224: UNIVERSITIES: ACTUAL AND IDEAL viii 



a question of " maintaining a due number of sad- 

 dle horses," as George Eliot somewhere puts it — 

 it is a question of living or starving. 



If a student of my own subject shows power 

 and originality, I dare not advise him to adopt 

 a scientific career; for, supposing he is able to 

 maintain himself until he has attained distinction, 

 I cannot give him the assurance that any amount 

 of proficiency in the Biological Sciences will be 

 convertible into, even the most modest, bread and 

 cheese. And I believe that the case is as bad, or 

 perhaps worse, with other branches of Science. 

 In this respect Britain, whose immense wealth 

 and prosperity hang upon the thread of Applied 

 Science, is far behind France, and infinitely be- 

 hind Germany. 



And the worst of it is, that it is very difficult 

 to see one's wav to anv immediate remedv for this 

 state of affairs which shall be free from a tendency 

 to become worse than the disease. 



Great schemes for the Endowment of Research 

 have been proposed. It has been suggested, that 

 Laboratories for all branches of Physical Science, 

 provided with every apparatus needed by the in- 

 vestigator, shall be established by the State: and 

 shall be accessible, under due conditions and regu- 

 lations, to all properly qualified persons. I see 

 no objection to the principle of such a proposal. 

 If it be legitimate to spend great sums of money 

 on public Libraries and public collections of Paint- 



