8
A DISCOURSE
ON THE
ADVANTAGES
OF THE
STUDY OF NATURAL SCIENCE,
DELIVERED BY REQUEST
OF THE
CHESTER COUNTY CABINET,
INTRODUCTORY TO THEIR COURSE OF LECTURES :
DECEMBER 5TH, 1835.
BY WILLIAM H. DILLINGHAM.
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CABINET.
Philadelphia:
WILLIAM BROWN, PRINTER.
1835.


To
WM. H. DILLINGHAM, Esq.
Dear Sir,
The Committee appointed by the Cabinet, beg leave, respect-
fully to tender you their thanks for the eloquent and very inte-
resting address, pronounced by you at their request, on Saturday
evening last, and request a copy for publication.
We have the honour to be,
Most respectfully,
Your humble servants,
Committee.
JOHN MARSHALL,
J. LACEY DARLINGTON,
WM. P. TOWNSEND,
W. TOWNSEND,
JOHN RUTTER,
West Chester, Pa. Dec. 7, 1835.
To Messrs. JOHN MARSHALL,
J. LACEY DARLINGTON,
WM. P. TOWNSEND,
W. TOWNSEND,
JOHN RUTTER,
Committee
Ches. Co. Cabinet.
Gentlemen,
Desirous to aid the cause in which you are engaged, I
submit the address to your disposal, with thanks for the kind
terms in which your request is conveyed.
I am, gentlemen,
Very respectfully and truly yours,
W. H. DILLINGHAM.
West Chester, Pa. December 9th, 1835.

重
​
DISCOURSE
ON
THE STUDY OF NATURAL SCIENCE.
It is the part of a wise community to promote the dis-
semination of knowledge. It is a mark high in the advance of
civilization when a taste for intellectual pursuits can be made
to predominate in any community. Athletic games, the sports
of the field and the turf, belong to the first rude ages when the
law of the strongest prevails: spectacles, shows, and mere
amusements, mark the stages of decay. It should be the aim
and effort of all, every where, to teach, persuade, and allure men
to appreciate and cultivate their higher faculties. The amelio-
ration of the whole human family depends upon it—the very ex-
istence of all free government depends upon it-our own eternal
destiny depends upon it. Who then can refuse to put his hand
to the plough, when summoned to the aid of such a cause--who
but must feel himself honored, and however diffident of his pow-
ers, tax them to their full extent to do justice to the subject ? Sur-
rounded by so many bright and cheering evidences of the pre-
valence of such a spirit in this community, the speaker proceeds
with alacrity to discharge the task assigned him.
Knowledge is the hand-maid of virtue. Knowledge gives plea-
sure in the pursuit and happiness in the enjoyment. Knowledge
is the light of the mind, and distinguishes man from the brutes
that perish. What is this lump of clay better than its kindred
earth, the vis inertice of inanimate matter, without a proper de-

6
velopement and improvement of its inhabitant mind. Those
powers with which man has been endowed, and which give him
his rank in the scale of being should not be suffered to lie dor-
mant. Nay, we have no right to bury any one talent which God
has committed to us. It is even impossible for us to be inactive;
from the moment we begin to live, we are tending upon an on-
ward course, for weal or woe. Life—what is it but another
name for action ;-mind--what is it but the opposite of passive
matter ;--thought--what is it but the action of mind; and who
that lives can cease to think. The question then resolves itself
into this; whether upon this voyage of life, the helm shall be
committed to the guidance of reason and wisdom, or surrendered
to chance, or appetite, or passion ;--whether we shall follow the
light of truth, or fall into the mazes of error.
Among the varied pursuits of knowledge, nothing is better
calculated to expand and elevate and satisfy the mind, than the
study of the great truths of nature. Imperfection is written
upon
all the works of man. History is but a record of his fol-
lies, his vices and his crimes—his lust* for power—his love of
self and hatred of his neighbour-his wars and intrigues—his
rapine and cruelty-with scarcely enough of virtue to save our
world from the fate of the cities of the plain, or those of us who
stop to look back upon it from the catastrophe which befel the
companion of Lot. Medicine--Divinity--Law ;--what are they,
but so many evidences that man has fallen from his high estate.
The arts ;--what do they aim at but to develope and to copy na-
ture, and when do they attain their highest perfection, but when
they come nearest to their great original. After all that art has
achieved, can the sculptor breathe the breath of life into his mar-
ble--the painter make his canvass speak--the poet with his ma-
gic wand, “ call spirits from the vasty deep’--or the musician
rival the “music of the spheres ?”. What art of man can cre-
* See Appendix, Note C.

7
ate a blade of grass, or call the smallest atom into existence ;-
what skill of man has ever had the impiety to attempt the most
simple organic structure ;—what mind so mighty as not to quail
before the irresistible evidence of an Almighty Creator in the
growth of the smallest vegetable, as it springs from the earth at
the bidding of the God of Nature ? Indeed the study of man
and of the works of man, limited to his actions, his conduct, and
his institutions—history, poetry, philosophy, the arts and the
professions, would end in vanity and vexation of spirit, were it
not for the evidence of nature and of revelation that this world is
not his final home.
In Natural Science we have to do, and to do only with the
works of a Divine Author. In the whole economy of nature
we see wisdom and perfection, no less than goodness and power.
The more thoroughly we study and the more closely we ob-
serve nature in all its parts, the more shall we learn to admire
and adore that being who holds our own eternal destiny in his
hands, the more cheerfully resign ourselves to his dispensations,
the more deeply fear his displeasure, the more confidently trust
in his promises, and the more readily commit his body to the
dust when prepared to appear in his presence. Why the very
study of nature should be, in itself, an act of divine worship,
and the love of nature another name for piety. No man can
look out upon earth, or sky, or sea, or air, without feeling his
heart go forth in gratitude to the great giver of all good. Why
should man forever mar his own high destiny, and throughout
all time convert this paradise of beauties into one great aceldama.
Why could it not have satisfied us that Cain should have killed
his brother, and why has not the example of his awful denun-
ciation and the mark upon his forehead deterred man in all suc-
ceeding generations from imbuing his hands in his brother's
blood !
The study of nature comes to the aid of the benign truths of

