REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE. liil 



the importance of the suggestion therein contained. In a subsequent part of 

 this Report, we have inserted a quotation from Professor Liebig relating to 

 this subject. 



In a former Report we embodied a correspondence with the then Prime 

 Minister respecting the unsatisfactory manner in which the bounty of Parlia- 

 ment, in the shape of pensions, has been hitherto distributed. 



The lamented Professor Forbes says, in the concluding paragraph of his 

 reply to our Circular, " It might be considered, whether it would not be de- 

 sirable to found a number of scientific pensions, to be assigned, not for re/?c^, 

 but for reward of good service, like the good-service pensions in the Army. 

 They would often help to free the man of science from drudgery and pot- 

 work, and give him the leisure for original research. They would be better 

 rewards than ribands or stars, or other labels, upon the coats of philoso- 

 phers." 



Mr. Ball seems to doubt the propriety of the suggestion in reference to 

 good-service pensions ; he states " that he has a strong sense of the probable 

 evils of anything approaching to a system of Government patronage of 

 scientific men, to which it would be a forward step." 



The expediency of resorting to orders, or decorations, or any extension 

 of the present system of bestowing medals, as a means of encourage- 

 ment to the prosecution of physical researches, has been doubted. So long 

 as the student is in statu pupillari, the system of rewarding by medals, or 

 other honorary distinctions, presents little difficulty ; but in the case of pro- 

 ficients it is otherwise. In addition to other objections, there is one which 

 in our opinion is deserving of serious consideration ; and that is, that it seems 

 difficult to devise any method of bestowing such distinctions that will be 

 satisfactory. The Government are, by the hypothesis, not sufficiently 

 informed ; and it will perhaps not be considered desirable that the system 

 of the cultivators of science rewarding one another should receive any im- 

 portant extension. We fear that, in its present limited form, it can be 

 hardly predicated of this mode of conferring distinction that it has worked 

 so well as to be entirely satisfactory. Only those versed in the particular 

 branch of knowledge to be rewarded can properly decide on the merit of 

 the candidate ; and the fear that partiality may be imputed to judges, who 

 are either rivals, or will be considered as such by many, is likely both to 

 render the task of decision irksome, and to impair the efficient exercise of the 

 judicial function. Again, the value of a theory, or discovery, can seldom 

 be justly appreciated by contemporaries : — Posterity alone can decide. 



Professor Phillips is of opinion that medals should never be bestowed 

 except for work done and published ; and that they should never be given 

 for mere mental proficiency ; they should be rewards for public service, 

 rather than proofs oi personal merit. 



We believe, however, that, whatever objections may be raised to the 

 mode of distribution, some medals are desirable, as incentives to exertion ; 

 at the same time, we are aware that there may be persons whose labours 

 are but little affected by these and similar rewards. Engaged in elevated 

 pursuits of an intellectual and attractive nature, and appreciating the pure 

 delights which such researches impart, they are contented with the renown 

 which successful exertion brings in its train, and they weigh not their own 

 merits in a nicely-adjusted balance, and with a jealous eye, against those of 

 their rivals in fame, nor calculate the chances of material reward. Sufficient 

 it is for them that they have done mankind good service, and that those 

 whom they have benefited have not proved wholly ungrateful. 



Professor Faraday, after speaking of the distinctions, both national and 



