is the word of life, the harvest, the end of the world, and the reapers, angels? If you were going to navigate the ocean, you would wish to know how to judge of the ship, to sail and steer; 5 you would inquire about the currents that would set you from your course, and the winds that should bear you onward; you would learn to trace the moon's course among the stars, and to look aloft to the sun in his path, that you might not drift at random on the broad sea, but 10 speed towards your desired haven, as if you could see it rising before you above the blue waves. Šo much you would do that you might convey in safety a few tons of merchandise; and all men would hold you unwise if you did less. Shall they not tax you with worse than folly, if 15 you make less preparation when your ship is the human soul, freighted with a parent's and a nation's hopes,—with the hopes of immortality, if you fail to study the currents of passion, to provide against the rocks of temptation, and to look aloft for the guiding light which shines 20 only from Heaven. But, to speak without simile, the study of mental philosophy is of the greatest importance to a teacher, in every point of view. If we would exercise the several powers, we must know what they are, and by what discipline they 25 are to be trained. If we would cultivate them harmoniously, in their natural order and proportion, we must know which of them first come into action, which are developed at a later age, and what are the province and functions of each. Without this knowledge, we can 30 hardly fail of losing the most propitious times for beginning their cultivation; we shall make the common mistake of attempting certain studies too soon, or we shall make use of means little suited to the ends we have in view. 35 Important as this study is, it is no more difficult than any other, if, in regard to it, we take the same course which we find the true one in other investigations,-if, laying aside conjectures, dreams, and speculations, we adopt the safe and philosophical rule, to observe carefully 40 and extensively the facts, and draw from them only their legitimate conclusions. There are three sources from which we are to draw light; first, the facts of our own consciousness, the most difficult of all to consult; second, the facts we observe in the mental growth of others, especially of children; and last, the great storehouse of recorded facts contained in the works of those, who, directly or indirectly, have written upon this subject. LESSON CXVIII.-EDUCATION.-DR. HUMPHREY. [From an Inaugural Address delivered at Amherst College.] Convened as we are this day, in the portals of science and literature, and with their arduous heights, and profound depths, and Elysian fields before us, education offers itself as the inspiring theme of our present medita5 tions. This, in a free, enlightened, and Christian state, is confessedly a subject of the highest moment. How can the diamond reveal its lustre from beneath incumbent rocks and earthly strata? How can the marble speak, or stand forth in all the divine symmetry of the human form, 10 till it is taken from the quarry, and fashioned by the hand of the artist? And how can man be intelligent, happy, or useful, without the culture and discipline of education? It is this that smooths and polishes the roughnesses of his nature. It is this, that unlocks the prison-house of his 15 mind, and brings out the captive. It is the transforming hand of education, which is now, in so many heathen lands, moulding savageness and ignorance, pagan fanaticism, and brutal stupidity, revenge, and treachery, and lust, and, in short, all the warring elements of our lapsed 20 nature, into the various forms of exterior decency, of mental symmetry, and of Christian loveliness. It is education that pours light into the understanding, lays up its golden treasures in the memory, softens the asperities of the temper, checks the waywardness of passion and appetite, and 25 trains to habits of industry, temperance, and benevolence. It is this, which qualifies men for the pulpit, the senate, the bar, the art of healing, and the bench of justice. It is to education, to its domestic agents, its schools and colleges, its universities and literary societies, that the world 30 is indebted for a thousand comforts and elegancies of civilized life, for almost every useful art, discovery, and invention. In a word, education, regarding man as a rational, accountable, and immortal being, elevates, expands, and 35 enriches his mind; cultivates the best affections of his heart; pours a thousand sweet and gladdening streams around the dwellings of the poor, as well as the mansions of the rich; and while it greatly multiplies and enhances the enjoyments of time, helps to train up the soul for the bliss of eternity. LESSON CXIX.-PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.