PROGRESS OF GENERAL SCIENCE. 



other quarter, and are altogether ignorant of the 

 refined gratification which flows from intellec 

 tual pursuits. In the prosecution of knowledge, 

 the rational faculties are brought into exercise, 

 and sharpened and invigorated ; and when rea 

 son begins to hold the ascendancy over the de 

 sires and affections, there is less danger to be 

 apprehended that the mind will ever be com 

 pletely subjected to the control of the sensitive 

 appetites of our nature. 



I might also ha&quot;e stated, that, many physical 

 evils miht be prevented, were mankind at large 

 acquainted with the characteristics of poisonous 

 plants : the means of detecting mineral poi 

 sons, and the mode of counteracting their ef 

 fects ; the proper mode of extinguishing fires, 

 and of effecting an escape, in cases of danger, 

 from that element ; the precautions requisite to 

 be attended to in the management of steam- 

 engines,* &c. &c. But, as a minute acquaint 

 ance with some of these subjects supposes a 

 greater degree of knowledge than could reason 

 ably be expected in the general mass of society, 

 I shall not further enlarge. The few examples 

 I have selected will, it is presumed, be sufficient 

 to prove and illustrate the position stated in the 

 beginning of this section, &quot; that knowledge 

 would, in many cases, prevent dangers, diseases, 

 and fatal accidents.&quot; If it be admitted, that 

 several hundreds of persons are annually de 

 stroyed by noxious gases, by the explosions of 

 fire-damp in coal-mines, by the stroke of light 

 ning, by their clothes catching fire, and other 

 accidents ; and that several thousands are, dur 

 ing the same period, carried off by infectious 

 diseases, and by those diseases which are the 

 effects of contaminated air, and an improper 

 mode of treatment during the first stages of in 

 fancy ; and if a general diffusion of knowledge 

 respecting the principles and facts adverted to 

 above would have a tendency to prevent one-half 

 the number of such physical evils as now hap 

 pen, it wiii follow, that several hundreds, if not 

 .thousands, of useful lives might annually be 

 preserved to the community, and a great pro 

 portion of human suffering prevented ; and if 

 so, the cause of humanity, as well as of science, 

 is deeply interested in the general diffusion of 

 useful knowledge among persons of every na 

 tion, and of every rank. 



In the conclusion of this topic, it may be re 

 marked, that the knowledge requisite for the 

 purpose now specified is of easy acquisition. 

 It requires no peculiar strength or superiority 

 of genius, nor long and intricate trains of ab 

 stract reasoning ; but is capable of being ac 

 quired by any person possessed of common 

 sense, when his attention is once thoroughly 

 directed to its acquisition. As the food of the 

 body which is the most salutary and nourishing 



* See Appendix. No, VOL 

 5 



is the most easily procured, so that kind of 

 knowledge which is the most beneficial to man 

 kind at large, is in general the most easily ac 

 quired. Its acquisition would not in the least 

 interfere with the performance of their regular 

 avocations, as it could all be acquired at leisure 

 hours. It would habituate them to rational 

 reflections and trains of thought, and gradually 

 unfold to their view new and interesting objects 

 of contemplation. It would have a tendency to 

 prevent them from spending their hours of lei 

 sure in folly or dissipation, and would form an 

 agreeable relaxation from the severer duties of 

 active life. 



SECTION III. 



ON THE INFLUENCE WHICH A GENERAL DIF 

 FUSION OF KNOWLEDGE WOULD HAVE ON 

 THE PROGRESS OF GENERAL SCIENCE. 



WE have already seen, that the diffusion of 

 knowledge among the general mass of society 

 would eradicate those false and superstitious 

 opinions which have so long degraded the hu-. 

 man intellect, would introduce just conceptions 

 of the attributes of the Deity, and of his opera 

 tions in the system of nature, and would avert, 

 or at least greatly mitigate, many of those phy 

 sical evils to which the human race has been 

 subjected. Although these were the only ad 

 vantages to be derived from the general disse 

 mination of knowledge, they would be sufficient 

 to warrant every exertion which the friends of 

 science and of humanity can make to accom 

 plish such an important object. But these are 

 only a few of the many beneficial results which 

 would, doubtless, flow from the progress of ra 

 tional investigations and scientific pursuits. 

 Knowledge, in its progress through the general 

 mass of society, and among the various tribes 

 of mankind, could not long remain confined 

 within its present boundaries, but would, in all 

 probability, enlarge its circumference nearly in 

 proportion to the extent of its diffusion. The 

 man of erudition and of science, who now ex 

 erts his influence and his talents to enlighten the 

 minds of his fellow-men, would be laying a 

 foundation for the expansion of his own intellec 

 tual views, and of those of his successors in the 

 same pursuits, in future generations. As a 

 small body of snow, by rolling, gradually accu 

 mulates to a large mass, so that portion of know 

 ledge we already possess, in its progress through 

 the various ranks of mankind, would have its 

 volume increased, and its present boundaries 

 extended, so that new scenes of intellectual 

 rision and enjoyment would be continually 

 opening to the view. In accordance with these 



