214 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



principles which control the composition and decomposition of bo- 

 dies, the characters which distinguish them, and the uses they 

 subserve in the economy of nature. Does he study astronomy ? It 

 is not that he may become a practical astronomer, and spend his 

 days in viewing the phases of the stars, or in measuring their dis- 

 tances from us ; but that his mind may be enlarged in attempting 

 to comprehend the greatness of the firmament, the vastness of the 

 starry system, and the power of its Creator. But, though we say 

 that it is not the design of the plan of college study to make either 

 of these characters, yet it is possible to make one or the other ; an 

 astrononomer, a chemist, a mathematician or naturalist. We have, 

 however, not yet finished all we intended to say of the objects of a 

 college course of study. Does he study logic ? It is not that he may 

 spend his life in disputation ; but to acquaint himself with the 

 relation of antecedent and consequent, with the mode in which 

 fallacies may be attacked and refuted, with the methods that reason 

 pursues in seeking truth, and with the laws that regulate its move- 

 ments and give it its greatest strength and power. Does he study 

 moral and mental philosophy ? It is not that he may become pro- 

 fessionally a teacher of morals ; but that he may understand the 

 fundamental principles of right and wrong ; that he may know the 

 power which knows, and which actuates tlie movements of the man. ifl 

 Does he study political economy, or the law of nations ? It is not 

 that he may become a politician by trade, or a jurist or a judge ; 

 but that he may know on what principles our constitutional rights'^ 

 are based, by what bonds our political associations are held to- 

 o-ether, and what are the usages which control the intercourse o{l§^\ 

 states and nations. 



In these reasons we may recognize several great departments of 

 knowledge, in each of which there are some principles that are 

 called into action almost daily. 



The first kind is that of language, the great medium of inter- 

 course between man and man, between states and nations ; in fine, ; 

 the power which controls the world. 



The second, is that of numbers and signs, by which the low and 

 the high is measured, and by which the light and the heavy are 

 weighed, ratio expressed, and time and distance computed. 



The third kind relates to physics, which takes cognizance of j|lili« 

 forms, composition, characters general and specific, the mutual oriiiiil 



