Great Exhibition of '1851. 161 



owe it as a public duty to announce their convictions on a subject 

 of such large social importance. 



My official connection with the Exhibition has enabled me to 

 give more attention to it than most of those whom I have the hon- 

 our to address, and convictions unfavourable to our position, as an 

 industrial nation, have impressed themselves with such force upon 

 my mind, that you will not be surprised that I seize every oppor- 

 tunity of directing public attention to them. I have already done 

 so in a formal manner, on two previous occasions, and I rather 

 depart from the custom of bringing before you subjects of original 

 research at these evening meetings, in order that I may advocate 

 the necessity of a more intimate union between science and practice 

 in this country, at an Institution, whose proudest boast it is to have 

 largely advanced the discovery of abstract truths, while it has al- 

 ways encouraged, at the same time, their applications to the in- 

 crease of human resources and enjoyments. 



In this lecture, however, I shall rather urge this point as a 

 natural consequence of the subjects chosen for illustration of my 

 argument than by any doctrinal exhortations, because these are 

 not needed to strengthen your general convictions. 



Our nation has acquired a proud position among the industrial 

 states of the world, partly by the discoveries of her philosophers, 

 partly by the practical powers and common sense of her popula- 

 tion, but chiefly by the abundance and richness of her natural 

 resources. Our fuel is abundant and cheap, and our iron and the 

 lime necessary for its production are associated with it, so that all 

 three may be extracted together under the most favourable cir- 

 cumstances. These local advantages gave to our country enor- 

 mous power of production, and, under the favouring influences of 

 an accidental combination, it supplied its produce to the rest of 

 the world. Circumstances remaining the same, our industrial 

 position was secured, and we have been thus lulled into a fatal 

 apathy; for conditions were in fact varying with great rapidity, 

 and the world at large was passing through a state of remarkable 

 transition. 



Setting aside the questions of capital and labour, which are not 

 adapted for discussion in this place, the progress of manufactures 

 is made up of two factors, possessing very different values. One 

 of these represents the raw produce, — the other, the intellect or 

 science employed to adapt it to human wants. As civilization 

 advances, the value of the raw material as an element of manu- 

 factures diminishes, while that of the intellectual element is much 

 enhanced. Improvements in locomotion by sea and land spread 

 over the world the raw material formerly confined to one locality ; 

 and a time arrived when a competition of industry became a com- 

 petition, not of local advantages, but of intellect. 



VOL. LIII. NO. CV. — JULY 1852. L 



