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ground, science is a part of England's greatness : without science En- 

 gland would be nothing, and in the race with the world, if she is for- 

 saken by science, she will fall far behind. The exact sciences are 

 the foundation of navigation ; they are the foundation of engineer- 

 ing ; and many of our manufactures are based on principles, which 

 have been evolved in the researches of a refined chemistry. Besides, 

 have we not sometimes been at fault where science was not ready 

 to guide us ? We have heard of failures in ship-building : some 

 ships sail slowly, and are therefore of little use ; others roll, and 

 strain, and are also condemned ; where we have succeeded best we 

 have taken our models from abroad, where high science has long 

 been urged, to lend its aid in naval construction : where such men 

 as the two Bernouillis, Euler, Chapman and others, have been in- 

 duced to examine and discuss the questions of most interest to the 

 practical builder. In civil engineering too, our most eminent men, 

 I am sure, would not hesitate to acknowledge their obligations to 

 our neighbours. We have long been almost unrivalled in the appli- 

 cations of steam ; and yet, who is there who has not sought for the 

 theory of the locomotive in the essay of De Pampour, or the prin- 

 ciples of steam in general in the researches of Regnault ? 



In military engineering too, as well as in naval architecture, 

 has not science been sometimes on the side of our adversaries ? and 

 have we not in consequence suffered severely ? But let me not be 

 mistaken. I do not contend that science can in a moment increase 

 our success in the arts, upon which the greatness of this country de - 

 pends. If we were to say to the mathematician, give us the best 

 lines for a ship suited to a given purpose, however profound his ma- 

 thematical knowledge might be, he would fail ; practice must be com- 

 bined, but in due subordination with theory. It is where in a nation 

 science is cultivated profoundly by a large class of persons, and cir- 

 cumstances exist tending to direct it to practice, that some men will 

 always be found, gifted with the faculty of applying it in whatever 

 way the interests of the country may require. 



Popular science, however, will not do: it has its uses, subordinate 

 as they are ; it must be science of a high order ; science as taught 

 at our universities : there a power is created capable of effecting 

 great objects, but in too many cases it is not applied at all, and it 

 soon passes away without useful result. Were it possible to enlist 

 that gigantic power into the service of the country by making our 

 scientific Associations more inviting, by placing science in this me- 

 tropolis in a position more attractive, a result would be obtained 

 which the merest utilitarian would consider of immense value. 



I deeply regret that the last accounts have brought no intelli- 

 gence of Sir J. Franklin's expedition, and that science has sustained 

 a heavy loss in the death of a distinguished French officer ; the 

 latest sacrifice to the perils of Arctic discovery. 



Many now present were acquainted with Lieut. Bellot, and I am 

 sure they will bear me out in this, that there was a singleness of 

 purpose, and a propriety of feeling in everything he said and did, 

 in perfect keeping with the tenor of his previous life ; and though 



