154 SELECTED ESS A YS FROM LA Y SERMONS 



speech may be, somebody finds out its existence, and there 

 goes on that process so hateful to members of Parliament, 

 which may be denoted by the term "Hansardisation." 

 Under these circumstances, I came to the conclusion that 

 the best thing I could do was to take the bull by the horns, 

 and to "Hansardise" myself, — to put before you, in the 

 briefest possible way, the three or four propositions which I 

 endeavoured to support on the occasion of the speech to 

 which I have referred; and then to ask myself, supposing 

 you were asking me, whether I had anything to retract, or 

 to modify, in them, in virtue of the increased experience, 

 and, let us charitably hope, the increased wisdom of an 

 added fourteen years. 



Now, the points to which I directed particular attention on 

 that occasion were these: in the first place, that instruction 

 in physical science supplies information of a character of 

 especial value, both in a practical and a speculative point 

 of view — information which cannot be obtained otherwise; 

 and, in the second place, that, as educational discipline, it 

 supplies, in a better form than any other study can supply, 

 exercise in a special form of logic, and a peculiar method 

 of testing the validity of our processes of inquiry. I said 

 further, that, even at that time, a great and increasing atten- 

 tion was being paid to physical science in our schools and 

 colleges, and that, most assuredly, such attention must go 

 on growing and increasing, until education in these matters 

 occupied a very much larger share of the time which is given 

 to teaching and training, than had been the case heretofore. 

 And I threw all the strength of argumentation of which I 

 was possessed into the support of these propositions. But 

 I venture to remind you, also, of some other words I used at 

 that time, and which I ask permission to read to you. They 

 were these : " There are other forms of culture besides physi- 



