IT was for the laudable purpose of exciting a spirit of emulation and enquiry, among the members of our body, that the founders of our Society, instituted an annual oration. The task of pre­paring, and delivering this exercise, hath devolved, once more, upon me. I have submitted to it,—not because I thought myself capable of fulfilling your intentions, but because I wished, by a testimony of my obedience to your requests, to atone for my long absence from the temple of science.

THE subject upon which I am to have the honor of addressing you this evening, is ‘An enquiry into the influence of physical causes upon the moral faculty.’

BY the moral faculty I mean a power in the human mind of distinguishing and chusing good and evil; or, in other words, virtue and vice. It is a native principle, and though it is capable of improvement by experience and reflection, it is not derived from either of them.—St. Paul, and Cicero, give us the most perfect account of it that is to be found in modern or ancient authors. ‘For when the Gentiles, (says St. Paul) which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which shew the works of [Page 2] the law written in their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another ^*.’

THE words of Cicero are as follow— ‘Est igitur haec, judices, non scripta, sed nata lex, quam non didicimus, accepimus, legi­mus, verum ex natura ipsa arripuimus, hausimus, expressimus, ad quam non docti, sed facti, non instituti, sed imbuti sumus.’ ^† This faculty is often confounded with conscience, which is a distinct and independent power of the mind. This is evident from the passage quoted from the writings of St. Paul, in which con­science is said to be the witness that accuses, or excuses us, of a breach of the law written in our hearts. The moral faculty is what the schoolmen call the "regula regulans,"—the conscience is their "regula regulata." Or, to speak in more modern terms, the moral faculty performs the office of a law-giver, while the business of conscience is to perform the duty of a judge. The moral faculty is to the conscience, what taste is to the judgment, and sen­sation to perception. It is quick in its operations, and like the sensitive plant, acts without reflection, while conscience follows with deliberate steps, and measures all her actions, by the unerring square of right and wrong. The moral faculty exercises itself upon the actions of others. It approves even in books, of the virtues of a Trajan, and disapproves of the vices of a Marius, while conscience confines its operations, only to its own actions. These two powers of the mind are generally in an exact ratio to each other, but they sometimes exist in different degrees in the same person. Hence we [Page 3] often find conscience in its full vigor, with a diminished tone, or total absence of the moral faculty.

IT has long been a question among metaphysicians, whether the conscience be seated in the will or in the understanding. The con­troversy can only be settled by admitting the will to be the seat of the moral faculty, and the understanding to be the seat of the con­science. The mysterious nature of the union of those two moral principles with the will and understanding, is a subject foreign to the business of the present enquiry.—

AS I consider virtue and vice to consist in action, and not in opinion, and as this action has its seat in the will, and not in the conscience, I shall confine my enquiries chiefly to the influence of physical causes upon that moral power of the mind, which is con­nected with volition, although many of these causes act likewise upon the conscience, as I shall shew hereafter.—The state of the moral faculty is visible in actions, which affect the well-being of society. The state of the conscience is invisible, and therefore removed beyond our investigation.

THE moral faculty has received different names from different authors. It is the "moral sense" of Dr. Hutchison—the "sympathy" of Dr. Adam Smith—the "moral instinct" of Rousseau—and "the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world" of St. John. I have adopted the term of moral faculty from Dr. Beattie, because I conceive they convey with the most perspicuity, the idea of a power in the mind, of chusing good and evil.

[Page 4] OUR books of medicine contain many records of the effects of physical causes upon the memory—the imagination—and the judge­ment. In some instances we behold their operation only on one,—in others on two,—and in many cases upon the whole of these faculties. Their derangement has received different names, ac­cording to the number or nature of the faculties that are affected. The loss of memory has been called "amnesia"—false judgment upon one subject has been called "melancholia"—false judgment upon all subjects has been called "mania"—and a defect of all the three intellectual faculties that have been mentioned, has received the name of "amentia." Persons who labour under the derange­ment, or want of these powers of the mind, are considered, very properly, as subjects of medicine; and there are many cases upon record that prove, that their diseases have yielded to the healing art.

IN order to illustrate the effects of physical causes upon the moral faculty, it will be necessary first to shew their effects upon the me­mory—the imagination—and the judgment; and at the same time to point out the analogy between their operation upon the intellectual powers of the mind, and the moral faculty.

1. Do we observe a connection between the intellectual powers, and the degrees of consistency and firmness of the brain in infancy and childhood?—The same connection has been observed between the strength as well as the progress of the moral faculty in children.

2. Do we observe a certain size of the brain, and a peculiar cast of features, such as the prominent eye, and the aquiline nose, to be connected with extraordinary portions of genius?—We observe a [Page 5] similar connection between the figure and temperament of the body, and certain moral faculties.—Hence we often ascribe good temper and benevolence to corpulency, and irascibility to sanguineous habits. Caesar thought himself safe in the friendship of the "sleek-headed" Anthony and Dolabella, but was afraid to trust to the professions of the slender Cassius.

3. Do we observe certain degrees of the intellectual faculties to be hereditary in certain families? The same observation has been frequently extended to moral qualities—Hence we often find certain virtues and vices as peculiar to families, through all their degrees of consanguinity, and duration, as a peculiarity of voice—complexion—or shape.

