It was this that guided Columbus across the unknown and boisterous ocean, and opened to his view a new world; which enabled him to encounter and surmount every difficulty, which the malice of his enemies, or the combination of untoward circumstances, arrayed against his great design; a design which was branded as a chimera of enthusiasm.
It was this which induced Franklin to persevere in his philosophical experiments, until they were crowned with success; and the identity of lightning and the electric fluid, completely established, and eventually placed his name among the most eminent philosophers of the age.
It was this, that enabled Rittenhouse to emerge from the condition of an humble mechanic in Montgomery county, and by the construction of his wonderful Orrery, to obtain from Jefferson this great but well-merited testimony to his talents;—"that no mortal was ever permitted to make so near an approach to his Creator."
It was this that strengthened the hands of the immortal FOUNDER of Pennsylvania, in his noble determination of sacrificing the bright prospects which birth and connexions imparted, to a sense of duty; and of establishing an asylum in a remote wilderness, where the oppressed of all nations, kindred, and people, might find a covert from the storm of civil and religious persecution, and enjoy in perfect security the sacred rights of conscience.
It was this which guided the footsteps of Howard to the distant abodes of wretchedness and wo, unmindful of the comforts and delights of home, to bind up the sorrows of their miserable tenants, and to complete, in the language of Burke, his "noble circumnavigation of charity."
It was this which conducted Fulton to that astonishing result, justly considered as the great wonder of the age—navigation by steam; after a crowd of discouragements and difficulties had been subdued, sufficient to disconcert the plans and defeat the object of almost any other man, however sanguine his temper and resolute his purpose.
It was this which under Providence induced that signal victory, obtained in Great Britain, by Sharp, Wilberforce, and Clarkson, over the disgrace of humanity and civilization, the SLAVE-TRADE; after a most doubtful and arduous conflict of more than twenty years, with avarice and oppression.
To conclude, nothing but this active and persevering zeal, will, in future, lead to like glorious results. Instead, therefore, of its being opprobriously branded, let it be cherished, when directed to just and important objects, as a prolific source of good to man. Scientific research has an ample field before her still unexplored, in which no doubt laurels will continue to be reaped, and great and substantial advantages be derived by new discoveries. But the moral improvement of our fellow citizens, should be sedulously attended to, as more immediately soliciting our notice; and the cause of such of them as are denied the rights to which they are by nature entitled, should be fearlessly and constantly vindicated, as truth and justice may open the way; notwithstanding those may be denounced as ENTHUSIASTS, who believe that in the eye of the great Creator, "ALL MEN ARE EQUAL." ☞