Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1847-09-10

pupils would give mp the common themes
Of the progress Of the age-whether in science
or territorv--the progress of national crimes and
glores--to consider the extent and the essence
of the knowledge of onr own time
He then proceeded To give a rapid but pointed
ANALYSIS of the nature and character of this
knowledge, pointing out how much ground the
student has now before him, in languages; the
general dynamic laws of creation, which give
rise to our astronomy chemistry, geology and
the general cosmogony,-making worlds. as he
well said. of the Exuvin of Microscopic Ephe-
mera" the recorded history of hundreds OF ma
tons the history of Natural Science: that Of
political and municipal law-or whatever under
that name had been in successive periods the
substitutes for physical force in keeping order
in communities - poetry; metaphysics super
stitiOns; and those really religious views which
sixty centuries have furnished.
If the philosophers of Greece and Rome found
life too short to attain all the accumulated infor-
nation of their day, how corld the scholar of
our time collect the varied and increased stores
how could he appropriate TO his own use the
movements of the ever increasing circles of the
sea of learning; and how could he find leisure
and heart, and where teacher for the acquisi-
ton of that knowledge, sometimes considered
the nobest object of the life of man? TO re-
solve this question many had set forth the word
System" and had advanced systems Of "sc-
ence' which were only forms of mnemonics."
The idea that new sciences are created by new
subdivisions of facts and theories heretofore
known is popular error. II increases the num-
Der OF studies without saving the labor of the
~ !" iac', s'nce all science Is trut''
e~, ov .C mso 'o'I"oo eAoIPt no'i' new
'se'.o". y: 'I'o.eu ""'e''a,' s"ow t',e
.''n"e' u! which eo'elots i','Shl oe no'h'haiiy
'"''e",tu III ""'''oc'' "",c ''ie 'hcts were tne
same, the orctor adduced the science OF PHI
looey.
From this review, Mr.. Marsh urged It was
evident mat the "dlscIp'e was to make his
choice ct some special study, according to his
natural vocation, and not to undertake to learn
all things. knowledge had, to he sure. become
a marketable commodity, which mi ht be quoted
in prices current like others. Its buyers and
sellers even styled themselves "the trade TO
the derogation Of other business and had adop-
ted the principle of "larre sales and small pro-
| fits" so that that was the IS etter book of
which the most copies were sold. whatever the
value of its thoughts. There was a striking
difference between literary and mechanical pro-
ducts in this regard. For machine. it was
considered that. other things being equal. that
which had cost the most labor in its manu(ac.
ture was most valuable: the book which had
| been most carefully made was not iudued bv
tn 3 test. Consequently literary labors were vul-
Carsed under the name of popularization al.
though good motives and good results even here
had justified the promise that they who watered
the tree of knowledge should reap golden fruit.
The orator then proceeded TO consider what
was the character of human knowledge, and the
nature of its hjghest uses. pointinp ont that our
most certain and absolute cognzance of fact
was that OF laws regarding matters without the
immediate reach of our senses. Oar Astronomy
is more certain than our Meteoroogy, our his
tory more accurate than our election returns.
The astronomers who LEFT England for the South
Seas to take observations of the transit of We
nus in 1863, went with perfect confidence that
the celestial phenomenon would occur within a
lew minutes ct predicted time, but they went
in doubt and anxiety with regard to the time at
which they should themselves arrive at their
post ana the courses OF the winds ana waves
winch were TO bear them. "me we calculate
WIN apSo'u'e certainty the movements o, ue
uSta''. SP''cres W our UNIVERSE we are III uo"o'
us 10 ,,'e movements uiiuer our owl" eyes NOV
oh'y o' Spontaneous ',a.u'e' ou' %. Tue ac''oi' VI
Tue human h'Hu' anu 'he cohu''.oh OF P"o"c
sv"''''cr, III o'ntl "eIs Ut III ''''s' A'no"e"
E''a''po'''o" mas ocG,' ao'e u Reproduce ior Us
t,e history vi tie lnarao'iS' anu N,eouhr ai'e'
tle laPse OF ~ centuries can con,ranlc' success
'ulIy uip statements oI Ivy VINE we can s'i'
WIN accuracy lhe Pp.''.'h ana 'l'"e'n,'h's :"
o"u'es "t ''.c 'H''r!ne l''''H VI Hi'''t' anu "'
III our ntt"ra, history we ca" deVe'ope III
wI"e amman from s'h9'' part we are 10 ,,,''
serves tne 'I'',, mysterious VI ehg'nI,, ~"
p''ys'c'' c"h''t'"n OF 'l'.h anu .ne '''a'',n "
""y |" Pr'' are am 'hg ','' SUBJECTS "' w"''
we KNOW 'e'St' l"at "h'ci, = mares. 10 "
easiest e'c'peS our grasp we c'''''o' acc"
rat'y IN assure yari' al.hon.h we ca'c"'at'
Tue distance OF saturn c"r h''""'eu9e seem
10 De universally Proporuoheu 10 our means
"'rrct apprehension.
from ''''s view 'l'e orator ',''erre' ana arS"''
WIN eloY"eht illustrations tha' ''e 'h'ei'ect"a
'acuity was 10 ne CONSIDERED aS heher ana 'ilo''
worthy o' e"'uVa"oh .'iah the sensual app'e
hrhs'oh9' nature never seheraHseS' all >'uu.
e ~ nature results l" series OF instances III va
rely instead u uniformity. Inc 'r"e sl"uen
D 'nu't sI'Ne |" i''e apo.e nature, ana eh"nc'ap
r Hc'cTdI ldNs. -AU>bIule Certainty Ol knOWlcup