and vast concerns of the country at large. Suffice it to say that even these, in all their extent, deserve, when he ha sleisure to bestow on them, the attentive consideration of every patriotic citizen. I will only say, further, that in addition to the necessity of proper qualifications in all who hold offices, when it is considered how every thing under our government depends upon the purity of elections, upon the discreet and sober exercise of the elective franchise, and upon the firmness, intelligence and integrity of jurors, there is no language that can express the importance or over-state the duty of spreading far and wide, wherever our free citizens are found, the means of necessary information, without which they will strive in vain to discharge the trust, for which the living world and future ages hold them accountable. Information so various and extensive, but few can acquire in schools or from books, and it is only by social intercourse and mutual instruction that it can successfully and most profitably be imparted.

Let the Lyceum be devoted to this as one of its leading objects. While the ardor of patriotism glows in every breast, let a continued effort to qualify ourselves for public usefulness in whatever sphere our services may be acceptable and our circumstances will permit us to render them, attest the purity of our zeal. While we rejoice in the flattering prospects of our country, when, as now, the curtain has not been lifted from the dark side of the picture, let us remember that these prospects are to be realized but upon one hard condition—that we resolve, each for himself, to be worthy of the country, and to devote mind and body, heart and soul, to the acquisition of knowledge, that we may understand our duties, and of virtue, which alone can supply the ability or even the disposition to perform them.

When it is considered that the members of a Lyceum come together as a promiscuous assemblage of citizens with no other object than that of mutual instruction in all that refers to their mutual interests, I ask you what occasion can be afforded more suitable for the dissemination of information upon the

various political topics, that are more or less directly involved in the various civil relations, which it is the privilege and duty of all ranks and classes of the American people to sustain and exercise? How much is each individual in every community compelled to feel the want of a familiar acquaintance with political subjects of common interest, which it is in the power of some other individual promptly and amply to supply? How much may be done at the Lyceum, to spread before our people collectively correct information of the progress of political events at home and abroad, which comparatively few among them have the leisure or opportunity to obtain from books or even newspapers? How easily may they be here instructed, from time to time, in whatever relates to their municipal affairs, and the more important designs and measures of the State and national governments? What an opportunity is thus presented of exhibiting, in the simplest details, the diversified resources, whether natural or acquired, local or universal, immediate or contingent, of which, under the auspices of a republican policy, intelligence, enterprise and industry may avail themselves? How easy may it be, in the form of lectures and discussions, to collect and compare the important facts and considerations, which enter into every question affecting the public welfare, whether in reference to our domestic or foreign interests? How easy, too, how interesting and how proper will it be, in the presence of such an audience as is collected at every Lyceum, to refresh the recollection of the prominent scenes and incidents, which illustrate the memorable epochs in our national history? How grateful will it be to recount the services, to portray the characters, and thus to present for imitation the examples of public benefactors? Above all, in view of such occasions of direct communication with the great body of the people, how much may and should be done, by appealing to the recollections of the past, the benefits of the present, and the hopes of the future, to impress still more and more deeply and widely a conviction of the incalculable value of that blessed UNION, which consummated the

toils and crowned the patriotic aspirations of our forefathers, and which is the only suitable legacy that we, as Americans, can bequeath to our prosperity?

How much, indeed, may be done at the Lyceum, which has been done no where else, to explain to the people the nature and relations of political rights and duties, to inculcate the principles of political morality, and to counteract by an indirect, and for that reason, perhaps, more powerful influence, the petty intrigues and sinister designs of selfish, turbulent aud deluded partizans? How much may be done at the Lyceum, which has been done no where else, to induce and enable our fellow-citizens more and more to exercise their dispassionate judgment and sober good sense in the disposal of their electoral suffrages?

