than the consideration, that the mind of man has not only been able to grasp and demonstrate this law, but to apply it to the solution of an infinite number of questions, apparently beyond the reach of his boldest efforts. He has been able to ascertain the motions and size of the whole planetary system; to calculate every perturbation arising from the constant but changeful influence of mutual gravitation; to ascertain the paths of comets; to calculate eclipses with unerring certainty, and to foretell the very minute, nay, the very instant, of occultation of the most distant satellites. He can thus read through the past, as well as the future, all the various states of the heavens for thousands of years. He has been able to apply this knowledge to the noblest purposes; and the mariner, by its aid, descries his home-port with the same ease on the dark bosom of the ocean, as he points it out from the little hill-top, that overlooks his native village.

If we pass from the contemplation of this sublime law of nature to others, which belong to animal or vegetable life, to those, which form and preserve the treasures of the earth, and of the sea, even down to those, which regulate the minutest particles of matter, the light of science will enable us every where to behold new and increasing wonders, and to remark the operations of infinite power, forever varied, and yet forever the same. It is impossible, that the mere perception of such laws should not afford pleasure to every rational mind. But when we further learn, that these very laws are made continually subservient to the use of man; that by the knowledge of them he is enabled to create power, and perfect mechanical

operations; that he can make the winds and the waves, the earth and the air, heat and cold, the ductile metals, and the solid rocks, the fragile flower, and the towering forest, minister to his wants, his refinements, and his enterprise, we are compelled to admit, that the capacity to trace back such effects to their causes, must elevate, and enlarge, and invigorate the understanding.

There is also real dignity, as well as delight, in such studies; and whenever they shall become the general accompaniment of mechanical employments, they must work a most beneficial change in the general structure of society. The arts of life are now so various and important, so intimately connected with national prosperity, and individual comfort, that for the future, a very large proportion of the population of every civilized country must be engaged in them. The time is not far distant, when the mechanic and manufacturing interest will form the great balancing power between the conflicting interests of commerce and agriculture, between the learned professions, and the mere proprietors of capital, between the day labourer, and the unoccupied men of ease. In proportion to the degree of the knowledge, which belongs to this collective interest, in proportion as its industry is combined with science, will be its influence on the well-being and safety of society. It is of the first importance, therefore, that education should here exert its most extensive power, and by elevating the morals, as well as stimulating the enterprise of artisans, give a triumph to intellect over mere physical force, and thus secure one of the most dangerous passes of social life against the irruptions of ignorance, and

popular fury. It is a truth not always sufficiently felt, that science, while it elevates the objects of desire, has, in the same proportion, a tendency to restrain the outbreakings of the bad passions of mankind.

I might remark in the next place, that the pursuit of practical science is not only a source of inexhaustible pleasure, opening new avenues to rank and reputation ; but it is at the same time one of the surest foundations of opulence. Mere mechanical labour, from the perpetual competition arising from an increasing population, has a natural tendency to descend in the scale of compensation. But this effect is astonishingly increased, by the constant application of machinery, as a substitute for the labour of man. The perfection of machinery has in this manner, at times, thrown whole classes of artisans out of employment, and compelled them to resort to new pursuits for support. Mere manual skill and dexterity are nothing, when put in competition with the regularity, rapidity, and economy of machinery, working under the guidance of science. Now, it must be obvious, that in proportion as an artisan possesses science, will be his facility in passing from one branch of an art to another; and his ability to command a higher price for his services. His capacity, too, for adopting improvements, and keeping pace with the genius of the age, will, (as has been already hinted) be thus immeasurably increased. So, that in the narrowest and most limited view, there is a positive certainty of gain, by understanding the scientific principles of the art, which we profess.

But this would be a very inadequate view of the

benefits arising from this source. It is the power of science in awakening the dormant energy of genius; in pointing out to it the true means to arrive at great ends; in preventing it from being wasted in visionary schemes, or retarded by clumsy processes; in short, it is the power of science in suggesting the first hint, or striking out the first spark, or directing the unsteady aim, or removing the intermediate obstacles, that constitutes its true value, and perhaps its noblest excellence. Even after the first step is taken, and the first developement of inventive genius assumes shape and body, how many obstacles are to be overcome; how many unexpected difficulties are to be met; how many toilsome days and nights are to be consumed in nice adjustments and minute alterations. It is here, that science may be said to foster and nourish genius; to administer to its wants, and soothe its disquietudes, and animate its inquiries. What logarithms are to the mathematician, knowledge of principles is to the mechanic. It not only abridges the processes of computation, and thus diminishes labour, but it puts him in possession of means and computations, otherwise absolutely beyond the reach of human calculation. After Fulton had securely achieved, in his own opinion, the invention of the steam-boat, months were consumed by him, as I learned from his own lips, in making the necessary calculations upon the resistance of fluids, in order to ascertain what was the best form of the boat, to ensure a successful issue to his experiment. I myself, in the course of my judicial life, have had occasion to learn from witnesses the origin and history, and gradual formation, of

.

two of the most elegant inventions in our own country; and in both instances the original machine, rude, and unsightly, and cumbrous enough, was brought into court, as the best proof of the first sketch, compared with the last labours of the admirable inventors. I have not the least hesitation in saying, that if either of those extraordinary minds had been originally instructed in the principles of mechanical science, half their labours would have been saved. Sure I am, that one of them would not, with his later acquirements in science, have laid aside for a long time the creation of his own genius, as if in despair, that it could ever attain maturity.

I allude to the card machine of Whittemore, and the nail machine of Perkins. Of the former it would not become me to speak in terms of confident praise, from my own want of the proper knowledge of machinery. But I must confess, that when I first saw it, it seemed to me to be almost an intelligent being, and to do every thing but speak; and whether considered with reference to the simplicity of its means, the accuracy and variety of its operations, or its almost universal capacity for common use, it deserves the highest commendation. Other inventions have since somewhat narrowed the sphere of its operations, and made its celebrity less felt. But I may quote the remark of one of our most ingenious countrymen, who, to a question put to him, what, after two months' examination of the patent office at Washington, and his own surveys elsewhere, appeared to him the most interesting of American inventions, unhesitatingly answered, Whittemore's card machine. The remark was made by