8
Christianity to make man humble, pious, and sincere. Simpli-
city of life and conversation is generally a marked characteristic
of its votaries. Its advances within the few years past are
among the wonders of the age. They are no less consoling and
comforting' evidences of a hopeful amelioration of the whole hu-
man family to follow.
It is but yesterday that the world was groping in the non-
sense and worse than nonsense of Alchymy, Astrology, and
Magic-a miserable combination of ignorance, superstition and
craft. It was but the day before that the earth we inhabit was
considered a vast plain, the centre of a system, and the heavenly
bodies, all, its humble attendants. Fourteen hundred and ninety-
seven years after the Christian era, this vast continent, with its
rivers and its lakes, its prairies and its mountains, its forests and
its mines, its organic and animal existence and remains, its seas
and shores, was unknown to civilized man.
The magnetic
needle had then but just begun to be trusted. It is not yet a
century since Franklin discovered the secrets of electricity; and
still more recently has it been ascertained that magnetism and
electricity are so nearly identical. Within our own day, che-
mistry, mineralogy, and geology were scarcely named among
the sciences; and who, at this time, would risk his reputation in
Botany, by stopping at the point to which the great Linnæus
attained. In truth, man did not know how to reason until taught
by Bacon, nor how to apply his reason until the example of
Newton. His castles and his crusades, his tilts and tournaments,
and chivalry, haply disappeared with the dark ages, and are no
longer heard of, save in the distant echo of the troubadour's song.
A ray from the light of science gave life to commerce, and
brought a new world into view. About the same period, the
monster Superstition, received its death blow, and mind has ever
since been struggling for the mastery over matter, in the govern-
ment of nations. In this great struggle we occupy a conspicuous

9
and important redoubt, upon a commanding eminence in the eye
of the world. To enable us to maintain this position, no means
present themselves as more palpable, none more obvious, than
the universal dissemination of knowledge.
The institution which patronises this course of Lectures, has
for its immediate object, the cultivation of Natural Science, and
has hitherto been principally devoted to the branches more par-
ticularly designated as Natural History. Among its various
interesting departments and intimately connected with all, are
those of Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry, which is but a sub-
division of the former.
What is Natural Science—what is Natural History-what is
Natural Philosophy—and what is Chemistry?
These are questions which the very young members of my
audience may be supposed to propound, and subjects to which
it is important that all should attach definite and precise ideas.
Natural Science may be said to consist in the study of the
works of nature, her elements and laws—their modifications,
combinations, localities, properties and powers, and has to do
with the material world in contradistinction to the nature and
laws of mind.*
When we open our eyes and see the beauty of the world
around us, our ears, and delight in its harmony, our understand-
ings, and perceive the order, relations, design, and perfection of
all—this is Natural History.
When we study its laws and discover the secrets of its won-
derful truths, in all their height, and depth, and sublimity, and
find the greatest wonder still to be their simplicity—this is
Natural Philosophy.
*“Art more correctly implies physical dexterity: science on the contrary
is purely intellectual."-Swainson's Discourse on the Study of Natural His-
tory, p. 98.
B

10
When we detect the nature and properties of matter in all its
varieties of conformation and almost infinite varieties of change,
from an atom to a planet, from the blade of grass to the forest-
oak, from the breath of air that fans and refreshes us, to the
swift tornado, the burning sirocco and simoom—from the taper
light by which we indite our lucubrations, or the cheerful blaze
upon our hearth, to those volcanic fires which rock the earth
and those beams from heaven which illumine worlds--this is
Cheinistry.
Be not startled at the immensity of the grasp to which your
powers are summoned to comprehend these subjects. Who can
measure the capacity of the human intellect, or the extent of hu-
man effort ? They have led us in safety across the pathless sea and
made its desert waters the great high-way of nations. They have
scaled the icy battlements of Mont Blanc and trod the heights
of Himmaleh and Chimborazo, despite the regions of eternal
snow_braved the fury of an arctic winter and planted a standard
at the north magnetic pole—soared above the highest flight of
the Condor, by wings of their own contrivance, upon the ambient
air. They have scanned the sun and moon and stars, the comets
and their eccentric orbits and trains of dire portent, as familiarly
as things of earth. They have penetrated the bowels of the
earth and brought up hidden treasures—conducted the lightning
from heaven and tamed its fury-outsped the flight of bird or
wind in the appliance of the propelling power of steam-con-
trived an agent which mocks the thunder in its explosive power
and the lightning in its death bearing missiles-stripped disease
of half its terrors—subdued and civilized the native ferocity of
man, restrained his fierce passions and given predominance to
the rule of law-taught him to see in God, a creator, preserver,
and governor, to know his own relations to him, his infinity of
existence, his dread accountability and his nothingness of moral
worth-set on foot those vast designs, which, by means small

11
and simple when separately and individually considered, the
whole human family may soon enjoy the light of science, the
blessings of civilization, and the truths of Christianity.
Among these humble means our Cabinet would claim a place.
We feel that it is a distinction worthy of notice to have taken a
lead amongst the villages of this State in the cause of science,
and been the first to set on foot an institution of the kind. It is
no less a subject for congratulation that a kindred spirit prevails
around us, as evidenced in the complete establishment and
success of our Athenæum, the flourishing state of our public
schools for either sex, which may now be pronounced with
confidence to be unrivalled in the union, within their respective
spheres, and in the chaste and classical specimens of architecture
which are beginning to adorn our little town. We shall soon be
able to boast of a copy, in marble, of one of the porticoes of
Athens.* This building may be expected to endure for ages;
an ornament to the place, an honor to the public spirit of those
who projected it, and a model of good taste to all who come
after us.
Its influence for good has not yet, perhaps, been
sufficiently appreciated.
How much we owe to one individual it is needless here to
say. His works speak for him and will continue to speak when
we are in our graves. His name will live while the flowers of
Chester bloom. A genuine votary of Nature, one of her true
worshippers, it is by such that the lamp before her altars is kept
forever trimmed and burning. The clear brightness of its flame
which he has here lit up, you have often witnessed and enjoyed,
and it is with no small diffidence that the speaker ventures upon
ground so recently trod by his predecessor in commending the
cause of science to the attention of this community.
The
progress of our Cabinet has been from time to time
* The portico of the Agora.

12
reported to the public. The collections in botany and mineralogy
are quite respectable. Our herbarium is not surpassed by any
other collection in the state, out of the city of Philadelphia, and,
besides a more general suit, no mineral is known to exist within
the limits of our county which may not be found upon our
shelves. Ornithology and Conchology have not been neglected,
and some attention has been paid by our members to Entomology
and other branches of the Zoologist. Specimens of most of the
feathered tribe which visit these regions have been preserved
with care and taste, many of them highly curious and beautiful.
Our Museum presents quite a display of curiosities from various
quarters of the globe, and a collection of medals and coins has
been commenced. Considering that it has not yet been ten
years since the effort was begun, and that it is unconnected with
any great seminary or other public object, our success is very
generally the admiration and delight of visitors to our rooms.
The munificence of a liberal friend* and patron has furnished
us with the use of an extensive and well selected library,
including an entire set of one of the latest and best Cyclopædias,
which we have reason to hope, in time, may become our own.
From other sources we have been able to procure a number of
rare and valuable works upon different branches of Natural
Science, for some of which, the most interesting and difficult to
obtain, we are indebted to the voluntary liberality of foreign
.contributors. It has already been announced that a telescope,
which formerly belonged to the distinguished General Anthony
Wayne, has been added to our philosophical apparatus, by his
son, our worthy and much esteemed fellow citizen, Colonel
Isaac Wayne.
A correspondence has been opened with distinguished natu-
ralists in other states and countries, which, at the same time that
* Mr. Cloud, of the Mint.

