STATE VAILS AND CHARITABLE FUNDS 415 
The following passages illustrate his point of view. 
To the Bev. M. J. Berkeleij 
January 9, 1859. 
I am quite sick and ashamed too of this constantly- 
begging Govt, for pensions for persons whose claims can in 
no way be called national. Science suffers by the refusals 
we get, and really national claims suffer too. We should 
do much better to have a private fund for such unfortunate 
men as A., B., etc. whose most meritorious labors are neither 
sufficient to raise themselves to scientific hero-worship nor 
are directly beneficial to the Arts or otherwise. I do not 
think it fair to apply to the nation except in cases of great 
•' eminence or services of great practical value. It is the duty 
of Govt, to encourage and stimulate the first and to reward 
the second, but if the Govt, pensions such men as A. and 
B., they must also pension no end of hterary characters with 
equivalent claims and less chance of private help. Few 
people look at this in a sensible manner, they regard pensions 
as State Vails to be scrambled for in the most undignified 
manner. 
To W. H. Harvey 
I see too, what I specially dishke, a sectarian view of the 
case arising — it is the Microscope versus all science ; or 
Nat. Hist, versus all other branches. I strongly object 
on all grounds of pohcy and fairness too, to the estabhsh- 
ment of a ' NaturaHsts' ' fund, except indeed the Physicists 
prefer to have a separate one— when I shall gladly join the 
NaturaHsts; though even then I should feel myself in 
honour bound to join a Physical Science one too. Any 
attempt to segregate Nat. Hist, will do it great harm : it 
cannot stand alone, it owes the Microscope to Phys. Science, 
and all Physiolog. Botany too. Their narrow-minded views 
are the bane of science. 
As to the particular encouragements to Science that con- 
sisted in the bestowal of medals for distinguished work accom- 
pHshed, he came to find the whole thing unsatisfactory, after 
it had fallen to him both to receive and to allot these. The 
great difficulty lay in holding the balance between individual 
