OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 203 



mere abstract meditation. Apart from the 

 pure enjoyment which the study of nature always 

 affords, the material benefits which result from 

 it are of considerable importance. The appre- 

 hension that a more devoted study of natural 

 laws will prejudice other sciences, appears to 

 be unfounded. The great savant whom we 

 endeavoured to describe in these pages, allays 

 our fears ; and I have pleasure in quoting his 

 opinion. He says : "If, under protection of wise 

 laws and liberal institutions, all branches of 

 culture advance in a healthy manner ; in such 

 a peaceful rivalry, the various efforts of the 

 intellect will not injure the relative interests. 

 Each will offer to the State valuable fruits ; the 

 one will secure man's subsistence and wealth ; 

 the other the fruit of a creative mind, more 

 enduring than all material prosperity records 

 the achievements of human intellect for the 

 benefit of generations yet to come. The study 

 of natural laws awakens in us capacities of 

 which we were scarcely conscious; our acquaint- 

 ance with nature, though becoming more inti- 

 mate, does not diminish our interest in all other 

 concerns of life. We shall become convinced of 

 the equal importance of all the branches of 

 physical science, in the furtherance of culture, 

 and the material prosperity of nations. The 



