24 UTILITY OF THE [bECT. I. 



begins to prescribe, and it must be unremittingly 

 continued*; but little satisfaction can be derived 

 from it, if the mind be not previously well stored 

 with principles, and enlightened by a liberal edu- 

 cation. By the force of natural genius and a 

 good address., an ignorant physician may float for 

 a while in honour's atmosphere ; if fortunate, he 

 may even be respected, and may attain wealth and 

 reputation ; but, when an unexpected difficulty oc- 

 curs, his deficiencies appear, the bubble bursts, his 

 reputation is dissipated, and he sinks neglected 

 and despised. The properly educated physician, 

 on the contrary, may rise slowly at first ; but, like 

 the sun, his strength increases as he rises ; and^ 

 although he must naturally decline with gathering 

 years, yet, when he sets, it is with equal dignity, 

 only with a milder lustre. And surely, to use the 

 language of a celebrated moralist, " to desire the 

 " esteem of others for the sake of its effects, is not 

 " only allowable, but in many cases our duty; 

 " and to be totally indifferent to praise or censure 

 " is so far from being a virtue, that it is a real 

 " defect in character "f-." Botany is one of those 

 collateral sciences, which is not only useful, but 



* The following words of Linnaeus, contained in a letter to 

 Haller, should be impressed on the mind of every student: 

 " Disco adhuc ; ignoscas quod doctus, etiamnum non eva. 

 " serim." 



f Dr. Blairj Sermon VI, vol. ii. 



