"j^d Prospectus of the Royal Institution. 



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 conducting of future 

 processes. Invention seems to be peculiarly the prov- 

 ince of the man of science ; his ardour in the pursuit 

 of truth is unremitted ; discovery is his harvest ; utility, 

 his reward. Yet it may be demanded whether his 

 moral and intellectual habits are precisely such as may 

 be calculated to produce useful practical improvements. 

 Detached, as he usually is, from the ordinary pursuits 

 of life ; little, if at all, accustomed to contemplate the 

 scheme of profit and loss, — will he descend from the 

 sublime general theories of science, and enter into 

 the detail of weight, measure, price, quality, or the 

 individual properties of the materials, which must be 

 precisely known before a chance of success can be 

 gained 1 Does he know them } will he become an 

 operative artist t or can he make advances of this nat- 

 ure, if he do not? Are his motives and his powers 

 equal to this task ? Surely they are not. The prac- 

 tical knowledge, the stimulus of interest, and the capi- 

 tal of the manufacturer, are here wanting ; while the 

 manufacturer, on his part, is equally in want of the 

 general information and accurate reasoning of the man 

 of science. 



There appear to be but three direct methods of 

 diminishing or removing these difficulties : i. To give 

 premiums or prizes to the inventors ; 2. To grant 

 temporary monopolies; and, 3. To direct the public 

 attention to the arts, by an institution for diffusing 



