Decline of Science in England. 349 



" the ignorant are alike unable to support themselves. Now 

 " I will tell Mr Babbage, that in no country Dr Woliaston, 

 " unassisted by kingly favour, could have been able to earn by 

 " his scientific discoveries, that independence which gave him 

 " the necessary leisure to apply all his mental force to the 

 " pursuits of science. 11 



Our author here commits a mistake which we have found a 

 very common one, and which, therefore, requires to be cor- 

 rected. England is a wealthy, commercial, and manufactur- 

 ing country, and any person, whether a native or a foreigner, 

 who brings into her markets an article of trade which admi- 

 nisters either to our wants or our luxuries, is sure of disposing 

 of it to the best advantage. Dr Woliaston discovered the art 

 - of rendering platina malleable, and long enjoyed the monopoly 

 of supplying this valuable metal. Hence he made a fortune 

 by it, in the same manner as Dr Solomon did by his Balm of 

 Gilead. Mr Watt made a fortune by the steam engine, 

 but many other persons have done the same who made no 

 great improvements upon it. In all these cases the fortune 

 was made by trade, not by science, for if Dr Woliaston had 

 found his art in an old book on alchemy, or had purchased it 

 from a foreign chemist, he would have made the same fortune 

 which he did. Sir H. Davy's far greater discovery of the 

 metals of the earths never obtained for him a single farthing, 

 because it had no commercial value. 



But while the wealth of England will be exchanged for an 

 article of trade, whether it is the product of science or of 

 quackery, the laws and customs of England are arrayed against 

 scientific exertions. Had Dr Woliaston taken a patent for 

 his method of purifying platina, he would probably never 

 have made a farthing, and might have been reduced to po- 

 verty by so rash an act. Had he generously presented his 

 method to the British public, and thus thrown a new trade 

 into the hands of the community, the government would never 

 have awarded to him either thanks, or honours, or remunera- 

 tion. He was therefore compelled, to the great injury of the 

 country, to keep his method a profound Becrel till he lay upon 

 his death .bed, and but for accidental circumstances, it would 

 have perished with him. Dr Woliaston, therefore, made his 

 money in spile of his country, and soMy because he could 



