SECTION VII. 553 i . Several parts of mathematical learning are also ne= eessary ornaments of the mind, and not without real advan- -tage : and many of these are so agreeable to the 'fancy, that youth will be entertained and pleased in acquiring the knowledge of them. Besides the common skill in accounts which is needful for a trader, there is a variety of pretty and useful rules and practices in arithmetic, to which a gentleman should be no stranger : and if his gehius lie that way, a little insight into algebra would be no disadvantage to him. It is fit that young people of any figure in the world, should see some of the springs and clues whereby skilful men, by plain rules of reason, trace out the most deep, distant and hidden questions; and whereby they find certain and savers to those enquiries, which at first view seem to lie without the ken of mankind, and beyond the reach of human knowledge. It was for want of a little more general acquaintance with mathe- matical learning in the world, that a good algebraist and a geo- meter were counted conjurers a century ago, and people applied to them to seek for lost horses and stolen goods. They should know something of geometry, so far at least as to understand the names of the various lines and angles, sur- faces and solids: to know what is meant by a right line or a curve, a right angle and an oblique, whether acute or obtuse:. how the quantity of angles is measured, what is a circle, a semi- circle, an arch, a quadrant, a degree and minute, a diameter and radius : what we mean by a triangle, a square, a parallelogram, a polygon, a cube, a pyramid, a prism, a cone, an elipsis, an oval, an hyperbola, a parabola, &c. and to know some of the mast general properties of angles, triangles, squares, and cir- cles, &c. The world is now grown so learned in met hematical science, that this sort of language is often used in common writ- ings and in conversation, far beyond what it was in the days of our fathers. And besides, without some knowledge of this kind, we cannot make any farther progress towards an acquaintance with the arts of surveying, measuring, geography, and astronomy, which are so entertaining and so useful an accomplishment to per- sons of a polite education. Geographyy and astronomy are exceedingly delightful studies. The knowledge of the lines and circles of the globes, of heaven and earth, is counted so necessary in our age, that no person of either sex is now esteemed to have had an elegant education without it. Even tradesmen and the actors in common life should, in my opinion, in their younger years, learn something ofVbese sciences, instead of vainly wearing out seven years of drudgery in Greek and Latin. It is of considerable advantage , as well as delight for maul. kind, to know a little of the earth on which they dwell, and of F?
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