XLIV PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
stand ata great disadvantage He may gain’a victory now and 
then, just as militia may sometimes beat regular troops, but the 
final result is pretty sure to be defeat. The position of the man of 
science must, therefore, be recognized by law if he is to be con- 
nected with public works in such a way that he may act freely and 
usefully. Such considerations will bring up the question of how far 
the Government is to proceed in the cultivation of science. 
If we examine the history of a country like England, where we 
have good records for a thousand years, we shall see that there has 
been a steady tendency toward three results. The first of these is 
personal liberty. The slave that was bought and sold has been 
changed to the serf, and the serf to the laborer. These changes 
have gone on with conflicts, and sometimes with retrograde move- 
ments, but on the whole they have proceeded until now, in nearly . 
all civilized countries, personal liberty is secured by law. The sec- 
ond result is the freedom of opinion. To control such an intangible 
thing as the opinions of men is a difficult matter, but it is a business 
which many men delight in, and the contest, though old, is yet a 
living one. When Sir Richard Saltonstall reproached his friends 
in Boston for persecuting Baptists and Quakers, on the ground that 
such persecutions made men hypocrites, the Puritan ministers at 
once replied that hypocrites are much better than profane persons 
like Baptists and Quakers.. But such people have been forced back 
from one position to another, explaining, apologizing, and retreat- 
ing, until now in several countries opinion is nearly free. There 
remain a few able men who pray for more superstition and bigotry, 
but they are the relics of a past time. The third result is the right of 
free exchange, and toward this end we have gained but little, since 
nearly all governments exercise their power in prohibiting among 
men'the free exchange of their products. The general course of 
events is thus to restrict the sphere of government, and to leave to” 
the individual more and more freedom of action. The chief duty 
of government is to see that justice is done between man and man, 
and to this end that the courts are fair and intelligent, and that our 
judges are not owned by rich men and corporations; that the public 
service is honest and efficient, and is not used for personal or polit- 
ical aggrandizement. But, granting all this, it seems to me that 
the Government may properly undertake such great scientific works 
as I have mentioned, with the condition that they be placed under 
proper control and inspection. To the successful accomplishment 
