iid 
316 Sir David Brewster's Address 
corruption the Pental fire upon the satied altar, shall not an intel- 
lectnal priesthood be organized to develop the so truths 
which time and space embosom,—to cast the glan reason 
into the dark interior of our globe, teeming with whe was once 
-life—to make the dull eye of man sensitive to the planet which 
twinkles from afar, as well as to the luminary. which shines above, 
—and to incorporate with our inner life those wonders of the ex- 
‘ternal world which appeal with equal power to the affections and 
to the reason of immortal natures. If the God of Love is most 
appropriately worshiped in the Christian temple, the God of Na- 
ture may be equally honored in the Temple: of Science. Even 
from its lofty minarets the philogopher may’ summon. the faithful 
to prayer; and the priést and the sage may exchange altars with- 
out the compromise of faith or of knowledge. Influenced, no 
doubt, by views like these, Mr. Harcourt has cited the opinions of 
a philosopher whose memory is dear to Scotland, ie whose ge’ 
ment on any great Beye ee be everywhere rec ived w 
spect and attention; I refer to Prof. Playfair, the ap siecle ; 
successor in our si caaeeel ies University of the Gregorys, t 
Maclaurins, and Stewarts of former days, who in his: able .dis- 
‘sertation ‘On the Progress of the Mathematical and Physical 
Sciences,’ thus speaks of the National Institute. of ‘Fratce : — 
«This ee has been considerable advantage to science. 
To detach a number of ingenious men from every thing but sci- 
entific ae ea deliver them alike from the embarrassments 
of poverty and the temptations of wealth—to give them a place 
and station in society the most respectable and independent, is to 
remove every impediment, and to add every stimulus to exertion. 
To this Institution, accordingly, operating upon a people of great 
genius and indefatigable activity of mind, we are to ascribe that 
“ 
superiority in the aera oe ae which, ;in the last seroma ae 
years, has been so conspicuou 
This just eulogy on the — Institute of Pregee; in ference 
‘to abstract mathematics, may be safely extended oe every branch 
of theoretical and practical science; and I have’ no hesiistion in 
saying, after having recently seen the Academy of Sciences at its 
weekly labors, that it is the noblest and most effective satin 
that ever was organized for the promotion of Science. Owin 
the prevalence of scientific knowledge among all classes of ie 
French population, and to their admirable system of elementary 
instruction, the adyancement of science, the diffusion of know- 
ledge, and the extension of education are objects dear to every 
class of the people. The soldier as well as the citizen—the So- 
cialist\—the Republican and the Royalist—all look up 0 the 
National Institute as a mighty obelisk erected to science, to be 
* Diss, 3rd, Sec. V, p. 500. 