13
it shows our humble efforts are appreciated abroad, promises a
large return. The labours of some members of this Cabinet who
could be named, labours known to few, but still assiduous and
arduous, time and often when many of us are enjoying our
repose, for our good, may fairly be expected to redound to the
credit of this institution, and tell upon our interests in all future
time.
Who is it that I see sallying forth into the fields and woods
with the first peeping out of the earliest flowers of spring--day
by day continuing his rambles under the sultry suns of summer-
still wooing the face of nature in her russet garb of autumn-
and when at last, winter, with his icy mantle, has hid her from
our view, trimming his midnight lamp, to prepare, arrange, and
preserve the treasures he has gathered up ? —Another votary of
nature ;-taxing all his powers in behalf of the cause of science
-responding to the calls for specimens of our Flora from
abroad—repaying by his individual labour the munificent dona-
tions our Cabinet has received, and inviting others ?
What is it that has given such an impulse to the study of
nature here, that by the efforts of one Female Seminary in this
Borough, and that not the largest, a set of geological specimens
has been prepared for each of the two hundred and fifty schools
in Chester county? What is it that has converted so many of
our young sportsmen into naturalists, and to the keen zest of
the hunt, or anticipations of the epicure, has added the more
elevated aim, and more refined pleasure of contributing to the
beautiful specimens which adorn our Zoology? What is it that
lures so many interesting youth, the future hope and promise of
our land, from the dangers which ever beset them, from the vain
and sometimes worse than vain amusements which too often
fill
up their leisure hours, to the studies of nature? What is it that
makes almost every young man in the county identify himself
with West Chesterfeel that he has himself a treasure in it, and

14
has himself helped to build it up-and when he goes abroad
cherish a generous pride that he can hail from Chester county,
and that this is his own county town?
All these questions may be answered in two words ;—The
Cabinet.
The interest here awakened has extended itself so far, and
our collections have become so important, as to call for more
ample room than has yet been provided for their display. Other
objects of deep and abiding interest connected with the growth
and prosperity of the Cabinet call for the erection of an appro-
priate Hall. A subscription has been set on foot for this pur-
pose, and a plan, furnished by a distinguished architect,* which
will also accommodate our sister institution, the Athenæum.
One of our liberal and public spirited members has presented to
us a handsome lot in an eligible site for the purpose. The
subscription already amounts to a respectable sum, and gives
promise of the speedy accomplishment of our interesting object.
In this we may hope to realize another chaste and beautiful spe-
cimen of architecture, and a handsome addition to the improve-
ments of our town. Accommodations will here also be provided
for the meetings of the County Lyceum, an association which
has recently been started under the most favourable auspices,
and promises by the establishment of branches in each township,
greatly to aid the cause of science. An impulse was given by
the Education Convention recently held in this place, which we
recognize with pleasure and to which we would respond. We
hear of institutions being formed every day, in different parts of
the county, which promise much usefulness, and the time will
probably soon come when no one of our townships will be
without the aid of this medium of disseminating knowledge, and
* Thomas U. Walter, Esq.

15
a taste every where be diffused amongst us for the studies of
Nature.
The Lectures set on foot, last winter, by the Chester County
Cabinet, met so decidedly the approbation of the public, and were
so well attended, as to encourage a renewed effort. The members
who then volunteered their valuable time and services, merit and
have received the thanks of this community. The avails of their
labours have been appropriated in such way as has been thought
most conducive to the better illustration of the subjects of the
Lectures, and the apparatus procured will add to the interest of
the present course. Should similar success attend this effort, it
is proposed to contribute the proceeds to the building fund.
With such a hope, *two of our scientific friends have again
come forward, and will give a course of Lectures on two of the
most interesting subjects of Natural Science-Chemistry and
Natural Philosophy.
It will be proper and is perhaps expected of me to say some-
thing more particular in reference to each of these branches. A
formal treatise will not be required and could not be attempted
by one whose studies and pursuits have not led him to investi-
gate deeply such subjects.
Chemistry is the most popular, and at the same time one of
the most practical and useful of the sciences. Its progress
within the last century is truly astonishing, and its importance
is now acknowledged to be paramount, in the every day business
of life. Of all the sciences, it is the most emphatically experi-
mental, and its theories generally simple and easy to be com-
prehended. The atmosphere we breathe, the water we drink,
the bread we eat, the clothes we wear, all have to do with Che-
mistry. Whate'er we see, or feel, or taste, or smell, or touch ;
on earth, or sky, or sea, or air, are embraced in its scrutinies.
* Joshua Hoopes and Dr. Wilmer Worthington.

16
The house-wife cannot make her bread, nor the dairy-maid her
butter, without the daily observance of some of its most interest-
ing phenomena. Instead of regarding these chemical operations,
changes and combinations which are every where occurring around
us as mere matters of fact, how far more interesting do they
become when regarded as matters of science. Extending our
view to its bearing upon medicine and the arts, its practical
importance is still more obvious.
In looking into the treatises upon this subject, nothing strikes
the mind more forcibly than the truth, how difficulties in the way
of acquiring knowledge, vanish before the light of science. That
which before appeared complex is rendered simple; what
before was chaos, becomes order. This is well illustrated by
the history of Chemistry, a science which may be presumed to
be but yet in its infancy. From Dr. Herschel* we learn that
this history may be divided, “1st, into the period of the
Alchemists, a lamentable epoch in the annals of intellectual
wandering ; 2dly, that of the phlogistic doctrines of Beccher
and Stahl, in which, as if to prove the perversity of the human
mind, of two possible roads the wrong was chosen.”
“ The third age of Chemistry—that which may be called
emphatically modern Chemistry-commenced (in 1786) when
Lavoisier, by a series of memorable experiments extinguished
forever this error, and placed Chemistry in the rank of one of
the exact sciences,-a science of number, weight and mea.
sure. From that epoch to the present day it has constantly
advanced with an accelerated progress, and at this moment may
be regarded as more progressive than ever. The principal fea-
tures in this progress may be comprised under the following
general heads:"-
I shall make no apology for quoting, verbatim, this analysis
Discourse on the study of Natural Philoaophy, p. 301.

