154 
PROFESSOR OWEN 
CH. V. 
which he must inquire, and the results faithfully 
impart — acting, in all this, as the servant of his 
Master, and with the sense of responsibility for 
the use of the talents allotted to him. *• So man,” 
in the noble and eloquent language of the revered 
and lamented Prince Consort, “ is approaching 
a more complete fulfilment of that great and 
sacred mission which he has to perform in this 
world. His reason being created after the image 
of God, he has to use it to discover the laws by 
which the Almighty governs His creation, and by 
making those laws the standard of action to con- 
quer ISiature to his use ; himself a Divine instru- 
ment.” ’ 
Owen spent his holiday at Swansea, and took 
the opportunity of inspecting the museum there. 
It has a fine collection of local fossils,’ he says, 
‘ but a ridiculous looking stuffed wild boar leaning 
against the wall in a most maudlin attitude.’ 
On October 3 he started for Birmingham, 
where he gave a short course of lectures, and then 
proceeded to Leamington. Writing to his sisters 
on October 26, he says ; — 
I am writing in a bedroom, looking into one 
of the large squares of this pretty town. I am 
staying with a friend who was an influential 
member of the Philosophical Society of Leeds 
when I opened their new buildings. He now 
lives at Leamington, and came over to my lectures 
at Birmingham, of which I delivered the last on 
