EDWARD BURGESS. 119 



The desire for knowledge must co-exist with some 

 benefit to be derived from its aquisition, even of that 

 kind of knowledge that seems to be most completely dis- 

 sociated from the affairs of life, as is the case with many 

 subjects of scientific inquiry. 



What, then, is this benefit? It may be very briefly 

 stated. The inestimable advantage of knowledge and 

 the seeking it is, that it teaches us the better how to live. 

 It is for this reason that we seek knowledge, whether 

 that purpose be distinctly formulated in our minds or 

 not. It is for this reason that the mind seeks to know. 

 The existence of this desire is proof of its truth. Surely, 

 in a world in which the struggle for existence is such a 

 manifest fact and where the weakly endowed must go to 

 the wall, the continuance of such a desire and its con- 

 tinuance with an ever increasing intensity, could not be 

 accounted for, except by some such explanation as this. 



If knowledge and the desire to obtain it, could only 

 be secured at the expense of retarding our efforts to live 

 and to live better, it would long since have disappeared 

 from the desires of men; in fact it would never have 

 originated. It has come into existence and has per- 

 petuated itself for the reason, that knowledge and the 

 seeking of it, no matter what kind it may be, is an ad- 

 vantage to man; that by means of it his own develop- 

 ment is the more complete, and he is therefore the better 

 fitted for the performance of life's duties. 



This is true of all kinds of knowledge, and it is es- 

 pecially true of what we call scientific knowledge — that 

 kind of knowledge that this society seeks to disseminate. 

 This may not seem perfectly obvious at first, but a little 

 reflection will, I think, reveal its truth. 



Now what is right living ? This, I know, is an immense 

 theme, and I am sure that you will not expect from me 

 any elaborate treatment of it, even if I felt qualified to 

 enter into its analytic examination. We may, however, 



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