Culture and the State 45 



of his own hands, ere ever other forms of education be 

 once thought of; in electric lamp and train, in auto, 

 aeroplane, the implements of the kitchen, the very toys 

 that move in wonder. Oh, yes ; science shall serve ! But 

 after all, is this science? If so, is it a means of grace 

 and culture? It is applied science; it does much, no 

 doubt ; for all activity contributes ; such gifts prepare the 

 way. But does it meet, after all, the highest needs of the 

 life we are seeking here to-day ? Plants indeed will grow 

 with electric light, but they need the light of a larger 

 luminary. Rods of steel may give the plant support, 

 but the oak and pine need them not. No ; these gifts of 

 science and their use, invaluable as these things are, are 

 not just now in question; may not, as it seems to me, be 

 reckoned as of highest cultural value ; to so estimate were 

 unfair to science herself, whose power and fascination 

 and inspiration lie deeper far, and higher far. 



Serviceable as all invention and industry may appear, 

 the culture here discussed lies rather in pure science, in- 

 tellectual activity, the intellectual research and triumph 

 which has made possible applied science, the brilliancy 

 and the accomplishment of our age. The wonderful 

 visions of Lavoisier, of Crookes, of Thompson, of Mme. 

 Curie, and such explorers, revealing to us the constitu- 

 tion of matter, the make-up of the worlds these con- 

 stitute the real facts of physical science, these the finest 

 pabulum of the inquiring soul. Faraday's lines or 

 streams of force end in the wireless messages flitting 

 perhaps this moment above our heads. Every boy wants 

 a wireless station, indeed; but better still, every normal 

 youth wishes that he could understand it ! The science, 



