Clear in his view the circling systems roll, And bids, beneath his hand, in semblance rise, With all the spheres that cleave the ethereal space." Benjamin West, another eminent mathematician, was also a selftaught philosopher. He was for sometime a professor of mathematicks and natural philosophy in Providence college, and very much distinguished in his branches. Pike, the author of the Arithmetick, which most of us have dozed, plodded, or fretted over, informed me, that West was one of the most extraordinary men in the science of numbers he had ever met with. This talent for mathematical inquiries is almost as common in our country as the inventive capacity. There is scarcely a village which does not contain some gifted man in that way. I have known a malt-seller, and a school master in an obscure country town, teaching at six dollars per month, who were among the best instructors in mathematicks that I ever knew: and at the present time the island of Nantucket is distinguished for mathematicks. The Folgers have, for more than a century through successive generations, watched the phenomena of the heavens, and given the result of their observations to the publick. Professor Winthrop, of Harvard College, probably made the highest exertions to notice the transit of Venus, of any American. In 1761, he sailed to St. Johns, in Newfoundland, for that purpose, and on the sixth day of June of that year, had a fine clear morning to make his observations. Winthrop was an accomplished scholar, in most branches of learning, and wrote Latin with great facility and in great purity. He published treatises on comets, earthquakes, &c. was deeply read in divinity, and was a very pious man. He said of revelation, perhaps, what no mathematician ever said before -"the light thrown upon the doctrine of a future state, (meaning by revelation,) amounts with me to demonstration." It has been too often supposed that philosophy and deep research were inimical to religion; but this has seldom been the case, certainly not in our country; for the wise and the learned, have seen and felt the necessity of a future state, to satisfy their longings after that knowledge which they believed existed, and yet was unfathomable by the intellect of man, in his present state of existence. The weak followers of some human creed, have too often taken a denial of its truth and efficacy, for a disbelief in the great doctrines of revelation. The higher the views, the more penetrating the ken; and the greater the ability to examine, the more forcibly does man feel his nature, and the more ardent are his aspirations that it may be purified and elevated. LECTURE VI. God gave to man power to feel, to think, to will, and to act; and made him responsible for this prerogative; whoever, then, has the gift of tongues, let him use it; whoever holds the pen of a ready writer, let him dip it in the inkhorn; or whoever has a sword, let him gird it on, for the crisis demands our highest efforts, both physical and mental. The soul has its nerves as well as the body, and both must be put in tono for service. Old Sermon. THE next epoch, that called forth the talents of our countrymen, was the attempt of the British ministry to tax the colonies without their consent. Not content with the monopoly of the trade of the colonies, they wished to draw a revenue from them, by imposing taxes in the form of duties on certain articles of common consumption. This was at first resisted by petitions, remonstrances, and arguments from every portion of the country. They did not regard as a grevious matter the duties imposed: it was the declaration which accompanied this taxation which was so offensive, of their right to tax the colonies, at all times, and in all cases whatsoever. The manner of enforcing these acts of Parliament was equally offensive. The custom-houses, which had been regulated with the usual lenity of collecting all colonial duties, were instructed to use all sorts of severity to bring the people at once to their allegiance and obedience. Informers and spies were scattered through the country, and behaved with all the insolence of petty tyrants; still their fears of the resentments of a people, never known for timidity, induced them to wish to have the appearance of acting legally, if unkindly. To do this, they applied to the courts for writs of assistThe courts hesitated: this process had never been known before in the colonies. The writ was considered in the nature of a star-chamber proceeding, and against the great principles of Magna ance. Charta. The custom-house petitioners obtained a rule on those interested to show cause why the petition should not be granted. Gridley was attorney-general, and of course, was bound by the duties of his office, to appear for the officers of his Majesty's customs. Otis was employed on the side of the merchants. This was in 1761. The cause of the petitioners was ably argued by Gridley: he brought all his learning into the cause, which was considerable, and the whole weight of his character, which was greater with the court. Otis made a most eloquent and learned answer, the fame of which is not lost by the lapse of years. The court were in doubt, and took time for advisement; and the subject has never been settled to this day, in that or in any other court. This was the speech which John Adams has told us, " breathed into the nation the breath of life." I am not engaging in a political discussion at this time, but this statement is made to show the causes of the development of talent in this country. Immediately after this, the papers waxed warm upon this subject, and others connected with it, and the press teemed with pamphlets, which discovered no small degree of political information. Otis was not content with employing his eloquence alone, but he took up his pen also in defence of our rights; and if his pen was not equal to his tongue, it was sufficiently pointed and powerful to arouse his countrymen, and to excite the vengeance of those he called her oppressors. Otis affixed his name boldly to whatever he wrote; before this time, most political writings had come to the world anonymously. Others followed the example which Otis had set them, and wrote over their own names, when it was thought they could do more good by this course, than by taking an assumed name. He was not only a patriot, but, what is more to my immediate purpose, he was a splendid scholar, and wrote several elementary works, and works of taste. His talents, his misfortunes, his death, are