Lectures on History, and General Policy; To Which Is Prefixed, an Essay on a Course of Liberal Education for Civil and Active Life (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: have the hardness of stone, and bear men and carriages. I shall conclude this head with adding, that the knowledge of history contributes to enlarge the mind by the acquaintance we are thereby enabled to form with all those objects which, in the course of these lectures, will be pointed out as worthy of peculiar attention to an historian, the knowledge of which is equally useful for speculative or practical purposes; so that philosophers and politicians may equally avail themselves of it. LECTURE II. The third use of history is, that it tends to strengthen the sentiments of virtue. That this is the tendency of an acquaintance with history will be evident, if we consider in what manner virtuous impressions are actually made upon the mind. How do we acquire a love for virtue; but by frequently viewing it in those points of light in which it appears desirable to us, and in a situation of mind in which no bias is laid upon us in favour of vice ? It cannot be denied by any who maintain that virtue is its own sufficient reward in this life, that even a just and well-conducted knowledge of the world would have this happy effect. It is only a partial acquaintance with it, seeing things in an unfair point of light, and with minds prejudiced by prospects of pleasure, interest, or false notions of honour, that prevents that happy consequence from taking place universally. Now, to study history, is to come at the knowledge of the world in the most favourable circumstances. Historians are the best guides and tutors we can takewith us in our travels. They show us the whole of transactions and characters, before a partial view of them can have had time to make unfavourable impressions on our minds; and all the reflections they make upon men and things are uniformly dictated by a sens...