THE MICROSCOPE. EDITED BY A FRATERNITY OF GENTLEMEN. No. 4.] FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1820. [VOL. I. "Ye know the spheres, and various tasks assigned Some in the fields of purest æther play, And bask and whiten in the blaze of day. Or dip their pinions in the painted bow, Watch all their ways, and all their actions guide." To the Editors of the Microscope, Pope. PROUD, presumptuous, weak, yet highly favoured mortals! you foolishly imagine that you are about to enlighten the humble beings around you, by exhibiting the deductions of your own reason the fruits of your own information! You have climbed a few inches higher than some of your kindred emmets, and forsooth you take airs of superiority, and look down, with a benevolent sort of contempt, upon the insects that you condescend to instruct. Wretched vanity! how childish, how pitiful! yet it is characteristic of your degraded race. You are the meanest of all intelligences, except those lost spirits, who, by the indulgence of that same temper which is at once your boast and crime, forfeited their place in heaven;-and even they, degraded as they are below you by their turpitude, surpass your utmost mental energy, far more than you excel the ant and the earth-worm. Poor relatives of the beasts that perish! like them confined to one little spot in creation,-like them the slaves of appetite,-like them deriving knowledge through the gross medium of sense,-and like them destined, at least in part, to decay and return to your native dust ;—I do not despise you,-for the unhallowed passion of contempt enters no celestial mind,-but I compassionate your ignorance, and I have gained permission to impart to you some small degree of those intellectual powers, which distinguish higher existences. Know then, you who are so elevated in your own estimation, and who will soon win the stupid praise and gratitude of mankind, that you are mere instruments-the insignificant, yet honoured means, by which some real wisdom shall be brought down to the level of human capacity. While you were consulting together about your intended publication, not a thought occurred to you of any extrinsic influence. You did not once imagine that your plans came from any other source than your own invention. You were so entirely blind as to believe that the very name, under which your lucubrations were to appear, was suggested, in a happy moment, by the genius of your youngest confederate. Dull compounds of intellect and sordid matter! you are unconscious of our presence, while we read your thoughts, and mould them to our purposes ! But it is time to let you understand, so far as your poor faculties will allow, who it is that addresses you. In common with most men, you are aware that there is a vast number of intelligent beings, who are not, like you, imprisoned in corporeal shapes. Most of these have powers and employments, of which you cannot be informed, for your imaginations would in vain attempt to grasp the idea of their excellence; and your pitiful language, half material and dependant for its birth. and continuance on the organs of your vile bodies, contains no terms appropriate to the more peculiar and exalted properties of spirits. In truth I myself, though more elevated above you, than you above the meanest thing to which vitality has been given, can by no means comprehend the nature of those higher orders of immaterial essences, which stand at the head of derivative existence. You may however gain some slight and inadequate notions of the humble ranks, among which my species have been placed. Know then that we are ever active in producing happiness, and averting sorrow. Within and about you, unseen and unfelt, we observe all your inclinations,-we deter from evil,we urge to good,-we prompt your best desires, we subdue your wicked propensities. Yet do not suppose that you attract the whole attention of any one of your superiors. In our occupations there is a continual variety, and each of us is employed in many ways, which will not be revealed for the gratification of your idle curiosity. The protection of you, feeble mortals, constitutes one small part of our unceasing activity; but to gain and communicate knowledge employs and exhausts our utmost powers. For this purpose, some of lofty endowments traverse regions, which your seeming sciences would never measure, nor your little lives last to number;-visit systems, whose light has not yet travelled to this remote corner ;— explore other kinds of worlds, of which you can have no conception; and bring back accounts of new creations, where infinite energy produces varieties of beauty, happiness, and virtue to angel and to arch-angel before unknown. Others of humbler faculties are confined within comparatively narrow circuits. Their walks and observations are limited by the extent of a few planets or systems, for their meaner talents are best fitted to examine in detail, the works of the Creator. They can distinctly view the worlds within worlds, that lie concealed under the exterior of an atom; and enter into the acts and affections of the smallest animated particle, that plays upon their surfaces. The acquisitions of angels are not made for the selfish purpose of individual aggrandizement. Among them, all that is learned is diffused; and as their apprehensions are quick, and their modes of intercourse perfect beyond your imagination, whatever knowledge is gained by one, is afterwards imparted to others, with all the distinctness and reality of actual observation. You, half-reasoning masses of earth, will be ready to suppose that, possessed of such happy means of discovery, spirits might soon exhaust the wonders of the universe, and learn all the ways of divine operation. Short-sighted men ! we are not like you, content with loose deceptive generalities. We discern differences where you can only see resemblance. We know that not only the destiny, but the very form and character of every object are dissimilar in some respects to those of every other. We choose to gain real science; though you are satisfied with its semblance. You sometimes fancy that you have learned the whole nature of the appearances, to which your miserable optics are directed; we every where find new wonders to excite admiration,-strange qualities both of material and of spiritual substance,-kinds of existence which from the first have eluded finite discernment, and revolutions which alter the face and condition of collected worlds. Every globe which we visit,-every portion of space that we cross,every series of events that we are able to follow ;-every act of intelligence and motion of matter that we are allowed to examine, and every narrative of distant discovery which is brought home to our ready perception,-unfolds, for our astonishment, delight and gratitude, innumerable diversities of beneficence, productions of creative power, or operations of controlling wisdom. Your haughty race has arrogated for itself the praise of numerous inventions. "Be humble and be wise." Passive recipients of undeserved good! all that you know has been taught all that you seem to discover is suggested by those who abhor your guilt, but pity your infirmities. Your most useful arts and instruments are humble imitations of some of our methods of proceeding, bearing much slighter similitude than the sports of children to the business of men. You vainly suppose that the means of examining distant or minute portions of matter, which your unassisted sense cannot reach, are the product of human genius ;-while in truth your admired inventors were benevolently prompted by us, that you might in ་ some poor and lowly manner, copy the investigations of ethereal philosophy. But we are yet to go farther. In future better days, some microscope of the mind shall show to man the origin of thought, and its connection with the brain and nerves and muscles ;-some intellectual telescope shall carry his mental vision into the regions of distant immateriality. He shall not merely discern the form and motions of minute insects, but shall analyze their passions, and learn the nature and the destiny of their souls, He shall discover not only remote spheres the residence of animals; but those purer, nobler systems, imperceptible to corporeal sense, which crowd what you esteem blank vacancy, and fill all space with life, action and enjoyment. Such are some of the privileges reserved for a more advanced stage of human improvement. But even now, for the benefit of unworthy men, your association shall be empowered to exhibit a faint resemblance of heavenly skill. You shall be taught to penetrate the secret thoughts of your fellows;-to weigh the few elements of good that have been infused into the hearts of the abandoned, and trace the ramifications of evil that spread through the best desires, intentions and conduct of the pious; to detect infidelity under all its disguises, and hypocrisy in the garb of saint or sinner ;-to expose the smaller habits of unkindness which wear away the peace and life of the afflicted, the modifications of revenge and pride that mar the highest human characters, and the hidden selfishness that destroys the purity of the noblest performances. Thus you shall shew your countrymen the minute springs which give motion to the mind,-you shall convey to them the means of that most necessary knowledge, an acquaintance with themselves,you shall present them with a complete MORAL MICROSCOPE. Be grateful for the honor that you have received-act up to the promises which I have induced you to publish, and you shall have the benefit of my continued instruction. I may be forbidden to make any other direct communication, but if you shall be faithful in the high office bestowed upon you, my secret, yet powerful influence on the minds of yourselves and |