It will not be the effect of the Lyceum, for it is not the effect of increased intelligence, to destroy diversity of sentiment, and to put an end to political divisions; but it may be hoped that its benign tendency will be to render such divisions less inveterate, less acrimonious, and less dangerous. When the great body of our people shall have rendered themselves so intelligent and virtuous as never to conduct nor suffer themselves to be treated as a mob—when they shall have sufficient confidence in themselves to trample upon every aristocratic pretension that is not based in merit, and to scout every bigot, hypocrite and knave, whose vaunted democracy is an arrogant pretext for profligate ambition and sordid avarice-when every popular meeting shall present the aspect of a deliberative assembly, and at every election every citizen shall conscientiously exercise the right of thinking and acting for himself, we may find cause to admire, rather than to deprecate our political divisions. Like the Lyceum, the Republic may then exhibit the delightful spectacle of the harmonious combination of seemingly discordant opinions, in which the various resources of different minds are seen to contribute in various modes and degrees to the common object of enlightening, improving and blessing all. It is a lesson of wisdom and experience, that the more we know of

ourselves and each other, of our personal and relative interests and obligations, and the more we compare our political, moral and religious condition as it is with what it may be rendered by generous sympathy, reciprocal forbearance, and cordial cooperation, the more we shall be disposed to abstain from unprofitable contentions, and, where opinions only are concerned, to agree to differ, conscious that such agreement is adapted to be alike the cause and consequence of mutual respect.

Who does not regret, as who does not perceive, the political animosities which now distract our country? Who, if he is but just to his observation and consciousness, does not acknowledge that all the evils which we suffer or apprehend are such and such only as the greater diffusion of political intelligence and morality would have prevented, and might remove? Who, that is not wanting in patriotism, will hesitate to admit that an institution, which addresses itself directly to the task of removing the cause of such evils, is admirably suited to the exigencies of the times, and deserves the support of all who witness or experience the want of its benefits?

IV. I can only presume so far upon your indulgence as to attempt a rapid and desultory sketch of the influence of the country and age in which we live upon the condition of man as an intellectual and moral being.

It may be supposed that the cultivation of the intellectual and moral powers has been sufficiently urged by adverting to their necessary agency in the improvement of individuals, the advancement of society, and the establishment and preservation of political institutions. There is another view of our actual condition, which shows more clearly the value and the uses of these capacious faculties. It were misfortune, as well as error, in the individual, to live entirely for himself. The claims of society are, for the most part, local and temporary. Patriotism is not an exclusive sentiment. It is the privilege of our nature, that we sustain a more extended relation with its corresponding obligations; and such, let it be remarked, is the adaptation of our talents and opportunities to the various pur

poses of our existence, that fidelity to the highest trust is not incompatible with the proper discharge of the humblest duty. As men, in the largest sense of that comprehensive appellation, we are bound to promote the welfare of our whole race. As immortal beings, we are to strive for the acquisitions that will endure throughout our whole existence. It is in reference to these exalted ends, that knowledge and virtue are to be chiefly prized.

It is foreign to my purpose to attempt a philosophical analysis of the nature and properties of intellect, or to investigate the theory of morals. On this point, as on all the others, I prefer to appeal directly to your observation and experience.

Tell me then, what, as you regard it, is the human mind? Is it not that, which distinguishes man from the thoughtless brute, and from inert matter? Is it not that, which wields and subdues brute force to his will, and which moulds matter in all the forms that minister to his convenience or pleasure? Is it not that, which gives to man the privilege denied to other animals, the power of improvement? Is it not that, which enables him to perceive what he is, where he is, whence he came, and whither he is going; in other words, to understand his nature, to study his relations, to trace his origin, and to learn his destiny? Is it not the only organ of communication between man and man, between different nations, and distant ages? Is it not the only element of his nature which survives dissolution? Is it not the divine ray, which emanates from the source of eternal light?

Tell me, again, from your observation and experience, what is the mind without moral discipline? Although it expatiates in a world of its own, are there not laws to direct its course, to regulate its tendencies, and to render steady and harmonious its multiplied revolutions? May it not be abused, when it should be improved? May it not be darkened, when it should be enlightened? May it not be debased, when it should be purified? May it not grovel in the dust, when it should soar to the highest heaven? Have not human beings been