Such minds as those of Socrates, Plato, Archimedes, Locke, Boyle, La Place, and similar illustrious characters, likewise demonstrate the vast capacity of the human intellect, the extensive range of thought it is capable of prosecuting, and the immense number of ideas is capable of acquiring. And every man, whose faculties are in a sound state, is endowed with similar powers of thought, and is capable of being trained to similar degrees of intellectual excellence.

And as man is endued with capacious intellectual powers for the acquisition of knowledge, so he is furnished with a noble faculty by which he is enabled to retain, and to treasure up in his intellect the knowledge he acquires. He is endowed with the faculty of Memory, by which the mind retains the ideas of past objects and perceptions, accompa nied with a persuasion, that the objects or things remembered were formerly real and present. Without this faculty we could never advance a single step in the path of mental improvement. If the information we originally derive through the medium of the senses, were to vanish the moment the objects are removed from our immediate perception, we should be left as devoid of knowledge as if we had never existed. But, by the power of memory, we can treasure up, as in a storehouse, the greater part, if not the whole of the ideas, notions, reasonings, and perceptions which we formerly acquired, and render them subservient to our future progress in intellectual attainments. And it is probable, that even a human spirit, in the vigorous exercise of the faculties with which it is now furnished, may go forward, through an interminable duration, making continual accessions to its stores of knowledge, without losing one leading idea, or portion of information which it had previously acquired.

The power of memory in retaining past impressions, and its susceptibility of improvement, are vastly greater than is generally imagined. In many individuals, both in ancient and in modern times, it has been found in such a state of perfection, as to excite astonishment, and almost to transcend belief. It is reported of Seneca, that he could repeat two thousand verses at once, in their order, and then begin at the end and rehearse them backwards, without missing a

single syllable. Cyrus is said to have been able to call every individual of his numerous army by his own name. Cyneas, who was sent by Pyrrhus to the Senate at Rome, on an expedition, the very next day after his arrival, both knew and also saluted by their names, all the Senate, and the whole order of the gentlemen in Rome. Mithridates, who governed twenty-three nations, all of different languages, could converse with every one of them in their own language.* An ancient author mentions one Oritus, a Corsican boy, to whom he dictated a great number of words both sense and nonsense, and finding he could rehearse a considerable number without missing one, and in the same order in which he dictated them, increased them to the number of forty thousand, and found, to his astonishment, that he could repeat them all from beginning to end, or from the end backwards to the beginning, in the order in which they were dictated.

In modern times, there have likewise been many instances of extraordinary powers of retention. Dr. Wallis, in a Paper in the Philosophical Transactions, informs us that he extracted the cube root of the number three, even to thirty places of decimals, by the help of his memory alone. Maglia Bethi, an Italian, had read all the books that were published in his life time, and most of those which were published before, and could not only give an account of what was contained in each author, but could likewise, from memory, quote the chapter, section, and page of any book he had read, and repeat the author's own words, in reference to any particular topic. A gentleman, in order to try his memory, lent him a long manuscript he was about to publish, and after it had been returned, called upon him soon afterwards, pretending he had lost it, and desired him to write as much of it as he could remember; when, to his surprise, he wrote it over accurately word for word, the same as in the manuscript he had lent him. M. Euler, a late celebrated mathematician and philoso. pher, who died in 1783, having lost his sight by too intense application to study, afterwards composed his "Elements

*Senec. Controvers. Lib. 1. Pliny's Nat. Hist. &c.

of Algebra," and a work "On the inequalities of the planetary motions," that required immense and complicated calculations, which he performed by his memory alone, to the admiration and astonishment even of the philosophic world. His memory seemed to retain every idea that was conveyed to it, either from reading or from meditation, and his powers of reasoning and of discrimination were equally acute and capacious. He was also an excellent classical scholar, and could repeat the Æneid of Virgil from the beginning to the end, and indicate the first and last line of every page of the edition he used.* I have conversed with an individual, who was born blind, and who could repeat the whole of the Old and the New Testaments from begin. ning to end; and not only so, but could repeat any particular chapter or verse that might be proposed to him, the moment after it was specified.

