Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1815-11-18
For the alerandria Gasest,.
EDUCATION.

ltne STATESMAN, tue citizen anu the chns
titan, than education. tits one os q
main pillars Of a nations prosperity y, -
LOT individual happiness. Ii Is s
which next to the benign ianuer,s z
christianity possesses the greatest ~
cacy in reducing the wild aad ferocia u.
passions of mankind to the good ord s'
and well being Of civilized life. n.
tknowledgea and the investigation Of tr,S
lbrings with it noble and never ceas;'s
pleasure. So great as the pleasure !
| the traveller is, who ieayes perple,es
and tortuous way, overgrewu with itl,nrn.
and briars, through dismal and ma,s
forest, for an even and luminous raS
or after the darkness Of tie night NJ,
ceiyes the frat rays Of the sun =
great, and far greater still, is the ple,
lsure of him, On whose darkness the 81,
'lof science pours its genial rays. Ia
him nature noy opens her ample pap,
and spreads all her stores. Each stone tone
each mineral, each plant, each animal
each man, the whole material and sm
ritual world, the visible, aud the iuyis.
Ible, the past, present and the fu.ur
the creature and the Creator all charm
all employ the curiosity, the spirit q
observation and enquiry Of the thought.
lful scholar; all shew him arrangements
| in the whole and in the parts; all lead
him to the prime, eternal Source Of Be.
ing, OF life, Of power, of perfection. and
procure him the noblest and the purs
pleasure. -,
1t is false notion that much learning
| is unfavorable to the repose and weIfan
of men and communities. The endless
progress which the human mind is cana.
bic of making in knowledge, shews, that
/ tits the design of our Creator, that ".
should respond to that universal curiosity
which leads us on in the pursuit. And
though {" hills on hills and Alps on Alps
arise" and we never come to TIE terml-
nation of our career, yet we md IN pro- &
portion to our progress, ample reRsnera'
ton, in the pleasures of the mind, ardin
the utility ofour projects. How greatly
have navigation and commerce been be-
tnefitted by astronomical observations!
How much have chemical researches
| contributed tn the Improvement and per.
Election of manufactures and of the heal
ling art! How much are architecture,
tactics, and every species Of mechanica!
! knowledge, indebted to mathematics!
How many productions of nature are IN.
derstood, wrought up, and rendered use.
full TO many important Purposes, by the
industry of the naturalist! What bene.
fetal institutes in common and civil life,
what convenienccs in lodging and turn.
ture, of order and safety, of trade and
barter, are we not indebted to learning,
and particularly to geometry and the
sciences related to it! How much IS
|due to the study sof law, for peass'
and quiet, and to medicine for lite ana
,lheaIth! How much agreeable and USE
|ful knowledge, how many means Of re-
) lined social pleasure, and noble enter.
i tainment, have not been diffused fromall
THESE sources, among all classes and con-
I ditions of men! Compare the condihaA
lof a country where ignorance and super
lstition prevail, with the state OF anotne,,
where learning and sciences flourlsf; anq
1.-THE ferocity, barbarism and misery, o.
1.-The former, will teach us the value Of tias
-leducation which makes US TO diiler -
E How many channels of industry, oil arl'
of Measure, of domestic and social nap
y|piness. are not closed to the former
which run g. disperse themselves tire,
r out orr happy country, bringing lite ana Osl
|actiyity. profit anti satisfaction, into al
Jour borders
I Considered as an auxiliary ofrelgopL'
learning endears itself to cur hopes. we
would Danish forever the false maxlln'
(. that ignorencc is the mother OF devo eve
ltion.'' Religion courts the light, anu
while it derives aid from learning, R.
fleets in return, the highest Iustfe upon
Those who adorn its precepts, hmuaS
Those who have shown as luninarles "
| the literary world, where shall grea's e
names be found than those OF Locke: ~ =
Bacon, of Jones and of Newton: ~ ~ W
1.-THE two former, It may be obser,ea' t'a'
lthey we're both innoyators IN Scent
whilst thegenius ofNewtou earrleal'i'p ''s,,
jtra fammantia monia mund.. f'lese ~, IA
lto their greaf praise, and re may hoi, e e
ltheir lliappiness, devoted m, = re,
their time to the study Of the serli |, H,a
| They applied their knowledge 70 ''l t;e so
Investigation of so important a suIls ssd
| they studied antiquity: they eS la'oey.
| chinese history and Hindu gny'ho'os!'.