number of minds, the great importance of taking practical views of science; or, on the other, if he can impart, to persons engaged in the arts, any useful hints, respecting the principles and processes with which they are called to deal.

This Treatise is divided into three parts.

The first part is devoted to illustrating, by argument and historical facts, the Dependence of the Arts on Science.

The second part treats of the Principal Agents, Mechanical and Chemical, which are employed in the Arts; and also of the Elements of Machinery.

The third part exhibits, briefly, and in connexion with their rationale, the principal operations in Agriculture, Architecture, Cloth Manufacture, The Domestic Arts, Metallurgy, &c. &c.

It may not be improper, in closing this Chapter, to remark, that, in giving to the arts, under consideration, the customary name of useful arts, we would by no means intimate, that they alone are useful, or that they are preeminently so. Such arts, after all, belong to the world without us. It is their province to apply the laws of matter, which have been discovered by science, so as to change, for some useful purpose, the form, position, or internal structure of masses of matter. Creations though they are, of mind, and proud monuments of its exhaustless ingenuity, their immediate and most palpable use is only to increase the outward or physical comforts and accommodations of mankind. But there are arts,sometimes called the Liberal Arts,-the direct object of which is, to move and elevate mind! which, for example, would enlighten reason, gratify taste, fill the imagination with visions of ideal beauty or greatness, and incite the will to high and holy resolve. Of this class are, Education, which proposes to develope and discipline, in due proportion, the various powers and susceptibilities of the soul; Eloquence, which, employing language as its instrument, would act on the con

duct and sentiments of men, through the medium of their reason, taste, feelings, and fancy; Government, which aims to give such direction to the energies of men, living together as political societies, as will fulfil the demands of justice, and best promote the "greatest happiness of the greatest number;" and finally, poetry, painting, music, and the like fine arts, as they are called,-which would move, to their lowest depths, the fountains of thought and feeling that are lodged within us. These, it is evident, are supremely useful, since they touch our highest and most enduring interests, and speak, at the same time, to our most generous sensibilities.

It is a fact, worthy of much more consideration than it has yet received, that each of these arts, too, is founded on science; that, as the physical arts can be carried to their utmost perfection, only by those who are well versed in the laws that govern the material world, so the liberal arts can be successfully cultivated and illustrated, only by those who have profoundly studied man; who have gazed, with enlightened and admiring eye, on that masterpiece of Divine wisdom,-the human soul, with its capabilities, its untiring energies, its restless longings after the beautiful and good, its Protean versatility of thought, feeling, and action. As the (so-called) useful arts are but the practical application, to physical purposes, of mechanics and chemistry, so the liberal arts are but the carrying out, to definite moral results, of a higher philosophy, the philosophy of human nature: and he alone is qualified to practise,-nay, he alone is qualified thoroughly to appreciate and enjoy them, who, to practical skill, has added an intimate knowledge of the workings of the human heart, both in individuals and in societies. We may take occasion, hereafter, to enlarge upon this truth, and enforce it by suitable illustrations. We notice it, at present, merely that we may guard against the supposition, that the arts, now under consideration, because called useful, are so, alone; and that the liberal and fine arts are only fitted to amuse, or, at the best, to embellish and refine.

- CHAPTER II.

THE ARTS DEPENDENT ON SCIENCE.

It is the maxim of a prudent man, always to keep the law on his side. While he does so, it aids him in his labors, and protects him in the enjoyment of his blessings. Now, what is true of human laws, is yet more eminently true of those natural laws which the Creator has impressed on material substances. These laws are absolute and immutable. They cannot bend to suit the convenience or exigencies of men; nor can they be violated, without inflicting on the transgressor certain injury. And operating, as they do, on every side of us, and serving to determine the properties of every object and the results of every movement, they cannot even be neglected with impunity. Under their direction, the mechanism of Nature moves forward, with uniform and irresistible energy. They resemble a mighty engine, which, if rightly managed,—that is, according to its nature and properties,-may be made to work out the most wonderful and important results; but which, if mismanaged, will inflict on him who attempts to guide it, only injury and loss.

But these laws, the proper application of which to human uses is so important and yet so delicate, can be ascertained only through Science. Science explores the hidden mechanism of Nature, and discovers by what laws it is regulated. It traces out the order which the Deity has established in His works, and shows how this order may be made subservient to the purposes of man. Art avails itself of this knowledge, arranges its materials according to these natural laws, and endeavors to effect, on a small scale, what the Creator is constantly effecting throughout His material empire. To attempt an arrangement, without such knowledge, would be like attempting to superintend the movements of a steam

duct and sentiments of men, through the medium of their reason, taste, feelings, and fancy; Government, which aims to give such direction to the energies of men, living together as political societies, as will fulfil the demands of justice, and best promote the "greatest happiness of the greatest number;" and finally, poetry, painting, music, and the like fine arts, as they are called,-which would move, to their lowest depths, the fountains of thought and feeling that are lodged within us. These, it is evident, are supremely useful, since they touch our highest and most enduring interests, and speak, at the same time, to our most generous sensibilities.

It is a fact, worthy of much more consideration than it has yet received, that each of these arts, too, is founded on science; that, as the physical arts can be carried to their utmost perfection, only by those who are well versed in the laws that govern the material world, so the liberal arts can be successfully cultivated and illustrated, only by those who have profoundly studied man; who have gazed, with enlightened and admiring eye, on that masterpiece of Divine wisdom,—the human soul, with its capabilities, its untiring energies, its restless longings after the beautiful and good, its Protean versatility of thought, feeling, and action. As the (so-called) useful arts are but the practical application, to physical purposes, of mechanics and chemistry, so the liberal arts are but the carrying out, to definite moral results, of a higher philosophy, the philosophy of human nature: and he alone is qualified to practise,-nay, he alone is qualified thoroughly to appreciate and enjoy them, who, to practical skill, has added an intimate knowledge of the workings of the human heart, both in individuals and in societies. We may take occasion, hereafter, to enlarge upon this truth, and enforce it by suitable illustrations. We notice it, at present, merely that we may guard against the supposition, that the arts, now under consideration, because called useful, are so, alone; and that the liberal and fine arts are only fitted to amuse, or, at the best, to embellish and refine.

CHAPTER II.

THE ARTS DEPENDENT ON SCIENCE.

It is the maxim of a prudent man, always to keep the law on his side. While he does so, it aids him in his labors, and protects him in the enjoyment of his blessings. Now, what is true of human laws, is yet more eminently true of those natural laws which the Creator has impressed on material substances. These laws are absolute and immutable. They cannot bend to suit the convenience or exigencies of men; nor can they be violated, without inflicting on the transgressor certain injury. And operating, as they do, on every side of us, and serving to determine the properties of every object and the results of every movement, they cannot even be neglected with impunity. Under their direction, the mechanism of Nature moves forward, with uniform and irresistible energy. They resemble a mighty engine, which, if rightly managed,—that is, according to its nature and properties,-may be made to work out the most wonderful and important results; but which, if mismanaged, will inflict on him who attempts to guide it, only injury and loss.

But these laws, the proper application of which to human uses is so important and yet so delicate, can be ascertained only through Science. Science explores the hidden mechanism of Nature, and discovers by what laws it is regulated. It traces out the order which the Deity has established in His works, and shows how this order may be made subservient to the purposes of man. Art avails itself of this knowledge, arranges its materials according to these natural laws, and endeavors to effect, on a small scale, what the Creator is constantly effecting throughout His material empire. To attempt an arrangement, without such knowledge, would be like attempting to superintend the movements of a steam