17
of the progress of modern Chemistry, from so high an authority,
as it is condensed in very few words, and the work from which
I quote is not every where to be obtained.
“1. The discovery of the proximate, if not the ultimate, ele-
ments of all bodies, and the enlargment of the list of known
elements to its present extent of between fifty and sixty sub-
stances.
2. The development of the doctrine of latent heat by Black,
with its train of important consequences, including the scientific
theory of the steam-engine.
3. The establishment of Wenzel's law of definite proportions
on his own experiments, and those of Richter, a discovery sub-
sequently merged in the greater generality of the atomic theory
of Dalton.
4. The precise determination of the atomic weights of the
different chemical elements, mainly due to the astonishing indus-
try of Berzelius, and his unrivalled command of chemical
resources, as well as to the researches of the other chemists of
the Swedish and German school, and of our countryman, Dr.
Thompson.
5. The assimilation of gases and vapours, by which we are
led to regard the former, universally, as particular cases of the
latter, a generalization resulting chiefly from the experiments of
Faraday on the condensation of gases, and those of Gay Lussac
and Dalton, on the laws of their expansion by heat compared
with that of vapours.
6. The establishment of the laws of the combination of gases
and vapours by definite volumes, by Gay Lussac.
7. The discovery of the chemical effects of electricity, and
the decomposing agency of the Voltaic pile, by Nicholson and
Carlisle ; the investigation of the laws of such decomposition, by
Berzelius and Hisinger; the decomposition of the alkalies, by
с

18
Davy, and the consequent introduction into chemistry of new
and powerful agents in their metallic cases.
8. The application of chemical analysis to all the objects of
organized and unorganized nature, and the discovery of the
ultimate constituents of all, and the proximate ones of organic
matter and the recognizance of the important distinctions which
appear to divide these great classes of bodies from each other.
9. The application of chemistry to innumerable processes in
the arts, and among other useful purposes to the discovery of
the essential medical principles in vegetables, and to important
medicaments in the mineral kingdom.
10. The establishment of the intimate connection between
chemical composition and crystalline form, by Haüy and Vau-
quelin, with the successive rectifications the statement of that
connection has undergone, in the hands of Mitscherlich, Rose,
and others, with the progress of chemical and crystallographical
knowledge."
The atomic theory, after the laws of mechanics, Dr. Her-
schell considers “ the most important which the study of nature
has yet disclosed,”
The names of elementary substances, so far as yet discovered,
may be repeated almost in a breath, and their definitions, beyond
what are familiar to all, acquired in an evening. In Donovan,*
a late authority, I find the elements of simple substances treated
of under the following heads :-Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen,
carbon, chlorine, iodine, bromine, sulphur, silenium, phosphorus,
fluorine, silicon, boron, metals,—of which last, again, not to
commit the mistake of the alchemists, there are forty.
From such studies we learn that the elementary principle of
the most precious jewel is simple charcoal, and that a principle
* Treatise on Chemistry, published in 1832. passim.

19
of the sand we tread under our feet, and of the ashes with which
we are directed to clothe ourselves in token of self-abasement,
may be so combined as to form one of the most beautiful, most
useful, most common, and most costly productions of the arts.*
In the course of these Lectures we may expect to hear more
fully and particularly developed the importance of the study as
connected with agriculture ; a view of the subject always most
interesting to this community. Our county is already the third
in the State in point of actual wealth, as shown by the assess-
ment returns. The great source of our wealth is agriculture,
and the great secret of our agriculture is Lime. This secret de-
serves to be more thoroughly studied and better understood, not
only here but every where. There is not a husbandman in the
county who would not find his account in it, and no chemist
living who has not, probably, something yet to learn, as to the
modus operandi of lime upon different soils, connected with the
promotion of vegetable growth, and its best application to the
purposes of agriculture. The same remarks apply in all their
force to the operation of all manures, and to the influence of
climate, rain, drought, frost, and snow, upon the vegetable king-
dom. Agriculture is the art, of all others most essential to hu-
man existence—that which most immediately marks the pro-
gress from the savage to the civilized state. So far as life is a
blessing, the art which tends to increase the supply of the means
of subsistence, will ever be cherished as first in importance, and
the men who most successfully follow it, regarded as among the
greatest public benefactors.
From these Lectures we may also hope to learn something more
of that hidden, mysterious, all-pervading principle of caloric,
* Chemistry teaches us how, from sand and ashes, to make glass, and
glass may be fashioned into the most splendid shapes and forms, to sub-
serve the demands of refined luxury.

20
HEAT."*
with which we have so much to do, and yet care to know so
little about. “One of the chief agents in Chemistry, on whose
proper application and management the success of a great num-
ber of its inquiries depends, and many of whose most important
laws are disclosed to us by phenomena of a chemical nature, is
As a direct and practical subject of domestic economy,
how interesting in all its relations—as connected with the main
business of our county, agriculture, it is a striking and obvious
fact that near one-fourth of our tillable land is reserved from the
plough, for the sole purpose of furnishing us with a supply of
this vital agent, in all the business of life. Through the lights
of science, the developments of geology and mineralogy, the
improvements in mechanics and civil engineering, and more
particularly by the discoveries of Chemistry, we hope to find
means whereby this agent may be evoked and applied to far
better economy than any yet in use among us, so that these
immense forests may soon be cut down, the genial sun let in
upon our soil, the plough turn up its hidden treasures, and by
agriculture alone our county sustain double its present population,
From Dr. Lardner's eloquent introduction to his Treatise upon
Heat, I quote a passage, to show its connection with Che-
mistry.
+ The Chemist in all his proceedings is beset with the
effects of heat aiding or impeding his researches. Now it pro
motes the disunion of combined elements ; now forces into one
mass the most heterogeneous materials. At one time he resorts
to it as the means of arousing dormant affinities—at another he
applies its powers to dissolve the strongest bonds of chemical
attraction. Composition and decomposition are equally attended
by its evolution and absorption; and often to such an extent as
* Herschel's Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, p. 310.
+ Treatise on Heat, p. 4.

