28 
mate and highest destination ; its subserviency to 
the purposes of man. 
Many of the sciences are ardently pursued, and 
considered as proper objects of study for all refined 
minds, merely on account of the intellectual plea- 
sure they afford ; merely because they enlarge our 
views of nature, and enable us to think more cor- 
rectly with respect to the beings and objects sur- 
rounding us. How much more, then, is this de- 
partment of enquiry worthy of attention, in which 
the pleasure resulting from the love of truth and 
of knowledge is as great as in any other branch 
of philosophy, and in which it is likewise con- 
nected with much greater practical benefits and 
advantages. “ Nihil est melius , nihil uberius , nihil 
homine libero dignius.” 
Discoveries made in the cultivation of the earth, 
are not merely for the time and country in which 
they are developed, but they may be considered 
as extending to future ages, and as ultimately 
tending to benefit the whole human race ; as 
affording subsistence for generations yet to come ; 
as multiplying life, and not only multiplying life, 
but likewise providing for its enjoyment. 
