the same time conceiving of the application of some force; the application of force necessarily involves the idea of something to which it is applied: so that the material must have previously existed, which renders the act of creation impossible. If a divine being, intelligent and powerful, really exists, it should be borne in remembrance that, it is not derogatory to his dignity to say that he cannot perform that which involves a contradiction. The doctrine of absolute creation involves a contradiction, and therefore it is absurd and untrue.

NATIONAL EDUCATION,

CONSIDERED AS THE MEANS OF PROMOTING UNIVERSAL HAPPINESS.

THE whole human race are in pursuit of happiness. The rich, the poor, the low, the lofty, the mechanic and the merchant, the nobleman and the monarch, are all seeking pleasure of one kind or other. For this the adventurous youth forsakes his native home, and wanders through foreign regions, inspecting their curiosities, and making himself acquainted with the manners and customs of their inhabitants. For this the sturdy mariner ploughs the briny deep, and breasts and buffets the relentless tempests. For this the idle and the dissolute squander their precious time; and for this the sober man of business devotes his hours to laborious calculation. In short, all ranks and classes of society are wandering in quest of happiness.

But, though the whole human race are pursuing pleasure, the methods they individually adopt of obtaining it are frequently the reverse of each other. One man derives happiness from bathing in the pearly fountains of literature and science; and another, from the over-indulgence of his sensual appetites. The miser derives a sordid gratification from beholding his amassed treasures-from counting over his coin. Nature presents no landscape to his view so bright, so cheering, and so beautiful, as his individual possessions. The

bold and striking promontory the verdurous island, worshipped by the waters which surround it—the ragged rock, towering abruptly from the earth, as if in scorn of the things below-the mountain, rearing its gigantic columns towards heaven-the ocean's bosom, heaving in grandeur inexpressible-the peaceful river, gliding majestically along, the emblem of eternity and the source of vegetation-the lake, glowing beneath the shinings of the sun-and the forest, attired in the efflorescence of summer :-in short, all these, united into one rich and variegated landscape, afford not to the miser so much delight as is afforded by the chinking of his gold, or the sight of some miserable cottage which is his own. Wretched being! his pleasures are all of a sordid character. The pleasures which the rest of society enjoy he seldom or never experiences. He is, therefore, though seeking happiness, comparatively miserable. Though surrounded with magnificence, he is poor; though possessed of abundance, he is destitute; and though he has ears to hear, yet he hears not the voice of all-bountiful Nature proclaiming in her solitudes, "Man was born to be happy!" The sight of his fellow-creatures awakens not, in his iron bosom, any lively and generous emotions. The ruling passion of his soul is avarice; hence his desires unvaryingly run out after riches. To gratify the sordid love of gain, he wastes his morning strength and keeps his nightly vigils, and toils on, year after year, with untiring assiduity, acquiring riches, and desiring more. He possesses but few associations in common with the rest of his kind; for, on his part, every high and generous resolve-every mind-ennobling purpose-and almost every hope, blooming with the prospect of a liberal fruition-have been immolated at the shrine of an all-grasping and all-absorbing selfishness. He walks through life, the victim of a constant and tyrannical passion-a shadow of moral worth-a mockery of humanity-and a melancholy specimen of what man may become by the influence of a defective education.

If we contrast this character with that of the spendthrift, we shall find the two as opposite to each other as light and darkness. The one seeks happiness by

amassing gain; the other by spending it. The one deprives himself of almost every comfort; the other can deny himself of nothing. The one shortens his existence by the hardships he voluntarily undergoes for the purpose of hoarding up wealth; the other dilapidates his constitution by the excesses in which he indulges. The two characters, though as opposite as Egyptian darkness and the most vivid sunlight, are nevertheless both seeking happiness. Pleasure, either immediate or remote, is the object they both have in view, though they seek it by different methods. So it is with the whole of society. All that navigate the great ocean of life are in pursuit of gratification. In short, it appears to be the end and aim of all human existences.

