maj' be obtained to commence a, building before next Fall. There is no present 

 prospect that those who are giving time and talents to the interests of this Museum, 

 shall ever see it in a proper building in Charleston, except by means of public sub- 

 scription. Were a house once built, the Museum would improve in its collection, 

 and be al)lc to support itself. Strangers from the interior of this State, from 

 North-Carolina, Georgia, Florida and the West-India-Islands, in the winter and 

 spring, would not fail of visiting the Institution, and carrying the information to 

 their distant homes, would tell of what they had seen, and impel others to their 

 example; so that the Museum of South-Carolina would obtain a name, (a verj' 

 great object) and soon liecome as well known in the South, as Peale's Museum is, 

 in Pennsylvania and Maryland. In these enlightened times, a public Museum is as 

 necessary an appendage to a city, as a public new'spaper or a public library, and 

 I hope we all wish to see Charleston possessed of every Institution that other 

 cities of the Union can boast of. In short, we could never submit to see our Museum 

 bid adieu to Charleston, and take the road to Columbia, where it would rot in 

 the dungeons of a College. With our young Ladies and Gentlemen, let patriotism 

 prevail — let the watch-word be "Everything for Charleston and her liberal In- 

 stitutions." 



Intelligent sti'angers, travelling for improvement, turn away with indifference 

 from those places where the arts and sciences are not cultivated, and bear the 

 disagreeable tale to distant countries. Our town must not be one of these. Far 

 removed from the neighborhood of other cities, where the arts and sciences flour- 

 ish, many of the youth of Charleston, from their circumstances in hfe, never can 

 have an opportunity of travelling to imbibe a taste for literature and the arts, 

 and from absolute vacancy and unimprovement of mind, turn to pursuits and 

 amusements that begin with idleness and end with poverty. L[e]t parents look 

 to this. The arts and sciences are in themselves very pleasing, and though the 

 superficial observer may perceive no utility to proceed from them, they sharpen 

 the intellect; a studious disposition is formed — strong habits of perseverance 

 and industry are acquired, that eventually lead to wealth and honor. No allow- 

 ance can be made for the effects of an ardent sun in a Southern climate. This is 

 all mere balaam. Look at ancient Greece, the birth place of science, and Italy, 

 once the mistress of the world. 



No Museum ever flourished without public patronage in some shape; and cer- 

 tainly none ever commenced with a more respectable collection than the Museum 

 oj South-Carolina. 



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