4 HUNTERIAN ORATION. 



It was at Alexandria, that persons in 

 general first possessed the ready means of 

 knowing what others knew and thought, by 

 consulting their writings collected in its 

 stupendous library. How different must 

 have been the state of learning and learned 

 men in ancient and in modern times ! What 

 surprising changes has the invention of 

 printing produced ! An ancient student ol 

 any subject of nature or science must have 

 nought for the information which others 

 possessed, by distant visits, to procure the 

 perusal of any work of celebrity, or the 

 conversation of those engaged in the same 

 pursuits. His knowledge, therefore, must 

 chiefly have resulted from his own exertions, 

 and if he deemed it worthy of being re- 

 corded for the benefit of others, he knew 

 that it must be communicated to them very 

 ,<7radually and slowly. His fame, as a dis- 

 coverer, or improver of science, could never 

 spread so as to reverberate to his own ears. 

 His reputation must necessarily be of slow 

 growth, and therefore his endeavour would 

 be to make it lasting. As he could not 

 compare his knowledge with that of others, 

 he would strive to make his own perfect, 



