4 Observations on the Decline of Science in England. 



fessor Buckland. Several medals have been awarded by foreign 

 societies to English philosophers, but none of them have found 

 their way to any of our universities. 



With regard to the honorary distinctions conferred by foreign 

 academies, we may state without the fear of contradiction, that 

 the Institute of France is the only body which dispenses its 

 honours with rigid impartiality. No adventitious circumstances 

 are permitted to bias their decisions ; and if a few votes should 

 on particular occasions be influenced by personal feelings, they 

 are entirely lost in the unanimity which invariably characterizes 

 the election of associates and corresponding members. Now 

 there are at present in England nineteen corresponding mem- 

 bers of the Institute of France, and not one of them is a pro- 

 fessor, or even a resident in any of our English universities. 

 — Professor Leslie, indeed, is the only one who fills a chair, but 

 he had earned this honour before his brilliant talents were lost 

 to science in the functions of a popular lecturer. 



It will not be imagined by the candid reader that we mean 

 to call in question the genius and talent of many eminent pro- 

 fessors who adorn the universities to which they belong. We 

 appreciate fully their valuable labours as excellent teachers and 

 eloquent lecturers, and we see among them more than one in- 

 dividual who has begun to earn a brilliant reputation, and who, 

 if not overpowered by professional duties, will add to the scien- 

 tific glory of their university and of their country. Professors 

 Airy and Whewell of Cambridge, and Professor Hamilton of 

 Trinity College, Dublin, are the individuals to whom we more 

 particularly refer, though there are still others to whom we 

 look with a feeling of hope, which we trust will not be disap- 

 pointed.* 



The great fact, therefore, of the decline of science, and 

 the necessity of a reforvi in its institutions, are maintained 

 almost unanimously by the individuals who stand at the 

 head of English science, and who represent it in foreign coun- 

 tries, and by a host of their distinguished fellow-labourers, 

 many of whose names are recorded in the celebrated requisi- 

 tion signed by about eighty fellows of the Royal Society, which 



* Our remurks have no reference to tlie sciences of observation, such 

 as geology anil natural history. 



