BOOK V.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

CHAPTER I.

HUMAN KNOWLEDGE ADDRESSED TO THE MEMORY.

590. In Art. 464. Illus. we inquired, generally, what knowledge is; but it is now necessary to show that all нUMAN KNOWLEDGE is conceived to consist of sciences and arts, between which it is difficult to fix the distinction with accuracy; and, accordingly, we sometimes find the same branch of knowledge denominated, promiscuously, a science. and an art. All the principles of science have some reference to practice, and the theory of every art may merit the appellation of a science.

Illus. 1. Some difference, however, there is between them, which, as far as it is of any importance, may be characterized in the following manner:-A SCIENCE is a system of general truths relative to some branch of useful knowledge, and supported by evidence, either demonstrative or highly probable. An ART is the application of the organs of the body, or the faculties of the mind, to the execution of some design, directed by the best principles and rules of practice.

2. A SCIENCE is addressed entirely to the understanding; an ART generally occupies both the understanding and the members of the body. A science is acquired by study alone; an art cannot be acquired without much practice of the operations it contains. Accurate knowledge is all that is necessary in science; eminence in art demands, besides, an acquaintance with rules, and the habit of dextrous and ready performance.

591. Human knowledge divides itself into three great compartments, adapted to the memory, the understanding, and the imagination. To the MEMORY may be addressed HISTORY; to the UNDERSTANDING, PHILOSOPHY; and to the IMAGINATION, POETRY.

Obs. 1. These words, history, philosophy, poetry, taken in their most extensive meanings, may comprehend every branch of human knowledge.

Illus. I. Under HISTORY are included all facts relative to nature or society, of which we can obtain intelligence, and which we can commit to record.

2. Under PHILOSOPHY is contained all information relative to sciences or arts, attainable by the exercise of the understanding, or by experience and practice.

3. Under POETRY are implied all those branches of knowledge, which in any form contribute chiefly to engage or interest the imagination.

Obs. 2. These great divisions will be perceived to run into one another, because different branches of knowledge are generally addressed to more of those faculties than one.

592. History is divided into three parts, Sacred, Civil, and Natural.

Illus. SACRED HISTORY Comprehends the narrative parts of revelation, and the history of the church, commonly called Ecclesiastical History; embracing the history of the Jews, both political and ecclesiastical; the history of the propagation and progress of Christianity, as far as they were carried on by Jesus Christ, and his immediate successors the apostles; and the history of the Christian churches, from the era of the apostles to the present time.

593. CIVIL, or, as some writers call it, profane history, in opposition to sacred, contains an account of the governments, and of the civil and military transactions of nations; and displays those great exhibitions of human nature, which the preservation of the happiness of large communities of men, and the convulsions of societies, frequently produce.

Illus. The most instructive lessons in morality and in politics, those most useful sciences, which provide for the felicity and comfort of individuals and nations, are presented to our view in civil history. It recounts the noble deeds of the patriot and the hero, and insinuates, by their example, the most salutary instruction, while it holds forth the cruelty of the oppressor, or the irregularities and crimes of bad men, as the causes of their misery. All civilized nations have exhibited specimens of their progress in this branch of knowledge.

594. Another branch of civil, is literary history; or details of the origin and progress of learning, with the revolutions it has undergone in different ages and situations. Though the incidents of this branch are not so splendid as those of the former, they are entitled to regard.

Illus. Civil history displays the qualities of the statesman and the warrior. Literary history unfolds the productions of the imagination, of the heart, and of the understanding, and illustrates the effects of external circumstances, in calling forth or repressing the exertions

of the man of genius, and of the philosopher. Next to provision for the safety and happiness of individuals and communities, the most meritorious objects of general attention, are those pursuits which advance the character of human nature, and promote its civilization, its refinement, and its dignity.

595. Profane history includes, further, MEMOIRS, ANNALS, BIOGRAPHY, and is intimately connected with antiquities, chronology, and geography.

Illus. A memoir is a familiar narration, in which the author attempts not the profound discussion, nor the dignity of style employed by the historian. The writer of memoirs presents a simple and plain relation of facts, and leaves reflections and comments to the reader.

Obs. A work of this sort, executed with ability, possesses many attractions, sufficient to gain admirers. It is generally more circumstantial and more picturesque than regular history, and by admitting the reader into more intimate familiarity with the author, communicates instruction with the ease of conversation, without assuming the austere and less pleasant tone of teaching.

596. ANNALS are a history constructed in the form of a journal, and bind it sometimes so closely in the trammels of chronology, that the author cannot depart from the order of time, nor anticipate any part of his narrative, to connect the several incidents of an event. The transactions that occur within the year must appear in their proper places; and if the events extend over several years before their completion, their annual portions are detached and related apart.

Obs. The annalist seldom attempts to throw much interest into his work, or to convey any knowledge besides a distinct and accurate view of facts. He seldom endeavors to adorn his relation, or to interweave in it moral or political information. He undertakes the humble task of delineating with accuracy the naked facts, and leaves the historian to embellish them. He is properly the pioneer of the historian, and contributes greatly to shorten his labor, and to accelerate his progress.

