318 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



nothing in this direction during the whole of their history. 

 Nearly all the great works of civilisation have been performed 

 by individuals of whom many have been allowed to die either 

 destitute or in great poverty or in comparative poverty. Men 

 of science, poets, writers, artists, and musicians have the same 

 story to tell. And yet that story does not appear at all dis- 

 graceful to the mass of humanity, and the fact is constantly 

 dwelt upon as being quite a normal and natural phenomenon, 

 if not an amusing one, which no nation need trouble itself 

 about bettering. But the precedent of Jenner showed that 

 Parliament and the whole British nation did at least once 

 recognise its obligations in this respect. Jenner was indeed 

 almost ruined by his magnificent discovery of vaccination. He 

 was, as every one knows, a practising physician ; but his work 

 on vaccination brought him many enemies and, moreover, 

 forced him to neglect his practice. At that time, however, the 

 British were a rational and virile nation who easily understood 

 the point, and therefore gave him due and honourable com- 

 pensation. Since then they have scarcely ever done the same 

 thing. They expend vast sums for the education of their young, 

 but scarcely a penny for the encouragement of those labours 

 which form the basis of the instruction which is given to their 

 young. Yet, while they do nothing for their most meritorious 

 workers, they allow every kind of trickster or charlatan to 

 enrich himself enormously at the public expense. Great 

 fortunes are made out of, let us say for example, patent 

 medicines and many forms of " business" which are just a little 

 upon the outside of dishonesty. These types of effort confer 

 no advantage whatever upon the public, and yet often lead to 

 the amassing of gigantic fortunes ; so that it may almost be said 

 that it pays more to be a rogue than to be a genius. But even 

 apart from these merely evil pursuits, it can scarcely be 

 maintained that many of the pursuits which bring wealth confer 

 any great good upon any one but the persons who follow them. 

 To define the absolute truth, therefore, the nation by its present 

 policy encourages all kinds of mean work and discourages all 

 kinds of the greatest work. Since the time of Jenner, Parliament 

 itself has done nothing to remedy this state of affairs, but quite 

 recently it has given itself the sum of considerably over a 

 quarter of a million pounds a year. There are some who, on 

 reviewing the work actually done by Parliament — the hasty 



