Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1831-11-09

mower. What can be done by virtue OF the state
authority by the muniicent spirit OF individuals,
is n yery different question. 1t will deserve con
| sideration-as soon as the slaves are so UH 60
! rerned, that no new tragedy is to he seriously aP-
| prehended-no danger to be expected, from the
| agitation or the adoption of any systematic inca.
sure. The question, however, will require all
our caution and wisdom. Procu, procm este
| Gaaafici! The Garrison's who disgrace our coun-
try-The present Wilberforces It &. Britain
| or the enthusiasts, the amiS deS Noirs OF Revolu-
tionary France.
Discourse or the ShAfy of Natural Philoso-
ph q. by J. F. w. Herschel. This admirable dis
course forms vol. lO. of Carey s. LEAFS edition of
Dr.. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopadia. printed, as
all its precursors were, with great ~neatness anc
accuracy.
This preliminary discourse, which extends
through a duodecimo volume of nearly 30O.pages,
is divided into three parts. The first treats, OF
:. the general nature and advantages Of the STU
dy of the physical sciences; the second, cot the
principles on which physical science relies Tor Its
successful prosecution, and the rules by which a
systematic examination of nature should be con-
Quoted, with illustrations of their influence as
exempli6ed in the history of its progress and
the third, ssof the subdivision of physics into
distinct branches, and their mutual relations "
The frs, part, which we have read with atten,
ton, displays very attractively the subject OF
which the writer treats; and the details present
| ed in the succeeding parts, at which, however,
we have only slanced,-aPpear to constitute al
together a very interesting aud satisfactory trea-
tise upon Natural Philosophy. The passage be-
low, with which the volume opens, contrasting the
feebleness of man on this globe of which he is the
lord, with the might Of creatures he subjects to
his will, marks the distinction between reason
and instinct, by facts which are incontrovcrtible;
however, the wisest may be puzzled to define and
establish the limits either OF reason or instinct.
GN. Y. finer.
The situation of man on the globe he inl,abits.
and over which he has obtained the control. is in
many respects exceedingly remarkable. Com
| pared with its other denizens. he seems. if we
| regard only his physical consttutian, IN almost
every respect their inferior. and equally unpro-
| vided for the supply of his natural wants and his
kdefence against the iunumerable enemies which
| surround him.. No other animal passes so large
| a portion of its existence in a state OF absolute
| helplessness, or falls in old age into such protract-
ed and lamentaole imbecility. To no other warm
blooded animal has nature denied that indispen-
sable covering, without which the viclssltude OF
a temperate and the rigors OF a cold climate are
equally insuppo.table; and to scarcely any has
she been so sparing in external weapons. whether
for attack or defence. Destitute alike of speed
TO avoid, and Of arms to repel, the expressions OF
his voracious foes; tenderly susceptible Of a'mos-
pheric influences; and untitled for the coarse ali
ments which the earth affords spontaneously dur
inc at least two thirds Of the year. even in tenn
perate cIimates,-nan if abandoned to mere in
stinct, would be Of all creatures the most desti-
tute aud miserable. Distracted by terror. and
goaded by famine; driven to the most abject ex-
11e,lieots for; concealment from his enemies. and
to the most sowardly devices for the seizure and
destruction of his nobler prey, his existence
would be one continued subterfuge or stratagem;
his dwelling would be in dens of the earth, in
clefts of rocks. or in the hollows of tress; his
food worms, and the lower reptiles, or such few
and crude productions of the soil as his organs
could be brought to assimilate. varied with occa-
sional relics, mangled bv more powertulbeasts of
prey, or condemned by their more pamperedchoice.
Remarkable only for the absence of those
powers aud quail ties which obtain for other ami
mails a degree of security and respect, he would
be Disregard by some, and hunted down by 9TH
ers, ill, after a few generations, his species
would become altogether extinct, or at best,
would be restricted TO a few Islands in tropical
regions, where the warmth Of the climate, the
~paucity of enemies. and the abundance of vege-
table food, might permit it to linger.
Yet man is the undisputed lord of the creation.
The strongest and fercest of his fellow. creatures,