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    1 iity from what rather comes under the head of natutal and mea * tai philosophy , or of Natural History .- —~ This science , in its various branches ^ being principally concerned about things ^ is well adapted for the early stages of mental culture . The study of it forms

    habits of observation , of attaching distinct conceptions to words ( since words are here used as the signs of sensible objects onl y )* of classification , and of attention to objects not connected with self * In all the stages of mental culture ^ these ends are answered ; it gives additional interest to surrounding objects , and leadis ii « to view them as the works of the Great Author

    of nature * — Ma ^ txa sdic ^ L science forms a higher step in the gradation of mental culture * The lowest branch of it is arithmetic * Learnt tnerely as an art , it is not without its utility in the culture of the mind : I however consider it as more comprehend sively studied , or rather as taught with further views * The

    commencement of habits of clear perception * of abstraction , of regularity and correctness in practice , of acut ^ ness , of using definite means in order to obtain definite ends ^ ana of acting upon general rules » may reasonably be expected from the pro * per mode of learning this science * For the common purposes of life , its utility is nearly the same whether possessed merely as an art * or as a science ; but it loses much of its value as a

    xnean of mental culture ^ if taught merely technically 2 and this is unnecessary inprivate ied * ication at least , for there is scarcely any operation which may not be made intelligible to a child who is capable of perfottiiitig it . It then becomes an introduce tion to scientific investigation ; and in this view it is peculiarly valuable , from the exact arrangement of our notation , and the

    certainty of the results of our operations . Algebra possesses nearly the same advantages , and , in addition to thein , others more important to a higher degree of mental culture . It generates the power of invention and combination , and it accustoms the rnind to general reasoning , at the same time leading it the power to check and correct that reasoning at every step * Geo-r

    metry forms the habit of clear and cautious reasoning . It serves as a corrective to the wild flights of imagination , and gives proportional vigour to the judgment . The higher branches 0 / mathematical science resemble , in their effects upon the mind * the one of tlwse elementary branches which they mast resemble

    in their mode of investigation . If the mathematical sciences had no value in therbsejve $ > they would stand high iti the scale of < estimaiion , from thjeir subserviency to natural philosQphy . To describe the phenomena of the universe , to investigate their causes and thejeon 222

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    On Mental Pursuits . %$ h

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1806, page 355, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1726/page/19/