THE FINDING OF TRUE FACTS. 



AN INAUGUBAL ADDRESS. 



It is not given to man, in following out any branch of natural science, 

 to draw the line of theoretical completeness, and to say to the 

 searcher after truth : — " Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther." 

 It is, on the other hand, one of the happiest results of true science, 

 that it raises the perpetual wish for fresh inquiry. The completest 

 theories are most easily shaped when there is the least knowledge. 

 Philosophical systems are not difficult to build up, when you have 

 only a few facts to account for, and are not in much fear of others 

 being thrust in your way which may not harmonize with your sys- 

 tem. In old times, there were "Philosophers" enough, in this 

 sense ; and there was no lack of systems and schools, — each of which 

 had followers who denounced the rudeness of every daring intruder, 

 and found that by far the most convenient method to answer the 

 questioner was by the curled lip and self-sufficient sneer. Modern 

 times, and even our own days, abound in such philosophers, quite 

 as much as the days when the Porch and the Grove were frequented 

 at Athens. But the happy difference is this : — that these philoso- 

 phers cannot now get the exclusive hearing ; but, however wedded 

 individuals may be to any darling theory, and however jealous a 

 self-constituted coterie may be of intruders upon ground which they 

 would fain hold appropriated as their own domain, the door is now 

 open to all, to seek truth and pursue it, and to question Nature and 

 grapple with her secrets : — and theories, however cherished, and 

 jealousies, however narrow, must, in the end, fall before the accu- 

 mulated light brought to bear by persevering searchers. 



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