EW ENGLA1VD FAI&MEM. 



PUBLISHED BY GEO. C. BARRETT, NO : \ORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Igrk ultukal U v, e.)-T. (;. FESSENDEN EDITOR 



rsr 



VOL. XII. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH lii, 1834. 



NO. 36. 



ADDRESS 



I'll IVl'.lit'.U AT Till. FORMATION OF THE 

 BERKSHIKE HOKTH ( I.TURAL SOCIETY, 



Lenox, Oct. 31, 1833 By Samuel W. Busk. 



Man is tlic minister and interpreter of Nature. 

 This was the 'definition of an eminent philosopfu r; 

 and although it may he correct ;is applied to him- 

 self, yet when considered in reference to the vnsl 

 majority of the human race, it is wholly without 

 meaning. How very few, even in tins day of in- 

 tellectual light, are acquainted with the elementary 

 principles of the several branches of the Scienci 

 Nature! Still less is the number of those svho 

 have a profound knowledge of the laws which 

 control tin' stupendous and splendid mechanism ol 

 the Heavens; ofthe multitudinous and astonishing 

 phenomena of animal and vegetable life, aid o] 

 amazing and complicated operations of mind. 

 Even they who, with unquenchable ardor, have 

 devoted the whole of their energies to the study of 

 Nature, whose names stand first among the great 

 men of the earth, have with bitter humility de- 

 clared that their attainments wore puerile and con- 

 temptible — that the great Ocean of Truth lay it 

 explored before them. Every person, indeed, by 

 the necessities of ordinary life, has his attention so 

 strongly fixed upon the contracted surface of his 

 particular interests, that he is prevented from ob- 

 serving, with an eye of intelligence, the phenomena 

 of life that daily passes before him. Generations 



nature ; ul even the principles of the 'government 

 nmler which they live. How few among us en- 

 deavor to think justly and to act wisely upon these 

 points! Wavering, niTecrlahi and tickle as water, 

 the majority are ready to embrace or to renounce 

 any doctrine, or to adopt any expedient that has 

 only self fin- its object. Although, like the Egyptian 

 idolaters, they have not erected temples for the 

 worsliip'of bulls and crocodiles, yet the gods ol 

 their worship are not less absurd and rinavai 

 The phantoms, Ambition and Wealth, glitter in 

 their fancy with the sunbeams of happiness, and 

 thej pursue and worship them with breathless ar- 

 dor. Baffled and disappointed, they nevertheless 

 urge onward, plotting and counterplotting, and 

 though many faint in the race, and are crushed, 

 and are given over to misanthropy and remorse, 

 yet neither sharp Experience nor sober Philosophy 

 can persuade them to forsake the impalpable delu- 

 sions they madly worship. Hence, we see among 

 us, hungry competitors for the paltry distinctions 

 of an hour; hence, trucklers for popularity ; hence, 

 ii in. is .-.n, i misers; hence distrust, discoid, jeal- 

 ousy, and embittered rivalry, ill concealed nmler a 

 seeming courtesy of demeanor. Indolence, too, 

 is a god that hath its worshippers. Encrusted 

 with a love of ease, and with souls mildewed by 

 indifference and contempt of the gifts of God, its 

 votaries final lazily along, unstirred hy one health- 

 ful influence, until they sink into the lake of Death, 



so 



successively come forward, almost wholly ijrnoi m a lihel upon their species. 



of what has preceded them, and entirely destitute 

 ofthe means of knowing what is to follow them. 



Ignorance and Superstition have erected their 

 altars in every nation ofthe earth — we might say, 

 in the heart of every human being. Under their 

 iron despotism our world has become, if not a den 

 of thieves, at least the theatre where Doubt, and 

 Lust, and Ambition, and Atheism, and Folly, have 

 been the stirring and fearful actors. The history 

 of our race is but the record of their performances. 

 There have been no intervals between the acts of 

 their terrible tragedies. Acting in concert and 

 continuously, they have made hideous sport for 

 the "dogs of War." They have alternately intox- 

 icated, corrupted, oppressed and destroyed nations, 

 exultingly blending the tones of their terrific chorus 

 with the despairing groans ofthe crushed souls of 

 their remorseful and miserable human victims. 



These same subtle and overpowering spirits, that 

 animated and blasted the forms of the countless 

 myriads that have melted away in eartii's mighty 

 sepulchre, are at this moment riding forth con- 

 quering and. to conquer. Of this age it will he re- 

 corded, that two thirds of its inhabitants lived and 

 perished in the thick darkness of heathen ignor- 

 ance ; that War, and Crime, and Misery had their 

 untold victims, even in those climes which were 

 illuminated by the light of civilization ; and that 

 although the sun of Christianity bad extended its 

 beneficent rays into the heart of almost every na- 

 tion, yet that the conduct of multitudes of its pro? 

 fessed believers manifested that these master spirits 

 of evil secretly controlled their springs of action. 



