314 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE 



should they be unable to form an independent opinion 

 upon a physical question? Why should the member of 

 a parliamentary committee be left at the mercy of inter- 

 ested disputants when a scientific question is discussed, 

 until he deems the nap a blessing which rescues him from 

 the bewilderments of the committee -room ? The education 

 which does not supply the want here referred to, fails in 

 its duty to England. With regard to our working peo- 

 ple, in the ordinary sense of the term working, the study 

 of Physics would, I imagine, be profitable, not only as a 

 means of intellectual culture, but also as a moral influence 

 to woo them from pursuits which now degrade them. A 

 man's reformation oftener depends upon the indirect, than 

 upon the direct, action of the will. The will must be ex- 

 erted in the choice of employment which shall break the 

 force of temptation by erecting a barrier against it. The 

 drunkard, for example, is in a perilous condition if he 

 content himself merely with saying, or swearing, that he 

 will avoid strong drink. His thoughts, if not attracted 

 by another force, will revert to the public-house, and to 

 rescue him permanently from this, you must give him 

 an equivalent. 



By investing the objects of hourly intercourse with an 

 interest which prompts reflection, new enjoyments would 

 be opened to the working man, and every one of these 

 would be a point of force to protect him against tempta- 

 tion. Besides this, our factories and our foundries pre- 

 sent an extensive field of observation, and were those who 

 work in them rendered capable, by previous culture, of 

 observing what they see, the results might be incalculable. 

 Who can say what intellectual Samsons are at the present 

 moment toiling with closed eyes in the mills and forges 