21
to produce tremendous explosions on the one hand, or cold,
exceeding the rigors of the most severe polar winter, on the
other.”
Natural Philosophy is more comprehensive in its range than
Chemistry, and in truth includes it. They are so intimately
connected and have so many points of contact, as to be mutually
dependent on each other. The nature and properties of matter
cannot be understood without studying the mechanical theory of
solids and fluids, and understanding also the phenomena of heat,
light, and electricity.
As a great first principle in physics, we find it laid down,
that
“ If two masses of matter be placed at any distance from each
other, and be uninfluenced by any external force, they will be
observed to move toward each other, as if each possessed a
certain virtue by which it is capable of drawing the other
towards it."
6. This attraction of bodies for one another is called gravitation,
or gravity, and is a universal principle of matter."
“ The whole system of ASTRONOMY may be regarded,” says
Mr. Donovan, as one connected demonstration of the univer-
sality of this principle, so far as regards the great bodies of the
universe, and the whole science of what is called TERRESTRIAL
MECHANICS, a like demonstration of its universality, so far as
regards our earth, and the bodies upon it.''*
Here is that principle which the genius of Newton detected
in the falling of an apple, and followed out to results no less
wonderful than demonstrable, no less clear and simple than vast
and mighty
Since the immortal Bacon taught mankind, that all philosophy
66
* Treatise on Chemistry, by Michael Donovan, p. 3, 4.

22
was but the proper use of our senses, and the proper exercise of
common sense, prejudice, superstition, and false logic have dis-
appeared, and we begin to understand why all things around us
were made, and that nothing was made in vain. If now and
then an idle dreamer still persuades himself that he has dis-
covered perpetual motion, we laugh at his folly, and if he
attempts to impose it upon the unwary, expose his absurdity.
But the names of Bacon and Newton should not be passed
over without a more emphatic notice.
I cannot occupy your attention more profitably than by giving
a sketch of the character of each from a distinguished writer,
already so often quoted. Dr. Herschel says-
*“ It is to our immortal countryman Bacon that we owe the
broad announcement of this grand and fertile principle; and the
development of the idea, that the whole of natural philosophy
consists entirely of a series of inductive generalizations, com-
mencing with the most circumstantially stated particulars, and
carried up to universal laws, or axioms, which comprehend in
their statement every subordinate degree of generality, and of a
corresponding series of inverted reasoning from generals to par-
ticulars, by which these axioms are traced back into their re-
motest consequences, and all particular propositions deduced
from them; as well those by whose immediate consideration we
rose to their discovery, as those of which we had no previous
knowledge. In the course of this descent to particulars, we
must of necessity encounter all those facts on which the arts
and works that tend to the accommodation of human life de-
pend, and acquire thereby the command of an unlimited prac-
tice, and a disposal of the powers of nature co-extensive with
those powers themselves.”
* Discourse, p. 104.

23
Again-
*“ It has been attempted by some to lessen the merit of this
great achievement, by showing that the inductive method had
been prastised in many instances, both ancient and modern, by
the mere instinct of mankind ; but it is not the introduction of
inductive reasoning, as a new and hitherto untried process,
which characterises the Baconian philosophy, but his keen per-
ception, and his broad and spirit-stirring, almost enthusiastic,
announcement of its paramount importance, as the alpha and
omega of science, as the grand and only chain for the linking
together of physical truths, and the eventual key to every disco-
very and every application. Those who would deny him his
just glory on such grounds would refuse to Jenner or to Howard
their civic crowns, because a few farmers in a remote province
had, time out of mind, been acquainted with vaccination, or phi-
lanthropists, in all ages, had occasionally visited the prisoner
in his dungeon."
How melancholy to reflect that such a gifted intellect, a man
so endowed with capacities beyond the reach of his predeces-
sors—who laid the foundation of a system which has conferred
countless blessings upon his fellow man—who, more than any
man that ever lived before or since, brought the sublime truths
of philosophy “home to men's business and bosoms," to use
his own happy expression, should nevertheless have fallen into
temptation, and enabled the great satirist, by a single line, for-
ever to stigmatise his name. Since Bacon erred, let us not be
too harsh in our condemnation, nor too sweeping in our denun-
ciation of frail mortality around us : let us rather learn from it
our own weakness and dependence, and be humble under a
sense that if the best of us has not fallen, it is not from merit, but
from
mercy.
If a man ever lived whose fame should outlive his
infamy, it is Bacon. His name may perchance flourish, when
that of the satirist is forgotten.
* Discourse,
p.
114.

24
Newton was more happy in his moral temperament, and a
useful lesson might be learnt from comparing the character of
these two great sages in philosophy. But we have now to do
mainly, with their relation to physics. Of Newton, Dr. Her-
schel says-
* “ His wonderful combination of mathematical skill with phy-
sical research enabled him to invent, at pleasure, new and un-
heard-of methods of investigating the effects of those causes
which his clear and penetrating mind detected in operation.”
Again—" Which ever way we turn our view, we find ourselves
compelled to bow before his genius, and to assign to the name
of NEWTON a place in our veneration which belongs to no
other in the annals of science. His era marks the accomplished
maturity of the human reason as applied to such objects. Every
thing which went before might be more properly compared to
the first imperfect attempt of childhood, or the essays of inex-
pert, though promising, adolescence.”
To comprehend and fully appreciate all the truths which the
vast and various phenomena of nature present, and the astonish-
ing discoveries which philosophy has brought to light, some ac-
quaintance with abstract science is useful if not indispensable.
Of this, the most wonderful, and the most difficult to believe
without mathematical demonstration, are the phenomena of
light, and more particularly those results of modern optical
inquiries, which teach us that every point of a medium through
which a ray of light passes is affected with a succession of pe-
riodical movements, regularly recurring at equal intervals, no
less than five hundred millions of millions of times in a single
second! that it is by such movements communicated to the
nerves of our eyes, that we see—nay more, that it is the differ-
ence in its frequency of their recurrence which affects us with
the sense of the diversity of colour.”+
* Discourse, p. 271, 2.
+ Herschel on Nat. Philo.
P.
24.

25
The agent with which these studies have most to do is that of
force-whether as producing equilibrium, or motion and the
great divisions of the science pertaining to this agent are deno-
minated STATICS, and DYNAMICS.
Bodies in natural philosophy are divided into airs, liquids, and
solids, from whence, in considering the doctrine of force, arise
Pneumatics, Hydrostatics, and what is sometimes denominated
Stereostatics, and from this last again Crystallography.
The communication of sound and light, through bodies, is
embraced in the consideration of Acoustics and Optics.
Under the head of what are technically called cosmical pheno-
mena, the natural philosopher treats of Astronomy and Celestial
Mechanics, Geology, Mineralogy, and as before observed, Che-
mistry.
As imponderable forms of matter, we find Heat, one of the
chief agents in Chemistry-Magnetism and Electricity, now con-
ceded to belong to one and the same branch of science.
This is an imperfect sketch of the nature of the subjects gene-
rally treated of under the head of Natural Philosophy, but stop-
ping here, more properly denominated physics; since the more
general term might with equal propriety embrace Physiology
and all that relates to animal life ;-Botany, and all that relates
to organized substances.
Of these subjects, the most stupendous and the most glorious,
the most awful and the most profound, is the philosophy of the
Heavenly bodies. Astronomy, it may be hoped, will occupy a
large place in this course of Lectures upon Natural Philosophy,
We have had proof that the studies and tastes of the lecturer
qualify him for this task.
Its importance might well, indeed, and usually does, call for
a separate course, upon the principle of the division of labour,
now beginning to be understood among us.
At least so much attention should be given to this subject, as
D

