58 General desire for immediate profit. 



persons do not perceive its immense future value. 

 Men perform those duties first which they feel they 

 must : they are also willing to pay for the perform- 

 ance of those duties which press most urgently upon 

 them, and defer all other kinds of labour that they 

 consider will bear postponement. Most men act upon 

 this rule, until they acquire a habit of sacrificing the 

 future to the present, of neglecting more important 

 matters in order to attend to less, and of living too 

 much for money, without sufficient regard for the 

 more valuable condition, viz., individual and national 

 improvement. These circumstances also largely 

 explain the fact that it requires more pressure to 

 induce individuals or governing bodies to aid original 

 research than to assist any other good object. Other 

 chief reasons why persons in general cannot perceive 

 the great practical value of new scientific truth are, 

 because the perception of it requires a scientifically 

 trained mind. The greatest truths are frequently 

 the least obvious, and are therefore valued the least. 

 It may be objected that research is not aided, 

 because it sometimes takes a long time to acquire a 

 practical shape and make it pay. We do not omit 

 to plant an acorn because it requires many years to 

 become an oak ; we do not neglect to rear a child 

 because he may not live to become a man ; but we 

 leave scientific discovery to take care of itself. The 

 intense desire which exists in this country for "quick 

 returns " has shewn itself in the much greater readi- 

 ness to aid technical education than to promote 



