The spirit of maritime discovery presents another agent in the history of this moral impetus, which, for wise purposes, has operated, and is operating, upon the social institutions of mankind. This powerful stimulus was brought into action at a most fortunate period, and maintained its ascendency till its great work was done-till it had sought and found, towards the rising and the setting sun, those regions which were hidden from the philosopher, but which had been revealed to the inspiration of the poet, who foretold the time would come, when new regions would be discovered beyond the furthest limits known to the ancient world.

The love of gold then predominated, and chivalry and avarice associated together-sending Cortez, and Pizarro, and Almagro to the climes of the new world, blessed with the bounties of nature, but cursed with those precious metals which were possessed by the weak, and coveted by the strong: and here, courage worthy of the most distinguished age of the world, and cruelty too execrable for description, came down upon the ignorant and wondering population, and involved emperors, and incas, and people, in one common destruction.

Our own age has been denominated the age of movements; of advancement in the intellectual faculties; of improvement in all those principles and pursuits which are most essential to the happiness of man, and most conducive to the dignity of human nature. ONWARD is the great word of our time. In the story so beautifully told by the historian of the Roman empire, the seven youths of Ephesus laid down to sleep, and awoke, after the lapse of two centuries, in the midst of a changed world, but unchanged themselves. He who should fall into such a slumber, in this period of moral acceleration, might arise, after a much briefer interval, and walk abroad into a world far more transformed than that, which met the wondering view of the Ephesian sleepers when their trance was broken, and they looked out from their living cemetery upon the fair face of nature.

It were a task too extensive for this time and place, to investigate all the causes which have produced this moral impetus, and which are now in active operation to strengthen our faculties, to increase our knowledge, to multiply our comforts, and to elevate us in that mysterious scale of being, which it may be we are destined to ascend, indefinitely and forever: still approaching, though still infinitely remote, from, the great Author and Arbiter of our being.

It is obvious however to the most superficial observer, that the scope of free inquiry has been enlarged, and its operation invigorated by the removal of many of those prejudices, which always adhere with great tenacity to human institutions. "Put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy," was the miraculous injunction which issued from the burning bush, when the deliverer of Israel appeared in the presence of the Most High. Men have profanely claimed the same characteristic for institutions hallowed by time, but shown by time to be useless, and often worse. Not that I mean to assert that the lessons of experience should be neglected, or changes introduced, without just reason to anticipate improvement; but that the sanctity of age should not shroud, as with a mantle, systems not adapted to the present state of society, and whose only claim to regard rests upon what they have been, not what they are.

The division of mental labor has not been less useful than that of mechanical. The concentration of human efforts, like the concentration of physical causes, produces increased energy. This is a law of our system, and extends its sway into all the departments of life, whether active or speculative. It belongs to literature, to science, and to the arts. Too much diffusion is fatal to precise investigation; and he who seeks great accuracy of knowledge, must seek it, not only by long study, but by confining himself to a few of the vast variety of objects, which the progress of information presents to him. The great divisions, indeed, of human investigation

have a relation more or less intimate with one another; and a general acquaintance with all is necessary to the character and purposes of the scholar. This may be attained by proper industry; but, when the acquisition is made, those who are ambitious of further distinction, or who are desirous of associating their names with the advancement of knowledge, must concentrate their efforts, and resign themselves to some favorite pursuit. The habit of indiscriminate application was one of the great faults of antiquity, and, conjoined with a presumption which limited the operations of nature in the world, both of mind and matter, within the categories of the scholiasts, retarded, for many centuries, the progress of mental improvement.

Another agent in this process of advancement, and one with which we are here intimately connected, is the system of associations, that have been formed for the cultivation of particular branches of knowledge. These co-operative societies are the invention of modern times; and, in the form in which they now exist, they came into being at the end of that long night of ignorance and imbecility, which shrouded the intellect of the world, from the decline of the Roman empire till the revival of learning in these later ages. There were, indeed, celebrated schools where the principles of ancient knowledge were taught: and two of these, the Academy and the Lyceum of Athens, are well known to all scholars, from the peculiarity of their doctrines, the high reputation of their masters, and the number and celebrity of the pupils. But the teachers were lecturers, expounding their peculiar views to disciples and partial admirers; and their lectures were didactic essay's, too often intended to display the pride of the rhetorician, rather than to advance the purposes of science, or to afford instruction to inquirers after truth.

But our institutions of mutual labor, in the departments of modern learning, proceed upon other and better principles.

In these voluntary associations, the members are animated with a kindred spirit, and devoted to kindred pursuits; and their organization is admirably adapted to promote the objects of the institutions. An esprit de corps is created, which ensures a unity of purpose and of action, while an emulation is excited, which stimulates the exertions of individuals. A repository is thus formed for the preservation of useful collections. The public attention is awakened, and its favor lightens the toils and aids the researches of the members. It is in the practical sciences, in history, and in the fine arts, that these combinations have been most usual and most useful. Our own country has given her full share to the general stock of these contributions, and we have this night assembled to add another to the number.

The object, we have assigned to ourselves, is sufficiently extensive and important for all the zeal and industry we can bring to the task. It is to aid in the collection and preservation of the historical materials, illustrative of the history of the American continent in general, and more particularly, of the history of that favored portion of it, in which our lots have been cast.

I did not come here to discuss the value of historical knowledge. Such a work of supererogation were little suited to our age and country; and least of all to this imposing hall, which the courtesy of the national representatives has opened to us, and which is already sanctified by the names and the memory of patriots and statesmen, who will live in the pages of their country's story, after these marble columns shall have mouldered into dust. It may be, that some future Marius may sit upon the ruins of this proud edifice, as the Roman outlaw sat upon the ruins of Carthage. The lesson which his life has taught may be useful to us; and, if neglected, the new lesson our fate may teach will, perhaps, be useful to the generations, who are to succeed us, and who will look back to our days and deeds, as we now

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look back to those of the early ages of the world. The value of the application of such events to the practical action of the present and the future cannot be too highly appreciated; and the importance of historical researches is placed in prominent relief by the consideration, that our experience is thus enlarged, from the narrow space of three score years and ten, to the series of ages, which have witnessed the birth and growth, the decay and death of the generations, that have preceded us.

History, indeed, when justly estimated, is not a mere record of facts. These, certainly, are essential to its truth, which is the first and greatest virtue of an historian. But he must have a higher and nobler aim, if he seek to interest or instruct mankind. He must trace the motives and causes of actions to their results. He must delineate the characters of those master-spirits, whose deeds he portrays, and hang them upon the outer wall, as spectacles for admiration or reprobation. He must boldly censure, where censure is due, and applaud where virtue is exhibited. But the duty assigned to me is an humbler one than that of delineating the qualifications, and describing the functions of an historian. This must be left to those more able to perform it, while I proceed to trace, in a very general manner, the purposes of this society.

As our object is general, our local position is favorable. Here assemble the representatives of the nation; here are brought, by business, or amusement, or curiosity, citizens from every portion of the Republic; and the national archives, containing the most authentic materials for the illustration of our history, are here deposited. It may well be hoped, that the dictates of a liberal patriotism, the spirit of enlightened research, the just claims of literature will send to our assistance many, who have the means and the inclination to rescue from destruction and oblivion, important documents and facts. Unaided, but little can be done. Our efforts can bear no just