.40 



ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



eainafed than preparations have been made for 

 another: and, in such contests, magnificent ci- 

 ues have been tumbled into ruins, provinces de 

 solated, kingdoms rent asunder, and thousands of 

 thousands of human beings slaughtered wiih all 

 the ferocity of infernal demons. It is not beyond 

 the bounds of probability to suppose, that, in 

 those scenes of warfare, the eighth part of the hu 

 man race, in every age, has been destroyed, or, a 

 number of mankind amounting to nearly twenty 

 thousand millions, which is equal to twenty-five 

 times the number of inhabitants presently exist 

 ing in the world. And the leaders in such dia 

 bolical exploits, so far from repenting of their at- 

 trocities, have generally been disposed to glory in 

 their crimes. 



Hence the jealousies, the antipathies, and the 

 hatred which have subsisted, and which still 

 subsist, between neighbouring nations. The 

 Turks hate the Greeks, and, as far as in their 

 power, inflict upon them every species of cruelty 

 and injustice. The Chinese hate the Europe 

 ans, cheat them if they can, and pride them 

 selves in their fancied superiority over all other 

 nations. The Moors of Africa hate the negroes, 

 plunder their villages, and reduce them to slave 

 ry ; the King of Dahomey wages almost conti 

 nual war with the neighbouring tribes, and adorns 

 the walls of his palace with the skulls of prison 

 ers taken in battle. The Algerines and the em 

 perors of Morocco live in a state of continual 

 warfare with Christian nations, seize upon their 

 ships, and reduce their crews to slavery. The 

 Mrnucaboes, who inhabit the inland part of Ma 

 lacca, live at variance with all around them, and 

 never fail to set fire to the ripening grain in every 

 field that is unprotected and uninclosed. The 

 Arabians are set against every other nation, and 

 roam through their deserts, attacking caravans 

 and travellers of every description. The inha 

 bitants of one part of New Zealand are almost 

 in a continual state of enmity against those of 

 another, and the natives of almost every island 

 in the Indian and Pacific oceans, if not engaged 

 in actual contests, are in a state of warlike atti 

 tude with regard to each other. Even nations 

 advanced to high degrees of civilization, are 

 found indulging the meanest and most unreason 

 able jealousies and antipathies in relation to one 

 another. The French and the English, whom 

 nature has separated only by a narrow channel 

 of the sea, and who are distinguished above all 

 other nations for their discoveries and improve 

 ments in the arts, have, for centuries, fostered a 

 spirit of jealousy and rivalship which has produ 

 ced political animosities, hatred, wars, and ruin 

 to the financial and commercial interests of both 

 nations. During the wars which succeeded the 

 French revolution, this spirit of hatred and en- 

 mify rose to such a pitch, that a large portion of 

 each nation would have, with pleasure, beheld 



the other hurled with fury into the infernal re 

 gions.* 



Is there no prospect, then, that such antipa 

 thies shall ever be extirpated, and harmony re 

 stored to the distracted nations? Shall the earth 

 be for ever swept with the besom of destruction 7 

 Shall war continue its ravages without intermis 

 sion? Shall hatred still rankle among at( nations, 

 and Peace never wave its olive branch owr tha 

 world ? Are we to sit do vn in hopeless despair, 

 that a union among the nations will ver be ef 

 fected, because wars have continued vnce tho 

 beginning of the world? No, we have no rea 

 son to despair of ultimate success, when the mo 

 ral machinery, calculated to effectuate the ob 

 ject, shall be set in motion. As ignorance is the 

 parent of vice, the nurse of pride, avarice, am 

 bition, and other unhallowed passions, from 

 which wars derive their origin, so, when the 

 strongholds of ignorance shall be demolished, 

 and the light of intelligence shall shed its influ 

 ence over the world, and the opposite principles 

 of humility, moderation, and benevolence shal) 

 pervade the minds of men, the foundations of the 

 system of warfare will be shaken, and a basis 

 laid for the establishment of universal peace. 

 However long the ravages of war have desolated 

 and convulsed the world, it is announced in the 

 decree of heaven, that a period shall arrive &quot; when 

 wars shall cease unto the ends of the earth&quot; And 

 the era when warriors &quot; shall beat their swords 

 into ploughshares and their spears into pruning 

 hooks, and learn the art of war no more,&quot; is coe 

 val with the period foretold in ancient prophecy, 

 when &quot; the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the 

 earth, and when all shall know him from the 

 least to the greatest.&quot; 



Knowledge has a tendency to unite the hearts 

 of all who are engaged in its pursuit ; it forms a 

 bond of union among its votaries more firm and 

 permanent than that which unites princes and 

 statesmen ; especially if it is conjoined with 

 Christian principles and virtuous dispositions 

 Congeniality of sentiments, and similarity of 

 pursuits, gradually weaken the force of vulga* 

 prejudices, and tend to demolish those barriers 

 which the jealousies of nations have thrown 

 around each other. True philosophers, whether 

 English, Swedish, Russian, Swiss, German, or 

 Italian, maintain an intimate and affectionate 

 correspondence with each other on every subject 

 of literature and science, notwithstanding the 



During the wars alluded to, a gentleman, (con 

 versing with the author on the subject,) who was 

 uttering the most virulent invectives against the 

 French, concluded by saying, &quot;After all 1 wish no 

 great evil to the French, I only wish they icere all 

 safely landed in heaven,&quot; plainly intimating, that he 

 considered them unworthy to live upon the earth, 

 and that the sooner they were cut off from it and 

 sent to the other world, so much the better, whether 

 their fate should be to dwell in the shades of Tarta 

 rus or the abodes of Elysium. 