4. Do we observe instances of a total want of memory—imagination—and judgment, either from an original defect in the stamina of the brain, or from the influence of physical causes?—The same unnatural defect is sometimes observed, and probably from the same causes, of a moral faculty. The celebrated Servin, whose character is drawn by the Duke of Sully in his memoirs, appears to be an instance of the total absence of the moral faculty, while the chasm, produced thereby in his mind, seems to have been filled up by a more than common extension of every other power of his mind. I shall beg leave to repeat the history of this prodigy of vice and knowledge.— ‘Let the reader represent to himself a man of a genius so lively, and of an understanding so extensive, as rendered him scarce ignorant of any thing that could be known—of so vast and ready a comprehension, that he immediately made himself master of whatever he attempted,— [Page 6] and of so prodigious a memory, that he never forgot what he once learned. He possessed all parts of philosophy, and the mathematics, particularly fortification and drawing. Even in theology he was so well skilled, that he was an excellent preacher, whenever he had a mind to exert that talent, and an able disputant, for and against the reformed religion indifferently. He not only understood Greek—Hebrew—and all the languages which we call learned, but also all the different jargons, or modern dialects. He accented and pronounced them so naturally, and so perfectly imitated the gestures and manners both of the several nations of Europe, and the particular provinces of France, that he might have been taken for a native of all, or of any of these countries: and this quality he applied to counterfeit all sorts of persons, wherein he succeeded wonderfully. He was moreover the best comedian, and the greatest droll that perhaps ever appeared. He had a genius for poetry, and had wrote many verses. He played upon almost all instruments—was a perfect master of music—and sung most agreeably and justly. He likewise could say mass, for he was of a disposition to do, as well as to know, all things. His body was perfectly well suited to his mind. He was light, nimble, and dexterous, and fit for all exercises. He could ride well, and in dancing, wrest­ling, and leaping, he was admired. There are not any recreative games that he did not know, and he was skilled in almost all mechanic arts. But now for the reverse of the medal. Here it appeared; that he was treacherous—cruel—cowardly—deceitful—a liar—a cheat—a drunkard and a glutton—a sharper in play—immersed in every species of vice—a blasphemer—an atheist.—In a word—in him might be found all the vices that are contrary [Page 7] to nature—honor—religion—and society,—the truth of which he himself evinced with his latest breath; for he died in the flower of his age, in a common brothel, perfectly corrupted by his debaucheries, and expired with the glass in his hand, cursing, and denying God.’ ^*

IT was probably a state of the human mind such as has been described, that our Saviour alluded to in the disciple, who was about to betray him, when he called him "a devil." Perhaps the essence of depravity in infernal spirits, consists in their being wholly devoid of a moral faculty. In them the will has probably lost the power of chusing, ^† as well as the inclination of enjoying moral good. It is true, we read of their trembling in a belief of the existence of a God, and of their anticipating future punishment by asking, whether they were to be tormented before their time: But this is the effect of conscience, and hence arises another argument in favor of this judicial power of the mind, being distinct from the moral faculty. It would seem as if the Supreme Being had preserved the moral faculty in man from the ruins of his fall, on purpose to guide him back again to Paradise, and at the same time had constituted the conscience, both in men and in fallen spirits, a kind of royalty in his moral empire, on purpose to shew his property in all intelligent crea­tures, and their original resemblance to himself. Perhaps the essence [Page 8] of moral depravity in man consists in a total, but temporary suspen­sion of the power of conscience. Persons in this situation are em­phatically said in the scriptures to be "past feeling"—and to have their consciences seared, with a "hot iron"—they are likewise said to be "twice dead"—that is, the same torpor or moral insensibility, has seized both the moral faculty and the conscience.

5. Do we ever observe instances of the existence of only one of the three intellectual powers of the mind that have been named, in the absence of the other two? We observe something of the same kind with respect to the moral faculty. I once knew a man, who discovered no one mark of reason, who possessed the moral sense or faculty in so high a degree, that he spent his whole life in acts of benevolence. He was not only inoffensive, (which is not always the case with idiots) but he was kind, and affectionate to every body. He had no ideas of time, but what were suggested to him by the returns of the stated periods for public worship, in which he appeared to take great delight. He spent several hours of every day in devotion, in which he was so careful to be private, that he was once found in the most improbable place in the world for that purpose, viz. in an oven.

6. Do we observe the memory, the imagination and the judgment, to be affected by diseases, particularly by fevers, and madness? Where is the physician, who has not seen the moral faculty affected from the same causes! How often do we see the temper wholly changed by a fit of sickness! And how often do we hear persons of the most delicate virtue, utter speeches in the delirium of a fever, [Page 9] that are offensive to decency, or good manners! I have heard a well attested history of a clergyman of the most exemplary moral character, who spent the last moments of a fever which deprived him both of his reason and his life, in profane cursing and swearing. I once attended a young woman in a nervous fever, who discovered after her recovery, a loss of her former habits of veracity. Her memory (a defect of which, might be suspected of being the cause of this vice) was in every respect as perfect as it was before the at­tack of the fever, ^* The instances of immorality in maniacs, who were formerly distinguished for the opposite character, are so nu­merous, and well known▪ that it will not be necessary to select any cases, to establish the truth of the proposition contained under this head.

7. Do we observe any of the three intellectual powers that have been named, enlarged by diseases? Patients in the delirium of a fever, often discover extraordinary flights of imagination, and mad­men often astonish us with their wonderful acts of memory. The same enlargement, sometimes, appears in the operations of the moral faculty. I have more than once heard the most sublime discourses on morality in the cell of an hospital, and who has not seen instances of patients in acute diseases, discovering degrees of benevolence and integrity, that were not natural to them in the ordinary course of their lives?

[Page 10] 8. Do we ever observe a partial insanity, or false perception on one subject, while the judgment is sound and correct, upon all others? We perceive, in some instances, a similar defect in the moral faculty. There are persons who are moral in the highest degree, as to certain duties, who nevertheless live under the influence of some one vice. I knew an instance of a woman, who was examplary in her obe­dience to every command of the moral law, except one. She could not refrain from stealing. What made this vice the more remarkable was, that she was in easy circumstances, and not ad­dicted to extravagance in any thing. Such was her propensity to this vice, that when she could lay her hands upon nothing more valuable, she would often, at the table of a friend, fill her pockets secretly with bread. As a proof that her judgment was not affected by this defect in her moral faculty, she would both confess and lament her crime, when detected in it.

9. Do we observe the imagination in many instances to be affected with apprehensions of dangers that have no existence? In like manner we observe the moral faculty to discover a sensibility to vice, that is by no means proportioned to its degrees of depravity. How often do we see persons labouring under this morbid sensi­bility of the moral faculty, refuse to give a direct answer to a plain question, that related perhaps only to the weather, or to the hour of the day, lest they should wound the peace of their minds, by telling a falsehood!

10. Do dreams affect the memory—the imagination—and the judgment? Dreams are nothing but incoherent ideas, occasioned by partial or imperfect sleep. There is a variety in the suspension [Page 11] of the powers of the mind in this state of the system. In some cases the imagination only is deranged in dreams—in others the memory is affected—and in others the judgment.—But there are cases, in which the change that is produced in the state of the brain, by means of sleep, affects the moral faculty likewise; hence we sometimes dream of doing and saying things when asleep, which we shudder at, as soon as we awake. This supposed defection from virtue, exists frequently in dreams where the memory and judgment are scarcely impaired. It cannot there­fore be ascribed to the desertion of those two powers of the mind.