-EDWARD EVERETT [From an Address before the Mass. Mechanic Association.] Besides all that may be hoped for, by the diligent and ingenious use of the materials for improvement, afforded by the present state of the arts, the progress of science teaches us to believe, that principles, elements, and 5 powers, are in existence and operation around us, of which we have a very imperfect knowledge, perhaps no knowledge whatever. Commencing with the mariner's compass, in the middle ages, a series of discoveries have been made, connected 10 with magnetism, electricity, galvanism, the polarity of light, and the electro-magnetic phenomena, which are occupying so much attention at the present day, all of which are more or less applicable to the useful arts, and which may well produce the conviction that, if, in some 15 respects, we are at the meridian, we are, in other respects, in the dawn of science. In short, all art is a creation of the mind of man;-an essence of infinite capacity for improvement. And it is of the nature of every intelligence, endowed with such a 20 capacity, however mature in respect to the past, to be at all times, in respect to the future, in a state of hopeful infancy. However vast the space measured behind, the space before is immeasurable; and though the mind may estimate the progress it has made, the boldest stretch of 25 its powers is inadequate to measure the progress of which it is capable. Let me say, then, PERSEVERE. Do any ask what you have done, and what you are doing, for the public good? Send them to your exhibition rooms, and let them see the 30 walls of the Temple of American Liberty,* fitly covered with the products of American art. And while they gaze, with admiration, on these creations of the mechanical arts of the country, bid them remember that they are the productions of a people, whose fathers were told by the 35 British ministry, they should not manufacture a hob-nail. Does any one ask, in disdain, for the great names who *Faneuil Hall. have illustrated the mechanic arts; tell him of Arkwright and Watt, of Franklin, of Whitney and Fulton, whose memory will dwell in the grateful recollections of posterity, when the titled and laureled destroyers of mankind 5 shall be remembered only with detestation. Mechanics of America, respect your calling, respect yourselves. The cause of human improvement has nc firmer, or more powerful friends. In the great temple of nature, whose foundation is the earth,-whose pillars are 10 the eternal hills,-whose roof is the star-lit sky,-whose organ-tones are the whispering breeze and the sounding storm,-whose architect is God, there is no ministry more noble than that of the intelligent mechanic! LESSON CXX.-PURPOSE OF THE BUNKER-HILL MONUMENT.- We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious actions is most safely deposited in the universal remembrance of mankind. We know, that if we could cause this structure to ascend, not only till it reached the skies, but till it 5 pierced them, its broad surfaces could still contain but part of that, which, in an age of knowledge, hath already been spread over the earth, and which history charges itself with making known to all future times. We know, that no inscription on entablatures less broad than the 10 earth itself, can carry information of the events we commemorate, where it has not already gone; and that no structure, which shall not outlive the duration of letters and knowledge among men, can prolong the memorial. But our object is, by this edifice, to show our own deep 15 sense of the value and importance of the achievements of our ancestors; and, by presenting this work of gratitude to the eye, to keep alive similar sentiments, and to foster a constant regard for the principles of the revolution. Human beings are composed not of reason only, but o 20 imagination also, and sentiment; and that is neither wasted nor misapplied which is appropriated to the purpose of giving right direction to sentiments, and opening proper springs of feeling in the heart. Let it not be supposed, that our object is to perpetuate 25 national hostility, or even to cherish a mere military spirit. It is higher, purer, nobler. We consecrate our work to the spirit of national independence, and we wish that the light of peace may rest upon it forever. We rear a memorial of our conviction of that unmeasured benefit, which has been conferred on our own land, and of the happy influences, which have been produced, by the 5 same events, on the general interests of mankind. We come, as Americans, to mark a spot, which must forever be dear to us and our posterity. We wish that whosoever, in all coming time, shall turn his eye hither, may behold that the place is not undistinguished, where 10 the first great battle of the revolution was fought. We wish that this structure may proclaim the magnitude and importance of that event, to every class and every age. We wish that infancy may learn the purpose of its erection from maternal lips, and that wearied and withered 15 age may behold it, and be solaced by the recollections which it suggests. We wish that labor may look up here, and be proud, in the midst of its toil. We wish that, in those days of disaster, which, as they come on all nations, must be expected to come on us also, desponding 20 patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured, that the foundations of our national power still stand strong. We wish that this column, rising towards heaven, among the pointed spires of so many temples dedicated 25 to God, may contribute also to produce, in all minds, a pious feeling of dependence and gratitude. We wish, finally, that the last object on the sight of him who leaves his native shore, and the first to gladden his who revisits it, may be something which shall remind him of the 30 liberty and the glory of his country. Let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming; let the earliest light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play on its summit. 5 CXXI. THE AMERICAN FLAG.-J. R. DRAKE. When Freedom from her mountain height |