Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1822-03-26
iAYE SaRX.
ADDRESS

q OULiEbE Ill Tie DlSlflCl Vi LOluiiiolsts 10
9, 1922; by the President, the Rev. WiNa'",'
Sfaas,ht0ai, ID. ID. Member of the American
Philosophical Society.
MAN, on his entrance on existence, is
g, stranger 10 objects all around hlm.--
With The properties OF bodies, and with
the characters OF animated nature, he be-
comes acquainted, only as his inquiring
senses and lis busy reflections commu-
nicate Information. Unconscious of dan-
ger, he possesses no tear. The fame
that CONSUMES, and the sun that cherishes,
equally entertain him. The polished
10Y and The sharpened steel, alike engage
his grasp With the same eag erness he
drinks the most nourishing Aud and the
aeadli6s. poison. The steep OF the pre-
dipiee aud DC curl OF the surge, contri-
butte o.ty 70 his amusement, II hm, as
to sisi,snt in a foreign country, every
thing is novel. The heavens present
cohcaeS oi nlys,eries, and with the earth
he is as little familiar as he IS with the
powers oi intellect, and vic, the high,
and sacred, and lntermilate dcstinies 70
which his nature is susceptible OF clcva-
explain 10 ain The language OF uaiversal
nature; guide, who shall conduct his
inquiries a,oag the smocti1es. and bri .,tlt-
est path a mcnnor, who shall caution
him against the perplexities Of vice and
error, and point him the road which leads
to honor and virtue-to life and immor-
tally. e@
,,> N &c rac l..
service Fit appears to have been first
undertaken by jehovah himself. The
elements of Language were, probably,
from Divine suggestion. Created nthe
image OF Goa, the prosenltor Oh our spr-
ciesmnst not only have been upright and
holy; but, to considerable extent, have
been blest with an intuitiye capacity of
discovering truth, Independently of the
slow and waverlng process OF observation
and inference. When probably, at most,
his lamp OF existence had burned but
few days, 0the Lord God" brought
every beast 0! tne field, aud every fowl
of the air unto Adam, to see what ne
would call them" Yet, 50 accurate
were the names assigned 10 the animals
descriptive, it Is likely, of their dispo-
sitions and habits, that g whatsoever
Adam called every living creature, lnat
was the name thereof" But, through
what channels, and to what extent soever
the Divine Majesty impaired knowledge
to. our common pal nt, Ia relation to the
ordinary modes and pursuits of popular
education, man is ordained &c be the in
structer Of man.
Nations have, in some instances as
sumed the instruction of youth. Minos
decreed that the Cretans, in their several
cities, should subsist on the same ali
ment, eat at the same table, and be edu
Gated together in the same exercises,
arts, and maxims. He endeavored TO
inspire the youth with persuasion that
the laws were divine. Plato processes to
admire the attempt, without admitting
that such an insinuation was calculated
to abridge inquiry and to immortalize
mistake. In the jurisprudence of every
country, many duties will be found to
have been omitted, and many crimes I'M
chastised. During the Persian monarchy
the sentiment was enforced, that children
are the property Of the state In early
life they were taught to hurl the javelin,
! and 10 draw the bow. As years advance
ed, they were directed to hunt in the
forests, to acquire the habit Of watchtul-
ness by keeping guard by night, and to
learn obedience to military orders, by a
servile attention to their governors
From twenty five years ofage until fifty,
thew fought the battles of'their country
after which they were regarded as its
councillors aid statesmen
Lycurgus, deriving perhaps from
Crete the same idea, claimed the chit
dren Of Sparta as the property ofthe Re-
public. Mechanical arts were consider
cd the business ofslaves. The sciences
were banished, as tending to enervate the
energies Of the mind. To obey the COM
mands of their superiors, TO endure With
out complaint the seyerest hardships, and
to conquer or perish in the field, were
prime attachments. No monuments Of
Spartan genius and taste are to be found
and for the fact that their government
ever existed, the world is indebted TO the
pages of their enemies. Most inhuman
was the statute of the legislator OF Ly-
coma, that only strong and well-propor-
l,sipned children should be permitted to