11. Do we read in the accounts of travellers of men, who in respect of intellectual capacity and enjoyments, are but a few degrees above brutes? We read likewise of a similar degradation of our species, in respect to moral capacity and feeling. Here it will be necessary to remark, that the low degrees of moral per­ception, that have been discovered in certain African and Russian tribes of men, no more invalidate our proposition of the universal and essential existence of a moral faculty in the human mind, than the low state of their intellects prove, that reason is not natural to man. Their perceptions of good and evil are in an exact proportion to their intellectual powers. But I will go further, and admit with Mr. Locke, ^* that some savage nations are totally devoid of the moral faculty, yet it will by no means follow, that this was the original constitution of their minds. The appetite for certain aliments is uniform among all mankind. Where is the nation and the indi­vidual, [Page 12] in their primitive state of health, to whom bread is not agreeable? But if we should find savages, or individuals, whose stomachs have been so disordered by intemperance, as to refuse this simple and wholesome article of diet, shall we assert, that this was the original constitution of their appetites?—By no means. As well might we assert, because savages destroy their beauty by paint­ing, and cutting their faces, that the principles of taste do not exist naturally in the human mind. It is with virtue as with fire. It exists in the mind, as fire does in certain bodies in a latent or quiescent state. As collision renders the one sensible, so education renders the other visible. It would be as absurd to maintain, because olives become agreeable to many people from habit, that we have no natural appetites for any other kind of food, as to assert that any part of the human species exist without a moral principle, because in some of them, it has wanted causes to excite it into action, or has been perverted by example. There are appetites that are wholly artificial. There are tastes so entirely vitiated, as to perceive beauty in deformity. There are torpid and unnatural passions. Why, under certain unfavorable circumstances, may there not exist also a moral faculty in a state of sleep, or subject to mistakes?

THE only apology I shall make, for presuming to differ from that justly celebrated oracle, who first unfolded to us a map of the intellectual world, shall be, that the eagle eye of genius often darts its views beyond the notice of facts, which are accommodated to the slender organs of perception of men, who possess no other talent, than that of observation.

[Page 13] IT is not surprising, that Mr. Locke has confounded this moral principle with reason, or that Lord Shaftsbury has confounded it with taste, since all three of these faculties agree in the objects of their approbation, notwithstanding they exist in the mind inde­pendent of each other. The favorable influence which the progress of science and taste has had upon morals, can be ascribed to nothing else, but to the perfect union that subsists in nature between the dictates of reason—of taste—and of the moral faculty. Why has the spirit of humanity made such rapid progress for some years past in the courts of Europe? It is because kings and their ministers have been taught to reason upon philosophical subjects.—Why have indecency and profanity been banished from the stage in London and Paris? It is because immorality is an offense against the highly cultivated taste of the French and English nations.

IT must afford great pleasure to the lovers of virtue, to behold the depth and extent of this moral principle in the human mind. Hap­pily for the human race, the intimations of duty and the road to happiness are not left to the slow operations or doubtful inductions of reason, nor to the precarious decisions of taste! Hence we often find the moral faculty in a state of vigor, in persons in whom reason and taste exist in a weak, or in an uncultivated state. It is worthy of notice likewise, that while second thoughts are best in matters of judgment, first thoughts are always to be preferred in matters that relate to morality. Second thoughts, in these cases, are generally parlies between duty and corrupted inclinations. Hence Rousseau has justly said that ‘a well regulated moral instinct is the surest guide to happiness.’

[Page 14] IT must afford equal pleasure to the lovers of virtue to behold, that our moral conduct and happiness are not committed to the determination of a single legislative power.—The conscience, like a wise and faithful council of revision, performs the office of a check upon the moral faculty, and thus prevents the fatal conse­quences of immoral actions.

AN objection, I foresee, will arise to the doctrine of the influence of physical causes upon the moral faculty, from its being supposed to favor the opinion of the materiality of the soul. But I do not see that this doctrine obliges us to decide upon the question of the nature of the soul, any more than the facts which prove the influence of physical causes upon the memory—the imagination—or the judgment. I shall however remark upon this subject, that the writers in favor of the immortality of the soul have done that truth great injury, by connecting it necessarily with its immateri­ality. The immortality of the soul depends upon the will of the Deity, and not upon the supposed properties of spirit. Matter is in its own nature as immortal as spirit. It is resolvable by heat and mixture into a variety of forms; but it requires the same Almighty hand to annihilate it, that it did to create it. I know of no ar­guments to prove the immortality of the soul, but such as are derived from the christian revelation. ^* It would be as reasonable to assert, that the bason of the ocean is immortal, from the great­ness of its capacity to hold water; or that we are to live for ever in this world, because we are afraid of dying, as to maintain the [Page 15] immortality of the soul, from the greatness of its capacity for knowledge and happiness, or from its dread of annihilation.

NOR let it be supposed, from any thing that has been said, that I entertain an idea of the necessary influence of physical causes upon the freedom of the will. I believe in the prescience of the Deity, because I conceive this attribute to be inseparable from his per­fections; and I believe in the freedom of moral agency in man, because I conceive it to be essential to his nature as a responsible being. In those cases where the moral faculty is deprived of its freedom, by involuntary diseases, I conceive that man ceases as much to be a subject of moral government, as he does to be a subject of civil government, when he is deprived by involuntary diseases, of the use of his reason.

I REMARKED in the beginning of this discourse, that persons who were deprived of the just exercise of memory—imagination—or judgment, were proper subjects of medicine; and that there are many cases upon record which prove, that the diseases from the derangement of these faculties, have yielded to the healing art.

IT is perhaps only because the disorders of the moral faculty, have not been traced to a connection with physical causes, that medical writers have neglected to give them a place in their systems of nosology, and that so few attempts have been hitherto made, to lessen or remove them by physical as well as rational and moral remedies.

[Page 16] I SHALL not attempt to derive any support to my opinions, from the analogy of the influence of physical causes upon the temper and conduct of brute animals. The facts which I shall produce in favor of the action of these causes upon morals in the human species, will, I hope, render unnecessary the arguments that might be drawn from that quarter.

I AM aware, that in venturing upon this subject, I step upon untrodden ground.—I feel as AEneas did, when he was about to enter the gates of Avernus, but without a Sybil to instruct me in the mysteries that are before me. I foresee, that men who have been educated in the mechanical habits of adopting popular or established opinions, will revolt at the doctrine I am about to de­liver—while men of sense and genius will hear my propositions with candor, and if they do not adopt them, will commend that boldness of enquiry, that prompted me to broach them.

