The Sun.
London, England, 1802-01-06 00:00:00

REPUBLICAN LY CEU

Tut ts:establishment,'Which has beeoMe celebrated
by 16 years of success, 'has withstood the storms
of the Revolution, and exists almost alone in the
midst of a tempestuous sea, covered with the wrecks
. -of all ancient institutions. Persons of both sexes,
of every tnae, and 'of every denomination, marde-
rive from it whatever knowledge they desire,' as
from a pure and
_abundant spring. Parents find there
the elements of juvenile education,• which from.
the attentions inseparable from several professions,
they have either forgotten. or negleCied. A plain
• and agreeable explanation ef the sciences, induces
them to feel, with greater force, their value. By
this mean, they become more competent to selea
and superintend the tutors who are to supply their
,places towards their children. -Young persons,:
wtiose education has been incomplete, whether from
the errors of the times in which they lived, or
from the ignorance or negligence of their parents,
may be enabled to finish this important work by an
assiduous application to.theicourses. at the Lyceum.
There is another description of persons who, al.
though friendly to the Sciences, recluire their habits
of 610;c-flee and inattention to be excited by ex-,
terior stimulus.. Endued with an happy talent of
apprehension,, yet inanive, they. readily conceive
all the ideas which are presented to them, but they
d.o'not possess the resolution, necessary to their ex:,
citement trom con: rued meditation. While re,
poeing-in their libraries, they. sleep over the most
interesting work, whereas, the Voice Of a ProfesSor
awakens their understandings ; they listen to him
with earnestness-, and thaV he said to- think:with
shit' ,"Such persons standi in need of an hall; a
speaker, and a crowd. Time, Lyceum :affords all
this aoparatiis, so necessary to inenof their temper.,
Where. indeed is to 'be found SO coniyle;e'ao union
of advantages ? Able-Professors; a public; library,
.journalse ineehaniealinstrumeris, ColleetiCins in na-
tural history, and a society :of men ofletters. We
might mention a number of oilier persons, 'fir whose
use every. thing necessary is provided., It Inis been
said, that few persons love truth for its e•en sake;
the_ sante waif ,be said of science, which is. only
the expression`
_of truth. To gratify' the Ladies,.
-Science appears, at the. sittings of the Lyceum,
robed in her'most splendid
_attire; and surrounded
by all the deCorations' of her toilette*: Books,
machines, models, the numerous attendants who
compose her suite, and ,giVe an air of 'a Couer,i-
Which fascinates her partizans, and obtains her an
aseendaney'over the Most-indifferent minds. 'ln her
halls or anti-ehambers, her attributeseare -discussed
in the liveliest manner, and hen ministers are tx-
poied to the
.criticism of her subjeits.
The discussions ‘vhielt sometimes fond* the close'
of the sittings, afford a Settle as interesting as the
sit tings .themselves. The vivacity of -the eoriver_
. sation emits sparks which enlighten the mind. The
Silent and impartial hearer -derives profit froin them;
he obtains elucidations Which the limits of a discourSe,
preclude a Professor from giving, and .he retires
more-satisfied and improved in.his.intelled.
•
-We shall give a detail of whatever 'is most
Westing at these 3i
•
• During the Sitting of the tub Frimaire,.I7EOE-
RANDO defended' the Rights of .Man againstaheir
detrain ors : In. that of the 22d, he read an Essay on
Attention, which completely.fixed the attention of
the audience. The nature, Me qualities, and the
effeas of this faculty were explained with a clear-
ness and precision, as rare as they .are difficult in
metaphysics. The professor showed. the similarity
of Kant's dodrine on Ideas and those of Locke, and
he proved, that the partizans of those. two Philo-
sophers differed on no other ground than their ig-
norance of the theory of the latter, While treat-,
ing of those, minds, whose slight attention carries
them no further than to skim over the stiperficies of.
things, without penetrating into their interior, he
drew an ingenious and just parallel between the in-
habitants of, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
The fOrmer; capable Of a strong and continuedatten-
tion, are better,calculated for the talent of Teven.
tion, and have more genius n, the latter, endued
with the nicest sensibility, imMediately discover a
'thousand minutia:, without inierruPtingaliCi-r pro:
grea:ss, are: better calculated to perfett_ and in„,'
peovei nnd, therefiste, possess' greater- ingenuity:
Women are classed among the latter and so is
Voltaire.
He quoted the following paSsage ffotn-Bnffon,
" Genius is nothing 'but Patience,"- and be his ex-
, Petition,: gave,-it. it proper meaning.' Its is certain
that -theefforts of genius, when it is necessary to call
them, into aCiion, imply a strong and continued -at-
tention; hart, without. a peculiar disposition of the
organs,• the 'attention 4nd.patietsce- of an" age will
' neY4 invent any
strrt NG- QF E A3p,—Fo.trttcßoy explitined the
first: principles of Chemistry, His ides follow
eachother so naturally, the arrangement of his sent:
fences, even es' temppre,, is so happy, that every one
who, hears him, imagines.-he could speak in the
same Manner, an that things qvite novel appear to
have been known for ages past. The primarypro-
perties of Colour were the' principal objeCts of this
Sitting. He disputed Newton's opinion concerning
the-division of Light, and explained., conformably
to the .ifoaripcs of Eviler, the phenomenon of the
variet'y of cal Ours -prodUeed, by the prism. It is not
the effea of a division of the rays of light, but of •
a difference in their velocity. The course of Four..
ern): is rendered highly interesting- by his natural
digressions, -and ingenious applications Of the prin-
ciples of Chemistry to our daily circumstances. He

.* With submission to the French; we, sober, cloud-covered
Britons cannot avoid thinking, that tiiis.coinpari4on between
a Fiitich Lady at h..!; dressing-tz:1;le, an{! Science, the peti;:i-.'c
progeny of Heaven, savours not little of the
Batbgl., it it be rlot perfectly ludictotts. Besides, •the".simile
is incotreet. .Boi-ks, machines, and modcis, which are the
• instiutnents,by •thii Tan h;: or i better hAtiguage, Nam re,
is 'to /he investigated, -bear
„nu tesmilila6Ce wh.irever
washes, gallipote,,roul;e, and furbelo, tAy' only
ditOrrnity, but Isiaturc itself iity, m s couton)./-coni.fealba &inn 'the
sight. •
t This expression is Anti- facobinical. The Author's eye,
in a fine phreoLy rolling„, scents to. give a. wisttql squint on
that ancient ender. which Science was pationizt and
prospifed for akes.