human life, have a primary claim to the encouragement of every lover of his country and of mankind.

1780.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.

I shall, with zeal, embrace every opportunity of seconding their laudable views, and manifesting the exalted sense I have of the institution.

1781.

INFLUENCE OF LEARNING.

I am not a little flattered, by being considered, by the patrons of literature, as one of their number. Fully apprised of the influence which sound learning has on religion and manners, on government, liberty, and laws, I shall only lament my want of abilities to make it still more extensive.

1789.

IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND THE ARTS.

There is nothing which can better deserve your* patronage, than the promotion of Science and Literature.

1790.

Nothing can give me more pleasure, than to patronize the essays of genius, and a laudable cultivation

* Congress.

of the arts and sciences, which had began to flourish in so eminent a degree, before the hand of oppression was stretched over our devoted country.

I shall esteem myself happy, if a poem which has employed the labor of years, will derive any advantage, or bear more weight in the world, by making its appearance under a dedication to me.

1778.

COMPREHENSIVE VIEWS OF COLLEGE EDUCATION.

I rely fully in yourf strenuous endeavors for placing the system on such a basis, as will render it most beneficial to the State, and the republic of letters, as well as to the more extensive interests of humanity and religion.

KNOWLEDGE AMONG THE PEOPLE.

Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness. In one, in which the measures of government receive their impressions so immediately from the sense of the community as in ours, it is proportionably essential.

To the security of a free constitution it contributes,

*The Rev. Dr. Dwight's "Conquest of Canaan," dedicated to Washington, by permission.

He had accepted the Chancellorship of William and Mary Col lege, and addressed these words to the Trustees of the institution.

in various ways: by convincing those who are intrusted with the public administration, that every valuable end of government is best answered, by the enlightened confidence of the people; and by teaching the people themselves, to know and to value their own rights, to discern and provide against the invasions of them, to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority, between burdens proceeding from a disregard to their convenience, and those resulting from the inevitable exigences of society, to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness, cherishing the first, avoiding the last, and uniting a speedy and temperate vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable respect to the laws.

Whether this desirable object will be best promoted, by affording aids to Seminaries of Learning already established, by the institution of a National University, or by any other expedients, will be worthy of a place in the deliberations of the legislature.

1790.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE.

I entertain a high idea of the utility of periodical publications, insomuch that I could heartily desire copies of the Museum, and magazines, as well as com

The "American Museum," published by Matthew Carey, at Philadelphia, to disseminate political, agricultural, philosophical, and other valuable information, and to reposit public documents.

mon gazettes, might be spread through every city, town, and village in America.

I consider such easy vehicles of knowledge more happily calculated than any other, to preserve the liberty, stimulate the industry, and meliorate the morals of an enlightened and free people.

1788.

Washington served us chiefly by his sublime moral qualities.

To him belonged the proud distinction of being the leader in a revolution, without awakening one doubt or solicitude, as to the spotless purity of his purpose. His was the glory of being the brightest manifestation of the spirit which reigned in this country; and in this way he became a source of energy, a bond of union, the centre of an enlightened people's confidence.

By an instinct which is unerring, we call Washington, with grate ful reverence, the FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY, but not its Saviour. A people which wants a Saviour, which does not possess an earnest and pledge of freedom in its own heart, is not yet ready to be free.

WILLIAM E. CHANNING.

The admiration with which Washington is regarded by all civilized nations, shows him to be one of the few among mankind, to whom is given an immortality more durable than brass or marble, and whose spotless and beneficent memory is cherished by the latest posterity. FREDERICK VON RAUMER.

ers

The character of nations is often influenced by that of their foundROSWELL W. LEWIS.