in the first instance, from observation, irrespective of fundamental ideas. Such ideas must first be developed, before the principles of harmony can be understood.

REFLECTIONS.

Two reflections suggest themselves from the above analysis.

Mind constituted according to fundamental Ideas.

The first is, that a profound knowledge of mind clearly shows that our nature is constituted according to absolute principles of pure science, or of fundamental ideas of Reason. Nothing, at first thought, would appear to be at a further remove from the principles of pure science, especially of the pure mathematics, than the laws of harmony. Yet, when we have developed the laws of proportion in the pure mathematics, we find that we have developed those principles without the knowledge of which the laws of harmony could not be understood. The same results are equally applicable to external existences. In the study of pure science we have not departed from nature. We are only in the depths of our own Reason, developing the forms and laws to which nature, material and mental, is conformed. We are only developing those forms and principles which enable us to understand the universe as it is. The more deep and profound our descent into the depths of pure science, the more profound and perfect is our knowledge of nature. What do such facts indicate in respect to the character of the Author of our being? He must be a pure Intelligence, in whose mind absolute science pre-existed as the forms and laws after which all things, visible and invisible, are constituted. Hence, when the principles of the same science are developed in our own minds, we are then able to comprehend our own nature, and the constitution of things around us. Because we are from our nature scientific beings, for this reason alone it is that we can understand the works of God. Thus it is that

"Trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God who is our home."

How little is the student accustomed to reflect that in the study of the laws and principles of the triangle, the square, the circle, the ellipse, the parabola, and hyperbola, together with the science of number and proportion, he is developing

in his own mind, those forms and principles by which alone the wonders of astronomy, and the laws of attraction which bind the universe of matter in harmony together, &c., can be understood and explained by him. In our descent into the deep profound of the pure and abstract sciences, we find ourselves, whenever we come to recognize our position in the deep profound of nature, and of the infinite Intelligence of Nature's God.

Poetry defined.

We are now prepared for a definition of poetry, properly so called. A mere rythmical jingle of words at the end of lines of a given length, does not constitute poetry, according to the true signification of the term. Nor have I been satisfied with the popular definitions of the subject which I have met with. I will present, as an example, that given by Coleridge: "A poem is that species of composition which is opposed to works of science, by proposing for its immediate object pleasure, not truth; and from all other species (having this object in common with it) it is discriminated by proposing to itself such delight from the whole as is compatible with a distinct gratification from each component part." The great objection to this definition is, that many prose, as well as poetical compositions, would fall under it. I will now propose another and a different definition. Poetry, or more properly, perhaps, a poem, is the creations of the Imagination embodied in language arranged in conformity to the idea of harmony. I leave the definition to speak for itself.

IDEA OF TRUTH.

Idea defined.

Another fundamental idea of Reason-an idea which controls the Intelligence in all its movements-is the idea of truth. The term Truth may be contemplated objectively and subjectively. Objectively, it comprehends and expresses all realities, whatever they may be. Subjectively, it designates an intellectual conception in harmony with the object of the conception.

Chronological Antecedent of this Idea.

The chronological antecedent of this idea, or the condition of its development by the Reason, is the perception of phe

nomena, and the consequent development of the idea of substance. Then the great question, "What is truth?" becomes the leading idea in the Intelligence.

IDEA OF LAW.

Citations from Coleridge.

I shall introduce what I have to say upon this subject by a few passages from the writings of Coleridge:

"What is it which first strikes us, and strikes us at once, in a man of education, and which, among educated men, so instantly distinguishes the man of superior n.ind, that (as was observed with eminent propriety of the late Edmund Burke) 'we cannot stand under the same archway during a shower of rain without finding him out? Not the weight or novelty of his remarks; not any unusual interest of facts communicated by him; for we may suppose both the one and the other precluded by the shortness of our intercourse, and the triviality of the subjects. The difference will be impressed and felt, though the conversation should be confined to the state of the weather or the pavement. Still less will it arise from any peculiarity in his words and phrases." * "There remains but one other point of distinction possible; and this must be, and in fact is, the true cause of the impression made on us. It is the unpremeditated, and evidently habitual arrangement of his words, grounded on the habit of foreseeing, in each integral part, or (more plainly) in every sentence, the whole that he then intends to communicate. However irregular and desultory his talk, there is method in the fragments.

