32 A CENTURY OF SCIENCE 



the practical arts; it thus polishes and benefits society and 

 everywhere demonstrates both supreme intelligence and harmony 

 and beneficence of design in the Creator. 



The science of mathematics, both pure and mixed, can never 

 cease to be interesting and important to man, as long as the 

 relations of quantity shall exist, as long as ships shall traverse 

 the ocean, as long as man shall measure the surface or heights 

 of the earth on which he lives, or calculate the distances and 

 examine the relations of the planets and stars ; and as long as 

 the iron reign of war shall demand the discharge of projectiles, 

 or the construction of complicated defences. 



The closing part of the paragraph shows the influence 

 exerted upon the mind of the editor by the serious wars 

 of the years preceding 1818, a subject alluded to again at 

 the close of this chapter. 



In February, 1822, with the completion of the fourth 

 volume, the editor reviews the situation which, though 

 encouraging is by no means fully assuring. He says 

 (preface to vol. 4, dated Feb. 15, 1822) : 



Two years and a half have elapsed, since the publication of 

 the first volume of this Journal, and one year and ten months 

 since the Editor assumed the pecuniary responsibility. . . . 



The work has not, even yet, reimbursed its expenses, (we 

 speak not of editorial or of business compensation,) we intend, 

 that it has not paid for the paper, printing and engraving ; the 

 proprietors of the first volume being in advance, on those 

 accounts, and the Editor on the same score, with respect to the 

 aggregate expense of the three last volumes. This deficit is, 

 however, no longer increasing, as the receipts, at present, just 

 about cover the expense of the physical materials, and of the 

 manual labour. A reiterated disclosure of this kind is not 

 grateful, and would scarcely be manly, were it not that the 

 public, who alone have the power to remove the difficulty, have 

 a right to a frank exposition of the state of the case. As the 

 patronage is, however, growing gradually more extensive, it is 

 believed that the work will be eventually sustained, although 

 it may be long before it will command any thing but gratuitous 

 intellectual labour. . .^ . 



These facts, with the obvious one, that its pages are supplied 

 with contributions from all parts of the Union, and occasionally 

 from Europe, evince that the work is received as a national and 

 not as a local undertaking, and that the community consider it 

 as having no sectional character. Encouraged by this view of 



