ADDRESS,

DELIVERED AT THE COMMENCEMENT IN 1812.

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Young Gentlemen,

It has been long since remarked, by one, whose discernment has never been called in question, that "the constitution of human creatures is such, that

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they are capable of becoming qualified for states "of life, for which they were once wholly unqualifi"ed." The human mind, no less than the body, is susceptible of great changes, from the circumstances, in which it is placed, and from the attention and culture, which it receives. It is on these well known facts, that the whole system of education is founded; and, in proportion as this susceptibility of change in the human mind, is greater or less, is the

importance of education decreased or augmented; and in proportion to our belief of the alteration, which may be produced, either in the direction or strength of the different mental qualities, will be our cheerfulness and ardour in their cultivation.

The youth, who is easily persuaded, that he has received from nature a treacherous memory, esteems as fruitless, all endeavours to cherish or invigorate that power. If he finds in his fancy neither exuberance nor vivacity, despairing of eminence in any department in literature, in which imagination is required, he concludes that if success of any kind awaits him, it is to be met in those studies, in which the intellects are alone employed. If he finds, in relation to those sciences, in which numbers and quantities are concerned, less readiness, than is displayed by others of his own standing, he concludes, that the kind of talents, necessary for a mathematician has been denied him, and either abandons studies of this nature, or pursues them with hopeless indifference. For young gentlemen, who are either commencing or closing a collegiate life, it is, therefore, a matter of much importance to have just ideas, as to the command, which the mind has over its own powers; and not to attribute, to its original constitution, that, which is the fair result of circumstances and habit.

There is no faculty, perhaps, which is thought to be bestowed with greater inequality, than memory. And though I am far from asserting, that this is distributed to all men in equal portions, a little attention to your own intellectual habits, or to those of other persons, will convince you, that the power of treasuring up facts and bringing them into use, is less the gift of nature, than the result of mental discipline. It is not uncommon to find individuals, whose memories are astonishingly tenacious of particular facts, but whose ability to retain general knowledge does not exceed the ordinary kind. Now, it is incredible, that the memory should originally possess an aptness for retaining one particular description of ideas rather than another. He, who can treasure up anecdotes, and have them forever at hand, when wanted, will be able, with the same facility, to remember dates in chronology, facts in history, and proportions in geometry, whenever these subjects, whether by effort or casualty, become equally familiar or interesting. For a similar reason, he, who is able to write or to understand a well digested treatise on commerce, or politics, should never complain, that nature has denied him the power of understanding disquisitions in mathematics or ontology. At the present time indeed, it may far more difficult for him to fix his attention on

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some of these subjects, than on others; and his success in the investigation of them will be proportionate. But this difficulty results, it may be, from habits, which took their rise from education, or other circumstances, foreign to the original structure of the mind. Whenever a subject is connected with ideas of advantage or self complacency, we give it a cordial welcome, however frequent may be its recurrence; and the greatest advances will doubtless be made in those studies, which give us most pleasure. If that employment, to which you have, at present, the greatest inclination, is likely to be as advantageous to the public, to your friends, and to yourselves, as a different pursuit, there is no reason, why it should not be adopted. The effort, requisite to produce a change in your present taste is, in that case, unnecessary. The attention, implied in such effort, would be better employed on those studies, which are the object of your choice. But, if your situation or connexions be such, as to render a particular institution of life decidedly more advantageous and suitable, than another, you need not be deterred from pursuing it, though your present taste should lead in a different direction: for, as this propensity is probably a matter of your own creation, or the result of circumstances, by a change in the latter, united to your own efforts, it may be an