I SHALL begin with an attempt to supply the defects of noso­logical writers, by naming the partial or weakened action of the moral faculty, MICRONOMIA. The total absence of this faculty, I shall call ANOMIA. By the law, referred to in these new genera of vesaniae, I mean the law of nature written in the human heart, and which we formerly quoted from the writings of St. Paul.

IN treating of the effects of physical causes upon the moral faculty, it might help to extend our ideas upon this subject, to reduce virtues and vices to certain species, and to point out the effects of particular causes, upon each particular species of virtue [Page 17] and vice, but this would lead us into a field too extensive for the limits of the present enquiry. I shall only hint at a few cases, and have no doubt but the ingenuity of my auditors will supply my silence, by applying the rest.

IT is immaterial, whether the physical causes that are to be enumerated, act upon the moral faculty through the medium of the senses—the passions—the memory—or the imagination. Their influence is equally certain, whether they act as remote, pre­disposing, or occasional causes.

1. THE effects of CLIMATE upon the moral faculty claim our first attention. Not only individuals, but nations, derive a considerable part of their moral, as well as intellectual character, from the dif­ferent portions they enjoy of the rays of the sun. Revenge—levity timidity—and indolence, tempered with occasional emotions of be­nevolence, are the moral qualities of the inhabitants of warm cli­mates, while selfishness tempered with sincerity and integrity, form the moral character of the inhabitants of cold countries. The state of the weather, and the seasons of the year also, have a visible effect upon moral sensibility. The month of November, in Great Britain, rendered gloomy by constant fogs and rains, has been thought to favor the perpetration of the worst species of murder, while the vernal sun, in middle latitudes, has been as generally remarked for producing gentleness and benevolence.

2. THE effects of DIET upon the moral faculty are more certain, though less attended to, than the effects of climate. ‘Fullness of bread,’ we are told, was one of the predisposing causes of the [Page 18] vices of the cities of the plain. The fasts so often inculcated among the Jews, were intended to lessen the incentives to vice; for pride—cruelty—and sensuality, are as much the natural consequences of luxury, as apoplexies and palsies. But the quality as well as the quantity of aliment, has an influence upon morals; hence we find the moral diseases that have been mentioned, are most frequently the offspring of animal food. The elegant prophet Isaiah seems to have been sensible of this, when he ascribes such salutary effects to a temperate and vegetable diet. ‘Butter and honey shall he eat, says he, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to chuse the good.’—But we have many facts which prove the efficacy of a vegetable diet upon the passions. Dr. Ar­buthnot assures us, that he cured several patients of irascible tem­pers, by nothing but a prescription of this simple and temperate regimen.

3. THE effects of CERTAIN DRINKS upon the moral faculty are not less observable, than upon the intellectual powers of the mind. Fermented liquors of a good quality, and taken in a moderate quantity, are favorable to the virtues of candor, benevolence and generosity; but when they are taken in excess, or when they are of a bad quality, and drank even in a moderate quantity, they seldom fail of rousing every latent spark of vice into action. The last of these facts is so notorious, that when a man is observed to be ill-natured or quarrelsome in Portugal, after drinking, it is common in that country to say, that "he has drank bad wine." While occa­sional fits of intoxication produce ill temper in many people, ha­bitual drunkenness (which is generally produced by distilled [Page 19] spirits) never fails to eradicate veracity and integrity from the human mind. Perhaps this may be the reason why the Spaniards, in ancient times, never admitted a man's evidence in a court of justice, who had been convicted of drunkenness.—Water is the universal sedative of turbulent of passions—it not only promotes a general equanimity of temper, but it composes anger. I have heard several well attested cases, of a draught of cold water having suddenly composed this violent passion, after the usual remedies of reason had been applied to no purpose.

4. EXTREME HUNGER produces the most unfriendly effects upon moral sensibility. It is immaterial, whether it acts by in­ducing a relaxation of the solids, or an acrimony of the fluids, or by the combined operation of both those physical causes. The Indians in this country what their appetites for that savage spe­cies of war, which is peculiar to them, by the stimulus of hunger; hence, we are told, they always return meagre and emaciated from their military excursions. In civilized life we often behold this sensation an overbalance for the restraints of moral feeling; and perhaps this may be the reason, why poverty, which is the most frequent parent of hunger, disposes so generally to theft; for the character of hunger is taken from that vice—It belongs to it ‘to break through stone walls.’ So much does this sensation predo­minate over reason and moral feeling, that Cardinal De Retz sug­gests to politicians, never to risk a motion in a popular assembly, however wise or just it may be, immediately before dinner.—That temper must be uncommonly guarded, which is not disturbed by long abstinence from food. One of the worthiest men I ever knew, who made his breakfast his principal meal, was peevish and [Page 20] disagreeable to his friends and family, from the time he left his bed, till he sat down to his morning repast, after which, chearfulness sparkled in his countenance, and he became the delight of all around him.

5. I HINTED formerly, in proving the analogy between the ef­fects of DISEASES upon the intellects, and upon the moral faculty, that the latter was frequently impaired by fevers and madness. I beg leave to add further upon this head, that not only fevers and madness, but the hysteria and hypochondriasis, as well as all those states of the body, whether idiopathic or symptomatic, which are accompanied with preternatural irritability—sensibility—torpor—stupor—or mobility of the nervous system, dispose to vice, either of the body or of the mind. It is in vain to attack these vices with lectures upon morality. They are only to be cured by medi­cine,—particularly by exercise,—the cold bath,—and by a cold or a warm atmosphere. The young woman, whose case I mentioned formerly, that lost her habit of veracity by a nervous fever, re­covered this virtue, as soon as her system recovered its natural tone, from the cold weather which happily succeeded her fever.

