III. TO RICHMOND. 



sources of true and permanent felicity. 

 The hanpinjss which we have eujoved in 

 this excursion, must afford you, my young 

 friends, an idea of that which all men would 

 equally relish, if they knew how to emanci- 

 pate themselves from the alluring pleasures 

 of society, and from the frivolous pursuits 

 which enthral them ; if they knew how to 

 enter into themselves, and to .pay homage. 

 to the beneficent Author of nature. 



Previously to commencing my studies res- 

 pecting the nature of man and the universe, 

 I uniformly experienced much difficulty in 

 resolving the simplest -questions of spetuJa- 

 tive philosophy. For example: Many au- 

 thors have written whole volumes with the 

 view of .defining beauty: but, instead of 

 throwing any light on this subjoct, they 

 have only rendered it move obscure ; and 

 hence I hesitated between different systems, 

 without being able to satisfy my doubts. 



These however were quickly dissipated, as 

 scon as I began to study Nature herself, and 



the 