26
to explain fully to the class, those rare, and beautiful, and inte-
resting phenomena, which have passed under our own observa-
tion within a few weeks. I allude to that magnificent visiter to
our heavens, the Comet; and to the transit of the planet Mercury
aeross the sun's disc, which many of us had an opportunity of
observing by the aid of the telescope of our friend.*
The history of this same Comet presents one of the most
striking and simple demonstrations of the truth of Astronomy.
As it is the most remarkable in all respects, which has ever yet
appeared, to our knowledge, I have been at the pains to copy a
short account of it from one of the latest and best authoritiest not
yet republished in this country. Let it be borne in mind, that
the work from which I quote was published in 1833; remark
how accurately the predictions of the astronomers have been
verified ; and set it down to the account of Science--Of Comets :
66. The most remarkable is the Comet of Halley, so called from
the celebrated Edmund Halley, who, on calculating its elements
from its perihelion passage in 1682, when it appeared in great
splendour, with a tail 30° in length, was led to conclude its
identity with the great Comets of 1581, and 1607, whose ele-
ments he had also ascertained. The intervals of these successive
apparitions being 75 and 76 years, Halley was encouraged to
predict its reappearance about the year 1759. So remarkable
a prediction could not fail to attract the attention of all astrono-
mers, and, as the time approached, it became extremely inte-
resting to know whether the attractions of the larger planets
might materially interfere with its orbitual motion. The com-
* Joshua Hoopes, Principal of a select school in West Chester, and Lec-
turer upon Natural Philosophy, for the Chester County Cabinet of Natural
Science.
+ Dr. Herschel's Treatise on Astronomy, in Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopæ-
dia, p. 307.

27
putation of their influence from the Newtonian law of gravity,
a most difficult and intricate piece of calculation, was undertaken
and accomplished by Clairaut, who found that the action of Sa-
turn would retard its return by 100 days, and that of Jupiter by
no less than 518, making in all 618 days, by which the expected
return would happen later than on the supposition of its retain-
ing an unaltered period,--and that, in short, the time of the ex-
pected perihelion passage would take place within a month, one
way or other, of the middle of April, 1759. It actually hap-
pened on the 12th of March in that year. Its next return to the
perihelion has been calculated by Messrs. Damoiseau, and Pon-
tecoulant, and fixed by the former on the 4th, and by the latter
on the 7th of November 1835, about a month or six weeks be-
fore which time it may be expected to become visible in our
hemisphere ; and, as it will approach near the earth, will
very probably exhibit a brilliant appearance, though, to judge
from the successive degradations of its apparent size and the
length of its tail in its several returns since its first appearance
on record, (in 1305, 1456, &c.). we are not now to expect any
of those vast and awful phenomena which threw our remote an-
cestors of the middle ages into agonies of superstitious terror,
and caused public prayers to be put up in the churches against
the comet and its malignant agencies."
of the importance of the other phenomenon, the transit of
Mercury, in a scientific view, some idea may be formed, from
the fact, 6 that at the last transit of Venus, in 1769, expeditions
were fitted out, on the most efficient scale, by the British, French,
Russian, and other governments, to the remotest corners of the
globe, for the express purpose of performing an observation.
The celebrated expedition of Capt. Cook to Otaheite, was one
of them."*
* Dr. Herschel's Treatise on Astronomy, 259.

28
As more practical and more immediately useful in this com
munity, the subject of terrestrial mechanics claims high consi-
deration, and will perhaps command more general and more im-
mediate attention. To these studies we owe those wonderful
contrivances in machinery which in our own day have produced
an era in the manufacturing world and added such treasures to
the wealth of nations—those still more wonderful discoveries in
the appliance of the power of steam, which has created an era
not less remarkable in the annals of locomotion and transporta-
tion, and caused scarcely less disturbance in all former statistics
that science of civil engineering which can remove mountains,
scale or tunnel them, and say to old ocean, “thus far shalt thou
come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be
stayed."*_When we reflect upon what machinery has done for
üs within a few years past; what steam, canals, and rail-roads
and locomotives are now doing and going to do for us, we can
not repress the generous emotions which arise, towards those
great public benefactors who have conferred such signal benefits
on mankind. It was in the study of Natural Philosophy, in the
once humble department of mechanies that these deep secrets
were discovered and from thence brought to light to bless the
world. Mechanics,-no longer a humble branch, since its vo-
taries now sit among princes, and those who best understand its
laws, are in the most certain road to fame and fortune.
No science, not even Chemistry, ever grew so rapidly to
paramount importance, as that of Civil Engineering within the
last twenty years.
Millions are every day expended, as freely as water, to open
new channels of commerce, or sources of trade, upon the word
of an Engineer.
Persevering in our system of improvement, and encouraging
* The Breakwater:

29
every where the pursuit of science, what may we not expect for
Pennsylvania. We have mineral treasures to enable us to vie
with the most powerful nations. Iron and coal, more than silver
and gold, are the great physical sources of wealth and power.
Such considerations, it may be hoped, will ere long stimulate to
the accomplishment of a Geological survey of the state. If we
mistake not, it was a member from Chester county who made
the first movement in the Legislature in favour of this interesting
and important measure.* We hope the distinguished friend of
science in our great metropolis who first suggested it, and has
given so much time and labour to its accomplishment, will not
be deterred by any obstacles, but persevere to the end. In such
an enterprise, the motto should be-Nil desperandum-What
would the cause of science and the world have lost if Columbus,
or Galileo could have been made to quail before persecution, or
been checked in their ever onward and upward career by obsta-
cles.
These are some of the considerations which spring up, gather
around, and crowd upon the mind, in view of the advantages of
the study of Natural Science. They are thrown off in haste,
necessarily, from the brief space allotted for the task since my
invitation to address you; if crude, desultory, and ill-digested,
from the same cause, it will be recollected that the subjects do
not come within the range of the usual studies and pursuits of
the speaker.
One idea presents itself, in conclusion. The question is of
ten asked, what is to make West Chester grow? This question
feminds us of the oft debated topic, whether physical or moral
causes contribute most to the rise and fall of nations. It might
be answered simply by asking another; what has made it grow
within the last ten years, after having been so long stationary?
* See Appendix, Note A:

