ON THE PROMOTION OF SCIENCE. 



had lixed in the centre of the universe is now set 

 in rapid motion through the heavens, in com 

 pany with the planetary orbs ; and the abyss of 

 water with which Burnet had filled the internal 

 cavity of the earth is now converted into a mass 

 denser than the solid rock. The Terra Austra 

 lia Incognito, which served as a prop to certain 

 theories, has completely evanished, and is now 

 transformed into a dreary mass of water and 

 ice. The subtile ether, which formerly ac 

 counted for so many phenomena, is now evapo 

 rated into electricity and heat. Whiston s idea 

 of the cometary origin of our globe, and Buffbn s 

 fancy of the earth s being a splinter struck from 

 the body of the sun, are fast sinking into obli 

 vion ; and sach will be the fate of every theory, 

 however specious, which is not founded on the 

 broad basis of inductive evidence. 



Even in the present day, there is still too 

 great a propensity to generalize, without sub- 

 .Tiitdng to the trouble of observing phenomena, 

 and noting their various modifications and at 

 tendant circumstances. The human mind is 

 impatient, and attempts to reach the goal by the 

 shortest and most rapid course, while observa 

 tion and experiment are tedious and slow. In 

 stead of surveying the material world with his 

 own eyes, and investigating, by observation and 

 experiment, its principles and laws, the man of 

 gsnius frequently shuts himself up in his closet, 

 and from a few scattered fragments of nature, 

 constructs, in his imagination, a splendid theory, 

 which makes a noise and a blaze for a little, 

 tike an unsubstantial meteor, and then evanishes 

 into air. The system of nature, though di 

 rected in its general movements by a few simple 

 laws, is too grand and extensive, and too com 

 plex in many of its parts, to be grasped by a 

 few individuals, after a cursory survey ; and, 

 therefore, to attempt to comprehend its multi 

 farious revolutions, phenomena and objects 

 within the range of theories founded on a par 

 tial view of some of its detached parts, is not 

 only an evidence of presumption and folly, but 

 tends to damp our ardour in prosecuting the only 

 sure path which leads to discovery, and to frus 

 trate what appears to be one of the designs of 

 the Creator, namely, to grant to the intelligent 

 inhabitants of our globe a gradual display of his 

 stupendous plans in the universe as tlie reward of 

 their incessant and unwearied contemplation of his 

 wondrous works. 



Wore the period arrived (and of its arrival I 

 entertain no doubt, from the present movements 

 of the human mind) when the majority of man 

 kind shall devote a portion of their time and at 

 tention to the purposes of science, and to the 

 con emplation of nature then the different 

 tastes of individuals, and the various situations 

 in which they may be placed, would lead them 

 to cultivate more particularly the science most 

 V^ngenial to Uieir minds ; and were distinct 



departments of the same science marked out 

 for distinct classes of individuals, as the more 

 immediate field of their investigation, on the 

 principle of the division of labour, every lead 

 ing principle and fact in relation to that science 

 would soon be detected and illustrated in all its 

 practical bearings. Even as matters presently 

 stand, were the whole literary and scientific 

 world to form itself into one great republic, and 

 to allot the several branches of every depart 

 ment of knowledge to the different classes of 

 such a community, according to their respective 

 tastes and pursuits, as the object of their more 

 particular attention, it might be followed by 

 many interesting results, and important disco 

 veries and improvements. But we live in too 

 early a period in the history of science to expect 

 a general interest to be taken in such objects ; 

 we are but just emerging from the gloom of ig 

 norance and superstition; the great body of 

 mankind still suffer their faculties to lie in a 

 state of languor and inactivity, and those who 

 are more vigorous and alert are too much en 

 grossed in commercial speculations, in grasping 

 at power and opulence, and in the indulgence 

 of sensual gratifications, to think of attending 

 to the interests of science and the progress of 

 the human mind. Much, however, might be 

 accomplished in this respect, with ease and 

 pleasure, by various classes of society, and 

 without interfering with their ordinary avoca 

 tions, were their minds inclined and their at 

 tention directed to such pursuits.. Sailors, in 

 crossing the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the In 

 dian oceans, have frequently excellent opportu 

 nities of observing the phenomena of the waters, 

 the atmosphere, and the heavens, peculiar to 

 the climates through which they pass ; and were 

 the facts presented to their view observed with 

 care, classified, and recorded, they might, in 

 many instances, contribute to the advancement 

 of science. But thousands of such persons 

 can sail twice &quot; from Indus to the frozen pole, 

 as ignorant as their log, and as stubborn as their 

 compass,&quot; without importing one intellectual 

 acquisition. The observations made during a 

 single voyage across the Atlantic, by a singi 

 observer, M. Humboldt, on the aspect of the 

 Antarctic region of the heavens the peculiar 

 azure of the African sky the luminous meteors 

 of the atmosphere the tides, the currents, and 

 the different colours of the oce&amp;lt;-:., and other 

 phenomena which happened to present them 

 selves to his view are of more value to the 

 scientific world than the observations of ten 

 thousands of other beings who, for a series of 

 years, have traversed the same regions. Yet 

 these possessed, on an average, the same sen 

 tient organs, the same intellectual powers, 

 though somewhat differently modified and di 

 rected, the same natural capacities for observa 

 tion as this distinguished philosopher, which re- 



