ON THE CULTIVATION OF SCIENCE. 647 



dilections, nor for any vague popular reputation, but especially in the 

 line of science, from having given evidence of their power in the way 

 of original research. A man of this class must be possessed of enthu- 

 siasm which in a measure he can scarcely fail to impart to his pupils. 

 The latter, again, by a reflex action, will stimulate the teacher to new 

 efforts. Furthermore, the reputation of the teacher is shared by his 

 pupils ; and to have sat under the instruction of a Cuvier, a Laplace, 

 a Faraday, or a Herschel, is no small recommendation. It is to the 

 men of which the faculties of the German universities are composed, 

 that those establishments owe their reputation, and they are the at- 

 traction which draws pupils from every part of the world to these 

 centres of high intelligence. But men of this character " are not made" 

 but, like poets, " born." Profound learning is not sufficient ; however 

 versed a man may be in the knowledge of others, he is not of the first 

 order unless he be endowed with the peculiar mental powers which 

 enable him to originate new truths. When such men are found and 

 they exist in every community in a certain, perhaps small ratio, they 

 should be consecrated to the advancement and diffusion of knowledge. 

 They should be secured by our colleges and universities, and all the 

 facilities given them for original investigation. They should be re- 

 lieved from the drudgery of drilling in the elementary branches, and 

 be assisted by tutors in the general instruction, being themselves only 

 called upon to give a limited number of lectures on the general prin- 

 ciples of the branch of knowledge under their care. 



Again, no college or university is properly equipped that is not 

 furnished with a complete series of the objects and implements of 

 instruction and research. In regard to instruction, the impressions 

 made through the eye are the most definite and indelible, and may 

 serve as nuclei around which by association to group facts and sug- 

 gestions the most varied. 



In science, to present the actual phenomena of Nature and reproduce 

 them before the eye of the pupil, instead of giving him a mere descrip- 

 tion of them, is as different in effect, as travelling in a foreign country 

 is from merely obtaining a knowledge of it through the writings of 

 others. 



In reference to original research, as well as to higher instruction in 

 science, besides apparatus of illustration, instruments of precision are 

 required, without which the power of the investigator, however gifted, 

 must be greatly limited. 



In what I have said in regard to science in this country, I do not 

 wish to be understood as undervaluing what has already been done. 

 Indeed, in view of the small encouragement which has been given and 

 the limited facilities which have been afforded, the contributions which 

 have been made from this country, especially in the line of astronomy, 

 geology, geodesy, topography, and natural history, are numerous and 

 important. At the commencement of the General Government, in the 