30
Have those who ask this question, ever sent their thoughts out
to look for Babylon* the mighty, and for Nineveh—or allowed
them to dwell among the ruins of Palmyra, and of Upper Egypt-
or to ponder on the crumbling porticoes and broken columns of
Greece-or to accompany Gibbon to what was once the capitol
of the Eternal City? Here are lessons to be learnt, of what
science and the arts can do, in and of themselves, and of how
little avail without them are wealth, and strength, and power.
What has taken the trident from Venice and given it to England-
What makes Edinburgh a great city-What has built up
Liver-
pool, and Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds, almost within our
own day? What has made that “ bleak New England shore?
teem with cities, towns and villages, her deserts blossom, her
vallies rejoice, and her hills echo back the busy hum of indus-
try? How long is it since the habitations of the English were
better than the huts now occupied by the Scotch Highlander and
the Irish peasant. How long is it since we knew the art of print-
ing, enjoyed the luxury of chimneys or glass in our dwellings,
rode in carriages, or arrayed ourselves in linen ?+ What but a sim-
ple mechanical contrivanceſ has made cotton our great staple of
commerce ? How and why is it, that most men who have at-
* The Babylonians dwelt on the Tigris and the Lower Euphrates, and
their industry had made their land the garden of Asia. Outlines of His-
tory, p. 13.
† See Appendix, Note B.
# Eli Whitney inventor of the cotton gin, was born at Westborough,
Worcester county, Massachusetts. His father was å respectable farmer.
"This invention is said to have raised the value of real estate at the south,
one hundred per cent, and the benefits of it have been estimated of over one
hundred millions of dollars. “ It enables one man to perform the work of
a thousand men, and furnishes to the whole family of mankind, at a very
cheap rate, the most essential article of their clothing." Silliman's Journal,
Jan. 1, 1832.
$ See Appendix, Note D.

31
tained wealth or fame, have been the architects of their own for-
tune ?—An Arkwright or a Watt; a Fulton, or a Whitney may
some day spring up here. The ancient County of Chester has
given to the world a West—Pennsylvania claims Rittenhouse
and Franklin for her sons. Industry, enterprise, science, and
the arts ;—these are the secrets of national wealth. Looking at
what has been achieved, what is to prevent any community
from attaining any given point in prosperity, but supineness and
despair. Let us never be idle—let us never despair. Let us
rally round the standard of science—set our mark high-gird
ourselves for the struggle of life in every elevated, honorable
and manly pursuit-make truth our light—virtue our guide-
Heaven our hope, and never doubt that God will speed the
right.


APPENDIX.
NOTE C.
The history of mankind is an almost uninterrupted narration of a state
of war, and gives colour to the extravagant theory of Hobbes, who main-
tains, that the natural state of man is a state of war of all against all;
and it adds plausibility to the conclusions of these other writers, who,
having known and studied the Indian.character, insist that continual
war is the natural instinct and appetite of man in a natural state. It is,
doubtless, true, that a sincere disposition for peace, and a just apprecia-
tion of its blessings, are the natural and necessary result of science and
civilization." 1 Kent's Commentaries, p. 47.
NOTE A.
GEOLOGY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
AGREEABLY to public notice, a meeting of the Chester County Cabinet
of Natural Science, together with a respectable number of their fellow-
citizens of the County, was held at the Court House, in the Borough of
West Chester, on Saturday the 20th of January, 1826, for the purpose of
considering the subject of a Geological and Mineralogical Survey of the
State of Pennsylvania. PETER A. BROWNE, Esq. of Philadelphia, hav-
ing been invited to attend the meeting, delivered an interesting address
on the importance
of the subject, and explanatory of the plan lately pro-
posed by him to effect such survey: after which the following preamble
and resolutions were submitted to the meeting, by a member of the
Cabinet, and unanimously adopted.
It may perhaps be assumed as an indisputable fact, that next to the
primary articles of food and raiment, the three most important and valu-
able products of the earth, are Iron, Coal and Salt. These are found in
Pennsylvania, of an excellent quality, and probably in greater quantities
than in any other State in this Union; but to what extent, and under
what circumstances of local advantage, they exist, has not been ascer-
tained with sufficient precision. The public are but just beginning to
perceive the immensity of their value; and are scarcely yet aware that,
at no distant day, those articles will rank among the most prominent
sources of the wealth and enterprise of the State.-Sufficient, however,
is perceived, to induce the State to commence the opening of channels
of communication to the known repositories of those minerals. It has
now, therefore, become a matter of the greatest importance, whilst those
channels of communication are projecting, that we should acquire au-
thentic information of the localities, the extent, and true character of
our valuable mineral deposits. This can only be obtained by means of
a careful and scientific Geological examination. With the knowledge
to be obtained by such an examination, we should be enabled to take a
Correct view of the whole ground which we are destined to occupy. We
sould at once perceive the points to which our exertions in Internal Im-
E

34
provements ought to be directed, and also appreciate more clearly the
value and importance of those Improvements. We should probably find
that the aforesaid three minerals, of themselves,-independent of the
other vast products of our soil and manufactures-would authorize the
construction of Canals, and other labour-saving means of transportation,
from our cities to the sites where they are found. It is the opinion of
a gentleman, (William Maclure, Esq.) whose character and opportuni-
ties of information render his statements high authority, that “Lime-
stone, Iron, and Manures, support the greatest part of the expense of
Canals, in England." These, it is known, abound in Pennsylvania:
and if to these we add our Anthračite, and Bituminous Coal, our Salt,
and our bulky agricultural and manufacturing products, there can be no
doubt that our State will be amply remunerated for all the expenditures
incurred in facilitating their transportation. The question of Internal
Improvement, indeed,
seems to be happily settled. The great work
must and will go on. The important consideration now is, to conduct
it skilfully and understandingly. To do that, we ought to be thoroughly
acquainted with the physical structure of the State. An accurate know-
ledge of the various formations within our limits, is an indispensable
prerequisite to the due developement of our resources. Our Cities are
deeply interested in the acquisition of this knowledge; but it is a gross
mistake to suppose that the Country, and especially the interior, where
the treasure lies, is not equally so. In truth, the Commonwealth should
be regarded as an Unit in the consideration of those great interests; and
the promotion of its prosperity should be the unwavering pursuit of
every Pennsylvanian. As citizens of Chester, we are aware that our
County is less immediately interested than many other parts of the State,
in the execution of the great projects of internal communication and the
developement of mineral wealth; but we flatter ourselves, that in what-
ever concerns the high character, and relative importance of Pennsyl-
vania, in this confederacy–in the march of improvement, and the ad-
vancement of useful Seience-we feel an equal interest with any of our
brethren. Therefore
1 Resolved, That this meeting is forcibly impressed with a sense of the
importance and
advantages of a scientific Geological and Mineralogical
Survey of this Commonwealth ; believing that such a work, effected by
competent hands, would afford a knowledge of mineral treasures, and
develope sources of future wealth, and prosperity, in the bosom of our
highly favoured State, of which the most sanguine of our citizens have,
at this time, a very inadequate conception.
2. Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting, an accurate Survey
of the State, exhibiting its Geological structure, and indicating the
character, localities, and extent of its various mineral deposites, executed
according to the most approved methods, by a scientific and practical
Geologist, would be an undertaking peculiarly appropriate to the Go-
vernment of this Commonwealth; intimately connected with the great
work of Internal Improvement—and as beneficial in its consequences to
the people as it would be honourable to the character of Pennsylvania.
3. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, in case the Legis-
lature should not deem it expedient, at this time, to direct a Geological
Survey of the State under their immediate authority, that it would be
highly advantageous, and promotive of the best interests of the Com-
monwealth, to authorize the Governor to subscribe, on behalf of the
State, under such regulations as the wisdom of the Legislature may
provide, for an adequate number of copies of such survey, to be executed

