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of that constitution under which we are here united for the Pursuit of 

 Truth, — and, secondly, upon the progress that has been made, or that 

 may hereafter be made, in that high object of our incorporation. It 

 is of \he future tliat it is important to speak : the precept 



holds good in the pursuit of knowledge, no less than in the advance in 

 piety. But still our hopes of the Future, if they are to be more than 

 dreamy visions, must be based upon the history of the Past. 



" The first thing that must strike every one, in considering the con- 

 stitution of this Academy, is tJie comprehensiveness of its scheme, and 

 the wide scope of its labours ; and we are inclined to ask, whether a con- 

 stitution so large and so varied, — so opposed to modern precedent, — can 

 be sound and healthful ? When we look into the recent history of Asso- 

 ciations for the advancement of knowledge, we see that each division of 

 the wide domain of truth, as it has arisen into prominent view, by the 

 labours of those engaged in its cultivation, has claimed for itself the 

 concentrated energy, and the undivided resources, of an exclusive 

 Society. In this manner the Royal Society of London, which included 

 originally, and still includes, representatives from every department of 

 Philosophy, has seen Society after Society spring up, manned by its 

 own Members, and claiming to perform, in a more complete and 

 effective manner, the separated portions of its work. 



" Such a state of things is the natural result of increased acti- 

 vity in any department, and of the consequent demand which it makes 

 of a larger portion of time, and of the other appliances oflabour, than can 

 be devoted to it in a body of mixed constitution and more comprehensive 

 plan. Nor can it be doubted that such a multiplication of the instru- 

 ments, by which Intellectual Force is concentrated and applied, is 

 attended with the many advantages which arise from the division of 

 labour, or that it has actually tended, and in a very important degree, 

 to push forward and to extend the boundary which divides the known 

 from the unknown. 



" But perhaps these advantages, great as they are, have not been 

 wholly unbalanced. Have we not reason to apprehend that Philoso- 

 phy has suffered, while the portions of her mighty empire have asserted 

 their independence, and erected themselves into separate kingdoms ? 



