He is ranked among the wisest of mankind, who announced that “knowledge is power.” Divine Wisdom goes further, and reveals to us that knowledge is a good and virtuous thing, while ignorance is stamped by the same seal as sinful; or how otherwise can we interpret the course of history and human experience, which proves that, by the very constitution of our being, and the laws impressed upon the moral and physical world, increase of knowledge contributes to promote general and individual well-doing and happiness, while ignorance never fails to be followed by the contrary penal consequences? Therefore it is that those who unite good intentions and good principles, with sound and well-cultivated abilities—in other words the truly wise—humbly deem, that among the most acceptable offerings to our common Maker must be diligence in exploring _all_ the sources of knowledge which he has placed within our reach, (which were hidden only that we might seek for them,) so as to unveil more and more of the forces and powers of nature, in publishing the same abroad, that all may profit by them, and in striving to bend their agencies towards good, and high, and useful purposes. THE END. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Popular Superstitions, and the Truths Contained Therein, by Herbert Mayo