1862.] REVIEWS. 



221 



for the evils of scientific coteries, wliich lie like a nightmare on 

 science, pressing her " as a cart loaded with sheaves/' 



It is only among the young, the strong, and the resolute that 

 any profitable resistance to the influence of patronage and pres- 

 tige can be offered. One young man is powerless, and unless 

 backed by a patron is despised ; but a band of bold youths is 

 quite another matter. They can make their way upv.ards to re- 

 putation, and need not submit to the degradation of retailing 

 secondhand information and science, when they can go to the 

 source, the fountain-head, and imbibe and observe for themselves 

 and deliver the results of their labours with both originality and 

 confidence. 



If the young men of Glasgow will take the counsel of an old 

 man, who has observed that the intelligence and wisdom of the 

 wise and scientific are generally estimated by the weight of their 

 purses, they will cling to each other as they would to their bo- 

 som friend (their wife or chere amie) ; they will never despise 

 help, from whatever quarter it may be offered ; but, to succeed, 

 they should value truth above all things, and deem independence, 

 sturdy self-reliance, as their sheet anchor. 



They will not want helpers when they show that they can help 

 themselves. Their manuscript magazine is a very fair beginning; 

 and they will not be offended when told in a friendly spirit, that 

 there-is a beginning, a middle, and an end in all activities, whether 

 epic, scientific, moral, or spiritual. The end is perfection, and the 

 middle is the connecting medium, composed of repeated continu- 

 ous efforts to reach the end. They should not be seduced from this 

 grand object, either by the sneers of the great and eminent, 

 or by the more insinuating and dangerous attractions of se- 

 ductive indolence. In the spirit of kindness they should honestly 

 and rigorously criticize their respective productions. Young 

 men can bear criticism ; they are never so touchy, thinskinned, 

 nor sensitive under correction as the aged. The better and the 

 more efficiently they can perform this friendliest of all friendly 

 duties to each other, the more patient they will be when re- 

 minded of their own shortcomings. Blessed are they who can 

 bear correction might be added to the beatitudes, if piety and 

 reverence of the sacred oracles did not warn us not to take this 

 liberty. Finally, it is a truism, and consequently a universally- 

 received maxim, " that unity is strength," and it is equally true 