*

"Listen, on the other hand, to an ignorant man, though perhaps shrewd and able in his particular calling, whether he be describing or relating. We immediately perceive that his Memory alone is called into action; and that the objects and events recur in the narration in the same order, and with the same accompaniments, however accidental or impertinent, as they had first occurred to the narrator." In other words, there is here an almost entire absence of method, or law. Again:

"Method becomes natural to the Mind which has been accustomed to contemplate not things only, or for their own sake alone, but likewise and chiefly the relations of things, either their relations to each other, or to the observer, or to

the state and apprehension of the hearers. To enumerate and analyze these relations, with the conditions under which alone they are discoverable, is to teach the science of Method." He then, in a subsequent essay, observes that there are two kinds of relation in which objects of Mind may be contemplated, to wit, that of Law and that of Theory. The nature of these two relations will be illustrated and distinguished as we proceed.

Coleridge's Definition of Law.

"The first is that of Law, which, in its absolute perfection, is conceivable only of the Supreme Being, whose creative idea not only appoints to each thing its position, but in that position, and in consequence of that position, gives it its qualities, yea, it gives its very existence, as that particular thing. Yet in whatever science the relation of the parts to each other and to the whole, is predetermined by a truth originating in the Mind, and not abstracted or generalized from observation of the parts, there we affirm the presence of a law, if we are speaking of the physical sciences, as of Astronomy, for instance; or the presence of fundamental ideas, if our discourse be upon those sciences, the truths of which, as truths absolute, not merely may have an independent origin in the Mind, but continue to exist in and for the Mind alone. Such, for instance, is Geometry," &c.

To set the above definition in a clear and distinct light, take the following illustration. Let us suppose a body of men, say one hundred thousand in number, assembled together, all perfectly armed and equipped with all the implements of war, but without officers, without discipline, without order. Here is a congregated mass of powers, but the absence of law. In other words, these powers act in conformity with no rule. What is the condition of this army y? It is powerless, except for self-destruction, and that in exact proportion to its numbers. Contemplate now this army, officered, disciplined, and all brought into perfect order under some experienced commander. You have the same powers as formerly, but now acting in conformity with certain rules or laws. The army now becomes powerful, not for self-destruction, but for attack and defence. But what is the law which these powers obey, or in conformity with which they act? It is an idea in the mind of the commander. It is this idea which gives to each part of this army its particular

position, and in consequence of that position, gives it its qualities, its very existence, as that particular part. The army receives its existence and qualities as that particular army from the law or idea which it obeys, or in conformity with which it acts. The same remark apply to the discourse of the educated and uneducated, as referred to above. You will now readily apprehend the meaning of the remark of Coleridge: "Law in its absolute perfection is conceivable only of the Supreme Being, whose creative idea not only appoints to each thing its position, but in that position, and in consequence of that position, gives it its qualities, yea, it gives its very existence, as that particular thing." The meaning, as far certainly as it is correct, is this: An idea in the mind of God appoints to every power in nature its particular position, and in consequence of that position, gives it its qualities, its very existence, as that particular thing.

In illustration, I would remark, that if we conceive of the powers of nature, as existing each one by itself alone, or as existing in different relations to each other from that which they now sustain, none of the peculiar qualities which they now exhibit would appear. All the phenomena of vegetation, for example, result from the peculiar arrangement of the powers of the material creation relatively to each other. Change this arrangement, and nothing but barrenness and universal desolation would appear. Each particular particle, therefore, receives its qualities, yea, its very existence, as the particular thing manifested to us, in consequence of its position relatively to surrounding particles. Everything we behold or contemplate is to us what it is, in consequence of its existence, position, and consequent action in harmony with an idea in the infinite Intelligence.

Law, subjective and objective.

Law, then, may be contemplated in two points of light, subjective and objective. In the first sense, it is an idea, in which powers are contemplated as arranged relatively to each other, so that their mutual action and re-action shall produce results in correspondence to a certain end conceived of, and chosen by the mind. In the second sense, it is the existence, arrangement, and consequent action of these powers, in harmony with that idea.