I 



204 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 



Greece ; and that the leading cause of the cultivation of the 

 philosophical arts, was the freedom of opinion, which the 

 Greeks — not controlled by the theocracy of Egypt — were able 

 to indulge in. 



4. That this freedom of opinion produced an extraordinary de- 

 velopement of human powers, seeing that the names of Homer, 

 Pythagoras, iEschylus, Pindar, Zeuxis, Sophocles, Plato, Eu- 

 ripides, Phidias, Aristotle, Demosthenes, and others, are ac- 

 counted the most illustrious of the human family, at this day. 



5. That the military power of the Romans, ended by extinguish- 

 ing their freedom, and brought about the ruin of letters and 

 the arts ; that anarchy, having left to men no motive of action, 

 but individual preservation, all love of country became extinct; 

 and Rome, once the mistress of the world, fell, without dignity, 

 before hordes of undisciplined barbarians. 



6. That notwithstanding the learning of the ancients had nearly 

 become a victim to the fanaticism of the early professors of 

 Christianity, still we are indebted to the monasteries for the 

 preservation — in the darkest days of Europe — for what we 

 now possess of it. 



7. That we are greatly indebted to the Mahometans — a people 

 whose name has been a reproach in the ears of christians — for 

 the revival of human learning. 



8. That nations, like individuals, are weak in proportion as they 

 are ignorant, and that their memories are most honoured, 

 when they have advanced the arts and sciences. 



9. That when nations give themselves up to obscure dogmas, and 

 speculative reasonings ; when they reason from the unknown 

 to the known, nature is a sealed book, and God is unseen of 

 them. 



Lastly, We know from our own experience, that the mechanical 

 arts most minister to the enjoyment of men, when nature and 

 nature's laws, are most studied by them ; and that in that 

 study there is more exquisite enjoyment than in any other oc- 

 cupation, seeing that the human mind is exceedingly elevated, 

 in the contemplatioji of the power, and wisdom, of the Author 

 of creation. 



To these conclusions we should add with regret, if the dawn 

 of a better state of things were not rising, that at a period when 

 the most arbitrary government in Europe is cultivating astronomy 



