2. The different Susceptibilities of the Soul originating dif- ferent Forms of Language; the Origin of Prose, Po- 12 4. Relation of the several kinds of Eloquence to the several 5. Different degrees of attention paid by the Orator and the Poet, to the Subject-matter and to the Style of their 7. Regard paid by the Orator and the Poet to the Perfection 8. The place which Eloquence holds among the Arts, IV. PRINCIPLES OF LATIN LEXICOGRAPHY, Translated by Prof. T. D. Woolsey, Yale College. I. Of the idea and elements of Latin Lexicography, II. Of the extent of Freund's Lexicon, € 105 108 VII. THE RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION OF OUR LORD, By E. Robinson, Professor at New York. § 1. The time of the Resurrection, 2. The Visit of the Women to the Sepulchre, 3. The return of the Women to the city, and the first appear- BIBLIOTHECA SACRA AND THEOLOGICAL REVIEW. NO. V. FEBRUARY, 1845. ARTICLE I. THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION. By Rev. Charles B. Haddock, D. D., Prof. of Rhetoric and Mental Philosophy, Dartmouth College. NOTHING is more promising, In theory, than Education; and nothing less certain, in practice. No science has been more deeply studied; and, in none have fewer important principles been permanently settled. Every age regrets the system, under which it was itself trained, and brings up a new generation to sigh, with similar regrets, for the errors of, its predecessors. If we listen to the uniform complaints of the thoughtful, of all times, we shall be inclined to adopt the opinion of Dr. Johnson, that " Education was as well understood by the ancients as it ever can be," and to add, that it was not understood, at all, by them. Considered as an object of enterprise it is beautiful, sublime even, "worth ambition." It is to unfold the power of thoughtthought, which propagates itself forever. It is to discipline the will, the central principle of character, of all finite power, great or good. It is to nurse and mature the social and moral sensibilities of a spiritual and immortal being. Can anything be so interesting to think of, so noble to attempt? Upon the material substance of the earth it seems to be our destiny to leave very little impression. A fire, or a wave of sand passes over them, and our proudest works disappear. Time wears them all away. We search, in vain, for memorials of men beyond a few generations VOL. II. No. 5. 1 before us. The coral insect builds up a structure, whose base is the unchanging bed of the sea, and on whose summit men congregate, and contend, and triumph, and pass away, and leave no trace of themselves behind. Why is it, but to intimate to us, that the true impress of our power is to be made upon mind rather than matter? The little worm, embalmed and coffined in the imperishable rock, has all of immortality, which the earth knows. For the earth's noblest creature, its lord, must there not be a loftier destiny, a more enduring memorial? May not man enshrine himself in a nobler mausoleum? Can he not engrave his name upon a work of costlier material and more lasting? In this view it is not strange, that education has attracted so much attention; that philosophy earnestly investigates the theory of it; that ingenuity patiently devises new methods; and that private charity and public munificence so foster the institutions, which experience has approved, or enterprise proposed for the instruction and discipline of the human mind. For what besides has so much been done? In what other respect, among civilized nations, are men so cared for, and provided for? The powers of the State, and the nearer and more direct influences of domestic life, have no higher or more engrossing object. The great anxiety of mature life is to secure the benefits of education to the young. The intelligent parent deems it the richest legacy to his children. The poor prize it as the means of advancement to their families; the rich as the secret of a power which wealth alone cannot confer. All unite in declamation on its advantages, and in zeal for its improvement. Accordingly, the apparatus, with which science and experience have furnished us, for the work, has become complicated and prodigious. And it is worthy of remark, that whilst the agency, thus brought into exercise, is almost everywhere gigantic and apparently irresistible, the subject upon which it is designed to act is, in the highest degree susceptible of impression, 66 Tremblingly alive all o'er The circumstances could hardly be more advantageous. Mature intellect is acting upon the docility of infancy; strength engages with flexibility; skill and art are working on simplicity and enthusiasm. It is no wonder, that high hopes are indulged, that prophecy grows eloquent upon the future triumphs of this mighty power. No wonder that to the fond parent and the sanguine 1845.] Various Sources of Mental Culture. 3 philanthropist come teeming visions, brighter and sweeter than the light which foreshows the day. It is natural; perhaps, it is well. Who could relinquish the hope which never dies in a parent's bosom? What loving heart would live to despair of humanity? Who does not expect almost all he wishes for his children and mankind? Were it otherwise, charity and faith and enterprise would hardly be found on the earth. No good thing is ever done, but to realize a great hope. To these hopes, springing fresh in every heart, repeated in their original brightness and cherished with undiminished fondness in every successive generation, the sacred writings add their divine sanction. Religion encourages the assurance, that if we "train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it." And yet how little, after all, do our best systems accomplish. To how great a degree do men grow up, notwithstanding, by an apparently spontaneous development. How seldom are they made what they become, by any or all of our methods. How much of the best mind in society owes, comparatively, little to our discipline; how much of the worst is bad in spite of it. In this view the declamation of the schools and the wisdom of sages upon the power of education will sometimes appear to a considerate man equally empty and vain. Fifteen or twenty years of parental life are very apt to cool a little the ardor of our expectations, and moderate somewhat the confidence of our tone upon this topic. The man, who begins with lofty ideas of the omnipotence of education is in danger of living to run into the opposite extreme, and to wonder at the sanguine anticipations of his earlier days, if not to question the utility of systems and methods altogether. The truth seems to be, that systematic education is but an element in our mental culture. Other influences unite with it, and modify it more than we are aware. No system of instruction can be made to monopolize the pupil's attention; no vigilance can guard all the avenues of thought; no agency of ours can entirely control the mental habits of the most docile and confiding. Our own voice is but one of the hundred that are constantly addressing him. The most engaging train of thought we can inspire in him is not a tithe of those which incessantly follow one another through his mind every waking hour of his life. Impressions are everywhere forced upon him; the ear is always open; the eye drinks in ideas from all around and above him. Every office of |