so familiar to us all, that I will not stop to recount them. Samuel Adams was the contemporary of Otis, born only three years before him, but formed altogether on a different model. The energy of Adams was equal to that of Otis, but it was united to sanctity, as Otis's was to passion. Adams gained by a sage demeanour, while Otis lost by openness of manner and freedom of remark. They were both patriots, and brave to martyrdom; but while Otis rushed upon his enemies in a whirlwind, trusting to his powers and to his impetuosity for success, Adams approached with caution, and struck with guarded certainty. Thomas Hutchinson, a native of the town of Boston, was at this period a secret opposer of these patriots; with declarations of love for his native country, he was holding a correspondence with the ministry, and encouraging them to persevere in their strong measures. He had been an idol of the people, and they were unwilling to give him up at once. Feeling himself well fixed in the confidence of men in power, he threw off the mask, and boldly met his accusers. He was a man of learning and abilities, and possessed a very great aptitude for all kinds of public business, and was industrious in all its details. The history of the country was familiar to him, for he had made it a particular study, and was for many years employing his leisure hours in writing the history of the province of Massachusetts Bay. The storm burst upon his head when he was Lieutenant Governor, and his house was demolished by the infuriated populace: but he was not easily daunted. The ministry came to his support, and raised him to the office of chief magistrate. His correspondence with the government in England, which the patriots considered as full of treachery to the colonies, was, by some adroitness or accident, obtained, and it was impossible for any one to withstand the effect. The populace, the legislature, the statesmen, old and young, brought their indignation to bear upon him, and he left our shores for England, where his services were forgotten; and neglect and a broken heart awaited him. He was unquestionably the most efficient man the royal cause could boast of in this country, at that period. For his history, we are much indebted to him. This will live, when his political course will only be remembered as a common Occurrence. The late President Adams was another of the distinguished writers, in the days preceding the revolution. He was ardent in the cause of liberty, but he never run with bare-headed debasement the scrub race of popularity." He was of counsel for Preston and his men, in 1770, and, regardless of popular clamour, discharged his duty with ability and firmness. He was consistent, unwavering, and determined from the first, and employed his pen in defence of the colonies from his earliest manhood. He was engaged in controversy with those who took the side of the crown, until a few months previous to the battle of Lexington. He wrote over the signature "NOVANGLUS," in answer to one who had taken the signature "MASSACHUTENSIS," and whom he supposed to be Jonathan Sewall, then attorney-general, but it has lately been stated, on the authority of Sampson Salter Blowers, chief justice of the supreme court of Halifax, who, with Mr. Adams, was at that time a member of the Suffolk bar, that "massachutensis" was written by Mr. Leonard, a younger member of that bar than either Adams or Sewall, and afterwards a judge in one of the English West India islands. These were able papers on the great questions then before the people, full of striking thoughts and plain and direct arguments: we speak thus freely of both of these writers; they managed their causes well. Mr. Adams was, at all times, a bold straight-forward writer, and sometimes was quite prophetick in his conjectures. Among the writers of that day, no man was more conspicuous than Doctor Samuel Cooper. He was a most acceptable preacher and a fine scholar; probably more refined in his style than most other writers in our country; but he did not confine himself to religious subjects alone. He saw that encroachments on civil liberty would reach, in no distant day, the liberty of conscience, and hierarchies would grow up when the elective franchise had become a nullity. His polished style had reached Paris, and his fame as a fine writer was among the first circles of taste and fashion. He was a friend to learning, and was a member of the corporation of Harvard College; but he did not content himself, on the score of duty, with college halls or religious temples, but threw out the strong emotions of his clear mind into the political excitements of the day. He wrote frequently in the publick journals, particularly in the Boston Gazette, on all the current topicks of the day. Thesc pieces of composition were remarkable for perspicuity and elegance; and the good people were looking out as each paper came from the press, for something from his pen, as a charm and a guide. He wrote a pamphlet called "the Crisis," which contained a great share of neat and forcible argument, but is not equal to many of his other compositions. All his works have a political bearing, or, at least, a great portion of them. The most popular works of Doctor Cooper, were the following discourses: on the Artillery election, 1751; and in 1753, an address for encouraging industry; this contained the true principles of political economy; that is, for the rich to study to find work for the poor as a preventive of further distress; and many others, upon occasional subjects, were printed by his friends, as he delivered them before the several societies which called his talents to their aid. A sermon on the reduction of Quebec, was a very popular discourse in this country and in England; and one on the commencement of the new constitution of Massachusetts, October 25th, 1780, was thought, by statesmen, to be a very correct exposition of the great doctrines of a free government. This political discourse was translated into the French and German languages, and perhaps many others. It was no less admired for its bold and generous principles, than for its polished style and elegant composition. It was sent through Europe, as at once a specimen of the mode of thinking and writing in the American states. One of his great maxims was, that knowledge and virtue are the pillars of a free government; and these were only to be had and supported by institutions of learning and religion: he was therefore foremost in raising and in supporting se |