employed in this way have not been less magnificent, so neither, I 

 trust, will the effects, as to the progress of science, be less important 

 and extensive. 



It will not I feel be necessary to enter into a vindication of the 

 utility of any of the more minute details of the establishment. The 

 collection of Scientific Journals, or the means of diffusing such 

 scientific information as can be procured from abroad or at home. 



Sufficient I trust has been said to prove, that even in its present 

 form, the Royal- Institution has not been useless to the British 

 public : — it might I conceive be demonstrated, that it has not only 

 assisted the progress of genuine science, but has likewise diffused a 

 general knowledge of the advantages and importance of scientific 

 pursuits ; and as far as it has been subservient to amusement, that 

 amusement has been at least of a rational kind, of a moral tendency, 

 and connected with no improper, no undignified objects. 



The New Plan of the Royal Institution is intended to exalt and 

 enlarge all those parts of the establishment which are acknowledged 

 to be useful and profitable, so as to create a permanent foundation, 

 and means, which can never be misapplied, for the advancement of 

 every species of useful knowledge. 



In addition to the popular philosophical lectures which have been 

 annually delivered, it is proposed, that there shall be more Elemen- 

 mentary and more Scientific Lectures, which may afford the rudi- 

 ments of instruction to the uninformed, and which, in their different 

 states of progression, shall arise from the humble beginnings of 

 science, to the great and general laws which are applicable to the 

 system of the universe. 



It is intended, that the Histories of Inventions shall be minutely 

 discussed ; the different steps of Improvement pointed out, and the 

 Progress of the Sciences, as connected with the progress of the useful 

 arts, made an object of distinct elucidation, in all the different 

 departments of human industry. 



It may not be improper to point out the sources of interest in 

 some of the most obvious of these branches of inquiry, and which are 

 yet almost novel objects, and have not usually been brought into any 

 public courses of instruction. 



One of these branches will necessarily relate to mechanical im- 

 provements, and it offers a flattering picture of human ability and 

 resources. 



Man, in his rude state, is submitted to the mercy of nature and 

 the elements. He becomes active only from want, and finds in the 

 gratification of his wants the sources of new enjoyments. He feeds 

 on the spontaneous productions of the earth, or upon animals killed 

 in the chase ; he is armed only with the club or the bow, and if he 

 builds a hut it is for shelter. From these simple rudiments, it is 

 easy to trace in slow progression, the arts of agriculture, of war, and 

 of architecture; the cultivation of the earth, the combination of 