Example. Both Thucydides and Tacitus have given to their highlyfinished histories the form, and the latter even the name, of annals. Thucydides imposed harder conditions upon himself than are demanded by the rigid rules of annals. His narrative is divided into periods of half a year, and he scruples not to mince his transactions into fragments, to make them correspond to this minute distribution of his time. The annals of Scotland, published by Sir David Dalrymple, realize the idea we have given of this species of writing.

597. BIOGRAPHY records the lives of eminent individuals, and is susceptible of much interest, as the personages may be selected from any order of society-They may be men of letters, of pleasure, of business-They may be kings, statesmen, politicians, artists, warriors.

Obs. The relation of their lives may comprehend entertaining strictures on the character and conduct of those with whom they have been connected, and important discoveries into the history of the times in which they have lived.

598. ANTIQUITIES, CHRONOLOGY, and GEOGRAPHY, are the handmaids of history.

599. ANTIQUITIES contain discussions concerning monuments, political, military, sepulchral, or etymological, that transcend the limits of history, and relate to events, customs, or opinions, about which no other documents exist. The early transactions of all nations are involved in obscurity, because the composition and preservation of records hardly appear but in an advanced state of civilization. There is, however, in mankind, a desire to perpetuate the memory of important events, as well as to investigate the meaning of manners, practices, and opinions, the origin of which is obscure. Hence, stones, and coins, and columns, the most durable materials with which men are acquainted, before the use of writing, are naturally selected to gratify this desire.

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Obs. The most important branch, however, of antiquities, relates to the obscurities of history, manners, and laws. Antiquitates," says Lord Bacon, in this sense," historiæ deformatæ sunt, sive reliquiæ historiæ, quæ casu e naufragio temporum ereptæ sunt." Without some knowledge of antiquities, neither old laws, nor many important usages in languages, in the affairs of nations, and in public rites and ceremonies, can be understood. The explanation of these is grateful to numerous individuals, and productive of useful discoveries, relative to titles, to honors, and to property.

600. CHRONOLOGY assigns to events the order of time in which they happened, and, therefore, without it, a relation. of facts must be a mass of confusion, which the memory cannot retain, nor the understanding apply to any useful purpose. Chronology forms into a system the transactions of nations, and distinguishes the progress of science, of manners, and of arts. The revolutions of the heavenly bodies are allowed to be the best, and the most universal measures of time; but the practice of observing these revolutions with accuracy is of late acquisition, and appears not till considerable progress has been made in mathematics and astronomy.

Obs. The chronology of ancient history is, for this reason, not a little imperfect, because it is difficult to reduce to any fixed point the eras from which the authors reckon. Even the commencement of the Olympiads, and the building of Rome, are not perfectly de

termined; while the chronology of the Jews, and of the early Greeks, is hardly supported by better evidence than conjecture.

Illus. The chronology, then, of history, is ascertained for a period extending backward two thousand six hundred years from the commencement of the Olympiads (about eight hundred years before the birth of Christ) to the present time. The only written records which exist previous to the commencement of the Olympiads, are the books of the Old Testament; and as the authors either could not, or did not fix their chronology, many systems have been formed to supply that defect. The most rational and satisfactory of these systems is that advanced by Sir Isaac Newton.

601. As the design of Chronology is to determine the time, the purpose of GEOGRAPHY is to fix the place of the transactions recorded in history. Geography exhibits in miniature the positions of all the places on the surface of the globe, with their bearings or relative situations. It brings the surface of the earth in some measure under the eye of the spectator, and communicates a more perfect idea of its form, and of its parts, than could be conveyed by an actual survey.

Illus. It is commonly divided into two parts, general and particular. The former treats of the figure of the earth, and the theory of winds, tides, and currents. Particular geography, delineates the situations of kingdoms, cities, rivers, mountains, coasts, and seas. When the situations of these are understood, the reader more easily comprehends the transactions of which these form the field; the marches and operations of armies; the navigations and encounters of fleets; the effects of climate, and the produce of soils.

602. The third branch of history is termed NATURAL, and includes a large field of knowledge, both useful and entertaining; especially as it comprehends an account of all the phenomena in the heavens, and the productions on the earth, which are or which may be the objects of our senses, together with the changes that may be made on these phenomena and productions by physical causes, or the means of This part of natural history, which Lord Bacon calls Narrative, addresses itself to the memory. The use which may be made of it by induction, towards ascertaining the Jaws of nature, belongs to natural philosophy and chemistry.

art.

Obs. Natural History, then, in this view, is divided into two branches; one containing the productions of nature, whether ordinary and regular, or extraordinary and monstrous; and the other, the productions of art. The natural historian recounts every fact and circumstance relative to these productions.

603. The PRODUCTIONS OF NATURE are divided into those of the heavens, those of the atmosphere, and those of the earth.