LEARNING BY DIRECT OBSERVATION. 13 



From this superior quality of the information 

 which it affords, and the ease and certainty with 

 which that information is obtained, every one should 

 endeavour to make the sphere of direct observation 

 as wide as possible; and not only let slip no oppor- 

 tunity which may present itself without effort, but 

 seek, by every justifiable means, every opportunity 

 which does not directly interfere with and hinder 

 the active duties of life. And it is worthy of 

 remark, that, in this, the most important of all our 

 employments, second only to the preservation of life, 

 and the direct means of its preservation, our benig- 

 nant Creator has not left us to the uncertainty of 

 mere contingencies, but has implanted deeply in our 

 nature the desire of observation ; so that if we have 

 not debased our natural powers, and destroyed our 

 natural feelings by improper use, this desire con- 

 stantly urges us on to the attainment of more know- 

 ledge. For this end, and obviously for this purpose, 

 the fondest object of our wishes, satisfies us only for 

 a time; and this time is short, not in proportion to 

 the fickleness of our minds, as is sometimes aUedged 

 by those who would chain us down to an ignorant 

 satisfaction with that which we already know, but to 

 the very constitution of our nature, and to all that 

 tends to the elevation of our character, whether 

 intellectual or moral. 



But the field of knowledge is so extensive, our 

 means of personal observation, trammelled as the 

 mind is by having to carry the body along with it, 

 are so limited, and our lives are so short, in propor- 

 tion to the extent of that which is to be learned, and 

 which both nature and necessity impel us to learn, 

 that our own direct personal observation can furnish 



