ir trade, the highest results of culture can
scarcely ever be attained by men whose time is taken up in earning a
fortune. Every man has but a limited flow of mental energy per day; and
if this is used up in an industrial leadership, he cannot do much more
in the intellectual sphere than simply ascertain what has been done by
others. Now, although we have a certain respect, and the respect is
just, for those who know what others have accomplished, it is clear that
if no one did more than this, if no one made any fresh discoveries, the
world would make no progress whatever; and in fact, if nobody ever had
been dedicated to intellectual pursuits in preceding ages, the men who
only learn what others have done, would in these days have had nothing
to learn. Past history proves the immensity of the debt which the world
owes to men who gave their whole time and attention to intellectual
pursuits; and if the existences of these men could be eliminated from
the past of the human race, its present would be very different from
what it is. A list has been published of men who have done much good
work in the intervals of business, but still the fact remains that the
great intellectual pioneers were absorbed and devoted men, scorning
wealth so far as it affected themselves, and ready to endure everything
for knowledge beyond the knowledge of their times. Instances of such
enthusiasm abound, an enthusiasm fully justified by the value of the
results which it has achieved. When Alexander Humboldt sold his
inheritance to have the means for his great journey in South America,
and calmly dedicated the whole of a long life, and the strength of a
robust constitution, to the advancement of natural knowledge, he acted
foolishly indeed, if years, and strength, and fortune are given to us
only to be well invested in view of money returns; but the world has
profited by his decision. Faraday gave up the whole of his time to
discovery when he might have earned a large fortune by the judicious
investment of his extraordinary skill in chemistry. Livingstone has
sacrificed everything to the pursuit of his great work in Africa. Lives
such as these--and many resemble them in useful devotion of which we
hear much less--are clearly not compatible with much money-getting. A
decent existence, free from debt, is all that such men ought to be held
answerable for.

I have taken two or three leading instances, but there is quite a large
class of intellectual p