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

forgotten individual cases he remembered great
principles. It is so Of every educated man. A
single fact may lead him into error Who can
calculate its relations with others in the vast
range of human knowledge 1t is one operated
upon by a hundred forces, acting in different d.
rections and with different intentions, subject to
the action of tme which will SO control them
that before the philosopher has decided upon
their resulting influence, not one 1.-THE of them
will remain. And for this reason, those who
have been educated by the experience of others
are frequently "Landatores temporis act," while
reformers forget that antiquity had also its phan
toms and illusions.
The impression obtains hold sometimes that
the great thinkers of different past generations
were as conspicuous, TO the men of their own
times, as to us. as we look back upon them from
ours. This impression is only the hasty thought
which no study of past literature will confirm.
OF the literati of the 10th and 18th centuries,
those whom we most respect and venerate, had
no such measure of esteem among their con-
temporaries. Any of the old Libraries, gathered
in that day, has upon its shelves thousands of
books which are as dead to us as is the tera-
ture of Carthage What then if our age be
marked as an age in which there is poured out
deluge of worthless literature. That deuge
must be accounted for by the extraordinary lite
rary activity of the age by this system which
has thrown literature into the market; the sys-
TEN in which it happens that publishers are
called prominently " the trade" The literary
activity is greater the mass of publication
doubtless is much greater, and so its usefulness
is greater The question to he decided is,
whether it is greater in the same proportion.
When the literature Of our age shall have
been put to the test which will disclose its great
men and great authors,-we have good reason
to hope that the test will show, that, be the un-
sound portion what it may, the average standard
of literature has constantly risen-and has been
well sustained in its advances ever since the re-
vval of learning. And as to the unsound por-
ton, its influence will prove as insignificant as
its merits.-as powerless for evil as for good.
Here Mr.. Marsh was led to say a word or two,
exqnisitely chosen and hopeful in spirit, on the
ricn promises Of the literature of America for
the investigation of the highest of speculation.
That investigation and the method in VI hch
it must be pursued, brings us at once to that
axiom of Bacon, which Bacon perhaps did not
fully develope, even in his own mind, that
" knowledge is Power" OF this axiom, the
full force is not felt by any one who does not
anayze his meaning in using the word pow
err" The axiom demands more than the ordi-
nary Specification Of that word more than the
idea Of force excited effectively. For, to the
student the means by which he is to attain that
force,-the mental growth with which he SEXES
it, become a part of the very aim and object OF
his effort. And although selfish men pervert
their mental acquisition to the mere pursuit OF
wealth or poor hope OF popular applause =
there is to them in it none of that power over
self which subdues the passions to the Will, and
controls the will by reason. In the Greek, the
very word which expresses power, is derived
from roots which convey to it the idea of a state
rather than an action,-and even in the more
gross Latin, the same delicate distinction may
be detected The deviation here is the express
sion Of a true conception. The highest power
is the being that which mans highest nature
may become. And yet,-it is of course,-ths
conception of power does not exclude the idea
OF action. The higher the inward state, the
more vigorous and frequent its outward effort.
lie who knoweth all things is the Creator of all
things. And it is from the state that the action
comes. The Christian does not obey mainly in
the hope OF n future reward,-and we cannot
think of the soldier AS fighting merely in silt-
died expectation of renown. What those men
are is the origin of what they do. The one wor-
shps,-the other defends. One may trace the
same law in morals, in the arts. or in religion.
| And here Mr.. Marsh closed the train of close
| thought, which we have so inadequately follow
| ed, BY the suggestion, that, to men In the posi-
ton of our men of letters.-it any one study Pc
:uliarly recommends itsel.,--that study is the
pursuit Of science Science, As the knowledge
| { causative law not the mere knowledge OF
',cts, but the high speculative science which
| 'educeS probable theory from few known
'ictS and is also ready to divine facts yet unob-
rived as necessarily resulting from theoretical
Nv. The pursuit of such sceuce is a most fit
ing occupation for men, who find themselves
.,l,a nfl attp nplv a,