INTRODUCTION. 17 



hum of business through populous cities, and along 

 far-reaching lines of canals and rail-roads, and ships 

 for foreign commerce, freighted with the productions 

 of the soil, threading every channel and whitening 

 every sea — when we observe this contrast, we can 

 not fail to be struck with the convincing proof that 

 " knowledge is power," and of the loss sustained on 

 the one hand from its absence, and the advantages on 

 the other of availing ourselves of its accumulated 

 stores. 



