my
oresent design, to represent all attempts at
improvement, in the methods of teaching,
-is visionary and hopeless. I believe, ob
ihe contrary, that great improvements ate
vet to be made, and that even now, writing,
geography and some other branches, ire
much more advantageously taught than
they were twenty years ago. But 1 have
no hesitation in pronouncing, a great part
•f jwhat is pompously slyled lecturing , upon
natural philosophy, chemisiry. as'fonotny.
history, mnemonicks and the like, the mysi
rrant quackery, that ever disgraced the
records of learning in Ne w England. It is
(be mere froth and sediment— or, shall 1
•ot rather sav, it is the sulphurated hydrogen
>od carbon ich acid of science'.a tut literature.
s <> far is it from raising the gineral standard
of education, that its direct tendency is to
discourage application, to foder pedantry,
and to beget a general contempt for that
long and tedioils process, hi which men
have hitherto risen to eminence in general
‘’'’ ■ “ivledge, arid in all the Itarned profes
sions.
I do not however mention hese time and
hook and labour saving expedients, as if
there was any very serious cause of alarm
fmm this quarter. Thestj Protean forms
>f literary quackery, cannot hold the as
cendency long in any enlightened commu
nity. Aod in sjide of their present cUims
to puhlick favour, it cannot be doubted,
that intellectual education, in most of its
branches, is steadily on the advance.
Great light, has within the last thirty years,
been thrown upon the science of mind, and
the present ardour of philosophical specu
lation, promises still more brilliant results.
There is, upon (lie whole, a steady and
•nighty advance in Ihe great empire of
cultivated intellect, which we trust nothing
will prious|y impede, and to which no defi
nite I mits can be assigned.
In connexion with this part of our subject,
or rather in continuation of it, 1 cannot help
calling your attention for a moment, to
those rapid and splendid conquests of gen
eral science, which shed uch a glory upon
the age in which we live. What scholas
tick entrenchment is there which she has
not carried—what moss-grown battlement
on which she has not planted her standard ?
What height is there which she has not sur
veyed—what depth has she not explored?
What desert of sand, or snow, has she not
traversed—what arctick sea or strait has
she not navigated—what- ice of four thou
sand winters has she not seen—what moun
tain or heavenly parallax has she not mens
ured—what mineral has escaped her search
—what stubborn resistances in the great
field of experiment, has she not overcome—
what substance has she not found means to
break, or fuse, or solve, or convert into
gas?
It is indeed wonderful to think, how the
boundaries of human knowledge are by the
aid, and under the directing eye of human
intellect, extending in every direction.
Every camp that is lighted for the purpose
of discovery in one apartment, sheds a por
tion of its radiance upon some other, or
perhaps upon many others at the same
time: and thus, by the intermingling and
reflection of rays from so many points, the
progress .of discovery is greatly and increas
ingly facilitated. Objects which fifty years
ago were scarcely visible in the (lim hori
zoo, are now left by its retrocession far
within the vast circumference. The ever
busy hand of experiment is daily laying
open new wonders and making new discov
eries in air, earth and water. Some of the
great agents of nature, which had been at
work in secret fsom the foundation ef* the
world, have recently been detected in their
mysterious operation, and made subservient
to the health md convftience of man.
Science has gcaled those awful barriers,
which Ipss than o century ago, it would
have been thought the height of madness
and impiety to attempt; and she is DOW SlJC
cessfully exploring far wider regions beyond,
ihab were ever included in her ancient do
minions. I bus while the astronomer is
polishing his glasses, finding out the longi
tude, watching the return of (he comets,
and looking for new constellations in the
blue depths ol ether, the mechanical philos
opher is lengthening his levers, perfecting
his screws and pullies, and combining and
concentrating all the prodigious energies
of fire and water. And last, but not least,
the chemist is rejoicing in the midst of his
newly discovered attraction*,
antipathies; and if in subjecting every
known substance to his acids, his blow-pipe
and his deflagrator, he has not yet convert
ed the baser metals into gold, he seems to
be in a (air way, at least, of transmuting
charcoal into diamonds.*
The train ot our meditations, falls in so
naturally here, with the following bright
and philosophical anticipations of a distin
guished writer, that I shall offer no apology
for laying them before you in bis own
words. Speaking of the progressive im
provement of the human race, he mentions
by way of example, the history of ma
thematical science in which the advan
ces of discovery may lie measured with
greater precision than in any other.