6. IDLENESS is the parent of every vice. It is mentioned in the old testament as another of the predisposing causes of the vices of the cities of the plain. LABOR of all kinds, favors and faci­litates the practice of virtue. The country life is a happy life; chiefly, because its laborious employments are favorable to virtue, and unfriendly to vice. It is a common practice, I have been told, for the planters in the Southern States, to consign an house slave, who has become vicious from idleness, to the drudgery of the field, [Page 21] in order to reform him. The Bridewells and workhouses of all civilized countries prove, that LABOR is not only a very severe, but the most benevolent of all punishments, in as much as it is one of the most suitable means of reformation. Mr. Howard tells us in his history of prisons, that in Holland it is a common saying, "Make men work, and you will make them honest." And over the rasp and spin-house at Groeningen, this sentiment is expressed (he tells us) by a happy motto—

The effects of steady labor in early life, in creating virtuous habits, is still more remarkable. The late Anthony Benezet of this city, whose benevolence was the sentinel of the virtue, as well as of the happiness of his country, made it a constant rule in binding out poor children, to avoid putting them into wealthy families, but always preferred masters for them who worked themselves, and who obliged these children to work in their presence. If the habits of virtue, contracted by means of this apprenticeship to labor, are purely mechanical, their effects are, nevertheless, the same upon the happiness of society, as if they flowed from principle. The mind, moreover, when preserved by these means from weeds, becomes a more mellow soil afterwards, for moral and rational improvement.

7. THE effects of EXCESSIVE SLEEP are intimately connected with the effects of idleness, upon the moral faculty,—hence we find that moderate, and even scanty portions of sleep, in every part of the world, have been found to be friendly, not only to health and long life, but in many instances to morality. The practice of the Monks, who often sleep upon a floor, and who generally rise [Page 22] with the sun, for the sake of mortifying their sensual appetites, is certainly founded in wisdom, and has often produced the most salutary moral effects.

8. THE effects of BODILY PAIN upon the moral, are not less remarkable than upon the intellectual powers of the mind. The late Dr. Gregory of the university of Edinburgh, used to tell his pupils, that he always found his perceptions quicker in a fit of the gout, than at any other time. The pangs which attend the disso­lution of the body, are often accompanied with conceptions and expressions upon the most ordinary subjects, that discover an un­common elevation of the intellectual powers. The effects of bodily pain are exactly the same in rousing and directing the moral faculty. Bodily pain, we find, was one of the remedies employed in the old testament, for extirpating vice and promoting virtue: and Mr. Howard tells us, that he saw it employed successfully as a means of reformation, in one of the prisons which he visited. If pain has a physical tendency to cure vice, I submit it to the consideration of parents and legislators, whether moderate degrees of corporal punishments, inflicted for a great length of time, would not be more medicinal in their effects, than the violent degrees of them, which are of short duration.

9. Too much cannot be said in favor of CLEANLINESS, as a physical mean of promoting virtue. The writings of Moses have been called by military men, the best "orderly book" in the world. In every part of them we find cleanliness inculcated with as much zeal, as if it was part of the moral, instead of the levitical law. Now, it is well known, that the principal design of every precept [Page 23] and rite of the ceremonial parts of the Jewish religion, was to prevent vice, and to promote virtue. All writers upon the leprosy, take notice of its connection with a certain vice. To this disease gross animal food, particularly swine's flesh, and a dirty skin, have been thought to be predisposing causes—hence the reason, pro­bably, why pork was forbidden, and why ablutions of the body and limbs were so frequently inculcated by the Jewish law. Sir John Pringle's remarks, in his Oration upon Capt. Cook's Voyage, delivered before the Royal Society in London, are very pertinent to this part of our subject.— ‘Cleanliness (says he) is conducive to health, but it is not so obvious, that it also tends to good order and other virtues. Such (meaning the ship's crew) as were made more cleanly, became more sober,—more orderly,—and more attentive to duty,’ Mr. Addison, whose observations are seldom false, and never trifling, tells us, that ‘several vices, de­structive both to body and mind, are inconsistent with the habit of cleanliness.’ ^* The benefit to be derived by parents and schoolmasters from attending to these facts, is too obvious to be mentioned.

10. I HOPE I shall be excused in placing SOLITUDE among the physical causes which influence the moral faculty, when I add, that I confine its effects to persons who are irreclaimable by rational or moral remedies. Mr. Howard informs us, that the chaplain of the prison at Liege in Germany assured him, ‘that the most refractory and turbulent spirits, became tractable and submissive, by being closely confined for four or five days.’—In bodies that are predisposed to vice, the stimulus of cheerful, but much more of profane society and conversation, upon the animal [Page 24] spirits, becomes an exciting cause, and like the stroke of the flint upon the steel, renders the sparks of vice both active and visible. By removing men out of the reach of this exciting cause, they are often reformed, especially if they are confined long enough to pro­duce a sufficient chasm in their habits of vice. Where the benefit of reflection, and instruction from books, can be added to solitude and confinement, their good effects are still more certain. To this philosophers and poets in every age have assented, by describing the life of a hermit as a life of passive virtue.

11. CONNECTED with solitude, as a mechanical means of pro­moting virtue, SILENCE deserves to be mentioned in this place. The late Dr. Fothergill, in his plan of education for that bene­volent institution at Ackworth, which was the last care of his use­ful life, says every thing that can be said in favor of this necessary discipline, in the following words. ‘To habituate children from their early infancy, to silence and attention, is of the greatest ad­vantage to them, not only as a preparative to their advancement in a religious life, but as the groundwork of a well cultivated understanding. To have the active minds of children put under a kind of restraint—to be accustomed to turn their attention from external objects, and habituated to a degree of abstracted quiet, is a matter of great consequence, and lasting benefit to them. Although it cannot be supposed, that young and active minds are always engaged in silence as they ought to be, yet to be accustomed thus to quietness, is no small point gained to­wards fixing a habit of patience, and recollection, which seldom forsakes those who have been properly instructed in this entrance of the school of wisdom, during the residue of their days.’

[Page 25] FOR the purpose of acquiring this branch of education, children cannot associate too early, nor too often with their parents, or with their superiors in age—rank—and wisdom.

12. THE effects of MUSIC upon the moral faculty, have been felt and recorded in every country. Hence we are able to discover the virtues and vices of different nations, by their tunes, as certainly as by their laws. The effects of music, when simply mechanical, upon the passions, are powerful and extensive. But it remains yet to determine the degrees of moral extasy, that may be produced by an attack upon the ear. the reason, and the moral principle, at the same time, by the combined powers of music and eloquence.

