2, Introduction. [Jan. 
frequently held up to scorn and obloquy, and twisted and tortured 
until they were made to appear the teachings of the Evil One. 
We have but to place side by side the artist whose employment has 
been to copy the works of nature, and the student who has enunciated 
her laws; or the modeller in stone, and the teacher of those truths 
which even stones reveal; and what a contrast do they afford! The 
labours of the one have been rewarded with a wreath of laurel, whilst 
a crown of thorns has ever fallen to the other’s lot. 
How is this phenomenon to be explained? Can it be—and we 
make the inquiry with due appreciation of her elevating tendencies— 
can it be that the ways of Art are elastic and accommodating, and that 
without distinction of sect or creed, she has always been the servant 
of Theology, doing duty alike for Hebrew and Greek, Mahommedan 
and Christian, whilst Science has held aloof from all these denomina- 
tions and has walked only with the religion taught by nature? Or is 
it that the truths of Science can only be understood and appreciated 
by the cultivated intellect, whilst the beauties of Art impress them- 
selyes upon the unaided sense ? 
We refrain from pressing the inquiry further, lest it be imagined 
that we would seek to elevate our mistress at the expense of a sister, 
or that we are assuming a petulant tone and an attitude of hostility 
towards one with whom we desire to walk hand in hand, and to whom 
also our co-operation is daily becoming more indispensable. 
Leaving our readers, then, to work out the problem for themselves 
as regards the past, we proceed to inquire whether the existing state of 
things holds out a more hopeful prospect to Science and her votaries ; 
and here the replies are sufficiently plain and satisfactory. 
A certain amount of scientific knowledge is now absolutely neces- 
sary to men of all ranks, and forms an essential element in a liberal 
education. The influence of scientific discovery is becoming daily 
more powerful, and is making itself felt in almost every vocation of 
life. Science not only succours the wounded on the battle-field, but 
without her powerful aid, bravery is of no avail in the General, nor 
in the ranks. The loud and fluent tongue of the pleader may seek to 
persuade, but without the unobtrusive evidence of the man of science 
it fails to convince. The tiller of the soil may labour unremittingly 
with his hands, and waste the sweat of his brow, but his neighbour 
looks on, smiling, and lets the steam-engine perform his work more 
speedily and at a smaller cost. And so it is everywhere,—in the 
factory or mine, in the university or schoolroom, in the world of 
pleasure as in the world of pain. 
It is true that, for the moment, a few theologians and politicians 
are inclined to underrate her influence, and even in some instances to 
