PHYSICAL SCIENCES TO SCIENCE IN GENERAL. 231 



oping their minds. Action alone ennobles a man's life, and his aim must 

 therefore be either a practical application of his knowledge or an in- 

 crease of science itself. The latter is also conducive to the progress of 

 humanity, and this leads us to the consideration of the connection be- 

 tween the subjects of the sciences themselves. 



Knowledge is power. No time demonstrates this more clearly than 

 our own. We learn how to make the forces of nature, as found in the 

 inorganic world, subservient to the needs of human life and the pur- 

 poses of the human mind. The application of steam has incrwised the 

 bodily power of man a thousand and even million fold ; weaving and 

 spinning machines have relieved man of labor whose monotonous regu- 

 larity served only to stultify the mind. The intercourse of m^n with its 

 material and intellectual conse(|uences, has increased to a point which 

 would never have been dreamed of when our parents were born. But 

 it is not only by machines that human force is multiplied, and it is not 

 only on cast-steel rifled cannon, and iron-clad vessels, or on supplies of 

 provisions and money that the power of a nation depends, although 

 these things have so unequivocally' asserted their influence, that even 

 the proudest and most unyielding absolute governments of our time 

 have been obliged to remove the shackles from industry and grant a 

 political voice to the laboring classes. It is also the political and judi- 

 cial organization of states, the moral discipline of individuals, which 

 produces the preponderance of the civilized nations over the uncivilized, 

 so that the latter are doomed to inevitable destruction if they cannot 

 acquire civilization. Here everything acts reciprocally. Where there 

 are no established laws, where the interests of the majority cannot as- 

 sert themselves, there can be no development of national wealth and 

 power. He alone can become a good soldier in whom a sense of honor 

 and independence have been developed under just laws, and not the 

 slave, who is subject to the whims of a capricious master. 



For this reason every nation, from motives of self-preservation alone 

 and without considering more ideal requirements, has an interest in 

 fost'ering not only the natural sciences and their technical applications, 

 but also the political, legal, and moral sciences, with all their subserv- 

 ient historical and philological branches. No nation, wishing to i^re- 

 serve her independence and influence, can afford to remain behind. 

 The civilized peoples of Europe are conscious of this. The public aid 

 given to universities, schools, and scientitic institutions far exceeds all 

 that was done in this respect in former times. We also can boast again 

 this year of a liberal donation by our government.* I spoke in my in- 

 troduction of the increasing division and organization of scientilic labor. 

 In fact, men of science form a kind of organized army, endeavoring, for 

 the good, and indeed mostly by the commission and at the expense of 

 the whole nation, to promote such knowledge as tends to the increase 



* Means for erecting new buildings for scientific institutes, and smaller sums for hos- 

 pitals and geological collections. 



