/ 



258 Royal Institution, 



celerated by the encouragement which this able minister 

 and statesman judiciously extended to every branch of sci- 

 ence and of art. In this country, too, we are indebted for 

 a large proportion of our prosperity to the success with 

 which science has been prysecuted. But how much might 

 it have been augmented, if the arts and sciences had re- 

 ceived an adequate degree of encouragement ! Were it 

 possible to appropriate to this object the funds collected in 

 one year for charitable purposes, a foundation might be laid 

 for advancing the prosperity of the country to an almost in- 

 definite extent, and to a point, at least, which would enable 

 us to bid defiance to the restrictive edicts, by which the 

 enemy has vanly attempted to check the wealth and power 

 of the British empire. ^ 



Nor are the minute details of science and of art unfavour- 

 able to the cultivation of eloquence. One of the greatest 

 statesmen, and at the same time one of the greatest orators 

 this country ever produced, owed, in a great measure, the 

 variety, the charms, and the force of his eloquence, to the 

 intimate knowledge which he had acquired of every branch 

 of Science and of art. These sources of intelligence sup- 

 plied him with that copiousness of illustration, with which 

 his orations were enriched, and enabled Mr. Burke to col- 

 lect within the boundaries of his own genius, every thing 

 that could adorn and embellish his elocution. 



It has been supposed, said Mr. Davy, that this Institu- 

 tion may ultimately encroach on the province of some of the 

 ancient and venerable establishments of the country, where 

 ancient erudition has long been cultivated with success. 

 This opinion, however, is founded in error. The precious 

 remains of antiquity, which enlightened the darkness of the 

 middle ages, and delivered down to us some of the most in- 

 .eslimable treasures of human knowledge, we can never 

 value too highly. Let them continue to be the guides of 

 our taste, and the beacons by which our course is to be di- 

 rected. But let them not be exclusively studied. The 

 pursuits on which such minds as those of Boyle, of Bacon, 

 and of Newton, were employed, are of a much higher 

 order of utility, and far more conducive to the interests aqd 

 the happiness of mankind. 



I presume too to hope, continued Mr. Davy, that the 

 encouragement which the Royal Institution has hitb«rto re- 

 ceived from its female visitors, will not he withheld from 

 it under its new modification. It may afford them oppor- 

 tunities of acquiring that knowledge, which will contribute 

 to render their elega^u acquirements still more interesting. 



By 



