thus are associations formed that will render them vulgar, discontented and unreasonable; filling them with prejudice against their parents, their teachers, the ministers of God, and religion itself. Those, who thus indoctrinate young persons into error and folly are not confined to the class called domestics, they are in every rank and situation in life; found every where among the gossiping members of society.

This part of our subject comes with intense interest to the parent, the teacher and to the young themselves. With amazing responsibility must it strike the parent, to whom is entrusted the guardianship of the infant mind, the direction of the opening reason, the formation of the habits that will probably fix the character, and decide the happiness or wretchedness of life; it may be of eternity. The teacher will see its importance, when the connection between a well ordered train of thought, and the memory and understanding is considered. Much instruction must be thrown away, unless correct relations can be established, and order preserved in the mental associations of the pupils. The retaining of knowledge and the ability to reason or judge properly, depend upon this.

To you my young friends I would say, that if you have already, at this early period of your lives, contracted habits of thought that you

now judge incorrect, indulging in unreasonable hopes, or fears, or prejudices; you have yet power within you to overcome such habits. You have reason to enlighten you, as to whether the associations formed in your minds be correct, and you have voluntary power, sufficient to break up what in thought is unreasonable, consequently incorrect. Especially would I urge you to have a care of whatever would influence your moral and eternal relations. Beware of associates who exhibit vulgarity in speech, in manner, or even in the hidden meaning of a word; refuse to listen to those who speak evil of the things or persons whom your own judgment and conscience tell you should be venerated. Whatever does dishonour to religion, avoid as you would the coil of a serpent. Be assured that the sarcastic joke, the promised pleasure, the kind commiseration, though at first disregarded by you, will have their effect; they will find a corrupt principle within coinciding with the outward temptation; your only safety is in flight, while you put up a prayer for aid to the Almighty.

CHAPTER IX.

ABSTRACTION.

Attention, as we have seen is a voluntary act, whereby we direct our observation to any one object or subject, for the purpose of examination. A landscape, for instance strikes upon the mind as a whole. The arching heavens, the mirrored lake; the dark woods, the green fields and the white cottages form a beautiful assemblage upon which the mind rests with an emotion of pleasure; but as it carries on a higher operation, attention fixes itself upon the particulars in this group of objects, so that they are surveyed one after another, in smaller groups or as individuals. These particulars are classed as land, as water, as sky: and again other particulars are noticed of each of these; the heavens are blue, arched and variegated with clouds; the earth green, and covered with vegetable and animal life; the water now calm and transparent, shadowing forth the beauties of field and sky, anon turbid and foaming when lashed by the changing winds. As the mind passes from general conceptions to particulars, its emotions subside, and philosophic research takes place.*

* Note J.

An object, for instance a tree, presents itself to us not in a simple, but complex state. We perceive it as it stands, with trunk, branches, leaves and fruit; the fruits arrest our attention and we recollect to have seen those which were similar. Upon examination they are found to be the same, in kind, and we refer the tree to the same class as those which bear like fruits, and thus a collection of trees is arranged according to some one attribute found in a number of them, not discoverable in others. That voluntary act of attention by which we disregard every thing in an object except certain qualities that we desire to notice, is called abstraction. Let us imagine a party of persons, of different occupations, travelling together for amusement. The geologist disregarding forest and field, descends from his carriage to investigate the nature of the soil and to possess himself of pieces of stone and rock; the botanist stops to examine the plants; the painter notices light and shade, together with the fine points of landscape. The farmer sees nothing but the crops ripening for the harvest, the speculator seeks only a good location for an imaginary city. You will perceive that each one directs his attention to that particular, which, either from interest or pleasure, occupies his thoughts, disregarding every other.

White is the colour of chalk, of milk, of snow and of other objects. In the imagination we abstract this quality from bodies and call it whiteness. Hence the origin of abstract terms. We speak of virtue without reference to any particular virtuous person, so of happiness; and these terms have in our minds a definite meaning. All those persons possessing the qualities which we attach to these terms, are distinguished by the appellation of the virtuous or the happy; and thus we designate mankind by classes. We talk of truth, falsehood, vanity, injustice; and we call persons the faithful, the false, the vain, the unjust. In this ability to distinguish objects by their qualities, and to set out, or seperate, any one object or quality, disregarding all others, do we find the origin of scientific research. Objects are known by their qualities or attributes, and by some particulàr attribute or quality are they distinguished from each other. These attributes constitute differences, greater or less, and the understanding is employed in making or remarking them. Man, is, in one sense, an animal, but he differs greatly from the quadruped, which goes on four feet; he differs still more from the bird which though it walks upon two feet raises itself in the air on wings; still greater is the difference remarked between man and the fish or the reptile, that