VALUE OF PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY. 



the manners of a gentleman, the principles of a man 

 of honour and high and pure morality, the ornamental 

 facilities of an artist, and a competent store of literary 

 and philosophical knowledge. 



I am not actuated by any narrow sentiments of exclu- 

 sive attachment to my own profession, when I affirm 

 that mathematical and philosophical acquirements ought 

 to rank high in your classification of the objects of 

 mental research. The simple explication of the term 

 PHILOSOPHY, carries with it an evidence of its utility. 

 It is the study of natural phenomena, or of phenomena 

 artificially produced, in order to discover the forces 

 which produce them, though not their hidden causes. 

 In the production of these phenomena, bodies manifest 

 various properties : and it is in investigating the laws 

 which regulate the exercise of those properties, that we 

 rise to the invention of theories, which serve to connect 

 the facts one with another, to show their mutual depen- 

 dence, and enable us to make the powers of nature and 

 the works of art, subservient to the purposes of men. 

 The Supreme Being has created a world for our use, 

 and us, in a measure, for its enjoyment ; but, in order 

 that we may use it successfully, and enjoy it adequately, 

 we must cultivate our own intellectual powers, and this 

 depends upon OURSELVES. Be it remembered, too, as 

 you go along, that knowledge is slow in its acquisition, 

 because it does not depend upon our senses, which are 

 quick, or upon our wishes, which are boundless ; but 

 upon the order in which we trace the phenomena nature 

 exhibits to us ; and these we must generally content 

 ourselves with soliciting from her by experiment, and 

 analyzing and arranging as she spontaneously presents 

 them. 



