will soon become a very unstable equilibrium of the fierce elements of whirlwind and storm.

I ought not to close without saying that the superstructure of social virtue ought in my opinion to stand on the foundation of religious principle, by which I mean strong personal affection for the great Creator. This however is not the only foundation. The minds of our pupils may be influenced by love of excellence-by elevated and enlarged ideas of the superior happiness of virtue in this life,—and conscience may be so awakened, and its voice grow so strong, as to exert a most powerful control. These principles too can be brought much more easily to have influence in a school, than real, sincere, unaffected piety, by which I mean communion with the Supreme Being and love for him. Moral education and religious education are therefore distinct, and it was the former subject which was assigned to me. I could not however close my remarks without expressing the sentiment which is unquestionably common to us all, that the members of the great human family will be most just and benevolent to each other, when they are bound most closely to their common father above.

LECTURE III.

ON THE

USEFULNESS OF LYCEUMS;

CONSIDERED IN CONNEXION WITH THE INFLUENCE OF THE COUNTRY

AND AGE IN WHICH WE LIVE,

ON THE CONDITION OF MAN AS AN INDIVIDUAL,

A MEMBER OF SOCIETY, A POLITICAL AGENT, AND AN INTEL

LECTUAL AND MORAL BEING.

BY

S. C. PHILLIPS.

This Lecture was originally delivered as introductory to the second course of lectures before the Salem Lyceum, on the occasion of opening their new Hall. It was afterwards delivered before the Lyceums in Charlestown, Newburyport and Danvers.

It may be proper to add that it has been altered and enlarged since it was first prepared.

USEFULNESS OF LYCEUMS.

GENTLEMEN,

I HAVE been honored by an invitation from your Directors to repeat a lecture which was prepared for another occasion, and a different audience. The occasion was one with which most of you have been elsewhere familiar; and the audience was a portion of that intelligent and virtuous community, who honor you as their guides, while you rely upon them as your patrons. The subject of the lecture is not foreign to the design of the Institute; and I state the circumstance to which I have alluded for the purpose of explaining my mode of treating it, if that shall seem more appropriate to a popular discussion, than to the form of address to which you have here been accustomed.

My design is to suggest for your consideration some of the opportunities and means of usefulness, which are placed within the reach of an association constituted and conducted like the Lyceum. Addressing common sense, and appealing to the observation and experience of every one who hears me, I hope to show that here has been opened a field of mutual instruction, where labor cannot lose its reward, and where judicious, persevering, and combined exertions will contribute to the great ends of personal, social, political, intellectual and moral improvement, to an extent commensurate with all proper wishes and reasonable expectations.

The Lyceum seeks to adapt itself to the circumstances of

the community in which it is established. It is an institution designed for this country and for the present age. It is our good fortune to live in a country and an age, in which the condition of man as an individual, as a member of society, as a political agent, and as an intellectual and moral being is exhibited in a striking aspect-involving new relations, conferring new trusts, and consequently implying singular responsibleness and important duties. In reference to the object which has been stated, I propose to illustrate this view of the situation of each and all of us.

I. The condition of an individual in this country is peculiar, inasmuch as from the moment of his birth, there is no positive authority, not even the force of external circumstances, to compel him to confine himself to any particular pursuit, to cultivate any particular habits, or to assent to any particular opinions. In other words, the liberty of thinking and acting as an individual is as much his birth-right as his political liberty as a citizen. He opens his eyes to the light of Heaven, and while his consciousness assures him that he is a free-agent, he looks abroad upon the scene of good and evil which the world presents to his earliest gaze, and thanks God for the power that he feels within him to choose the one and refuse the other. He will soon perceive, that, as certainly as he possesses a mind and a heart, the regulation of his thoughts and feelings must depend upon himself; and that while he may derive benefit from the advice and example of others, it is not their office to mould his character and guide his course through life. He will learn, too, as soon as he acquires any practical wisdom, that the circumstances of his infancy bear no fixed relation to the destiny of his manhood; that he is in a community of equals, where the means of education are afforded to all, where the paths of industry and honor are alike open to all, where none can plead any other apology for ignominy than crime, or any better excuse for crime than folly. He will soon prove by his experience that whatever befals him of success or misfortune, of happiness or misery, of honor or