322 PROCEEDINGS OP SOCIETIES. 



" the hand that made us is divine." Hence have arisen interminahle 

 myriads of proofs of the wisdom, power, and goodness of the great 

 Creator and Governor of the universe : and thus it is that, even from 

 the remotest ages, every thing in Nature, when rightly interpreted, 

 accords with the language of Revelation, impressing the mind with 

 ever-new delight, in contemplating the wondrous works of Him who 

 " made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all that is there- 

 in." If, then, there be any truth in the prediction, that the future 

 progress in science will henceforth be effected by the joint operation 

 of many, not by the towering genius of one, surely that conviction 

 should incite every one of us to bring hither his voluntary contribu- 

 tion — to cast his small pebble on the hill of science — to supply one 

 little drop to the ocean of its immensity. 



It is with such a hope that I would now more particularly refer 

 to the establishment of this Philosophical and Literary Society ; and 

 you will bear with me, I trust, while offering a few observations upon 

 our own particular case, that we may thus not only have our minds 

 cheered with the anticipation of many advantages likely to accrue, 

 but may likewise be zealous in gaining proselytes to the cause of 

 science, by communicating our views to others, striving to enlist them 

 in the same pursuit, soliciting them to the delightful task of co-ope- 

 rating in the advancement of truth, and feeling, also, that the genu- 

 ine philosophic spirit is ever that of the pure philanthropist. Know- 

 ledge, when imparted, is then only enjoyed, and enjoyed in propor- 

 tion to the extent to which it is imparted. 



The two principal advantages, then, are, first, the formation of a 

 better taste in a town devoted chiefly to mechanical pursuits, little 

 connected with either literature or philosophy in general ; and then, 

 the diflfusion of a more friendly feeling among all classes and 

 sects, who have, at present, no common bond of union, but are too 

 much separated from each other, both by political and religious differ- 

 ences. 



I. The formation of a literary taste, in a town so little accustomed 

 to cultivate either literature or philosophy, strikes us at first sight as 

 extremely difficult. But because it is difficult, let us not, therefore, 

 desparingly regard it as impossible. " It would be easy," says Poly- 

 bius, " to shew by instances, that many things, which appear in the 

 beginning to be not only difficult but absolutely impracticable, are, 

 in the course of time, and by continued use, accomplished with the 

 greatest ease. Among numberless instances, the art of reading may 

 be mentioned as one of the clearest and most convincing proofs of 

 this remark. Take a man who has never learnt to read, but is other- 

 wise a man of sense ; set a child before him who has learned, and 

 order him to read a passage in a book. It is certain that this man 

 will be scarcely able to persuade himself that the child, as he reads, 

 must consider distinctly, first, the form of all the letters ; in the next 

 place, their power ; and thirdly, their coimection with one another^ — 



