ii52 INTELLIGENCE OP THE PEOPLE. 



And sovereign Imo, that state's collected will, 



O'er thrones and globes elate, 

 Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill. 



We may be told that this is gt vision of a perfect common- 

 wealth ; and so it is : — still the hopes of patriots and sages, 

 amid discouragement and defeat, gather about and rest upon 

 it, with something of that gladness of heart, which the tired 

 traveller feels, when he hrst descries the sun light upon the 

 distant towers of the happy valley. 



Although the dangers of American liberty may arise and 

 press upon us from every side, to chastise our hopes and our 

 confidence, the duty of its friends is not doubtful. They 

 must labour to augment that moral force, to which its very 

 existence is committed. N. Am. Review. 



LESSON 114. 1 



Intelligence of the People a means of safety to the Govern^ j 

 ment. mt. rf. 



In a government like ours, where the supreme control | 

 depends on the opinion of the people, it is important certainly i 

 that this opinion should be enlightened. " There is no 1 

 power on earth which sets ap its throne in the spirit and V 

 souls of men, and in their hearts and imaginations, their \ 

 assent also and belief^ equal to learning and knowledge ; and j 

 there is scarce one instance brought of a disastrous govern- • 

 ment, where learne i men have been seated at the helm." 

 Now the most certain mode of making learned rulers, is to 

 extend as far as possible the influence of learning to the 

 people from whom the rulers are taken. But intelligence 

 not only makes good rulers, it makes peaceable citizens. It 

 causes men to have just views of the nature, value, and re- 

 lations of things, the purposes of life, the tendency of actions, 

 to be guided by purer motives, to form nobler resolutions, 

 and press forward to more desirable attainments. Laws will 

 be obeyed, because they are understcod and rightly estimat- 

 ed. Men will submit cheerfully to good government, and 

 fionsult the peace of society, in proportion as they learn to 



