^ 



72 ADVANCEMENT OF LTSArNIKCI. [UOOlt It 



of the direct way to tlie completion of the object in view. 

 For " claudus in via antevertit cursorem extra viam ;" 

 And Solomon appositely says, " If the iron is not pointed, 

 greater strength is to be used ;""- — so what really prevailetli 

 over everything is wisdom, by which he insinuates that a 

 wise selection of means leads us more directly to our object 

 than a straining or accumulation of strength. Without 

 wishing to derogate from the merit of those who in any way 

 have advanced learning, this much I have been led to say, 

 from perceiving that their works and acts have tended 

 rather to the glory of their name than the progression or 

 proficiency of the. sciences, — to augment the man of learning 

 in the minds of philosophers, rather than reform or elevate 

 the sciences themselves. 



The institutions which relate to the extension of letters 

 are threefold, viz., schools and universities, books, and pro- 

 fessors. For as water, whether of the dew of heaven or 

 spring of the earth, would speedily lose itself in the ground 

 unless collected into conduits and cisterns, so it seemeth this 

 excellent liquor of knowledge, whether it descend from Di- 

 vine inspiration or spring from human sense, would soon hide 

 itself in oblivion, unless collected in books, traditions, aca- 

 demies, and schools, it might find a permanent seat, and a 

 fructifying union of strength. 



The works which concern the seats of learning are four, — 

 buildings, endowments, privileges, and charters, which all 

 promote quietness and seclusion, freedom from cares and 

 anxieties. Such stations resemble those which Yirgil pre- 

 scribes for beehiving : — 



" Principio sedes apibus, statioque petenda 

 Quo neque sit ventis aditus,"*' 



The works which relate to books are two, — first, libraries, 

 which are as the shrines where the bones of old saints full of 

 virtue lie buried ; secondly, new editions of writers, with 

 correcter impressions, more faultless versions, more useful 

 commentaries, and more learned annotations. 



Finally, the works which pertain to the persons of the 

 learned are, besides the general patronage which ought to 

 be extended to them, twofold. The foundation of profeidor- 



» Ecc. 3u 10. ' * Georg. iv. 8. 



