70 MR. MORTON’S INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
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 of which a man possessed of 
comet feelings, and an educated mind, will not lose sight,—the 
reciprocal advantage arising from the intercommunication of know¬ 
ledge. 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. It ma}" rank among those feelings and occu¬ 
pations that most ennoble man. The withholding of information— 
let some of our brethren lay this to heart—evidences a sordid and 
a shallow mind. It is found with him alone whose limited powers 
are incapable of appreciating the consequences which as certainly 
follow, as any effect from an adequate cause. Such a character 
is enclosed in the narrow cirlce of ' self,’ and, wherever he is 
found, is regarded with mingled pity and contempt. 
I am addressing those whom I shall have the pleasure of rank¬ 
ing as my pupils, and they will rightly estimate the feeling which 
induces me to wander beyond the limits of a mere introductory 
lecture on a certain art, and to talk to them of their duties and 
their privileges, as devoted to the general acquisition of knowledge. 
“ As you pursue your studies, be circumspect in the choice of your 
associates. Shew me the company which a young man keeps, 
and I will tell you what is the present character and what will be 
the future fate of that man. This is a principle as true as it is trite. 
It is a moral impossibility for any human being to avoid being 
influenced for good or ill by those whom he selects as his associates. 
“ Take as illustrative one of the beautiful apologues of the 
Persian moralist, Saadi. ‘ 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 1 for I am charmed with thy perfume. It answered, 
I was a despicable piece of clay; but I have been some time in 
the company of the rose, and the sweet quality of my companion 
was communicated to me.’ 
“ Most earnestly would I urge you to avoid the insidious sophis¬ 
try of those who endeavour to allure you into a path seemingly 
strewed with roses, but, in reality, beset with thorns—who wish 
to make short work of study—who tell you that no compensating 
good results from a continued application of your mind to study— 
that you should relax a little, and that by-and-by there will be time 
enough to learn all that is required. Fatal delusion!—a rock on 
which thousands have struck. Remember that I earnestly guard 
you against it. 
“ If it is true that ' knowledge is power,’ so is its antithesis, that 
