102 Literary Associations. [Chap. XXIII. 



the principal causes of the superiority of the mo- 

 derns over the ancients, especially in the physical 

 sciences. They have kindled a spirit of emula- 

 tion among the learned ; they have stimulated 

 into action many useful talents, by holding out 

 literary rewards ; and they have suggested ob- 

 jects of inquiry, and methods of experiment, 

 which might otherwise have passed unobserved 

 and forgotten. Such societies, also, have furnish- 

 ed useful repositories for the observations and 

 discoveries of the ingenious, and have thus been 

 enabled to present to the world many valuable 

 productions, which would probably otherwise 

 have been lost through the modesty, the indo- 

 lence, or the poverty of authors. Literary and 

 scientific associations, moreover, by extending 

 their honours to distant countries, bind more 

 closely together the members of the republic of' 

 letters in different quarters of the globe, and 

 teach them to feel as brethren embarked in the 

 sp.me" cause. They may even be said, in some in- 

 stances, to have a great influence in advancing 

 national prosperity, and promoting a spirit of ge- 

 neral improvement. It is true, in accounting for 

 these facts, other causes may be assigned which, 

 beyond doubt, contributed to their production ; 

 but it can as little be doubted that the increased 

 intercourse and connexion among the learned, by 

 means of the establishment of academics and so- 

 cieties, ought to be considered as holding a place 

 among the most important sources of modern im- 

 provements in science. ^ 



The formation of literary and scientific associa- 

 tions in the United States be^an to take nlace in 



