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A Plea for Pure Science . 
661 
soon perceives that his higher ideas are too high to be appre- 
ciated by the world ; his mind is clipped down to the 
standard form ; every natural offshoot upwards is repressed, 
until the man is no higher than his fellows. Hence the 
world, through the abundance of its intercourse, is reduced 
to a level. What was formerly a grand and magnificent 
landscape, with mountains ascending above the clouds, and 
depths whose gloom we cannot now appreciate, has become 
serene and peaceful. The depths have been filled, and the 
heights levelled, and the wavy harvests and smoky factories 
cover the landscape. 
As far as the average man is concerned the change is for 
the better. The average life of man is far pleasanter, and 
his mental condition better, than before. But we miss the 
vigour imparted by the mountains. We are tired of medi- 
ocrity, the curse of our country. We are tired of seeing 
our artists reduced to hirelings, and imploring Congress to 
protect them against foreign competition. We are tired of 
seeing our countrymen take their science from abroad, and 
boast that they here convert it into wealth. We are tired of 
seeing our professors degrading their chairs by the pursuit 
of Applied Science instead of Pure Science, or sitting in- 
active while the whole world is open to investigation, linger- 
ing by the wayside while the problem of the universe remains 
unsolved. We wish for something higher and nobler in this 
country of mediocrity, for a mountain to relieve the land- 
scape of its monotony. We are surrounded with mysteries, 
and have been created with minds to enjoy and reason to aid 
in the unfolding of such mysteries. Nature calls to us to 
study her, and our better feelings urge us in the same 
direction. 
For generations there have been some few students of 
Science who have esteemed the study of Nature the most 
noble of pursuits. Some have been wealthy, and some 
poor ; but they have all had one thing in common — the love 
of Nature and its laws. To these few men the world owes 
all the progress due to Applied Science, and yet very few 
ever received any payment in this world for their labours. 
Faraday, the great discoverer of the principle on which 
all machines for eleCtric lighting, eleCtric railways, and the 
transmission of power must rest, died a poor man, although 
others and the whole world have been enriched by his dis- 
coveries. And such must be the fate of the followers in his 
footsteps for some time to come. 
But there will be those in the future who will study Nature 
from pure love, and for them higher prizes than any yet 