13. THE ELOQUENCE OF THE PULPIT is nearly allied to music in its effects upon the moral faculty. It is true, there can be no permanent change in the temper, and moral conduct of a man, that is not derived from the understanding and the will; but we must remember, that these two powers of the mind are most assailable, when they are attacked through the avenue of the passions; and these, we know, when agitated by the powers of eloquence, exert a mechanical action upon every power of the soul. Hence we find in every age and country, where christianity has been propagated, the most accomplished orators have generally been the most successful reformers of mankind. There must be a defect of eloquence in a preacher, who with the resources for oratory, which are contained in the old and new testaments, does not produce in every man who hears him, at least a temporary love of virtue. I grant that the eloquence of the pulpit alone, cannot change men into christians, but it certainly possesses the power of changing brutes [Page 26] into men. Could the eloquence of the stage be properly directed, it is impossible to conceive the extent of its mechanical effects upon morals. The language and imagery of a Shakespear, upon moral and religious subjects, poured upon the passions and the senses, in all the beauty and variety of dramatic representation!—Who could resist,—or describe their effects?

14. ODORS of various kinds have been observed to act in the most sensible manner upon the moral faculty. Brydone tells us, upon the authority of a celebrated philosopher in Italy, that the peculiar wick­edness of the people who live in the neighbourhood of AEtna and Ve­suvius, is occasioned chiefly by the smell of the sulphur and of the hot exhalations which are constantly discharged from those volcanos. Agreeable odors, seldom fail to inspire serenity, and to com­pose the angry spirits—Hence the pleasure, and one of the advantages of a flower garden. The smoke of tobacco is likewise of a sedative nature, and tends not only to produce what is called a train in perception, but to hush the agitated passions into silence and order.—Hence the propriety of connecting the pipe or segar and the bottle together, in public company.

15. IT is to be lamented, that no experiments have as yet been made, to determine the effects of all the different species of AIRS, which chemistry has lately discovered, upon the moral faculty. I have authority, from actual experiments only, to declare, that DEPHLOGISTICATED AIR, when taken into the lungs, produces cheerfulness—gentleness—and serenity of mind.

[Page 27] 16. WHAT shall we say of the effects of MEDICINES upon the moral faculty?—That many substances in the materia medica act upon the intellects, is well known to physicians. Why should it be thought impossible for medicines, to act in like manner upon the moral faculty? May not the earth contain in its bowels, or upon its surface, antidotes to all our moral, as well as natural diseases?—Let those, who refuse to follow me in this conjecture, recollect, that moral evil was introduced into our minds—as well as natural evil into our bodies—by eating an apple.

LET it not be suspected from any thing that I have delivered, that I suppose the influence of physical causes upon the moral faculty, renders the agency of divine influence unnecessary to our moral happiness. I only maintain, that the operations of the divine government are carried on in the moral, as in the natural world,—by the instrumentality of second causes. I have only trodden in the footsteps of the inspired writers; for most of the physical causes I have enumerated, are connected with moral pre­cepts, or have been used as the means of reformation from vice, in the old and new testaments. To the cases that have been men­tioned I shall only add, that Nebuchadnezzar was cured of his pride, by means of solitude and a vegetable diet.—Saul was cured of his evil spirit, by means of David's harp—and St. Paul expressly says, ‘I keep my body under, and bring it into subjection, left that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away.’ But I will go one step further, and add in favor of divine influence upon the moral principle, that in those extraor­dinary cases, where bad men are suddenly reformed, without the instrumentality of physical—moral—or rational causes, I believe [Page 28] that the organization of those parts of the body, which form the link that binds it to the soul, undergoes a physical change ^*; and hence the expressions of a "new creature," which are made use of in the scriptures to denote this change, are proper in a literal, as well as a figurative sense. It is probably the beginning of that perfect renovation of the human body, which is predicted by St. Paul in the following words— ‘For our conversation is in heaven,—from whence we look for the Saviour, who shall change our VILE BODIES, that they may be fashioned according to his own glorious body.’

I CANNOT help remarking under this head, that if the con­ditions of those parts of the human body, which are connected with the soul, influence morals, the same reason may be given for a virtuous education, that has been admitted for teaching music and the pronunciation of foreign languages, in the early and yielding state of those organs, which form the voice and speech. Such is the effect of a moral education, that we often see its fruits in the advanced stages of life, after the religious principles which were connected with it, have been renounced. Just as we perceive the same care in a surgeon in his attendance upon his patients, after the sympathy which first produced this care, has ceased to operate upon his mind.—The boasted morality of the Deists, is I believe, in most cases, the offspring of habits, produced originally by the prin­ciples [Page 29] and precepts of christianity.—Hence appears the wisdom of Solomon's advice— ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not’—I had almost said,—he can­not "depart from it."

THUS have I enumerated the principal causes, which act me­chanically upon morals. If, from the combined action of physical powers that are opposed to each other, the moral faculty should become stationary, or if the virtue or vice produced by them, should form a neutral quality, composed of both of them, I hope it will not call in question the truth of our general propositions. I have only mentioned the effects of physical causes in a simple state.

IT might help to enlarge our ideas upon this subject, to take notice of the influence of the different stages of society—of agri­culture, and commerce—of soil and situation—of the different degrees of cultivation of taste, and of the intellectual powers—of the different forms of government—and lastly of the different professions and occupations of mankind, upon the moral faculty; but as these act indirectly only, and by the intervention of causes that are unconnected with matter, I conceive they are foreign to the business of the present enquiry. If they should vary the action of the simple physical causes in any degree, I hope it will not call in question the truth of our general propositions, any more than the compound action of physical powers, that are opposed to each other. There remain only a few more causes which are of a com­pound nature, but so nearly related to those, which are purely [Page 30] mechanical, that I shall beg leave to trespass upon your patience, by giving them a place in my oration.

THE effects of IMITATION—HABIT—and ASSOCIATION upon morals, would furnish ample matter for investigation. Con­sidering how much the shape, texture, and conditions of the human body, influence morals, I submit it to the consideration of the ingenious, whether in our endeavours to imitate moral examples, some advantage may not be derived, from our copying the features and external manners of the originals. What makes the success of this experiment probable is, that we generally find men, whose faces resemble each other, have the same manners and dispositions. I infer the possibility of success in an attempt to imitate originals in the manner that has been mentioned, from the facility with which domestics acquire a resemblance to their masters and mistresses, not only in manners, but in countenance, in those cases where they are tied to them, by respect, and affection.—Husbands and wives also, where they possess the same species of face, under circumstances of mutual attachment, often acquire a resemblance to each other.

