Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/191

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UNIVERSITY OF ST. MARK.
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rada, ordered the catechism in dialogues, of which mention has been precedently made, to be again printed for the purposes of general instruction.

HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATION, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STATE OF THE ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF ST. MARK OF LIMA.

The protection and cultivation of the sciences establish the splendour and prosperity of a state. The eloquent but dangerous Rousseau, uniting to the subtility of Socrates the lofty and independent spirit of Diogenes, has in vain attempted to make us envy the wretched lot of those degenerate nations, which, under the oppression of the hard chains of ignorance, sadly vegetate in obscurity. The imperious light of truth, superior to the illusions of sophistry, and the deceptious charms of declamation, has, with the aid of reason, authority, and experience, dissipated the black clouds which the spirit of singularity accumulated over the sacred image of wisdom.

If it presides over the councils of princes, the subjects gather the ripened fruits of prudence. Under the enlightened government of Solomon, the happy Israelites increased and multiplied: they feasted and made themselves merry, reposing safely beneath their vines and their fig-trees, the peaceful enjoyment of which was secured to them. In Jerusalem, gold and silver were in equal abundance with the stones that were gathered in the way; and the cedars grew in the vallies in the same proportion as the sycamore trees.

In the days of the learned Simon Maccabeus, the felicity

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