20 



their Emperor put them ou the scent ; aud I know that in some of the 

 trials of the " big gun " an artillery ofiBcer declared it to he an impos- 

 sibility to traverse it on its temporary carriage, a thing which was done 

 in a few minutes by the man who forged it. Gunpowder was not 

 invented by a soldier. The laws of combustion have received no 

 attention from insurance offices. It was not a pit owner who dis- 

 covei'ed the safety-lamp ; nor a mine owner who improved pumping 

 engiues. Agriculture has not been improved scientifically by farmers. 

 It is not to the well-sinkers that we go for an unlimited supply of 

 water ; and the sanitary movements, by which the health and comfort 

 of the lower orders have akeady been increased, did not originate with 

 the guardians of the poor. 



Not only are these things generally true, it is equally certain that 

 those who excel in an extraneous study which requires a constant 

 stretch and exertion of the mind, excel also in their own peculiar 

 vocation. 



Williams, the celebrated aud most successful missionary, was an 

 adept at shipbuilding, could frame alphabets, aud write grammars for 

 languages yet unwritten, and could pen as readable a book as any 

 accomplished author. Napoleon was as conspicuous as a statesman and 

 lawgiver as he was successful as a wai'rior. Wellington was a keen 

 sportsman as well as a skilful general, and we often meet with proofs 

 in his despatches that had he not been acquainted with more than his 

 simple business as leader he would have failed as others have done. 

 Sir Charles Napier, renowned as a commander in the field, was equally 

 astute in council, and excelled in his organising powers those whose 

 attention had been called solely to civil goverunient, and had no mind 

 beyond. Lord Brougham, who surpasses in mental activity all ordinary 

 men, and who has shone as an author in physics, biography, and 

 philosophy, has done more to improve the profession of the law than 

 any other individual. 



In fine, we may sum up by saying that the mind of the routine and 

 practical man is like a railroad carriage which confines itself to a line 

 of rails from which it cannot go with safety ; while the mind of the 

 scientific man possesses the character of a horseman who can make 

 excursions in all directions, and strike out new sources of interest, 

 comfort, or wealth, to which rails may afterwards be laid down. 



There are few ideas which are more generally entertained than that 

 science is making, and has been making, gi-eat strides ; aud, in the 

 main, there is no doubt that the idea is correct, though it cannot be 

 adopted without many restrictions. Knowledge is like money ; he 

 who has much not only wishes to obtain, but actually obtains more. As 



