them for a time to the rule of the creature; then, indeed, should we behold a spectacle, very different from those confused images, which our systems of natural and moral philosophy present. We should, then, clearly apprehend that important, but much slighted distinction between matter and spirit, between material and spiritual elements. We should then cease to attribute reason to the brute, or to explain the phenomena of immortal spirit by the texture of nervous fibres. And, as we should clearly discern those things, which are to be discerned, but which we now confound, so do I most firmly believe, that many things which we now distinguish, and consider as essentially different, would be found to rest ultimately on the same basis. For, although I have no facts to support me, except it were by analogy, yet I cannot withhold the statement of my conviction, that if we could penetrate so far into nature, both visible and invisible, as to discern the elements of which things are composed, we should find them but a very few in number; inasmuch as many properties which are now, or, in the course of farther investigation, still may be, considered as elementary, are nothing but derivatives from the real elements of all things, but appear to us as elements, because we see them frequently occurring, and because we have never penetrated into their composition. This may, perhaps, be more fully illustrated, by a reference to the composition of number, concerning which I happen to have pursued these inquiries farther into the details. All the numbers, which do not admit of being divided without fractions, or which have not other numbers for their factors, are, in arithmetic, comprehended under the appellation, prime numbers-such as 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, and so on. They are set apart as a sort of outlaws, so much so, that it is considered as a questionable point, whether they follow any rule, or law, at all. The other numbers, on the contrary, are all taken together, in one lot, as they succeed each other when counted by units, on the decimal system.

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EXEMPLIFIED IN THE NATURE OF NUMBER.

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This view of them having once become habitual to our minds, we employ them for our calculations, reduce them to their respective proportions, multiply and divide, add and subtract them, as the occasion may require; and if we make any observations on them, it is, because they happen to strike our eyes by frequent occurrence, and because we find the process of calculating facilitated by some of the rules discovered. But, at the same time, we remain in perfect ignorance respecting the nature and character of different numbers, and the elements from which they are derived; as is evident, from the question being entertained, even among mathematicians, whether or not the numbers called prime numbers, are subject to any law. The fact is, however, that there are two classes of numbers, organic ones, formed by multiplication, and unorganic ones, formed by addition and subtraction from the former; to which must be added, as forming a third and subordinate class, mixed numbers, resulting from the multiplication of organic with unorganic ones. These three classes are, of course, subdivided into what might be called genera, and species, according to the elements of which they are composed, whether all similar or dissimilar, and, in the latter case, whether combined in equal, or unequal proportions, and in lower or higher degrees of power. The variety displayed in them, the indefinite extent of their progress, and their almost countless proportions and relations, when compared with the simple elements from which they are derived, are truly astonishing. Thus, for instance, the combination of two different elements, in equal proportion, and in the power of 5, produces 32 compound elements, or as they would commonly be termed, factors, and the total amount of different formations of the number produced by the two elements, in the proportion and power mentioned, is near to twenty-five thousand. The same multiplicity is to be met with in every direction, and nothing but the variety and boundlessness of creation itself, can, in any way, be compared to the immensity of the field,

ELEMENTS OF ALL NUMBER.

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which is thrown open before the mind. But, although it is the very nature of number, that its extent can never be compassed, yet the elements from which all number is derived, and the laws, which it follows, are extremely simple. The numbers 2,3, and 5, with +1 and -1, is all that is required to investigate the nature, and calculate the proportions and relations of any number, whether organic or unorganic. The latter class comprehends all those numbers, which are called prime numbers, except the above elements, and which, when viewed in their connexion with the system of numbers, to which they belong, assume a perfectly different aspect. The question, whether they follow any law or not? appears, then, as ridiculous as the question, whether there is a law in the division by two; or whether it is by chance that 16, divided by 2, makes 8? Even at first sight, a variety of interesting facts strike the mind, which, as they are followed up by investigation, lead to highly interesting results. Incomplete as my observations have hitherto been, from the want of leisure to pursue the subject farther, they are sufficient to place it beyond all manner of doubt, that the unorganic numbers, of which the prime numbers form the most essential part, are a complete and separate system of numbers, governed by laws peculiar to itself, and relate to the organic numbers in a similar manner as the unorganic or mineral kingdom in nature, is to the vegetable kingdom. But, I must not indulge myself in the farther pursuit of a topic, which, although a favourite one with myself, may not be so with others, - and I shall merely recall your attention to the purpose for which I introduced it, viz., to account, by the way of analogy, for the conviction which I expressed, that the whole universe of creation, with all the variety of beings contained in it, rests, ultimately, upon a few simple elements. The discovery of them, would, of course, be an essential step onwards in knowledge, and have a very important influence upon all our sciences; but, in none, perhaps, would it be of such practical value, as in education,

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ANALYSIS OF HUMAN NATURE.

since a clear view of the correspondence of certain faculties with certain objects, would enable us, in a much greater degree than is now possible, to render our instruction and discipline conformable to the wants of each individual. In the mean time, we must content ourselves to be directed by such observations, as the measure of our insight into human nature will permit us to make, and if we keep first principles steadily in view, we shall daily increase in clearness, as well as in extent of knowledge.

It is interesting to see, how in the human body all the elements of earthly existence seem to be combined together; so, at least, we may conclude, from the fact, that in the economy of its organization, every inferior existence with its distinguishing character has found a place, according to the general law of nature, by which, at every higher step, the leading features of every lower step are repeated. Thus, the mechanic structure of unorganic bodies, and the coherence of their parts, in different directions, is repeated in the vegetable, by the texture of its fibres, whilst the principle of expansion, which is the principle of vegetable life, gives birth to a system of circulation; both these are again repeated in the animal, in which there is-in addition to flesh and bones, which respond to the fibrous structure of the plant, and the arterial and venous systems, which respond to the circulation of the sap in the former-the nervous system as a vehicle of communication, by which partial sensations are referred to a central point, and through it to the whole being, and impulses are conveyed from that central point to any part. All this is repeated in man, with the addition of such organs, as render his body the fit abode, and willing instrument, of an immortal spirit, enabling it to render the material world, with which he is linked through those organs, subservient to a spiritual purpose, for which he is endowed with a capability of recognizing and uniting himself with that universal life and light, through which the whole world subsists. Thus, whilst his hand and foot respond to the earth, his organs

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of taste and smell to fluid substances, his ear to the elasticity of the air, and his eye to the ray of light, his inner organs respond to the laws of time, and of space, of tone, and number, of colour and shapes; through his senses he is capable of holding intercourse with the facts of nature; through the immaterial organs of his soul, he is enabled to hold communion with the spirit, which breathes in those facts, and to unravel the laws of them; and the inner organs of his brain, forming, as it were, the bridge between the world of spirit, and the world of sense, render him capable of the perception of those same laws as outwardly manifested, and, as it were, incarnate in the sensible world. Thus, as an earthly being, composed of earthly elements, he is linked with the earth; by the different systems of his earthly organization, he is linked with the different parts of earthly creation; by his spiritual organization he is capable of intercourse with created spirits-through the principle of sin in himself, he is accessible to intercourse with fallen spirits, and a life is imparted to him, by which he may hold communion with the Father of spirits, and with his holy angels.

Such is man, indeed and in truth, a compound being; a being full of contradiction and opposition, as he now is; but a being, also, destined for perfect peace and harmony. How important, then, is the task of him, who undertakes to direct the successive unfolding of all the energies and faculties, of which this being is composed! And how great is his responsibility! And yet this task is, generally, of all the duties of life the most neglected, and by those, who undertake it, as a matter of trade, it is treated as the easiest of all trades!