Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 16, 1905.djvu/38

26 science, in which, as we all know, lies the salvation of our souls. It is also good for trade, which is more important than any man's soul.

I have to ask the indulgence of the Society if my subject has been somewhat away from the beaten path. I was confronted with a dilemma, either to speak of a narrow field which I knew, or wisely to discourse on general topics of which I knew nothing. I have not yet had experience enough of lecturing to be able to do that. Yet, as often happens, this narrow field is the way to a wider one. I do not know any study in which we can so well trace the course of tradition as this, in which the original forms are known, and the time limits. It has its drawbacks, no doubt; the influence of written books must not be left out of account, nor must transmission and artificial revival. But with all deductions, there is light here if we look for it. I hope it may always be our aim as a Society to seek for the light.