THE AGE FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCES, 
525 
that many of the most important truths 
communicated, might have been long 
in winning their way to general recog- 
nition, and in ridding themselves of 
those exaggerated and mistaken views 
which are the commo'i accompaniments 
of every infant discovery, had it not 
been for the opportunities which these 
Meetings afford, of examining the very 
authors of them, with respcet to their 
own inquiries ; of confronting them 
with others who have prosecuted simi- 
lar trains of research ; of questioning 
them with respect to the more doubtful 
and difficult points involved ; and of ob- 
taining from them, in many instances 
an exhibition of the very experiments 
by which they had been led to their 
conclusions. And it is this personal in- 
tercourse with the authors of these great 
revolutions in Science, which in itself 
constitutes one of the principal charms 
of these meetings. Who would not 
have listened with delight to a Newton, 
had he condescended to converse on 
the great truths of Astronomy ; to a 
Jussieu, imparting to a circle of his 
intimates in his own garden at Trianon, 
those glimpses with respect to the natural 
relations of plans, which he found it so 
difficult to reduce to writing ; or to a 
Linnaeus, discussing at Oxford his then 
novel views with respect to the vegeta- 
ble kingdom, and winning from the 
reluctant Dillenius a tardy acknowledg 
ment of their merits ? And in like 
manner, who does not value the privilege 
of hearing a Dalton discourse on these 
occasions on his own AtomicTheory, or a 
Faraday, (.who, however, I regret to say, 
is on this occasion prevented by illness 
from attending), explain orally the steps 
by which he has traced the relations be- 
tween Electricity and Magnetism, al- 
though every one is aware that the prin- 
cipal facts, both with respect to the one 
and the other, have long since been made 
public by their respective authors, and 
have been abundantly commented upon 
by others. And nowhere, perhaps, is 
it more desirable to instil those senti- 
ments to which I have alluded, than 
within the precincts of those provincial 
cities which the Association now pro- 
poses to visit. The inhabitants of those 
great emporiums of Commerce and Ma- 
nufactures are indeed often enough re- 
minded that processes directed by the 
guidance of Chemistry and Mechanics 
constitute the very basis of their pros- 
perity, but they are too apt to regard 
these and other kindred sciences, as the 
instruments merely of material wealth, 
and to deem it superfluous to prosecute 
them further than they are seen to con- 
duce to that one end. That such no- 
tions are short-sighted, even with refer- 
ence to the practical applications of the 
Arts, it would not be difficult to show ; 
hut I am ambitions to place the question 
on a higher ground, and the presence 
amongstus of such individuals as I have 
mentioned, will do more towards that 
object than volumes of argument would 
effect. It will convince us at least, that 
other roads to distinction besides that 
of mere wealth are opened to us through 
the instrumentality of the Sciences, 
for although, thanks to the spirit of the 
age, which in this respect at least stands 
advantageously distinguished from those 
preceding it, the discoverers of import- 
ant truths are not, as hertofore, allowed 
to languish in absolute poverty, yet tho 
debt which Society owes to them would 
be but inadequately paid were it not for 
the tribute of respect and admiration 
which is felt to be their due. 
It has indeed been sometimes object- 
ed, that too large a share of public at- 
tention is in this age directed to the 
Physical Sciences, and that the study 
of the human mind, the cultivation of 
literature, and the progress of ths Fine 
Arts have been arrested in consequence. 
In what degree the accusation is well 
founded, this is not the place to inquire, 
although when we look round upon the 
many literary characters that adorn this 
age, we should rather suppose the re- 
mark to have arisen from the increasing 
interest in Science, than from any dimi- 
nished taste for other studies. If this 
complaint however had any foundation 
in truth, it would only supply a strong- 
er argument in favour of an Associq,tion 
like the present, the express object of 
which is to correct that narrowness of 
mind which is the consequence of limit- 
ing ourselves to the details of a single sci- 
ence, or it maybe, to a single nook and cor- 
ner of one, and therefore to render the 
prevailing taste of the times more sub- 
servient to mental culture, and therefore 
a better substitute for the studies it is 
alleged to have superseded. An As- 
sociation too, which, with no narrow 
and exclusive feeling towards those pur- 
suits which it is designed to foster, ex- 
tends the right hand of fellowship t© 
