The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 24
Objects of Literary Societies
Objects of Literary Societies.
Now, I understand that the main design of the Societies represented here to night is Literary Cultivation; that is the cultivation of everything which relates to the promulgation of thought by words; the ulterior objects being utility and happiness.
The general utility of such culture, apart from its appropriateness to special avocations, consists in the acquisition of knowledge, the development of sound processes of reasoning and principles of criticism, the formation of opinions, and the effective expression and publication of them in written or oral language.