OX THE CULTIVATION OF SCIENCE. 64 5 



must be recollected that ourwnole civilization is pervaded by a knowl- 

 edge of facts primarily derived from scientific investigation. Such 

 inventions as those we have alluded to are not produced in a barbarous 

 country, or even in those of a comparative high civilization without 

 science. 



If we desire an illustration of the condition of civilization based 

 upon empirical art, upon facts accidentally discovered, or invention 

 without science, we have merely to turn to China and Japan. These 

 countries have long since utilized all the facts and empirical processes 

 the result of accident or simple invention, and have, consequently, 

 remained stationary for thousands of years, and must remain so con- 

 tinually, unless they borrow a knowledge of science from abroad. 



It is not, however, merely the material wants of man that are grati- 

 fied by the results of science ; it administers also to his highest intel- 

 lectual development. Placed in a universe of constant change, on an 

 isolated globe, surrounded by distant celestial objects on all sides, 

 subjected to influences of various kinds, it is a sublime occupation to 

 measure the earth and weigh the planets, to predict their changes, and 

 even to discover the materials of which they are composed ; to inves- 

 tigate the causes of the tempest and volcano, to bring the lightning 

 from the clouds, to submit it to experiment by which it shall reveal 

 its character, and to estimate the size and weight of those invisible atoms 

 which constitute the universe of things. It is the pursuit, above all, 

 which impresses us with the capacity of man for intellectual and moral 

 progress, and awakens the human intellect to aspirations for a higher 

 condition of humanity, and gives a pleasurable consciousness to those 

 who successfully pursue it, of contributing, in however small a degree 

 it may be, to such a desirable consummation. The effect of such pur- 

 suits on the mind of the individual himself cannot be otherwise than 

 salutary. While it exalts the understanding, it exercises the imagi- 

 nation, and awakens and constantly cherishes a love of truth for its 

 own sake. The man imbued with the proper spirit of science does not 

 seek for immediate pecuniary reward from the practical applications 

 of his discoveries, but derives sufficient gratification from his pursuit 

 and the consciousness of enlarging the bounds of human contempla- 

 tion, and the magnitude of human power, and leaves to others to 

 gather the golden fruit he may strew along his pathway. This fact is 

 strikingly illustrated in the generous devotion by our illustrious vis- 

 itor of the proceeds of his labors in this country to the advance of 

 science. 



In the foregoing remarks it is not our wish to disparage any other 

 pursuit, or to diminish the love of ancient literature, but, on the con- 

 trary, we would cherish whatever tends to develop the human mind. 

 We would carefully preserve the knowledge of the past, and transmit 

 it to posterity, enlarged by the achievements of the present. We 

 hold that every age of the world has had its mission, and has left its 



