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DIFFUSION AND ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. . 343 
cultivated and held in less estimation in England 
than on the Continent?—is perhaps too general. A 
distinction must then be drawn between abstract 
and practical science; or, in other words, between 
such branches as can be brought to bear upon the 
physical wants and necessities of society, and such 
as are purely intellectual. There is still a further 
distinction, — and it is a very important one, — be- 
tween that degree of knowledge which can render a 
science pleasing and popular, and that which, from 
aiming at the highest objects, the discovery of new 
laws, and the investigation of difficult questions, 
renders it, in the eyes of the many, abstruse and 
uninteresting. To each of these minor questions 
very different answers would be given, and they 
should therefore be considered separately. If we 
speak of science generally, it may fairly be ques- 
tioned, whether, at any former period of our history 
it was ever held in so much estimation, or was so 
generally diffused among the mass of our country- 
men, as it is at present. Yet, while we may truly 
exult in this awakening of the national intellect, we 
must remember that diffusion and advancement are 
two very different processes: and each may exist in- 
dependent of the other. It is very essential, there-~ 
fore, to our present'purpose, when we speak of the 
diffusion or extension of science, that we do not 
confound these stages of developement with dis- 
covery or advancement; since the latter may be as 
different from the former as depth is from shallow- 
ness. Reverting, then, to the simple question, whe- 
ther the higher walks of science, properly so called, 
are more neglected in England than on the Con- 
Z 4 
