UTOPIA-UTRECHT. 



7o9 



is usually called pleasure, but in the hard trials of 

 adversity. This subject requires a much fuller 

 consideration than we can give to it here. We 

 would only remark that, at a time when the word 

 " utility" has become so general a favourite, it 

 should not be forgotten that utility has reference 

 only to means, and necessarily supposes an object 

 of a higher character to which they are to be ap- 

 plied. However far we may carry the idea of 

 utility, we must stop somewhere, and admit that 

 there is something beyond, of which utility cannot 

 be predicated. The idea of utility has even en- 

 croached upon the province of morality, as if our 

 age could not love and do good for its own sake. 

 We are told that we should be virtuous. In what 

 way is virtue useful ? our age replies. The answer 

 is, Because it makes men happy. But every one 

 knows that virtue does not make us happy in the 

 lower sense of the word, in which it is almost 

 synonymous with " comfortable." It is, then, 

 mental and moral happiness, serenity of mind, for 

 which virtue is useful. But a thorough utilitarian 

 might ask, For what is this state of mind namely, 

 the happiness of a good conscience useful ; and, 

 if told, Because it gives the assurance of the favour 

 of God, might go on to inquire, For what is it use- 

 ful to please God ? The reader sees how pitiful is 

 the application of utility to the highest objects of 

 existence. Utility, then, cannot be considered as 

 the ultimate principle of morality. It is equally 

 defective when considered as the main-spring of the 

 highest intellectual activity. Had not men of an 

 elevated caste delighted in the pursuit of truth for 

 its own sake, and pressed on through labour and 

 difficulty, unconcerned as to the practical applica- 

 tion of their discoveries, the world would never 

 have witnessed those noble examples of intellectual 

 effort .which raise our ideas of human nature ; and 

 many of the inventions which have proved of the 

 highest utility would never have been made. The 

 disposition to pursue truth for its own sake may, 

 indeed, be abused, 1. By being directed to worth- 

 less objects ; as, for instance, a man may spend as 

 much time in investigating the question, whether 

 buttons were used by the Greeks and Romans, or 

 what was the material of the riding-whip which 

 Louis XIV. held when he ordered the parliament 

 to register his edicts, as Bessel did in ascertaining 

 the thickness of the ring of Saturn. But those 

 truths which attract a noble mind are such as serve 

 to unfold the nature of God and of his works; 

 which reveal the constitution of man, as exhibited 

 in history, and analyzed by philosophy ; which de- 

 termine the laws that maintain the life and activity 

 of organized beings, and preserve the order of the 

 material universe. 2. The love of abstract truth 

 may be too exclusive, as we believe to be often the 

 case among men of science in Germany, who some- 

 times entertain a contempt for the practical appli- 

 cation of knowledge. We would remark, however, 

 by the way, that the rashness with which the phi- 

 losophers of Germany sometimes speculate, is not 

 to be attributed to their views respecting scientific 

 truth, but to the rapid generalization to which re- 

 tired students are prone. The conclusion to which 

 the above observations naturally lead is, that truth, 

 goodness, honour, liberty, are to be loved and fol- 

 lowed for their own sake, or, what amounts to the 

 same thing, for the sake of pleasing God. The 

 noblest course is the most truly useful. 



UTOPIA ; a name made by Sir Thomas More, 

 from ovrairos (no place), and applied by him to an 



VI. 



imaginary island, which he represents as discovered 

 by a supposed companion of Amerigo Vespucci, 

 who describes its condition to More, at Antwerp, 

 in 1514. The author describes, in this work, many 

 imaginary perfections in laws, politics, &c., in con- 

 tradistinction to the defects of those which then 

 existed. The views are often far in advance of his 

 time ; and the vices and absurdities of Europe are 

 keenly satirized. The Utopia was written in 1516, 

 in Latin. An accurate edition was first printed by 

 Erasmus's printer, Froben, at Basle, in 1518, after 

 an incorrect one had been published in Paris. The 

 following specimen of Utopian etymologies may 

 amuse some readers : 



Ademiani, 



Anyder ( a river), 

 Amaurot (a city) , 



. contr r . 

 ) people. 



isible city is 01 

 Waterless. 



The Austrian general Schrebelin, towards the end 

 of the seventeenth century, drew up a moral-satiri- 

 cal map, under the title, Tabula Utopias oder Schla- 

 rajfenland. 



UTRAQUISTS. See Calixtines. 



UTRECHT ; a province in Holland, with a po- 

 pulation amounting to nearly 200,000. Its capita] 

 is the city of the same name 



UTRECHT (in Latin, f/ 1 trajectum, Trajeclum 

 Inferius, Trajectum Uitricensium,&r\d Antonio, Civi- 

 tas) ; a city of Holland capital of the above pro- 

 Aince ; eighteen miles south-south-east of Amster- 

 dam ; Ion. 5 7' E ; lat. 52 6' N.; population 

 45,000 ; houses, 10,000. It has thirty-six bridges 

 over canals. It is situated on a branch of the Rhine, 

 called Old Rhine, OH a slight elevation, having a 

 dry soil, and an atmosphere dry and healthy. Its 

 form is nearly square ; it is surrounded by an earthen 

 mound and moat, and, exclusive of its suburbs, is 

 about three miles in circuit. The approaches to 

 it are exceedingly beautiful, particularly that from 

 Amsterdam, which consists of a broad avenue, 

 bordered with rows of trees. The streets are of 

 tolerable width, and intersected by canals, the level 

 of which is about twenty feet below that of the 

 pavement. The aspect of the city is antique ; the 

 houses are mostly of brick, built in the Gothic style. 

 It contains an ancient, splendid cathedral, also seven 

 Dutch Reformed churches, one French Reformed, 

 one English, one Lutheran, one Arminian, one Men- 

 nonist, and three Catholic ; a town-house, a univer- 

 sity, hospitals, and other charitable establishments. 

 The cathedral, now partly in ruins, is a remarkable 

 edifice ; the tower, still entire, is said to have a height 

 of 464 feet ; and from its top, in a clear day, may be 

 seen no less than fifty-one towns, great and small. 

 The mall, situated outside of the walls, is a beautiful 

 public walk. The trade is considerable, having the 

 advantage of an inland navigation ; the manufactures 

 are on a small scale. The university, though less 

 famous than that of Leyden, is of considerable note. 

 It was founded in 1630, and has five faculties, nine- 

 teen professors, a library, botanic garden, anatomi- 

 cal theatre, cabinet of natural history, and an ob- 

 servatory. Utrecht is famous as the place where, 

 in 1579, was concluded the union of the Seven 

 Provinces ; and also the well-known treaty between 

 the French and allies, in 1713. 



The Peace of Utrecht is important in the history 

 of the European balance of power, because it placed 

 England at the head of the European states, and 

 put a check to the ambition of France. The death 

 of Charles II., king of Spain, the last of the house 

 of Hapsburg in that country, November 1, 1700, 

 '6 c 



