Report on a Course of Liberal Education, 30 1 



merit ; balancing nicely the evidence presented to the judg- 

 ment ; awakening, elevating, and controlling the imagina- 

 tion ; arranging, with skill, the treasures which memory gath- 

 ers ; rousing and guiding the powers of genius. All this is 

 not to be effected by a light and hasty course of study ; by 

 reading a few books, hearing a few lectures, and spending 

 some months at a literary institution. The habits of think- 

 ing are to be formed, by long continued and close applica- 

 tion. The mines of science must be penetrated far below 

 the surface, before, they will disclose their treasures. If a 

 dexterous performance of the manual operations, in many of 

 the mechanical arts, requires an apprenticeship, with diligent 

 attention for years ; much more does the training of the pow- 

 ers of the mind demand vigorous, and steady, and systemat- 

 ic effort. 



In laying the foundation of a thorough education, it is ne- 

 cessary that all the important mental faculties be brought 

 into exercise. It is not sufficient that one or two be culti- 

 vated, while others are neglected. A costly edifice ought 

 not to be left to rest upon a single pillar. When certain men- 

 tal endowments receive a much higher culture than others, 

 there is a distortion in the intellectual character. The mind 

 never attains its full perfection, unless its various powers are 

 so trained as to give them the fair proportions which nature 

 designed. If the student exercises his reasoning powers on- 

 ly, he will be deficient in imagination and taste, in fervid and 

 impressive eloquence. If he confines his attention to demon- 

 strative evidence, he will be unfitted to decide correctly, in 

 cases of probability. If he relies principally on his memory, 

 his powers of invention will be impaired by disuse. In the 

 course of instruction in this college, it has been an object to 

 maintain such a proportion between the different branches 

 of literature and science, as to form in the student a proper 

 balance of character. From the pure mathematics, he learns 

 the art of demonstrative reasoning. In attending to the phy- 

 sical sciences, he becomes familiar with facts, with the pro- 

 cess of induction, and the varieties of probable evidence. In 

 ancient hterature, he finds some of the most finished models 

 of taste. By English reading, he learns the powers of the 

 language in which he is to speak and write. By logic and 

 mental philosophy, he is taught the art of thinking ; by rhet- 

 oric and oratory, the art of speaking. By frequent exercise 



