Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1820-09-19

protested, you can tamely lose an oppor-
tunity which is the boon Of Divine
hand, and may, by active Improvement,
cause the fruits Of art and science to be
poured out in unknown abundance from
a cornucopia Of unceasing plenty.-If
the sons and daughters of your rising
Columbia, possess feelings for their
country which vibrate in unison with
those Of citizen of the world, not a
heart indifferent, to the voice of patriot
ism--yes, the patriotism of man--of
country--of future ages, will command
attention with sovereign call. The eX-
tent, capacity and resources of land
crowned with blessings will appear as if
presented to view by the hand of your
national guardian angel, while rising
maiestically before you, reckoning to
active excrtion, and saying this is the
time for the welfare of the world and its
increasing millions--for the glory of the
God of your fathers--that you should
erect your affairs TO his honor, who hath
done SO much for you Affairs and tenn
plcs--in which all that love knowledge
and honor their God, may behold with
instruction and delight the beauties Of
his works, and call with the sweet singer
of Israel on the rocks and mountains to
praise him, ofwhose greatness and good
ness there is no end. Now may the
children OF those men who first i1oatcd
the banner Of national liberty over the
ENTHUSIASTICALLY round the standard
of their intellectual greatness, and I'll! UP
with iliustrious characters the yet I'M
written volumes of your literary and
scientific glory"
But before | presume to lift finger
TO point the road to this eminence, the
very thought Of which moves with de-
light every power of my mind, allow me
to say, have not to submit to thy atten-
ton one imhorted thought, except in
matters of illustrative facts. am only
giving you back your own, in Offering
suggestions which are of American
origin; l may call them the growth Of
your soil. They have sprung up and
matured in my mind since first trod
your shores. Bave originated in all
heart formed in many ways to seek the
welfare of its fellow immortals. They
were presented to my mind while ell
gagged in expanding and chcrishing
among fifty thousand ofyour citizens the
love Of general education. Indeed, l
shall be richly rewarded if these hints
should prove indigenous to the future
welfare Of your children, rising in peace
and loneliness around your tables.
To exemplly my object, shall be
compelled to Suhhose some measures
realized, that my friendly reader may
Judge whether the end be commensurate
with the expectations already eXited;
and in the sequel, to demonstrate that
the means are easy. Economy, the lead
ing feature of magnificent national de-
sign-the expense in fact, only few re-
moves from nonentity. The love Of
science and your country, the only prin-
ciple of action, which will crown with
success a great undcrtaking-one which
| ought to feel myself authorized in sup
posing principle as common in this
country as the air we breathe or the earth
on which we tread.
To this principle ofptre patriotism is
to be added the power Of accumulation
even with small means. A power which
must become wonderful and mighty,
when the hearts and minds of the leaders
of your millions shall call into general
action those feelings which, if | am not
greatly mistaken, it is the wish of the
nation to cherish and expand.
This country abounds with the i'm
mensc riches of nature the botanical
part Of these collected by specimens into
any one or more places, would exhibit
concentration ofthe materials for this de-
partment of knowledge which must stand
unrivalled in the face of all nations, if
the contribution of articles were but
comhletely made from one extremity of
the union to the other. In the e1tent OF
a national collection, embracing every
tribe and variety of plants, the benefit
would only be equalled by the magni-
tude of the collection; but what "trea-
sures untold" would be conferred on the
farmer, gardner and physician--what
magnificent scenery would it present to
the student of nature and the man of
scientific research, were specimens OF
every soil, and growth collected to-
gether? In like manner, what noble
counterpart would be presented to view,
the combination and analysis to which
earths might be subjected, would open
new prospects of nature to the expert
mental philosopher, and tend to perfect