Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1826-04-01

iHB ahd Ahat al wv biSot ph'o'NP"SASl
poets, statesmen and divlnes who have
flourished on the earth, once learned
their alphabet. And if SO much can be
accomplished in SO short time, from SO
small beginning, and in so limited
sphere of observation: he is ready to
conclude that there is scarcely any limit
to the knowledge and expansion OF IN
tellect which may be obtained, at some
future period, by the same beings.
For the certainty of that which PA
to supposed, and Cato desired, we are
indebted to that revelation which has
" brought life and IMMoRTALITYtol light,
My proposition is, that the good OF the
human race, will Progress in knowledge,
in holiness, and in happiness, for ever.
We see something analogous to ii, in
almost every thing on earth. The little
acorn, planted in the earth, in process OF
time becomes ponderous oak. The
towering eagle and the levialhan OF the
deep, were once contained in the little
egg. The huge elephant himself pro-
ceeded from a small beginning.
But it may be objected that these ana
logies are against my theory, as all We
getables and animals, when arrived at
certain degree Of perfection, cease grow
ing, and presently decay and die. 10
which reply: that unless from some
casualty they do not decay and die, I'LL
they have arrived al the ultimate ferfec-
Hon of their natures. And if man do
not cease 10 acquire knowledge and ca
pacily, Till he have acquired as much as
his nature is capable oil receiving, he Will
never cease 10 acquire them.
But the structure OF the human mind
itself, in combination with the favorable
position which according TO revelation)
1t will occupy for the acquisition OF
knowledge, and the boundIess field Tor
its exploration; is what mainly induces
me to think, that, at no period OF It's ex'
isteDce, will it cease 10 accumulate
knowledge and expand in intellect; and,
ifviriuous, to increase in happiness.
There is no one faculty OF The human
mind, but what is capable OF expanding,
ad infntum. Knowledge, memory,
reason, are not limited. We see some
men exce!ling the rest Of their species
so much in one or other of these iacul-
ties, that we are almost led to conclude
they are Of a higher order oil beings. II
has been said OF Sir Isaac Newton, that
if science were divided into ten parts, be
discovered six of them. He excelied
in reason. A learned German who is
now living, it is said can speak and write
thirty different languages; besides learn
ing to speak a language, Chat OF the
Gypsies,) which was never written. lie
excels in memory. And who will pre-
tend to say, that the veriest blockhead
on earth, may not, at some future period
OF bis existence, far surpass what either
of them have been?
Some ancient philosophers have call
ed the body the prison OF the soul Whe-
Their it be prison or house, 1t IS GER
tam that il makes large and unceaslng
demands on the time, attention and pro-
violence of its inhabi,ant. If it be
house, it demands high rent OF It's occu-
pant. What with studying how best to
iced and clolhe, and minister to the com
fort and pleasure and even existence OF
the body, the soul has but little ume to
attend TO its own proper concerns; el'her
to improve its powers and faculties--or
to prepare for future, separate exis-
tence! And some, whom their parents
learned to read, seem to think 1t use.
less exercise: for they neither buy books,
nor take a newspaper. Their bodies
claim all their attention, and their souls,
lif they have amy are left to famish.
Taking it for granted, however, that
all who have human body possess
soul, want to convince The dolts that
the soul is more noble than the body
/ mean every body but dandy--who
seems to think his body more valuable
than his soul, and his clothes more valu-
able than his body--and tina, when the
soul is disencumbered OF the body il will
not only al once become
Gall eye, all ear, all apprehension,
but receive vast accession Of know
ledge, and will be in a situation far more
favorable to its future acquisition, 10 an
accelerated ratio.
For, in the first place, the soul will
have no body to provide for, and may
therefore attend to itself; and to the cul-
tvation OF its own powers and faculties.
And if few men, Of ordinary abilities,
but of leisure and industry, have made
immense acquisitions in literature and
science in few short years what may
they not acquire in an endless duration,
il the field Of observation be not circum-
scribed, but as boundless as immensely !?