an essential part, but almost the whole of education; and thus were admirably calculated for that state of literature, which has long since passed away, when every elaborate disquisition in science, and almost all the valuable productions of genius, were written in Latin. But while these schools are the resort of the great in embryo, and the classics afford the only passport to distinctions in the national universities, they will not cease to be crowded with those pupils, whose parents are solicitous to afford them an opportunity of forming advantageous connexions, or to whom it is important that they should hereafter be ambitious of obtaining academical honours.

These observations, however, must not be understood in depreciation of classical acquisitions. As the means of intellectual cultivation, they are highly valuable, and are perhaps the only means of improving the mental powers which are universally applicable, and which seldom fail to produce the greatest possible effect. Beyond this they have no intrinsic excellence; and therefore to contemplate them as the completion of education, or to regard them as the most important object of intellectual exertion, is the decision of pedantry, or the bigotry of scholastic prejudice.

In reference to classical acquisitions, no view

of the subject can be more erroneous than that which represents them merely as exercises for the memory. An acquaintance with the elements of language, must be acknowledged to be in a great degree mechanical, and consequently to depend, principally, upon the memory; but beyond this, the powers of imagination and judgment, are equally exercised, with those of memory. It would be impossible to adopt means more efficacious for the improvement of the imagination, than those which are afforded by the polished elegance of Virgil, or the lyric sublimity of Horace-while the judgment may be formed to every excellency by the captivating simplicity of the accomplished Cæsar, the impressive elegance of Sallust, the dignified brevity of the sententious Tacitus, and the manly eloquence of Cicero-not to mention. the sublimities of Homer, the thunder of Demosthenes, and the high-toned morality of Epictetus. He, who has early imbibed a taste for the productions of these incomparable authors, has access to an inexhaustible mine of intellectual excellencies of the highest order; and from the con templation he will proceed to emulate their perfections, by the production of the useful, the elegant, and the sublime.

Before I leave this part of that system of edu

cation, for which Dr. Knox is so able au advocate, I shall observe, that the important faculty of discrimination, cannot be so successfully cultivated, or so readily brought to perfection, as by classical acquisitions. It will scarcely admit a doubt, that the mind, which has been accustomed to view similar ideas, clothed in different languages, will insensibly acquire a habit of detecting, almost intuitively, the very semblance of fallacy. The learning of one language,' says Dr. Priestley, and the comparing it with another, is a very useful exercise, and it is an excellent introduction to that most important knowledge, which relates to the accurate distinction of ideas, which are expressed by words. To the want of this, I cannot help attributing part of that confusion of ideas, that is to be observed in the Greek philosophers, who were perpetually bewildered by the use of words; and the greater precision of modern philosophers is owing, in a great measure, to this circumstance, that by the previous study of languages, and a due attention to the nature and use of words, they have been better guarded against that kind of deception.' The habit of discrimination thus acquired, will not be confined to the investigation of beauties in the productions of literature, or objects of utility in the discoveries

of science, but will diffuse its influence over the character, and enable its possessor to decide with promptitude, and to act with vigour in the various circumstances of life.

It is evident, therefore, that the classics are of the highest importance to the cultivation of intellect. In this sketch of their advantages, it might have been urged in their recommendation, that they combine the highest intellectual gratification, with an entertainment, at once the most refined and elegant. But I shall content myself with observing, that he who makes the classics introductory to the study of English literature, and the acquisition of the continental languages, appropriates them to their most important objects, and will derive from their acquisition a rich harvest of intellectual produce.

To the production of Dr. Priestley upon this subject, which bears the modest title of Miscellaneous Observations relative to Education,' it might perhaps be urged as an objection, that he has not assigned a sufficient degree of importance to classical studies, even with relation to what he denominates, a general education. Notwithstanding this exception, these observations are truly valuable, and contain more practical precepts relative to education, than can be found in any

single treatise upon the subject, within the compass of English literature.

Before I conclude this essay, I shall recommend to such of my readers as have no inclination, and consequently want leisure, to peruse the more extended productions upon this interesting subject, which have been specified in these papers, an essay upon Education by the Rev. John Evans, A. M. of Islington. It contains a spirited sketch of a course of education, calculated to form a highly accomplished character, and to prepare for a dignified discharge of every relative, and social duty. The value of this Essay is also considerably enhanced, by an enumeration of the best authors, upon the several subjects, in the course of the education it recommends, and thus it lays the most solid foundation for virtue in an enlightened and cultivated mind.

L.