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a considerable portion of it was no doubt extinguished , because the nations could not mingle but in hostility , and the invaders were too rude to embrace at once all the improvements to
which their conquests introduced them . Yet no sooner was the shock past , and the new settlers obtained undisputed possession , than they began to apply the knowledge which the change had made accessible to them , to their own
refinement , in a \ rery humble measure at first , no doubt , but gradually with such success , as not only to replace all that they had begun by destroying , but very far to surpass it . What has been considered as a great retrogradation of the human species was in fact , therefore , the necessary process of
extending to a large portion of it , the improvement which had been made by another ; the mind is still progressive , if the species at large be taken into the account , and the apparent exception ceases to be such , when we place ourselves in the point of view from which the Deity contemplates the vast family of his children .
Yet it must be confessed , that if the universal diffusion of civilization were to be attained only by the frequent renewal of the misery and ignorance , which were the immediate fruits of the fall of the western empire , such an order of Providence could not be
regarded without pain . But we have no reason to apprehend any such events ; the darkness of the middle ages arose from causes which we are morally certain can never recur . The countries which , sent forth the swarm
of emigrants , and those which lie eastward from them to the very verge of America , have become a part of the political system of Europe , whose arts and sciences must ultimately make their way through this vast extent ; so that there scarcely remain any but the barbarous tribes of central Asia , from
whom any obstacle to the progressive civilization of our hemisphere , can even be conceived to arise , and few will think this danger very imminent . In America , the savage nations are
continually propelled or absorbed by the advance of European settlers , and Africa asks only to be delivered from the troublers of her peace . Colonization , commercial intercourse , and though last , not least in honour , nor ywe would hope in efficacy , the labour ^
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of philanthropy , are accomplishing that diffusion of knowledge over the globe ^ which , in past ages , was the result of bloody revolutions , and the most meiancholy vicissitudes in the prosperity of states .
The remainder of Mr . Roscoe ' s essay contains many eloquent and just remarks upon the connexion of literature and the arts witfe national greatness . We will endeavour to
compensate to our readers for having so long detained them from him , by quoting the concluding passage , which deserves to be impressed on the heart of every one who possesses the means of mental cultivation .
< c The great end of all education is to form the character and regulate the conduct of life j and every department of it must be considered merely as auxiliary to this purpose . Experience , however , shews that it is one thing- to acquire the knowledge of
rules and precepts , and another to apply them to practice ; as a mechanic may possess the implements of his profession , without having" acquired the skill to use them . The same observation applies , perhaps yet more strongly , to all those precepts which are intended to influence the moral
character , and regulate the conduct of life . For this purpose , various systems of ethics have been formed , by which the rules of moral duty are laid down in the most explicit and satisfactory manner : nor has there , perhaps , been any neglect in
inculcating- these systems on the minds of our young men , who , in many instances , study these works as an essential part of their education , and become no unskilful disputants on their most important lupics . But between the impressing' these systems on the memory , and the giving- them an operative influence on the conduct and on the
heart , there is still an essential difference . It is one thing- to extend our knowledge , and another to improve our disposition and influence our will . * It seems > then , essentially necessary to a complete system of
education , that the principles of moral conduct , as laid down by our most distinguished writers , should be enforced and recommended to practice by every inducement that instruction and persuasion can supply .
* " It is well observed by a celebrated foreign writer , that * a cultivated understanding * without a good and virtuous heart , taste and information without integrity and
piety , cannot produce happiness either to ourselves or others ; and that so circumstanced , our souls can reap only everlasting shamo instead of honour , from our acquirements . " Gellerty Moral Lessons ^ I . 2 < 5 $ i .
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Review . —Roscoe on the Origin and Vicissitudes of Literature . 1 ^ 7
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1818, page 197, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2474/page/45/
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