24 



But the general tendency has always been to popularise both ; to 

 make them accessible to the masses, and thus to increase the number of 

 their votaries. Literature, therefore, resembles a valuable article of 

 commerce, or product of manufactures. In one age, its rarity makes it 

 a fit decoration for the hall of a prince ; in another, it imparts a lustre 

 to the poor man's cottage. The progress of certain branches of litera- 

 ture is curious. Geography was at first merely " the wonders of the 

 world ;" English Grammar, as a subject of general education, originated 

 with Lindley Murray ; Pronunciation cannot be said to be older than 

 the time of Sheridan ; nor a settled Orthography than the days of 

 Johnson. Philology and Ethnography belong to the present genera- 

 tion ; and Elocution, in both its departments, is still unknown to the 

 public, though Spalding has systematized action, and Rush utterance. 



The progress of literature, as compared with science, is another point 

 of interest. Not many years ago, a startling treatise was written 

 respecting •' the decline of science" in England ; and so exclusive was 

 the devotion of the public at that time to fiction, that there was danger 

 of science being practically banished from the land. The most common- 

 place novel was sure to meet with a certain amount of success, while 

 some exalted triumph of the human intellect, from finding few readers, 

 might never repay the cost of publication. A great change for the 

 better has however been brought about, partly no doubt by represen- 

 tations such as these, and partly by the establishing of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1831. It summons 

 the ablest men, in their respective departments, from every point in the 

 British Islands, and invites the concurrence and assistance of foreigners ; 

 it divides the general subject into its piincipal branches, under the 

 superintendence of men well qualified, and it visits the principal towns 

 of the kingdom, publishing its results annually. After all the meetings 

 which it has held, and the signal benefits which it has conferred upon 

 science and the countiy, it may be said of it, that " its eye is not dim, 

 nor its natural force abated." 



The pendulum, however, must oscillate both ways. The British 

 Association was the result of a reaction from literature to science ; and, 

 after it had existed for twelve years, similar congresses were suggested 

 on behalf of literature. Why should not the architect, the historian, 

 the theologian, the poet and the antiquary, unite to uphold their 

 common cause, as well as the mere men of science ; and to light up 

 many tapers with their own torch from point to point over the kingdom ? 

 The result was the establishment of three such societies, instead of one, 

 which itinerate annually through England and Wales. 



Let it not be said that these subjects are above populair literature or 



