[Verse: "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand that did see God."--PSALM LIII.] THE REASON WHY. CHAPTER I. 1. _Why should we seek knowledge?_ Because it assists us to comprehend the _goodness and power of God_. And it gives us power over the circumstances and associations by which we are surrounded: the proper exercise of this power will greatly promote our happiness. 2. _Why does the possession of knowledge enable us to exercise power over surrounding circumstances?_ Knowledge enables us to understand that, in order to live healthily, we require to breathe fresh and pure air. It also tells us that animal and vegetable substances, undergoing decay, poison the air, though we may not be able to see, or to smell, or otherwise discover the existence of such poison. Knowing this, we become careful to remove from our presence all such matters as would tend to corrupt the atmosphere. This is only one of the countless instances in which knowledge gives us power over surrounding circumstances. 3. _Name some other instances in which knowledge gives us power._ Knowledge of _Geography_ and of _Navigation_ enables the mariner to guide his ship across the trackless deep, and to reach the sought-for port, though he had never before been on its shores. Knowledge of _Chemistry_ enables us to separate or to combine the various substances found in nature. Thus we obtain useful and precious metals from what at first appeared to be useless stones; transparent glass from pebbles, through which no light could pass; soap from oily substances; and gas from solid bodies. [Verse: "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning."--PROVERBS IX.] Knowledge of _Medicine_ enables the physician to overcome the ravages of disease, and to save suffering patients from sinking prematurely to the grave. Knowledge of _Anatomy_ and of _Surgery_ enables the surgeon to bind up dangerous fractures and wounds, and to remove, even from the internal parts of bodies, ulcers and diseased formations that would otherwise be fatal to life. Knowledge of _Mechanics_ enables man to increase his power by the construction of machines. The steam-ship crossing the ocean in opposition to wind and tide, the railway locomotive travelling at 60 miles an hour, and the steam-hammer beating blocks of iron into useful shapes, are evidences of the power which man acquires through a knowledge of mechanics.