GOVERNMENT AID TO SCIENCE. 101 



science lias doire for mankind. But those are best 

 acquainted with the practical vaiuje, of s> ; ientifi'& knowl- 

 edge who are themselves /engaged ] r,n tgdip^ijfes re- 

 searches, or are at least proficient in scientific "matters. 

 Hundreds, for example, might see in the complicated 

 instruments which are to be found in the Greenwich 

 Observatory nothing but ingenious applications for the 

 solution of theoretical problems ; it is only astronomers, 

 or those who are versed in the processes of astronomy, 

 who know that our whole system of commerce would 

 be affected injuriously if those instruments were de- 

 stroyed or left unused. Here we have an instance of 

 science working under State patronage, working in the 

 cause of the- State; and what Colonel Strange proposes 

 is to multiply instances of this sort. The State profits 

 by the labors of the Greenwich astronomers, and those 

 astronomers would for the most part be unable or un- 

 willing to continue their labors but for the pecuniary 

 reward which they receive from the State. But as- 

 suredly the State would suffer more than the astrono- 

 mers if the establishment at Greenwich were done 

 away with. And precisely in the same way the State 

 would reap important advantages from the labors of 

 proficients in other departments of science who are 

 now debarred by considerations of expense, or by the 

 necessity of earning a livelihood, from applying their 

 skill to forward the cause of scientific progress. 



Colonel Strange's proposal includes the establish- 



