VI SCIENCE AND CULTURE 139 



I need not point the moral of a tale which, as 

 the solid and spacious fabric of the Scientific Col- 

 lege assures us, is no fable, nor can anything 

 which I could say intensify the force of this prac- 

 tical answer to practical objections. 



We may take it for granted then, that, in the 

 opinion of those best qualified to judge, the 

 diffusion of thorough scientific education is an 

 absolutely essential condition of industrial pro- 

 gress; and that the College which has been 

 opened to-day will confer an inestimable boon 

 upon those whose livelihood is to be gained by 

 the practise of the arts and manufactures of the 

 district. 



The only question worth discussion is, whether 

 the conditions, under which the work of the 

 College is to be carried out, are such as to give it 

 the best possible chance of achieving permanent 

 success. 



Sir Josiah Mason, without doubt most wisely, 

 has left very large freedom of action to the 

 trustees, to whom he proposes ultimately to 

 commit the administration of the College, so that 

 they may be able to adjust its arrangements in 

 accordance with the changing conditions of the 

 future. But, with respect to three points, he has 

 laid most explicit injunctions upon both adminis- 

 trators and teachers. 



Party politics are forbidden to enter into the 



