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    the imperfections of their knowledge > so that the evil complained of seems to have a necessary tendency to cure iteelf * Still , however , it must be owned that there » a risk , En * inent professo r * in every branch of science might doubtless be pointed out , who have not

    been more remarkable for their accurate and extensive knowledge than for the conceit , vain glory and arrogance by which it was ? accompanied . Hence it becomes very necessary that some check should be occasionally interposed , in order that these pursuits may not be allowed to assume a character which does not belong to them ; that they may be considered as means for the attainment of certain ends , not as the ends themselves ; and in this view

    Hartley ' s observations and precepts , with regard to the mode in which these studies and the pleasures derived from them are to be regulated by a constant regard to the good of our fellow-creatures , and a careful application of the knowledge so acquired of the works of nature to increase and enliven our sentiments of admiration for the goodness and wisdom of its Author , are extremely judicious and well-placed .

    Nevertheless , it may be doubted whether it would be desirable to keep the question cut bono continually uppermost in the mind , lest we should be in danger of favouring a low , sordid , interested view , even of the most important subjects and honourable pursuits . In fact , the doctrine of association itself , in some of its most valuable practical inferences , appears decidedly opposed to it . It appears from experience that one great process , both of intellectual and moral education , is to produce what is called , in the Ian * guage of this theory , a transference of the pleasures , desires , and emotions ,

    which were in the first instance excited by one class of objects , upon others which , from various causes , have contracted a species of factitious connexion with them . In some cases this process is apt to produce effects which may be carried too far , which are morally dangerous , and which must therefore be counteracted by the introduction of other more elevated principles and pursuits . But such is the wise constitution of our nature , and the admirable manner in which the circumstances of our lot in social life are adapted to it , that in a great majority of instances we find the operation of this law of

    transference in a hi g h degree beneficial , and leading to consequences intimately connected with the most valuable improvement both of the mind and the heart . The further this sort of transference can be carried in the formation of a taste for knowledge , and above all , in the cultivation of the social and religious affections , the better . But it appears to me that it would be checked and impeded at every step , if the attention of the mind were constantl y called back , as it were , to reflect on the connexion of its employments with the ends

    originally proposed ; ends which in many cases are of less value than the mental and moral habits which they are indirectly the instruments of forming . Thus , in the example which has suggested these remarks , the immediate practical application of which any kind of knowledge may be susceptible , is in many , perhaps in most cases , a poor and uninteresting consideration , when compared with the gratification of the mind itself in the pursuit and acquisition of science , and the advantage which is indirectly derived

    from the mere strengthening and cultivation of the intellectual powers . Besides , it ought not to be forgotten , that this inquiry into the immediate uses of particular branches of knowledge , supposing it to be as constantly proposed as is sometimes recommended , could not be often satisfactorily answered . It is at least evident that we could not safely entrust a learner with the privilege of proposing to himself this question , and of regulating the extent to which he shall choose to direct his attention to any pursuit by the

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    $ 96 Hartley ' s Rule of Life ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1828, page 296, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2560/page/8/