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Excerpt from Aids and Incentives to the Acquisition of Knowledge: The Farewell Lecture Delivered on Retiring From the Professorship of Mathematics in the Royal Military Academy, Thursday, June 7, 1838 I am not actuated by any narrow sentiments of exclu sive attachment to my own profession, when I affirm that mathematical and philosophical acquirements ought to rank high in your classification of the objects of mental research. The simple explication of the term philosophy, carries with it an evidence of its utility. It is the study of natural phenomena, or of phenomena artificially produced, in order to discover the forces which produce them, though not their hidden causes. In the production of these phenomena, bodies manifest various properties: and it is in investigating the laws which regulate the exercise of those properties, that we rise to the invention of theories, which serve to connect the facts one with another, to show their mutual depen dence, and enable us to make the powers of nature and. The works of art, subservient to the purposes of men. The Supreme Being has created a world for our use, and us, in a measure, for its enjoyment; but, in order that we may use it successfully, and enjoy it adequately, we must cultivate our own intellectual powers, and this depends upon ourselves. Be it remembered, too, as you go along, that knowledge is slow in its acquisition, because it does not depend upon our senses, which are quick, or upon our wishes, which are boundless; but upon the order in which we trace the phenomena nature exhibits to us; and these we must generally content ourselves with soliciting from her by experiment, and analyzing and arranging as she spontaneously presents. Them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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