16 [Senate 



surpassed by the invention of Cadmus, of Faust, or of Fulton. 

 With pride and pleasure I add, that this agent was called into ac- 

 tion by a farmer of New-York. These libraries, which are placed 

 at almost every angle of our thoroughfares and by-ways, and con- 

 tain treasures richer than those the world lamented in the destruc- 

 tion of Alexandria, may be made the vehicles of not merely the li- 

 terature which adorns, but of the science which elevates, and of that 

 moral and political wisdom which gives beneficent direction to the 

 human mind. 



Little remains for you but to guide the rising generation to the im- 

 provement of these facilities, nor will that task be difficult. Science, 

 though repulsive to the ignorant, is attractive to the initiated, and 

 its attraction increases just in proportion as truths are presented 

 which are adapted to the comprehension and satisfying to the curiosi- 

 ty of the young mind. In the dark ages, the system of instruction 

 was so contrived, as to present to faculties undeveloped, the deduc- 

 tions of science without their explanation, and recondite truths with- 

 out their illustration. Whatever was simple and easy of apprehen- 

 sion, was thought unworthy to be known, and the philosophy which 

 explains the formation of the earth, and its perfect adaptation to the 

 subsistence and happiness of our race, was not then conceived. 

 Something of this strange error still remains, but a change has com- 

 menced, and we may soon hope to see a system of education which 

 will lead the mind by an easy and natural process, through the 

 truths of external nature, to the mysteries of mind and the study of 

 the Supreme Author. 



Let it be your effort to hasten this change, and thus divest know- 

 ledge of its repulsive features, to excite the emulation and stimulate 

 the patriotism of the young, by making known to them the attain- 

 ments of which they are capable; the advantages they may acquire, 

 and the responsibilities they are to assume. The desire for know- 

 ledge, once excited, will increase, and will find ways to continue its 

 pursuit. Then the youth destined to agricultural occupations, in- 

 stead of being employed in perpetual labor, will be allowed to ac- 

 quire the knowledge which renders those occupations cheerful, dig- 

 nified, and successful; and parents, instead of hoarding their gains to 

 be divided among their offspring, to relieve them from the necessity 

 of enterprise, will devote their wealth freely in bestowing that bet- 

 ter patrimony which cannot be lost. Need I point out to such an 



