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in which case the principle of the discovery is made pubhc : — the 

 other is by concealing their operations or methods, and becoming 

 the sole venders of the manufacture or the produce. 



So dignified a body as the Royal Institution, could not humiliate 

 itself by affording a place of exhibition for patent inventions, so as 

 to be subservient to the selfish views or interests of individuals. 

 Such inventions were necessarily excluded ; and yet perhaps the 

 most important improvements of modern times, have been brought 

 forward and promulgated by this kind of monopoly. 



If patent inventions were not permitted to be introduced, so 

 neither was there any desire amongst manufacturers to communicate 

 any useful discovery, which was a source of profit to the inventor. 



On this account, the Model-Room of the Royal Institution, which 

 was to be devoted to important inventions, remained almost empty. 

 That which might be worth introducing, it was against the principle 

 to admit ; and that which could be admitted, it was for the interest 

 of the manufacturer or workman to refuse ; and thus the principles 

 of science, and the principles of the arts, instead of becoming 

 harmoniously united, were placed in this respect in a state of 

 hostility. 



Soon after the foundation of the Royal Institution, a request 

 was made to one of the greatest practical mechanical philosophers of 

 the age, that he would examine the details of the establishment, and 

 become in some way connected with the body. His refusal was 

 prompt, and his expression of disapprobation strong, " Your 

 object," says he, "is one that every practical inventor ought to 

 discountenance. You would destroy the value of the labour of the 

 industrious, by laying open his invention, you would take away the 

 great stimulus to exertion. Suppose a man, by a great devotion of 

 time and of labour, by skill and ingenuity, has made an important 

 combination in chemistry or mechanics, your object is to publish 

 the details of his labours, to enable every speculator to profit by his 

 knowledge. This, could it happen, would be ruinous to individuals, 

 and would ultimately interfere witk the commercial prosperity'- of 

 Britain ; for your enemies would j»fofit by such disclosure, more 

 than your countrymen, and it woulel be absolutely throwing away 

 your superiority. Were I persuaded such a plan of models could be 

 executed, I should be seriously alarmed for the manufacturing 

 interest of the country ; but I am convinced, from the nature of 

 this part of the scheme, that it will be ephemeral, and that it will die 

 even in its cradle." 



I am not sure that these were the very words of this able 

 reasoner, but I am sure that they convey his sentiments, which were 

 expressed in my hearing. Besides these objections, which flow from 

 the nature of trade and manufacture, there are others which arise 

 from the peculiar and active state of society. Improvements in the 

 common arts are so rapid, that no standards can, with proprietv, be 



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