442 Recapitulation. 



fathers, and be animated in your course ! Mark 

 the mistakes of those deluded and presumptuous 

 spirits who have misled and corrupted their species^ 

 and learn caution and wisdom from their errors! 

 Behold how much has been done by patient in- 

 quiry, by faithful observation, by accurate expe- 

 riment, and by careful analysis and induction; but 

 how little by fanciful speculation, by the dreams 

 of hypothesis, by vain boastings or by waging 

 war against Nature's God! Learn to distinguish 

 that Philosophy which is the friend of truth, the 

 handmaid of virtue, the humble interpreter of Jeho- 

 vah's works, and the ornament of rational minds, 

 from that ignis fatuus which shines but to deceive, 

 and allures but to destroy. Remember that by 

 giving yourselves up to the guidance of the latter,- 

 you can gain nothing but disappointment and 

 shame; but that the sober, diligent, and perse- 

 vering pursuit of the former is the plain and only 

 road to those discoveries which will yet further 

 enrich the sciences; to those improvements which 

 will adorn life ; to those practical arts which will 

 add utility to ornament ; and to that substantial 

 advancement in knowledge which the enlightened 

 and benevolent mind anticipates with a glow of 

 delight. 



