148
T1IK UICOINNING.
VOL. Vllt,
nil things, both physical uml menial, she
outsteps her legitimate boundaries; drives
design from the universe, and brings her.
sell' into disrepute. There are two dis
Until spheres of cognition one of matter
and mm ion the oilier of consciousness
and thought. The first is the ground
work of physical science, the other is
quite beyond her domain.
Man adapts means It) ends. Ho builds
a machine so as to accomplish a given
purpose. It must be so adjusted that
there shall be a harmonius working of all
parts. God builds a universe much in
the same way, as is shown in Ihe perfect
adjustment of the human structure, and
evinced by the "Mason Spider" which ex
cavities a subterranean palace, lines it
with silken tapestry, and closes its liabila.
tion with a door which swings upon a
hinge. When we thus look through na
lure up to nature's Deity, we discover that
analogy between the human and divine
intelligence which shadows forth the
"Image ol God." From the preceding
inquiry we conclude that mind is not the
product of matter, and that man is a free
moral agent. "We are then responsible
beings. It behooves each individual to
pause and reflect. The world stands
waiting for his service- and with justice
requires it at his hands. J. O. S.
TUB JiEQINNIXG.
T last the idols so long worshipped
'klkt in the English universities have
fallen. Their temples are occupied by
other divinities, and incense of a differ
ent natuie ascends their alters Zeus and
Jupiter no longer hold imperial sway.
Their power is divided; and instead of the
almost exclusive Greek and Latin altars
of a few years ago, Iherc may lie found
fanes dedicated to various Natural Sciei -ces
with priests to attend their fires.
They who declare that the pursuit of
classical studies is less.oagcr than former,
ly speak truly, as also do llioy who say,
that this circumstance is beneficial to the
cause of higher education. England, un
til a few years ago, required so high a de
gree ol classical scholarship for gradua
tion in her universitiis, that many whose
taslo would not permit them to spend so
much time on ancient languages failed to
attend. The rapid growth of modern
language, furnishing a medium for the
cultivation of those faculties so little tie.
veloped by the study of the sciences, and
the great improvement in our own lan
guage lessening the need til an acquaint
mice with the Latin and Greek, have led
to the establishment of different courses
of study from which the classics are
wholly or partly omitted. In the regu
lar classical courso the sciences and mod
ern languages have found a place, thus
increasing the number of studies and af
fording a broader basis of education. The
same levolution lias taken place in the
older colleges of this country, only the
change has not been so great because the
evil was less. Because the continental
universities were more liberal, they have
experienced very little change.
Thus during the last century the clas
sics have lost the name of education itself,
and have come lo be regarded merely as a
factor of education. Nearly all Ameri
can univeisilies have been established
since the levolution began, this fact in
addition to the independent spiiit of our
people lias given to us many different
means of culture, both with and without
the aid of Latin and Greek. Although
thus libei ally provided for, many students
indulge themselves quite frequently in
abuse against the dead linguages. They
reason from (wo points; the first lias some
claim tt originality, that our country is
practical and a knowledge of these Ian
guages is useless. The second Is without
criginality, being a repetition of the argu
ments used by scholars to ell'ect the re for.
niation previously mentioned.
I shall not claim for the classics a very
high degiee of utility, as the word is com
nionly defined, nor do I doubt the practi-