FROM the general detestation in which hypocrisy is held both by good and bad men, the mechanical effects of HABIT upon virtue, have not been sufficiently explored. There are, I am persuaded, many instances, where virtues have been assumed by accident, or necessity, which have become real from habit, and afterwards de­rived their nourishment from the heart. Hence the wisdom of Hamlet's advice to his mother—

THE influence of ASSOCIATION upon morals, opens an ample field for enquiry. It is from this principle, that we explain the reformation from theft and drunkenness in servants which we some­times see produced by a draught of spirits in which tartar emetic had been secretly dissolved. The recollection of the pain and sickness excited by the emetic, naturally associates itself with the spirits, so as to render them both equally the objects of aversion. It is by calling in this principle only, that we can account for the conduct of Moses, in grinding the golden calf into a powder, and afterwards dissolving it (probably by means of hepar sulphuris) in water, and compelling the children of Israel to drink of it, as a punish­ment for their idolatry. This mixture is bitter and nauseating in the highest degree. It could not be remembered therefore, by them, without being associated with an equal abhorrence of their folly and wickedness. The benefit of corporal punishments, when they are of a short duration, depends in part upon their being connected by time and place, with the crimes for which they are inflicted. Quick as the thunder follows the lightning, if it were possible, should punishments follow crimes, and the advantage of [Page 32] association would be more certain, if the spot where they were committed, were made the theatre of their expiation. It is from the effects of this association, probably, that the change of place and company produced by exile and transportation, has so often reclaimed bad men, after moral—rational—and physical means of reformation had been used to no purpose.

AS SENSIBILITY is the avenue to the moral faculty, every thing which tends to diminish it, tends also, to injure morals.—The Romans owed much of their corruption to the sights of the contests of their gladiators, and of criminals, with wild beasts. For these rea­sons, executions should never be public. Indeed, I believe there are few public punishments of any kind, that do not harden the hearts of spectators, and thereby lessen the natural horror which all crimes at first excite in the human mind.

CRUELTY to brute animals is another means of destroying moral sensibility. The ferocity of savages has been ascribed in part to their peculiar mode of subsistence. Mr. Hogarth points out in his ingenious prints, the connection between cruelty to brute animals in youth, and murder in manhood. The Emperor Domitian pre­pared his mind by the amusement of killing flies, for all those bloody crimes which afterwards disgraced his reign. I am so per­fectly satisfied of the truth of a connection between morals, and humanity to brutes, that I shall find it difficult to restrain my idolatry for that legislature, that shall first establish a system of laws, to defend them from outrage and oppression.

[Page 33] IN order to preserve the vigor of the moral faculty, it is of the utmost consequence to keep young people as ignorant as possible of those crimes, that are generally thought most disgraceful to human nature. Suicide, I believe, is often propagated by means of news­papers. For this reason, I should be glad to see the proceedings of our courts kept from the public eye, when they expose, or punish monstrous vices.

THE last mechanical method of promoting morality that I shall mention, is to keep sensibility alive, by a familiarity with scenes of distress from poverty and disease. Compassion never awakens in the human bosom, without being accompanied with a train of sister virtues—hence the wise man justly remarks, that ‘By the sad­ness of the countenance, the heart is made better.’

A LATE French writer in his prediction of events that are to happen in the year 4000, says ‘That mankind in that aera shall be so far improved by religion and government, that the sick and the dying, shall no longer be thrown together with the dead, into splendid houses, but shall be relieved and protected in a connection with their families and society.’ For the honor of humanity, an institution ^* destined for that distant period, has lately been founded in this city, that shall perpetuate the year 1786 in the history of Pennsylvania. Here the feeling heart—the tearful eye—and the charitable hand, may always be connected together, and the flame of sympathy, instead of being extinguished in taxes, or expiring in a solitary blaze by a single contribution, may be kept [Page 34] alive, by constant exercise. There is a necessary connection be­tween animal sympathy and morals. The priest and the levite, in the new testament, would probably have relieved the poor man who fell among thieves, had accident brought them near enough to exa­mine his wounds. The unfortunate Mrs. Bellamy was rescued from the dreadful purpose of drowning herself, by nothing but the distress of a child, rending the air with its cries for bread. It is probably owing in some measure to the connection between mo­rals and sympathy, that the fair sex in every age, and country, have been more distinguished for virtue, than men—for who ever heard of a woman, devoid of humanity?—

LASTLY, ATTRACTION, COMPOSITION, and DECOMPOSI­TION, belong to the passions as well as to matter. Vices of the same species attract each other with the most force—hence the bad consequences of crouding young men (whose propensities are generally the same) under one roof, in our modern plans of education. The effects of composition and decomposition upon vices, appear in the meanness of the school boy, being often cured by the prodigality of a military life, and by the precipitation of avarice, which is often produced by ambition and love.

IF physical causes influence morals in the manner we have de­scribed, may they not also influence religious principles and opini­ons?—I answer in the affirmative; and I have authority, from the records of physic, as well as from my own observations, to declare, that religious melancholy and madness, in all their variety of species, yield with more facility to medicine, than simply to polemical dis­courses, or to casuistical advice.—But this subject is foreign to the business of the present enquiry.

[Page 35] FROM a review of our subject, we are led to contemplate with admiration, the curious structure of the human mind. How distinct are the number▪ and yet how united! How subordinate, and yet how coequal are all its powers! How wonderful is the action of the soul upon the body!—Of the body upon the soul!—And of the divine spirit upon both! What a mystery is the mind of man to itself!—O! nature!—Or to speak properly,—O! THOU, GOD OF NATURE!—In vain do we attempt to scan THY immensity, or to comprehend THY various modes of existence, when a single particle of light issued from THYSELF, and kindled into in­telligence in the bosom of man, thus dazzles and confounds our un­derstandings!—