“ Those elementary truths of geometry
aod of nstrooomy,” he remarks, “ which,
in India and Egypt, formed an occult set
once, upon which an ambitious priesthood
founded its influence, were become, in the
times of Archimedes and Hipparchus, the
subjects of common education in the puhlick
schools of Greece. In the last century, a
few years of study were sufficient for com
prehending all that Archimedes and Hip
parchus knew ; and, at present, two year*
employed under an able teacher, carry the
student beyond those conchwiiu?, which
limited the inquiries of Leibnitz and of
Newton. Let any per-mn reflect on these
facts: let him follow the immense chain
which connects the inquiries of Euler with
those of a priest c-f Memphis; let him ob
serve at each epoch, how genius outstrips
the present age, and bow it is overtaken
by mediocrity in the next; he will perceive,
that nature has furnished us with the means
of abridging and facilitating our intellectual
labour, and that there is no reason for ap
prehending that such simplifications can ev
er have an end. He will p<#ceive, that at
the moment when a multitude of particular
solutions, and of insulated facts, begin to
distract the attention, and to overcharge
the memory, the former gradually lose
themselves in one general law; and that
these generalizations, continually succeed
ing ‘ine to another, like the successive mul
tiplications of a number by itself, have no
oiher limit, than that infinity which the
humaß faculties are unable to comprehend.”
How cheering, how ennobling i* Jhis in
tellectual march of our
muet aspire to a place in the ranks, if not
to the honour of bearing a standard ? Who
is there, that will not contribute by every
proper means in his power, to facilitate so
illustrious a march ; to elevate, expand and
strengthen the immortal mind, as it still
presses on in the path of discovery, and
looking upward, pants for a wider range, a
clearer vision, and worthier attainments in
a brighter world ?
* I here allude to some very interesting experi
ments, hy Professor Siilirnan of Yale College, of
which he has given a particidar account, in (he
American Journal of Science and Arts: Vol. V.
and VI.
THE GREEK QUESTION.
House of Representatives , January 19.
The House went into committee of
the whole, Mr. TAYLOR in the chair, on
the resolution some time since offered by
Mr. WEBSTER, which is in the words fol
lowing :
“ Resolved, That provision ought to be made
by law for defraying the expense incident to the
appointment of an Agent, or Commissioner, so
Greece, whenever the President shall deem it ex
pedient to make such appointment.”
The resolution having been read—
Mr. WEBSTER rose and said, that he
was afraid that, so far a” his part was con
cerned, the excited expectations of the pnb
lick mind, on the present occasion, would
be disappointed. It was difficult, on any
occasion that called the. attention to a spot
on the globe so connected with associations
and recollections as Greece, to avoid some
degree of warmth and enthusiasm. Yet,
he was entirely sensible that, in gravely
legislating on the present subject, those
feelings must be chastised. He should en
deavour, in what he had to offer to the
House, to repress such feelings as far a* it
was^ra’cticable: yet, if we would wholly
escape from them, we must fly beyond the
limits of the civilized world; we must go
beyond the limits of social order, the bounds
where laws and knowledge are found ; nay,
we must leave this Hall, before we can
turn away from the memorials of ancient
Greece. What, he asked, is this popular
assembly ? what this free discussion of pnb
lick measures? what this opeD, unreserved
[Price $3 50 per arm.
action of niiod upon mind? what that popu
lar eloquence which, if it were now present
would, on such a theme, shake this hull to
,t3 f e s n, m ? wha( i,re these bus “ich memo
rials ? This magnificent edifice, these col
umns, with their stately proportions, this
fjne architecture by ivhich we are eurroun
ded, what are these but so many wittvesses
of what Greece once was, and what she has
taught us to be? Yet sir, said Mr. Webster
I have not introduced the resolution, now
on your table, with any view towards re
paying aught of the debt, which we, in
common with the civilized world, owe to
that land of science, freedom, arts, and
arms. It i 3 a debt that never can he paid.
