Chap. III.]

CULTIVATION OF THE MIND.

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proportion, is not given to the children of the wealthy ; it is atalent bestowed alike on all, whatever may be their external con-dition. Nor is this all : mind is in all men, and in every man,the same active, living, creative, immortal principle, — it is theman himself. A renowned philosopher of antiquity beautifullysaid of the intellectual faculties,—'“I call them not mine butme.” These make the man; these are the man.

I am too well convinced of the immense value of the variousseminaries of learning in our country, which public and privateliberality has founded, not to estimate them as highly as any man.They cannot well be estimated too highly ; — they have contrib-uted beyond measure, to the respectability, honor, and welfare ofthe country, in the highest and best sense of these terms. Stillit may be affirmed, with perfect truth, of the great benefactors ofmankind, — of the men, who, by wonderful inventions, remarkablediscoveries, and extraordinary improvements, have conferred themost eminent service on their fellow-men, and gained the highestrenown in history, — by far the greater part have been of humbleorigin, small advantages, and self-taught. To rouse the under-standing to a consciousness of its own powers ; to kindle, nour-ish, and invigorate its capacities, in order that it may learn tocompare, to contrive, to invent, to improve, and to perfect, isthe spring of all valuable improvement, and is within the reach ofevery man, without distinction of birth or fortune. In this greatrespect, then, the most important that touches the condition ofman, we are all substantially equal. It is not more true, that allmen possess the same natural senses and organs, than that theirminds are originally endowed with the like capacities of im-provement, though not probably all in the same degree.

As men bring with them into life, like intellectual endowments,that is, minds susceptible of like, if not equal improvement, — so,in a country like ours, the means of personal improvement aremuch more equally enjoyed, than might be supposed at first sight.Whoever has learned to read, possesses the keys of knowledge ;and can, whenever he pleases, dot only unlock the portals of hertemple, but penetrate to the inmost halls and most secret cabinets.A few dollars, the surplus of the earnings of the humblest indus-try, are enough to purchase the use of books, which contain the