of means to ends, of actions to circumstances,
is made by an individual the rest do not seem to profit by that
experience, so that, although the instincts of particular animals may be
modified by the training of man, or by the education of circumstances,
so as to show themselves after a few generations under new forms, no
elevation of intelligence ever appears to _take place spontaneously_, no
physical improvement is manifested in the species at large. On the other
hand, we observe in man not merely the capability of profiting by
experience, but the determination to do so, which he is enabled to put
into action by the power which his will, when properly disciplined,
comes to possess, of directing and controlling his current of thought by
fixing his attention upon any subject which he desires to keep before
his mental vision. This power, so far as we know, is peculiar to man,
and the presence or absence of it constitutes the difference between a
being possessed of powers to determine his own course of thought and
action, and a mere thinking automaton.--_Carpenter's Physiology._

REVIVAL OF LEARNING.

TO WHOM ARE WE INDEBTED?

Charlemagne, Emperor of Germany, who is known as a Christian prince, and
Alfred the Great, of England, lived in the eight and ninth centuries.
The darkest period in the dark ages was between the fifth and the
eleventh, but they are known as the _earliest_ luminaries of the modern
world. They encouraged learning both by example and patronage, but they
could not overcome the gross ignorance of their times; nevertheless they
shed a strong and living lustre over the age in which they lived. (See
_Elements of General Knowledge_, by Henry Kelt, Fellow and Tutor of
Trinity College, Oxford, p. 246.) Where, and under what circumstances,
were their schools established? They were confined to churches and
monasteries, and the monks presided over them, but they were inadequate
to the task of diffusing knowledge in any extensive circle. The reign of
heathenism and ignorance continued.

The Arabians had introduced the knowledge of arithmetic, geometry,
astronomy, chemistry, medicine, and the philosophy of Aristotle into
Spain. (See Warton on Pope, vol. 1, p. 184.) At the beginning of the
eleventh century several enlightened scholars undertook to educate the
youth of the cities of Italy, and at a later period those of France,
England and Germany. To the stability and prevalence of the education
thus beg