THE extent of the moral powers and habits in man is unknown. It is not improbable, but the human mind contains principles of virtue, which have never yet been excited into action. We be­hold with surprise the versatility of the human body, in the ex­ploits of tumblers and ropedancers. Even the agility of a wild beast has been demonstrated in a girl in France, and an amphibious nature has been discovered in the human species, in a young man in Spain. We listen with astonishment to the accounts of the memo­ries of Mithridates, Cyrus, and Servin.—We feel a veneration bor­dering upon divine homage, in contemplating the stupendous under­standings of Lord Verulam and Sir Isaac Newton; and our eyes grow dim, in attempting to pursue Shakespear and Milton in their immea­surable flights of imagination.—And if the history of mankind does not furnish similar instances of the versatility and perfection of our species in virtue, it is because the moral faculty has been the sub­ject of less culture and fewer experiments than the body, and the [Page 36] intellectual powers of the mind. From what has been said, the reason of this is obvious. Hitherto the cultivation of the moral faculty has been the business of parents, schoolmasters and divines. ^* But if the principles, we have laid down, be just, the improvement and extension of this principle should be equally the business of the legislator—the natural philosopher—and the physician; and a phy­sical regimen should as necessarily accompany a moral precept, as directions with respect to air—exercise—and diet, generally accom­pany prescriptions for the consumption, and the gout. To encou­rage us to undertake experiments for the improvement of morals, let us recollect the success of philosophy in lessening the number, and mitigating the violence of incurable diseases. The intermitting fever, which proved fatal to two of the monarchs of Britain, is now under absolute subjection to medicine. Continual fevers are much less fatal than formerly. The smallpox is disarmed of its mor­tality by inoculation, and even the tetanus and the cancer have lately received a check in their ravages upon mankind. But medicine has done more—It has penetrated the deep and gloomy abyss of death, and acquired fresh honors in his cold embraces.—Witness the many hundred people, who have lately been brought back to life, by the successful efforts of the humane societies, which are now established in many parts of Europe, and in some parts of America. [Page 37] Should the same industry and ingenuity, which have produced these triumphs of medicine over diseases and death, be applied to the moral science, it is highly probable, that most of those baneful vices, which deform the human breast and convulse the nations of the earth, might be banished from the world. I am not so sanguine as to suppose, that it is possible for man to acquire so much perfection from science, religion, liberty and good go­vernment, as to cease to be mortal; but I am fully persuaded, that from the combined action of causes, which operate at once upon the reason, the moral faculty, the passions, the senses, the brain, the nerves, the blood and the heart, it is possible to pro­duce such a change in the moral character of man, as shall raise him to a resemblance of angels—nay more, to the likeness of GOD himself.—The State of Pennsylvania still deplores the loss of a man, in whom not only reason and revelation, but many of the phy­sical causes that have been enumerated, concurred to produce such attainments in moral excellency, as have seldom appeared in a human being. This amiable citizen, considered his fellow creature, man, as God's extract, from his own works; and whether this image of himself, was cut out from ebony or copper—whether he spoke his own, or a foreign language—or whether he worshiped his Maker with ceremonies, or without them, he still considered him as a brother, and equally the object of his benevolence. Poets and historians, who are to live hereafter, to you I commit his panegyric; and when you hear of a law for abolishing slavery in each of the American States, such as was passed in Pennsylvania, in the year 1780—when you hear of the kings and queens of Europe, publishing edicts for abolishing the trade in human souls—and lastly, when you hear of schools and churches, with all the arts of civilized life, being established among the nations of Africa, [Page 38] then remember and record, that this revolution in favor of human happiness, was the effect of the labors—the publications—the private letters—and the prayers of ANTHONY BENEZET. ^*—

I RETURN from this digression, to address myself in a particular manner to you, VENERABLE SAGES, and FELLOW CITIZENS in the REPUBLIC of LETTERS.—The influence of philosophy, we have been told, has already been felt in courts. To increase, and complete this influence, there is nothing more necessary, than for the nume­rous literary societies in Europe and America, to add the SCIENCE of MORALS to their experiments and enquiries. The godlike scheme of Henry the IV. of France, and of the illustrious Queen Elizabeth of England, for establishing a perpetual peace in Europe, may be accomplished without a system of jurisprudence, by a confederation of learned men, and learned societies. It is in their power, by multiplying the objects of human reason, to bring the monarchs [Page 39] and rulers of the world, under their subjection, and thereby to extirpate war—slavery—and capital punishments, from the list of human evils. Let it not be suspected that I detract by this de­claration, from the honor of the christian religion. It is true—christianity was propagated without the aid of human learning; but this was one of those miracles, which was necessary to establish it, and which, by repetition, would cease to be a miracle. They mis­represent the christian religion, who suppose it to be wholly an internal revelation, and addressed only to the moral powers of the mind. The truths of christianity afford the greatest scope for the human understanding, and they will become intelligible to us, only in proportion as the human genius is stretched by means of philo­sophy, to its utmost dimensions. Errors may be opposed to errors: but truths, upon all subjects, mutually support each other. And perhaps one reason, why some parts of the christian revelation are still involved in obscurity, may be occasioned by our imperfect knowledge of the phaenomena, and laws of nature. The truths of philosophy and christianity, dwell alike in the mind of the Deity, and reason and religion are equally the offspring of his goodness. They must, therefore, stand and fall together. By reason, in the present instance, I mean the power of judging of truth, as well as the power of comprehending it. Happy aera!—When the divine and the philosopher shall embrace each other, and unite their labors, for the reformation and happiness of mankind!—

ILLUSTRIOUS COUNCILLORS and SENATORS of Pennsylvania! ^* I anticipate your candid reception of this feeble effort to encrease the [Page 40] quantity of virtue in our republic. It is not my business to remind you of the immense resources for greatness, which nature and Pro­vidence have bestowed upon our state. Every advantage which France has derived from being placed in the centre of Europe, and which Britain has derived from her mixture of nations, Pennsylvania has opened to her. But my business at present, is to suggest the means of promoting the happiness, not the greatness of the state. For this purpose, it is absolutely necessary that our government, which unites into one all the minds of the state, should possess, in an eminent degree, not only the understanding, the passions, and the will, but above all, the moral faculty, and the conscience of an individual.—Nothing can be politically right, that is morally wrong; and no necessity can ever sanctify a law, that is contrary to equity. VIRTUE is the living principle of a republic. To pro­mote this, laws for the suppression of vice and immorality will be as ineffectual, as the encrease and enlargement of goals.—There is but one method of preventing crimes, and of rendering a republican form of government durable, and that is by disseminating the seeds of virtue and knowledge through every part of the state, by means of proper modes and places of education, and this can be done effectually only, by the interference and aid of the legislature. I am so deeply impressed with the truth of this opinion, that were this evening to be the last of my life, I would not only say to the asylum of my ancestors, and my beloved native country, with the patriot of Venice, "Esto perpetua,"—But I would add, as the last proof of my gratitude and affection for her, my parting advice to the guardians of her liberties, ‘To establish and support PUBLIC SCHOOLS in every part of the state.’