Page:Hunterian oration, delivered in the theatre of the Royal College of Surgeons in London on February 14th 1829 (electronic resource) (IA b2148305x).pdf/21

Rh expositions of wisdom. He knew all the opposing influences that beset the really dignified nature of man; and, therefore, despaired lest the light that he himself had produced would properly shine forth, until man was changed in his sentiments, and in his motives to action. Intellect most readily expands when least encumbered, or biassed, by sentiments, that are developed by inclinations not founded in the desire of truth. The best preparation is required for clearing the soil, where true wisdom is to take root, to flourish, and to blossom.

One of the powerful influences that retard the advancement of science, is Opinion. Opinion is the admission of a proposition without proof And in order to fill up that vacuity, which the absence of truth leaves, the support of Authority is called in. The minds that are content to see things only in the same view that others do, can never be original, nor possess invention. Genius re-