11 



of the other. There is an irony and bite in the allusion 

 to " the scientific young man " when it falls from the 

 lips of a leading physician. There is equal commiseration 

 experienced by the business man when he beholds the chaotic 

 muddle in simple ordinary commercial routine resulting from 

 the efforts of his professional fellow-citizens. The fact is we 

 appear as children to one another ; and only good manners 

 prevent us from calling each other names, until we find our- 

 selves in an atmosphere of kindred interests, and then, in all 

 probability, we give full vocal rein to our thoughts. And it 

 must be admitted that both sides have justification for the 

 attitude they take up. Half-knowledge is a curse to the human 

 family, and men have a right to condemn it. The science 

 odium and the " odium tlieologicuiii " are cases in point. 

 Both owe their existence to the ignorance each one labours 

 under of the true position of the other side. A resolution to 

 seek truth at any cost, and to admit truth when once it is 

 found, would save men many stupidities, to say nothing of bad 

 temper. 



Notwithstanding all this there is a territory of 

 scientific inquiry, a middle-land so to speak, which is the 

 common pasturage of both sides. A land of mountain chains 

 and verdant valleys where professional and commercial men 

 may meet as upon their native soil. And it is to offer facilities 

 for mutual intercourse and friendly rivalry, for discussion and 

 research, that a Society like ours exists, situated as it is in one 

 of the greatest trading centres ever known in the history of the 

 world. Liverpool, as many of you know, up to the last two 

 or three decades gave nearly the whole of its attention to 

 commercial pursuits — in plain parlance, to money-making. 

 Education and scientific inquiry had (to my own knowledge) a 

 feeble, flickering existence thirty years ago, and yet outside 

 the markets there foregathered small coteries of men whose 

 souls could not be satisfied by accumulating wealth or by 

 labouring solely for creature comforts. Yea. many of them 

 were poor men, as the world counts poor; but life to them was 

 more than eating and drinking. Their path truly was one of 

 plain living ; but who shall gauge the joy of their high 



