The Trinity times., 1855-01-06
Superficial knowledge.

IL IS evident then that those who are afraid
of superficial knowledge do not mean by
superficial knowledge, knowledge which is
superficial when compared with the whole
quantity of truth capable of being known.-
For in tha. sense, all human knowledge is,
has been and always must be, supericial.-
hat, then, is the standard Is it the
same, two years together III Sny country
Is il the same, at the same moment, in any
Two eountresl Is It not notorious that the
profundlty of one age is the shaowness OF
the next; and that the profundty OF one ma
tlon is the shallOwness of IA neighbor nation I?
Rahmoun Roy passed among Hindoos for n
man of pro-. und Western learning; but he
would have but very superficial mcmber of
this institute Stabo was justly entitled to
be called a profound geographer eighteen
hundred years ago but a teacher OF geogra
ply who had t%ver heard of America would
nov be laughed at by the girls OF a boarding
school W hat would now be thought OF the
greatest chemist OF l746, or OF the greatest
geUlogisr of 1916 The truth is, that, in all
experimental science, mankind is of necessity
constantly advancing. Every generation, Of
course, has It's front rank and its rear rank ;
but the rear rank o: later generation occu
front rank of a former generation.
You remember Gulliver's adventures
First he is shipwrecked in country of little
mcn; and he is a COLOSSUS among them -
lie strides over the walls OF their capital he
stands higher than the cupola of their great
temple; he tugs after him royal fleet he
stretches his legs, and royal army, with
drums beating aud colers flying, marches
through the gigantic arch; he deyours u
whole oranary for breakfast, eats herd OF
cattle for dinner, and washes down bis neal
with all the hogsheads Of cellar. In his
next voyage he - among men sixty feet hIgh.
lie vino, in i.tlhput, used to take people up
in his hand IN order that he might be able
to hear them, is hInse taken up in the hands
and held 10 the ears OF his masters. Ii is all
that he can do to defend himself with his
hanger against the rats aud mice. The
conrt ladies' amuse themselves with seeing
him fight wasps and frogs; the monkey runs
off with him to the chimney top; the dwarf
drops him Into the cream jug and leaves him
To swim for his life. Now, was CULVER a
tall or short man? Why, in his own house
at Rotherhite he was thought man OF the
ordinary stature. Take him I4illiput; and he
Is Qumbus Flestrn. the Man Mountain -
Take hum to BIobdlgnag. and he is Gfildrig
The httle Manikin. ii is ,he same in sceuce
The pgmies oi one society would have pass
ed for G ants ia another.
1t might be amusing TO institute compar-
isOn between one at the profoundly learned
men Of the thirteenth century and Que Of the
superficial students who will frequent our IL
brary. Take the groat philosopher OF the
time Of Henry the tie Third )f England, or
Alexander the Third of Scotland, the man
renowned all over the island, and even as tar
as Italy aud Spain, as the first Of astronomers
and a..uis's " hat is bis t.steuacn.Jf ? lie
is Grm believer Of the PtolemaIc system.
lie never heard OF the law OF gravitHt.0n -
Tell him that the succession Of day and night
Is caused by ihe turning OF the earth On lis
axis. Tell him that, IA consequence OF tins
motion, the polar d. ameier of the earth Is
shorter than the equatorial diameter. Tell
HIM that the SUCCESSION Of summer and win
ter is caused by the revolution Of the earth
round The sun. II he does not sci Won down
for an IDIOT, lie lays an Information u aust
YOU before the blsEup, ana has you burned
Tor q hereto. To do hnn justice, ho"ev
# he 10 iil-iniormed ON these points, there are
other points on which Newton upd Laplace
were mere children y hen compared with bin.
lie can east your nativity. lie knows what
will happen when Saturn is in the House Of
Life and what will happen when Mars is IN
conf unclion with the Dragons Tad. lie
can read IN the stars whether All expedition
viii he succ' sstu whether the next harvest
viii be plentiful, which of our children Will
be fortunate in marriage, and which viii be
lost at sea. Happy the state, happy the fam
ily, which is guided by the counsels Of 20 pro
found a mani And what but mischief, pub
lie and private, can We expect from tie ten
,rily and conccit Of socialists v no know no
more about the heavenly bodies than what
they have learned from sir John llcrschels
beautiful htlle volume? But to speak scrl-
ousy, is not llt,ie truth better than great
deal of ialscnood Is no; the man who, in
the evenings Of a fortnight, has acquired a
correct notion Of the solar system, "A more
profound astronomer than "A man who has
passed thirty years in reading lectures about
primum mobile aud IN drawing schemes Of
Horoscopes . Macoulay's Spee, hes.