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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



not speaking of ourselves alone, but of our 

 Canadian friends on the other side of the 

 St. Lawrence. We must join together in 

 generous emulation of the best that is done 

 in Europe. In her Majesty's representative, 

 Lord Dufferin, they will find an eager appre- 

 ciation of all that they may do. Together 

 we must try to refute what De Tocqueville 

 has said about us, that communities such 

 as ours can never have a love of pure sci- 

 ence. But, whatever may be the glory of 

 our future intellectual life, let us both never 

 forget what we owe to England. Hers is 

 the language which we speak, hers are all 

 our ideas of liberty and law. To her litera- 

 ture, as to a fountain of light, we repair. 

 The torch of science that is shining here 

 was kindled at her midnight lamp." 



The President of Cornell University, to 

 which Mr. Goldwin Smith belongs, used, on 

 the same evening, these remarkable words : 

 " We are greatly stirred, at times, as this 

 fraud or that scoundrel is dragged to light, 

 and there rise cries and moans over the cor- 

 ruption of the times ; but, my friends, these 

 frauds and these scoundrels are not the cor- 

 ruption of the times. They are the mere' 

 pustules which the body politic throws to 

 the surface. Thank God that there is vi- 

 tality enough left to throw them to the sur- 

 face. The disease is below all this, infinitely 

 more wide-spread. What is that disease ? 

 I believe that it is, first of all, indifference ; 

 indifference to truth as truth ; next, skepti- 

 cism, by which I do not mean inability to 

 believe this or that dogma, but the skepti- 

 cism which refuses to believe that there is 

 any power in the universe strong enough, 

 large enough, good enough, to make the 

 thorough search for the truth safe in every 

 line of investigation ; next, infidelity, by 

 which I do not mean want of fidelity to this 

 or that dominant creed, but want of fidelity 

 to that which underlies all creeds, the idea 

 that the true and the good are one ; and, 

 finally, materialism, by which I do not mean 

 this or that scientific theory of the universe, 

 but that devotion to the mere husks and 

 rinds of good, that struggle for place and 

 pelf, that faith in mere material comfort and 

 wealth, which eats out of human hearts all 

 patriotism, and which is the very opposite 

 to the spirit which gives energy to scientific 

 achievement. ... I believe that the little 



army of scientific men furnish a very pre- 

 cious germ, from which better ideas may 

 spring ; . . . and I trust that love, admira- 

 tion, and gratitude, between men of science 

 on both sides of the Atlantic, may add new 

 cords and give strength to old cords which 

 unite the hearts of the two great English- 

 speaking nations." 



On the samo occasion, in reference to 

 the question of international amity, I ven- 

 tured to say this much : "Among the motives 

 which prompted me, at the time of accepting 

 your invitation, was this : I thought, and 

 friends of mine here thought, that a man 

 withdrawn from the arena of politics, who 

 had been fortunate enough to gain a meas- 

 ure of the good-will of the American people, 

 might do something toward softening po- 

 litical asperities. I referred to this point 

 in Boston, but my references to it have 

 grown more and more scanty, until, in the 

 three cities last visited, they disappeared 

 altogether. And this not because I had 

 the subject less at heart, but because, as 

 your great countryman, Emerson, might ex- 

 press it, any reference of the kind would be 

 like the sound of a scythe in December, en- 

 tirely out of place. During my four months' 

 residence in the United States I have not 

 heard a single whisper hostile to England." 



This, sir, will sufficiently indicate to you 

 my experience of the feeling of the people 

 of the United States toward this country. 

 Either they do not hate us, as alleged ; or, 

 if they do, the manner in which they sup- 

 pressed this feeling, out of consideration for 

 a guest, proves them to be the most cour- 

 teous of nations. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



John Tyndall. 

 Athenaeum Club, Saturday, Jan. Ytth. 



Population of Xew Guinea.— Captain C. 



J. Moresby, of the British Navy, who visited 

 New Guinea during the past year, to com- 

 plete the unfinished survey of the late Cap- 

 tain Owen Stanley, reports that the whole 

 coast country of the eastern half of that 

 island is well peopled with a copper-colored 

 race, quite distinct from the black Papuans 

 of the western portion. This lighter-colored 

 race are a friendly and intelligent people. 

 They gladly received their strange visitors 

 at their villages, and the crew of Captain 



