THE

world has advanced to a high |

There is no way by which knowledge

art.

The progress of invention and improvement has been, especially of late years, prodigiously rapid; and now, whether we regard the science of nature or of art, of mind or of morals, of contemplation or of practice, it must be confessed that we live in a wonderfully improved period.

Where is all this knowledge? Where does it dwell? In the minds of the present generation of men. It is, indeed, recorded in books, or embodied in the various works and structures of man. But these are only manifestations of knowledge. The books are nothing till they are read and understood; and then they are only a sort of shorthand, an outline, which the mind fills up. The thing itself, the science, the art, the skill, are in the minds of living men- —of that generation which is now upon the stage. That generation will die and pass away. In thirty years, all now living will be gone, or retired from the scene, and a new generation will have succeeded.

This mighty process does not take place at once, either throughout the world, or in any part of it; but it is constantly going on, silently, effectually, inevitably; and all the knowledge, art, and refinement, now in existence, must be either acquired by those who are coming on the stage, or it perishes with those who are going off, and is lost forever.

* Extract from the introductory address of the "Franklin Lectures," delivered in Boston.

VOI. III.-NO. I.-MAY, 1851.

over again; and of all the science, art, and skill, in the world, so much only will survive, when those who possess it are gone, as shall be acquired by the succeeding generation. All the rest must perish. The rising generation is now called upon to take up this mighty weight, to carry it along a little way, and then hand it over, in turn, to their successors.

The minds which, in their maturity, are to be the depositories of all this knowledge, are coming into existence every day and every hour, in every rank and station of life; all endowed with faculties; all, at the commencement, equally destitute of ideas; all starting with the ignorance and helplessness of nature; all invited to run the noble race of improvement. In the cradle there is as little distinction of person as in the grave.

The great lesson which I would teach you is, that it depends mainly on each individual, what part he will bear in the accomplishment of this great work. It is to be done by somebody. In a quiet order of things, the stock of useful knowledge is not only preserved, but augmented; and each generation improves on that which went before.

It is true, there have been periods in the history of the world, when tyranny at home, or invasion from abroad, has so blighted and blasted the condition of society, that knowledge has perished with one generation faster than it could be