OX THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. VII 



would dethrone the monarch by putting out his eye. But they had 

 better couch their blind brethren to restore their sight, and then 

 his reign would cease at once without any act of violence, any coup 

 d 1 etat. Here is a well of precious water, and we have got a little of 

 it in a tankard. ' What signifies,' say the objectors, ' such a paltry 

 supply ? It would not wet the lips of half a dozen of the hundreds 

 who are athirst/ True, but it enables us to wet the sucker of the pump, 

 instead of following their advice to leave it dry ; and, having the han- 

 dle, we use it to empty the well and satisfy all. A person gains some 

 information, it may be only a little. Say the objectors, ' He is super- 

 ficial.' Would he be more profound if he knew nothing ? The twi- 

 light is unsafe for his steps. Would he be more secure from slipping 

 in the dark ? But he may be self-sufficient, may think he knows 

 much, and look down upon others as knowing little. Is this very likely 

 to happen if the knowledge he has acquired is within reach of all and 

 by the greater number possessed ? The distinction is the ground of 

 the supposed influence upon his demeanor towards others ; when that 

 difference no longer exists, the risk of his manners being spoiled is at 

 an end. The most trifling instruction which can be given is sure 

 to teach the vast majority of those who receive it the lesson of their 

 own deficiency, and to inspire the wish for further knowledge. But 

 suppose, as must happen in many cases, that no great progress shall be 

 afterwards made, at least it is certain that the proportion is most incon- 

 siderable of those who are not the better for what they have learned, 

 and of those who are the worse for it the number cannot really be said 

 to have any existence at all. It must always be kept in mind that 

 there are two descriptions of persons to whom popular literature is ad- 

 dressed, and who may in different ways profit by it those who from 

 their natural capacity and natural inclination, as well as from possess- 

 ing a certain leisure, can so far improve themselves as to become really 

 accomplished in the branches of knowledge which they study, and 

 the great bulk of the community who can never go beyond giving 

 a very moderate attention to books, can in fact read but very little. 

 Let us first consider the former class, which, though small compared 

 with the mass, is yet again divided into two, those of ordinary talents, 

 but anxious to learn, and those whose thirst for knowledge is not only 

 very great, but accompanied with capacity to excel, possibly even with 

 original genius. Both classes benefit incalculably by the helps which 

 popular literature extends to them. Their love of knowledge is both 

 excited and gratified, and let us observe their progress. The different 

 works which are prepared encourage and enable them to proceed. At 

 first they are attracted by some tale or anecdote, or biographical 

 account. Soon after they find in the same paper a popular exposition 

 of a subject in science or literature. This inclines them to go further, 

 and the treatises furnished by the Useful Knowledge Society are with- 

 in their reach on different subjects, suiting the line they desire to 



