400 Life of Count Rumford. 



secret intrigue, are exhibited even among manufacturers. 

 Between workmen and merchants comes in a class of 

 men who have a great and essential task to per- 

 form. 



"These men are Philosophers, who have devoted 

 themselves to the labor of observing, comparing, an- 

 alyzing, inventing. The movements of the universe, 

 the relations and habitudes of men and of things, 

 causes and effects, motives and consequences, are the 

 powers on which they meditate for the development 

 of truth, by those remote analogies which escape the 

 vulgar mind. It is the business of these Philosophers 

 to examine every operation of nature or of art, and to 

 establish general theories for the direction and con- 

 ducting of future processes. Invention seems to be 

 peculiarly the province of the man of science ; his 

 ardour in the pursuit of truth is unremitted; discovery 

 is his harvest ; utility is his reward." 



Yet even these philosophers may become merely 

 abstract and contemplative dreamers, detached from 

 the ordinary pursuits of life, and unwilling to descend 

 from the sublimities of science to the details of common 

 occupations. They need the stimulus of interest and 

 of the capital of the manufacturer, who, in his turn, 

 needs the information and the accurate reasoning of the 

 man of science. There are three direct methods for 

 removing these difficulties. One of these is to give 

 premiums or prizes to inventors, which is secured 

 through "The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, 

 Manufactures, and Commerce," instituted in 1753. 

 The second method is by granting temporary monopo- 

 lies, which is provided for the patent and other laws. 

 The third is that the agency of which is secured by 



