INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
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investigator of detail by analysis and by system, who will classify 
and arrange our intellectual wealth according to logical rules, who 
will label our facts as facts, our theories as theories, and gratify 
our longing for the repose which we seek in certainty, by defining 
as closely as definition can be carried the limits of certainty, 
aff'ording us a certainty even in our uncertainty. 
It seems to me that the main characteristics of intellectual pro- 
gress of the present day may be said to consist in a tendency to 
minute analysis pervading the whole field of thought, and, as an 
imperative consequence of minute analysis, a systematic classifica- 
tion of results, and a rule of inquiry by method according to 
strict logic, any deviation from which is a hopeless waste of energy, 
not countenanced or tolerated by the organised union of modern 
investigators. There is no royal road for intellect. Genius must 
serve in the ranks with industry and patience. The days of random 
speculation, of hasty conclusions, of authoritative declarations, and, 
I hope, of violent assertion of opinion, are passing away. A truth 
supported by proof, unassailable by doubt, does not rest on authority, 
or require the aid of violence. Such agents are only necessary to 
furnish props for haphazard theories, and impatient conjectures. 
Truth stands conspicuous in *the way of the laborious student who 
treads the path that has been marked out step by step by the 
pioneers that have gone before, inspiring him with encouragement 
and confidence, and exciting him to further exertion. 
It seems to me that another prominent feature of the present 
time is the diffusion of a high rate of intellectual progress among 
a greater number of qualified intellects, the number being ever on 
the increase, and the distribution of intellectual eminence extend- 
ing over a wider and a wider area as it advances. 
If not only intellectual progi^ess is advancing with accumulating 
force, but the number of individual minds who attain a forward 
rank in the race, is also increasing, it may be well expected that 
altered characteristics will be developed, and that changes will take 
place in the mode of proceeding, which it is important to consider. 
We have been accustomed to hear of the genuis and the hero. 
Those high-sounding titles have been employed to indicate great 
contrasts in the quality of man. They are relative terms used for 
marking an exalted degree of excellence. Whether a man be a 
genius or a hero is a question of comparison with other men. So 
much are we indebted to contrast for those sensations and ideas 
