sciousness that in the heavens God had declared his glory, the eager desire to comprehend the mysteries that dwell in these bright orbs, have clung to the descendants of him who first watched and wondered, through the long lapse of six thousand years. In this boundless field of investigation, human genius has won its most signal victories. Generation after gencration has rolled away, age after age has swept silently by; but cach has swelled, by its contribution, the stream of discovery. 6. One barrier after another has given way to the force of intellect, mysterious movements have been unraveled, mighty laws have been revealed,-ponderous orbs have been weighed, their reciprocal influences computed, their complex wanderings made clear, until the mind, majestic in its strength, has mounted, step by step, up the rocky hight of its self-built pyramid, from whose star-crowned summit it looks out upon the grandeur of the universe, self-clothed with the prescience of a God. 7. With resistless energy it rolls back the tide of time, and lives in the configuration of rolling worlds a thousand years ago, or, more wonderful, it sweeps away the dark curtain from the future, and beholds those celestial scenes which shall greet the vision of generations, when a thousand years shall have rolled away, breaking their noiseless waves on the dim shores of eternity. 8. To trace the efforts of the human mind in this long and ardent struggle,-to reveal its hopes and fears, its long years of patient watching, its moments of despair and hours of triumph, -to develop the means by which the deep foundations of the rock-built pyramid of science have been laid, and to follow it as it slowly rears its stately form from age to age, until its vertex pierces the very heavens,-these are the objects, proposed for accomplishment, and these are the topics to which I would invite your earnest attention. 9. The task is one of no ordinary difficulty. It is no feast of fancy, with music and poetry, with eloquence and art, to enchain the mind. Music is here; but it is the deep and solemn harmony of the spheres. Poetry is here; but it must be read in the characters of light, written on the sable garments of night. Architecture is here; but it is the colossal structure of sun and system, of cluster and universe. Eloquence is here; but "there is neither speech nor language. Its voice is not heard;" yet its resistless sweep comes over us in the mighty periods of revolving worlds. 10. Shall we not listen to this music, because it is deep and sólemn? Shall we not read this poetry, because its letters are the stars of heaven? Shall we refuse to contemplate this architecture, because "its architraves, its archways, seem ghostly from infinitude?" Shall we turn away from this surging eloquence, because its utterance is made through sweeping worlds? No! the mind is ever inquisitive, ever ready to attempt to scale the most rugged steeps. Wake up its enthusiasm,-fling the light of hope on its pathway, and no matter how rough, and steep, and rocky it may prove, onward, is the word which charms its willing powers. LESSON VIII. HUMAN INFLUENCE. 1. OUR facilities for exerting an influence on the characters of each other, are so many and great, that it is difficult to conceive how two persons can meet and converse together, without exerting a mutual influence. Such a thing seems to be impossible. And every man who examines critically his intellectual and moral state, will observe, that however short his interview with another person may be, it has had an effect upon him; and that every thing which he notices in the manners, conversation, and actions of others, and in the circumstances of their condition and style of their living, affects, in some degree, his conduct, and changes, in some degree, his character. 2. Hence it is, that human conduct is seldom stable; that human character is seldom stationary. The patrician acts upon the plebeian, and the plebeian upon the patrician; and the different members of the same class act upon each other. Every meeting, every conversation, every instance of opposition or co-operation in the pursuit of pleasure or business, gives rise to a mutual sympathy of feeling, and to an action and reaction, which produce changes, of some kind, in the state and character of the immortal mind. 3. And this influence is usually exerted when we think little about it. We sit down by the fire-side with our families; we meet in the social circle with our friends; we call upon an acquaintance; we transact business with a stranger; or we go up to the house of GOD;-and all is soon forgotten. But we have, probably, left impressions on some minds, which will never be erased. Nor can any care, forethought, labor, or ingenuity of ours, prevent this. The nature of the human mind, and the economy of human society, must first be changed. 4. And this influence which is exerted with so much facility and constancy, has often great power. It often produces very important results. A single brief interview may give such a bias and direction to the mind, as will lead to a radical and permanent change in the character and conduct. A single instance of advice, reproof, caution, or encouragement, may decide the question of a man's respectability, usefulness, and happiness in the world. 5. But, if we would gain a correct view of a man's influence during his earthly existence, we must not confine ourselves to detached portions of that influence. We must survey the aggregate effects of all his actions. We must look, not at the streams, as they move separately through a thousand valleys, but at those streams, when united in one broad and deep channel, and rolling along a mighty, resistless flood. 6. Now, how numberless are the overt acts of a life of twenty, thirty, forty, or sixty years! How they fill the whole track of our earthly pilgrimage! How, like a vast army, they stand up in thick array! And, though their individual strength be small, yet how immense the united energy of the whole great phalanx! Thus much may be said concerning the fu cility and power with which men exert a direct and present influence on their fellow-men. 7. Let us now take into view that which is indirect and future, and endeavor to enlarge our apprehensions, so as to survey the extent of its operation, and the length of its continuance. The influence of men is not to be confined to the circle of their acquaintance. It spreads on every side of them, like the undulations of the smitten water, and will reach those whom they never saw. They can not confine it to their state or country. It will spread into other states, and other countries. For it will not die when they die; but it is a legacy which all bequeath to succeeding generations and it will exist, and act, and enlarge its sphere of operation, for ages and ages to come! 8. We feel the effects of what was done by ABRAHAM, MOSES, DAVID, ALEXANDER, and CÆSAR,-men who lived and acted in a distant country, and twenty, thirty, forty centuries ago!And generations a hundred ages hence, and in a hundred different lands, may feel the effects of our actions! Yes, that influence which is now comparatively feeble and limited, may, in some distant age, have attained to a greatness and territorial extent, of which we have now no conception. LESSON IX. ELEGANT EXTRACTS. DRESS. O. W. HOLMES. FROM little matters let us pass to less, Be sure your tailor is a man of sense; And always err upon the sober side. Wear seemly gloves,-not black, nor yet too light; And, least of all, the pair that once was white. But man and nature scorn the shocking hat. Be shy of breastpins; plain, well-ironed, white, With small pearl buttons,-two of them in sight,Is always genuine, while your gems may pass, Though real diamonds, for ignoble glass. THE HAND AND ITS WORks. SARAH JANE HALE. 1. THE hand, what wondrous Wisdom planned This instrument so near divine! How impotent, without the Hand, And Genius see the forms of heaven,— 2. Art's glorious things that give the Mind The silken car that rides the wind; The Telescope that sweeps the sky, Were wrought and fashioned by the Hand! |