To comedown to our own community, confess- 

 edly equal iu point of intelligence and virtue to 

 any in the world, how many there are who are 

 utterly ignorant of themselves ; ofthe ecouoiny of 



Comparatively, we are enligntened and chris- 

 tianized. Are we so, in full reality ? Who, but 

 the declaimer for votes and office, will say it? 

 Alas, there are many plague-spots on the body 

 politic. We are not so visionary as to suppose 

 they can ever be entirely removed by human agen- 

 cy. They are hereditary, and form ail integral 

 part of humanity. Homebred encomiasts inform 

 us, that they are eradicated, so far as our "happy 

 country" is concerned. Let not our self-compla- 

 cency be excited hy these gilded flatteries. It is 

 true, the clouds have partially separated that inter- 

 cepted the benign and diffusive light of knowledge, 

 and by its kindly influence the Arts and Sciences 

 have been an vanced, and with them a better and 

 higher standard of morals. But while we rejoice 

 with our whole heart, at what has been done, let 

 us not forget that there are Herculean labors yet 

 to perform. Our own passions must be subdued, 

 our own minds should be enlightened, before" we 

 attempt to subdue and enlighten others. Let our 

 pride and exultation be checked by a survey ofthe 

 actual poverty of intellectual wealth which ever} 

 where is visible. And he is truly the noblest ben- 

 elaetor ol his race, who succeeds in convincing 

 them ot their ignorance; in overcoming inveterate 

 prejudices; i M dissipating superstitious dogmas; in 

 withdrawing their affections from the vain and 

 perishing baubles of Gain and Glory, and placing 

 them on things imperishable, that communicate 

 perennial and ever new delight. 



The Science of Nature should engage man's 

 earnest and unwearied study; for it emphatically 

 addresses itself to his understanding, his feelings 

 and his necessities. It forms the most comprehen- 

 sive and interesting object of human inquiry. It 

 opeus to contemplation a countless number of ob- 



peis, material and intellectual, and the diversified 

 relations and affinities which subsist between them. 

 It is the g( Men key that opes the way to surpass- 

 ing beautv . utility, and never-cloying, never-ending 

 delight. T;he earth, the air, the waters, with their 

 boundless number of species and varieties of ani- 

 mal and vegetable lift — the mind of man, with all 

 its brilliant-creations and all its inherent energy— 

 " the firmament of heaven — the planets that move 

 around our system— the smallest ofthe atoms that 

 float around our globe, and the most majestic of 

 the worlds that roll through the illimitable fields of 

 space, "—these are the objects that present them- 

 selves to our observation ; and they are in them- 

 selves so beautiful, so diversified, so innumerable, 

 so perfect, their arrangements are so harmonious, 

 their combinations so wonderful, that the mind 

 when once engaged in their study becomes insen- 

 sibly attracted by their manifold fascinations. It is 

 man's peculiar prerogative, it is bis highest delight, 

 it is his soundest philosophy, to study and contem- 

 plate the works of the Creator. It 'is hy this, by 

 the discovery and application ofthe unerring laws 

 of nature that his well-being here is secured, that 

 the sphere of his observation is infinitely extended 

 and his enjoyments infinitely multiplied — that 

 fears and errors, engendered by Superstition and 

 arid Ignorance, are dissipated — that bis soul is ex- 

 I pamled and elevated — that he is capacitated for 

 occupying a loftier and more noble position among 

 the iutellj nees of God. " In the study of na- 

 ture, sniih an eloquent Naturalist, "vve trend iu 

 the footsteps of wisdom. We listen to a voice, 

 which is the same yesterday, to-day and forever. 

 And while the erring and fluctuating opinions of 

 man, his crimes, his follies, his power, pass away 

 and are forgotten, the empire of nature is immuta- 

 ble, to us eternal — the knowledge of nature which 

 is once accurate, is forever true — the knowledge of 

 nature which is once perfect, may be forever use- 

 ful." 



To the undistiiiguishing gaze — to him, whose 

 mind is, like the pearl incarcerated in the shells of 

 the ocean oyster, bound iu ignorance, — the visible 

 world appears to be a mass of inextricable disorder. 

 He can perceive in it nothing like beauty, utility 

 or wisdom. The condition of such a mind is piti- 

 able indeed, but there are millions of such. Man 

 fulfils his destiny by attaining knowledge — he was 

 designed to be the minister and interpreter of na- 

 ture. We have seen how very inadequately he 

 has performed the duties of his sacred office ; and 

 the mass of men have yet to learn, that if they will 

 but study, if they will but observe, if they will but 

 reflect — if they will but ascertain the powers and 

 properties of the mind, its rapacities, its aspirations, 

 its peculiar and divine structure — if they will but 

 go up to the study of nature with the docility of a 

 little child, and learn from her the lessons of wis- 

 dom, — they will be guided by the light of Truth 

 to elevating and sublime enjoyments, and ultimate- 

 ly to that Heaven, where the mind, unobstructed 

 and free as the winged winds, will forever expand 

 with the knowledge it will acquire of the spiritual 

 and material creations of an almighty, benevolent 

 and eternal Jehovah, 



From these broad and general, and imperfect, 

 views, let us turn our attention to that branch of 