Since, therefore, the acquirement of happiness is the prime business of life-since there is an eternal craving for it in every human bosom-is it not highly desirable that all proposed arrangements which appear likely to produce it should be called into immediate operation? It appears to me that a wise and liberal plan of national education would tend to increase the sum of universal happiness. The uneducated man, in general, is incapable of experiencing the pleasures which spring from the possession of knowledge. The sciences may unlock their inexhaustible stores, and pour their inestimable treasures at his feet, but he has no taste for their beauties, and no power to appreciate their value. The landscape may be clothed in all the wild luxuriance of nature; but, as it regards him, it lies charmless though beautiful, and dead while it speaketh. But the case is reversed in relation to the educated. The most elevating pleasures that humanity can feel spring from the proper exercise of a cultivated understanding, and of an imagination that has been chastened and subdued. An acquaintance with literature and philosophy, even though that acquaintance be but partial, is a source of pure delight. The philosophic student digs up happiness from the entrails of the earth, and derives both amusement and instruction from the pebbles on its surface. Nature is to him an interminable mine of intellectual gratification. Chemistry unfolds to him its wonders, and exhibits the constituent elements of organic

and inorganic bodies. Geology enables him to trace the various physical revolutions which have occurred on the surface or in the bowels of the earth; and informs him that other races of beings were its denizens before he was called into existence. Mathematics expand his power of thinking, and open up the pathway which leads to an acquaintance with the pure and sublime science of astronomy. This latter science unlocks fresh fountains of felicity. When the sun has set in glory, and his last red rays have fallen on the lakes and hills, the streams and clouds-when the beasts are retiring from their accustomed pursuits, and all nature appears to be seeking repose-then how cheering it must be to the educated mind to wander from home, and banquet on the beauties of the scene! The moon, arising in the eastern sky, flings her silvery mantle over the landscape. The stars, eclipsed by her brightness, hide their heads, as if compelled to do homage to her superior dignity, while earth and its streamlets roll on, illumined by her lustre, and reflecting her image. The air is balmy and breathes repose, and the heavens are peaceful and serene. What high and ennobling feelings arise in the philosopher's mind, as he scans the heavens, and roams in thought over the immensity of the universe! Overwhelming thoughts of sublimity and vastness-lofty conceptions of the beautiful, mingled with the reminiscences of bygone years, agitate his breast. The appearance of the revolving tenants of the sky call up feelings with which the names (sacred to science) of a Newton, a Cassini, a Galileo, and a Herschell are associated. The history of the heavens lies spread out before him; and he is enabled, in some measure, to behold its future condition in perspective. Where is the individual who will have the temerity to affirm that the astronomer, in such circumstances, does not experience the purest and most elevating delight? And where is the individual, possessed of the least spark of philanthropy, who would not wish to make such pleasures in some measure accessible to all?

A wise, well-adjusted, and liberal scheme of national education, if carried into effect, would place these refined gratifications within the reach of the majority of

men. The people, if rightly trained from infancy to manhood, would have placed in their hands the key with which they might unlock all the stores of knowledge. A taste for the sciences, and for literature in general, would thus be generated in the public mind, and a fine and high-toned morality would be made to pervade all the ramifications of society. Crime would be repressed, if not abolished; vice would become dishonourable, and be held in universal abhorrence; and the full tide of popular opinion would beat on those dispositions and actions which are found to be prejudicial to the interests of a commonwealth. Indeed, the vices of the state, and the difficulties of modern legislation, can never be completely remedied, until the people become educated. The majority of the people are grossly ignorant of matters which are intimately connected with their social and political welfare. The government of a country is acted upon by the force of public opinion; it is, therefore, of vast importance that public opinion should be sound and enlightened. But this cannot occur until a wise and liberal scheme of education be resorted to.

Modern senators are obliged to legislate for the many, and not for the few. Many times measures are enacted which, though well adapted to promote the happiness of the majority, are nevertheless but ill calculated to secure the felicity of a few, who, in consequence of being placed in particular circumstances, are compelled to experience loss by their operation. Now, it freduently happens that a popular clamour is raised by a few individuals against measures which, though prejudicial to their particular interests, are good for the majority. Indeed, laws cannot be made to secure the individual interests of all. By every enactment of the legislature some individual must suffer. As long as society continues in its present ignorant and degraded condition, this must be a phenomenon of frequent occurrence. The present framework of society compels, or at least influences, the legislature of a country to enact laws calculated to promote the further aggrandisement of the rich and the powerful, in opposition to and at the expense of the interests of the poorer classes.