Thus it appears that man is not only possessed of an ardent desire after knowledge, but is endued with the most penetrating and capacious powers of intellect, both for acquiring and for treasuring it up in his mind-powers which appear susceptible of indefinite improvement in this world; and the legitimate inference that may be drawn from this, is, that they will continue to be exerted with uninterrupted activity, throughout an unceasing duration. And, is it possible to suppose, in consistency with the moral attributes of the Deity, that the exercise of such powers is intended to be confined within the narrow limits of time, and to the contracted sphere of the terraqueous globe?

"Say, can a soul possess'd

Of such extensive, deep, tremendous powers,
Enlarging still, be but a finer breath

Of spirits dancing through their tubes a while,
And then for ever lost in vacant air ?"

Such a conclusion never can be admitted while we recognise the Divinity as possessed of boundless goodness and unerring wisdom. It is the province of Goodness to gratify those pure and ardent desires which it has implanted in the soul; and it is the part of Wisdom to proportionate

* Lncyclopedia Britan. Art. Euler.

means to ends. But if the whole existence of human beings had been intended to be confined to a mere point in duration, is it rational to suppose, that Infinite Wisdom would have endowed the human soul with powers and capacities so marvellous and sublime, and made so many great preparations and arrangements for promoting its physical and moral perfection? To acquiesce in such a supposition, would be to degrade the Divine wisdom and intelligence below the level of the wisdom of man, and to impute imperfection and folly to Him who is "the only Wise God." For, in the conduct of human beings, we uniformly regard it as an evidence of folly, when they construct a complicated and an extravagant machine, which either accomplishes no end, or no end worthy of the expense and labour bestowed on its construction. And, therefore, if we would not ascribe imbecility or want of design to the adorable Creator of the universe, we must admit, that he has not formed the soul of man for this terrestrial scene alone, but has destined it to a state of progressive improvement, and of endless duration.

This conclusion will appear still more evident, if we consider, the endless round of business and care, and the numerous hardships to which the bulk of mankind are subjected in the present state, which prevent the full and vigorous exercise of the intellectual powers on those objects which are congenial to the ardent desires, and the noble faculties of the human soul. The greater part of mankind, in the present circumstances of their terrestrial existence, have their time and attention almost wholly absorbed in counteracting the evils incident to their present condition, and in making provision for the wants of their animal natures; and, consequently, the full gratification of the appetite for knowledge, is an absolute impossibility, amidst the pursuits and the turmoils connected with the present scene of things. If we likewise consider the difficulty of directing the mind in the pursuit of substantial knowledge, and the numerous obstructions which occur in our researches after truth, amidst the contradictory opinions, the jarring interests, and the wayward passions of men,-if we consider the imperfections of our senses, and the fallacies to which they are exposed-the prejudices

and the passions which seduce us into error-how readily we embrace a glittering phantom for a substantial truthand how soon our spirits faint under the pressure of intense application to mental pursuits, we shall be convinced, that, in this sublunary sphere, there is no scope for the full exercise of the intellectual powers, and that the present world must be only a preparatory scene to a higher state of existence. Besides, even in those cases where every requisite for the acquisition of knowledge is possessed-where leisure, wealth, education, books, instruments, and all the assistances derived from learned associations, are conjoined with the most splendid intellectual endowments, how feeble are the efforts of the most penetrating and energetic mind, and how narrow the boundary within which its views are confined! The brightest genius, standing on the highest eminence to which science can transport him, contemplates a boundless prospect of objects and events, the knowledge of which he can never hope to attain, while he is chained down to the limits of this terrestrial ball. His mental eye beholds an unbounded and diversified scene of objects, operations, relations, changes, and revolutions, beyond the limits of all that is visible to the eye of sense: he catches an occasional glimpse of objects and of scenes which were previously involved in obscurity, he strains his mental sight, stretches forward. with eagerness to grasp at new discoveries, descries some openings which direct his view into the regions of infinity and eternity-is still restless and unsatisfied-perceives all his knowledge to be mere shreds and patches, or like a few dim tapers amidst the surrounding gloom-is convinced that his present faculties are too weak and limited, and that he must be raised to a sublimer station, before he can fully grasp the magnificent objects which lie hid in the unexplored regions of immensity. All his present views and prospects are confined within a circle of a few miles, and all beyond, in the universal system, which extends through the immeasurable tracts of infinite space, is darkness and uncertainty.

Can it, then, be supposed, that a soul furnished with such noble powers and capacities, capable of traversing the realm of creation, of opening new prospects into the un.