35
by some responsible citizen, or association of citizens; so that the pa-
tronage thus afforded, in conjunction with the probable subscriptions of
public spirited individuals, might secure the accomplishment of the
work.
4. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, in case the mode
of subscriptions should be preferred to a survey by order of the State,
that the plan submitted by Peter A. Browne, Esq. of Philadelphia, to a
meeting of citizens of that place, held on the 6th of December last, is
the most eligible proposition for a Survey, under the superintendence of
an individual, which has yet been offered; and that it merits the patron-
age of the Legislature, and the aid and encouragement of the public in
general.
5. Resolved, That in case the Legislature should direct a subscription
for an adequate number of copies of a Geological Survey of this State,
this meeting would respectfully suggest the propriety of granting one
copy of the work so subscribed for, to each College, and Academy, or
other incorporated Seminary of learning within this commonwealth.
The instruction of youth in useful knowledge being an object of primary
importance under a free goverament, such a donation to the Schools
heretofore established, or endowed, by the Legislature, would in the
opinion of this meeting, be attended with advantages vastly exceeding
the expenditure incurred.
6. Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting are due, and are hereby
tendered, to PETER A. BROWNE, Esq. for his patriotic and public spirited
exertions in promoting the cause of Science, and the useful Arts.
7. Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published: that
a copy thereof be forwarded to each of the members of the legislature
from this County; and that the editors of newspapers throughout the
State, be respectfully requested to re-publish the same, and invite the at-
tention of their readers to the consideration of the subject.
WM. DARLINGTON, President of the C. C. Cabinet.
Attest, DAVID TOWNSEND, Recording Secretary.
In pursuance of the last resolution a copy of these proceedings was
forwarded to each of our members of Assembly, by one* of whom a bill
was prepared and reported, which was lost in committee of the whole.
NOTE B.
« Linen, of which we are now so fond, and without which we should
think ourselves so uncomfortable, was not used, except by the Egyptians,
and a few people in the East, till a considerable time after the reign of
Augustus. The only garb of the ancients, by whom we mean the
Greeks and Romans, in the time of their greatest riches and luxury,
seems to have been a kind of flannel, which they wore commonly white
or gray, and which they scoured as often as it grew dirty.
We think ourselves very happy when we have a comfortable fire in a
private sitting room or bed-chamber; but we should think ourselves
much more so, if we considered how lately it is since such convenience
could be had, and that in all the times of antiquity there was only one
hearth belonging to any house, placed in the middle of a large hall, from
which the smoke, ascending in the middle, went out at a hole in the top
of the room; and particularly if we considered that all the habitations of
the English were formerly nothing better than the huts of the Scots
* Mr. Haines.
mah

36
mo
Highlanders and the Irish peasantry at this day. Chimneys were not
general till about the time of Elizabeth.
By the use of glass in our windows, we enjoy the light and exclude
the weather, but the wealthiest of the ancients had no such advantage.
To how many uses does paper now serve for which nothing else would
be nearly so convenient? and yet the ancients were obliged to do without it.
Before the sixteenth century Voltaire says that above one half the
globe were ignorant of the use of bread and wine, which is still un-
known to a great part of America, and the eastern parts of Africa. In
the fourteenth century wine was so scarce in England that it was sold
only by the Apothecaries as a cordial; at the same time candles were
reckoned an article of luxury; shirts were made of serge, linen worn only
by persons of distinction, and there were no such things as either chim-
neys or stoves,
All the conveniences we derive from a knowledge of the mechanical
powers; as mills, clocks, watches, &c. are comparatively of very modern
invention; to say nothing of printing, and other arts, which are more re-
mote from the consideration of necessaries; though many things from
being articles of high luxury, have afterwards come to be considered al-
most as necessaries, as tea is at present. I shall just add that the first
coach was seen in England in the reign of Queen Mary, that the great
convenience of a kitchen garden can hardly be said to have been known
before the reign of Queen Elizabeth, that even potatoes, which is so con-
siderable an article even of the necessary food of the poor in many coun-
tries, were only inported since the discovery of America, and that there
was little or no sugar in all this western part of the world till the sugar
cane was cultivated in our American plantations. Dr. Priestly's Lec-
tures on History, p. 226.
NOTE D.
EXTRACT FROM THE LAST TREASURY REPORT.
“It may be mentioned,”' &c.-" that while the quantity of cotton ex-
ported from the country has increased from half a million of pounds in
1790,* to over three hundred and eighty millions in 1835, and has ex-
ceeded in value during six of the last ten years, all our other exports of
domestic products of every description, the manufacture of it at home,
and chiefly in the Northern States, has increased, from consuming only
a few bales more, to ninety millions of pounds yearly, and to that extent
creates a new and strong bond of reciprocal advantage and harmony.
And that while we now furnish, instead of the small quantity in the first
years of our government, quite fifteen-sixteenths of the whole consump-
tion of raw cotton by England, and seven-tenths of that by France, all
the present exports of it to Europe, from all the rest of the world, do not
probably equal, if those two nations could obtain the whole, one-third of
what they now consume, or one-fourth of what they now import from the
United States alone. And thus, while neither of them produces any of the
raw article, except a little in some of the remote dependencies, that they
have an annual manufacture now relying on it, and chiefly on the United
States, equal in France to eighty millions of dollars, and in England to
one hundred and eighty millions of dollars; and constituting in the latter,
after it supplies her own large necessities at home, over one half in
value of her great annual exports to all quarters of the globe."
* Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793.
W. H.D.
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