a Public Institution. 743 



than all the trouble and difficulty that would attend the 

 execution of them. 



The managers of a public institution would be less 

 exposed than an individual to the effects of these jeal- 

 ousies, and would no doubt have the courage to despise 

 them. 



In regard to those most important improvements 

 that might in many cases be derived from the scientific 

 discoveries of experimental philosophers, there are, unfor- 

 tunately, many very powerful obstacles, which prevent 

 their being as useful to mankind as they might be 

 made, and as they would most certainly become, were 

 those obstacles removed. 



There are no two classes of men in society that are 

 more distinct, or that are separated from each other by 

 a more marked line, than philosophers and those who 

 are engaged in arts and manufactures. 



o o 



The distance of their stations, the difference of 

 their education and of their habits, the marked dif- 

 ference of the objects of their pursuits in life, all 

 tend to keep them at a distance from each other, and 

 to prevent all connection and intercourse between 

 them. 



The philosopher, who devotes his time to the inves- 

 tigation of the laws of Nature, must necessarily be 

 independent in his circumstances, for he can expect no 

 profit or pecuniary advantage from his labours ; conse- 

 quently he must be excited to engage in these pursuits 

 either by curiosity or by a desire of fame, or by both 

 these motives; and the nature of his occupations, as 

 well as the intense meditation they require, naturally 

 tend to detach his mind from all the common affairs 

 and pursuits of life. 