Whatever may be our feelings of gratitude
IAP fhnao gifia,
with a view alone to the present state of
the world, and of our relations to it. What
l propose, and what I shall say, has refer
ence to modern, not to ancient Greece to
the living, not to the dead.
I am aware, sir, that it is a very easy
thing to run over common places on the
subject of this resolution : To call it a vis
ionary and Quixotick measure, and to urge
the good old maxim of its being the sound
est policy for each one to take care of his
own concerns. That maxim, sir, is very
true, but very inapplicable to the present
occasion. The question which is now to
be discussed is the American question in re
lation to this affair—what is ii best for us to
do in the present aspect of things respecting
Greece ? And surely, sir, this is a question
that comprehends something more than a
mere pecuniary calculation. Whenever
mv mind turns to that question, I cannot
forget the age I live in, as well as the pecu
liar position of my own country.
Mr. \V. said, he should endeavour, how
ever, to avoid the responsibility of anv ef
fort to change the policy of this Govern
ment towards foreign nations. He approv
ed of the policy at present pursued; he was
satisfied, in this rpspect, with our present
condition. The policy of this Government
is peace, for peace is to us the greatest
source of national increase and aggrandize
ment. The most sanguine projector can
not furnish more brilliant or exalted pros
ppcls.than those which must he realized by
these slates if they can preserve their pa
cilick relations towards the rest of the world.
Tittle, peace, industry, ;q*d the arts, are
raising this government by a certain and
irresistible progress. |; is our true policy,
Mr. W said to grow, not to acquire; w e are
to attain to greatness by internal develop
ment, not by external aerretion—and He
should be the last to turn aside the wise pol
icy of the country from its wonted and
proper channel. But, smd he, that policy,
while it is pacifick, should at the same time,
be liberal; he spoke now, in relation to
those great questions, which are at this
hour agitating Europe and the world, ques
tions which are concerned wherever a na
tion attempts to obtain its freedom—the
question, in a word, between regulated and
unregulated power. Wherever it is dispu
ted, whether a nation shall or shall not pos
sess a constitution, our side of that question
ought to be known and declared; we are
hound to bring in aid of its decision, (bat
moral force which must ever reside in the
opinion of a free and an intelligent nation.
He had said that the policy of this govern
ment was a pacifick hut a liberal policy:
he should endeavour to shew that in both
of these characters it sanctioned the adop
tion ofthp resolution nowon the table.
Mr. Webster here gave a history of the “ Holy
Alliance,” and quoted the declaration of the al
lied sovereigns to prove that this alliance was a
league of “ crowns against the people ; of sover
eigns against their subjects—in a word the union
of the physical force of all governments agair,st
the. rights of the people in all countries .” Ailu
ding to the right assumed by the allied monarch*
to interfere in the internal concerns of any peo
ple who might be disposed to change their form of
government as they had done in the case of Na
ples and Spain, Mr. W. observed
Here then, is a combination which is ex
pressly pledged against all who set such ah
example, a manifesto which sets itself
against the whole course of the human in
tellect—against the character of the age,
and which would bring us back at once to
all the oppression of Ihe feudal system.
Here is doctrine, which no writer, no diplo
matist, which even no courtier, ever thought
of advancing Sir, said Mr. W. it is a fla
grant innovation on the principle* and
practice ol ihe whole civilized world. I
hope, said he, I shell not be considered as
exaggerating thp case. To convince this
House that I state nothing hut the sober
truth, that I draw no inference that the sov
ereigns themselves have not drawn before
me, permit me to refer to an occurrence
that took place at the Congress of Verona.
In a speech made at that Congress, by the
French minister, Chateaubriand, he declar
ed, that, in a personal conversation with the
Emperour of Russia, he had heard that au
gust sovereign utter sentiments, which ap
peared to him so precious, that he immedi
ately hastened home, and wrote them down,
while they were yet fresh in his recollec
tion. The Emperour declared that there
can no longer be u< h a thing as an English,
French, Russian, Piu*sian or Austrian poli
[ cy: there i? henceforth but one policy,