14 PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. 



proceeds through proper media to the con- 

 clusion; from cause to effect, from things 

 general and universal, to things particular and 

 accidental. 



This power of the mind to learn, and to be 

 instructed, is termed, by Mr. Harris, natural 

 capacity, and is an attribute common to all 

 men ; the superior facility of being taught, 

 which some possess above others, is called 

 genius; the first transition, or advances, from 

 natural capacity, is called proficiency, and the 

 end, or completion of proficiency, habit: if 

 such habit be conversant about matter purely 

 speculative, it is called science; if it descend 

 from speculation to practice, it is termed art ; 

 and, if such practice be conversant in regulating 

 the passions, it is called moral virtue. Before 

 the habit of moral virtue can be attained, there 

 are many appetites to be curbed, various pro- 

 pensities to be corrected, and many temptations 

 to be resisted. 



Although it is unquestionably true, that 

 there exist different sciences that may be said 

 to belong to one and the same genus, in 

 which the principles of the one may be legiti- 

 mately transferred to the other, it is, neverthe- 

 less, very seldom the case. Principles of sci- 

 ence do not emigrate, as migratory birds at 

 different seasons, to different countries ; indi- 

 vidual sciences, for the most part, have their 



