326 Report on a Course of Liberal Education, 



ground of their being of little or no practical utility, are in 

 part or wholly excluded. If it is asked, on what grounds the 

 pretensions of mathematical learnmg rest ? the reply is at 

 hand. The study of the mathematics, by the consent of the 

 ablest men who have been conversant with the business of 

 instruction, is especially adapted to sharpen the intellect, to 

 strengthen the faculty of reason, and to induce a general 

 habit of mind favorable to the discovery of truth and the de- 

 tection of error. Mathematical science, furthermore, lies at 

 the foundation of most of the practical sciences ; or affords 

 valuable aid in illustrating their principles, and in applying 

 them to the purposes of life. It firms the best preparation 

 for pursuing the study of physics in ail its branches ; and is 

 not without its use, at least in its indirect influence, in most 

 of our reasoning on other subjects. 



But here it is sometimes objected, that though much of 

 this may be true, still mathematical knowledge, to most stu- 

 dents is of little practical use. The plain rules of arithme- 

 tic, it is said, are all which most men ever find occasion to ap- 

 ply ; and if to these rules is added a knowledge of book- 

 keeping, few, indeed, feel the want of more extensive infor- 

 mation in this department of knowledge. Why, it is asked, 

 should a student be compelled to devote years to the acquisi- 

 tion of a species of knowledge, which is usetul only, as it 

 enables him to advance to the study of navigation, surveying, 

 astronomy, and other sciences, into which mathematical 

 principles largely enter ; when he has no wish or expecta- 

 tion to engage practically in either of these sciences; — and 

 will probablv from his distaste for the whole subject, forget 

 in a few years, what he has learned with so great labor ? If 

 a man occupied in divinity, law or physic, wishes to know any 

 principle in navigation, let him inquire, says the objector, of 

 some one whose business it is to understand this science. If 

 he wishes a substance analyzed, let him apply to the profess- 

 ed chemist; if he wishes to know the name of some mineral, 

 its properties, or its use, let him ask the mineralogist, who 

 from his love of this science, has made himself familiar with 

 the numerous facts and details which it embraces ; and who, 

 by his superior knowledge in his profession, finds actual em- 

 ployment within its precincts. If it is important, that he 

 should know the times of the rising and settmg of the sun 

 and moon, the time, quantity, or duration of an eclipse, let 

 him purchase an almanac, which is a much shorter way to 



