LECTURES ON CHEMISTRY. 
773 
attentive, and industrious, confident and wary ; an old man, 
cheerful and reserved. It is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge 
in adversity, and an entertainment at all times. It cheers in 
solitude, and, in the language of Bacon, is power.” 
Each age should be progressive in knowledge. From vou will 
be expected more than from those who have gone before you. 
You have had not only greater privileges than they, but there is 
the benefit derivable from their experience ; and it has been ob- 
served by Sir J. Herschel, that “ there is scarcely any well-in- 
formed person, who, if he has but the will, has also the power to 
add something essential to the general stock of knowledge, if he 
will only observe regularly and methodically some particular 
class of facts which may most excite his attention, or which his 
situation may best enable him to study with effect.” 
There is another circumstance, which a man possessing liberal 
sentiments and an educated mind will not lose sight of, — the re- 
ciprocal advantage arising from communicating what he knows 
to others. He gives, and he receives in return. The imparting 
of knowledge, “ like mercy, is twice blessed ; it blesses him 
that gives and him that takes.” The act may be ranked among 
the brightest that ennoble man ; while its being withheld, evi- 
dences a sordid and a shallow mind — one whose limited powers 
are incapable of appreciating the consequences which as certainly 
follow as any effect results from an adequate cause. Such a cha- 
racter, enclosed in the narrow circle of himself, finds, in the end, 
• that he is both pitied and contemned. 
Now, to avoid the one and succeed in the other, you will have 
to labour; but you will assuredly reap the reward of your labour, 
if you faint not. 
In your studies, you should also be circumspect in the choice 
of your associates : “ Shew me the company a man keeps, and 
I will tell you the character of the man,” is a saying as true as 
trite. It is a moral impossibility for any one to escape being in- 
fluenced by his companions. 
Take, as illustrative, a beautiful apologue by the Persian 
moralist, Saadi. It runs thus : — “ A friend of mine put into my 
hands a piece of scented clay. I took it, and said to it, “ Art thou 
musk or ambergris, for I am charmed with thy perfume?” It 
answered, “ I was a despicable piece of clay ; but I was for some 
time in the company of the rose, and the sweet quality of my 
companion was communicated to me, otherwise I should only 
have been a bit of clay, as I appear to be.” 
And, most earnestly would I urge you to avoid the insidious 
sophistry of those who endeavour to allure you into a path seem- 
ingly strewed with roses, but, in reality, beset with thorns;— 
