No. 133] 195 



tiires will be delivered on the scienc^;s connected xrith the difibi- 

 ent branches of manufactures, and well informed and skilfal 

 workmen will superintend the chemical operations in the labora- 

 tory, and the mechanical labors of the workshop. PracticjLl meja 

 are no 'longer influenced by the contempt of abstract science which 

 formerly prevailed amoig them. They begin to se«, with Br. 

 Playfair, that " practice and science must now join together in 

 solemn union." Liebig has told them that " from the schools ia 

 which natural sciences are taught, a more vigorous generation of 

 artisans will come forth, through whom the resources, the wealth, 

 and the strength of empires will be incalculably increased."' 

 Humboldt, too, has testiiied that '' those nations which remain 

 behind in manufacturing activity, by neglecting the practical ap- 

 plication of the mechanical arts and of Industrial chemistry to th« 

 transmission, growth or manufacture of raw material, must inevi- 

 tably tall from any prosperity they may have attained ; and this 

 while those states in which science and the arts of industry lend 

 each other mutual assistance are seen pressing forward in the i-aee." 

 When this comes to be generally fell, labor will be ennobled, and 

 placed in its true position. ■ 



What would be the character of a nation whose artisans were 

 skilled in the principles of science, involved in the products 

 of human ingenuity, displayed in your exhibitions ? These have 

 added vastly to thcAvealth of the country ; but the argument ijB 

 favor of independence in manufactures, drawn from their pe- 

 cuniary profit to a people, is by no means the most important. 

 The question should be, not how shall we make money^ but how 

 shall we make men ? Not by the wealth of a nation alone, can its 

 greatness be measured, but by the character of its inhabitants. 

 A complete and perfect manhocni, strong in its capacity, well 

 trained, self-reliant, more abundant in performance than in pro- 

 mise ; this js the need of our nation. How shall this be attained*? 

 How better than by training up the artisans of this new world to 

 an ac-quaintance with the scientihc principles which lie at the 

 foundation of their arts? Is this impossible 7 Not if it be true 

 that the highest excellence cannot be otherwise reached. By 

 some means this highest excellence will be reached. The day af 

 mediocrity is ever. Your annual 'exhibitioi], the gref.t Lt-'iidofi 



