admit that the voice of the country confirmed the predictions of the mother. "Perhaps another and yet dearer friend might exist, the partner of his daily cares, the witness of his unceasing toil; whose youthful mind, cultivated by his skill, rewards with enduring affection those efforts which called into existence her own latent and unsuspected powers. When driven by exhausted means and injured health almost to despair of the achievement of his life's great object-when the brain itself reels beneath the weight its own ambition had imposed, and the world's neglect aggravates the throbbings of an overtasked frame, an angel spirit sits beside his couch ministering with gentlest skill to every wish, watching with anxious thought till renovated nature shall admit of bolder counsels, then points the way to hope, herself the guardian of his deathless fame. "The fool may sneer, the worldly-wise may smile, the heartless laugh, the saint may moralize, the bigot preach: there dwells not within the deep recesses of the human heart one sentiment more powerful, more exalted, or more pure than these. "That man is not a statesman who is unaware of the strength of these powerful excitements to human action. Cold and incapable of such sentiments himself,-no grasp of intellect enables him to infer their existence, and to supply the deficiencies of his own, by an insight into the hearts of others. "That man is a fool, not a statesman, who, knowing their strength, hesitates to avail himself of it, for the benefit of his country and of mankind. "But if there should arise a man conscious of their power, who yet should dare to use it for the purposes of party, that man will combine in his character the not incongruous mixture of statesman and of knave. A statesman he may be if he can penetrate into the character of men, and can divine the action of human motives upon the masses, as well as on the individuals of his race. With such knowledge, and with the talent that its possession implies, he cannot be a fool; except, indeed, in so far as he is entitled to credit for that limited amount of folly which is inseparably attached to him in his other character of knave. It is possible that he may be successful in his day; it is certain that he will ultimately be found out and disgraced in the eyes of posterity. His name may remain a beacon for a time, until some greater or more recent knave supersedes his example, and thus consigns him to oblivion. "It is not, then, the gaudy ribbon, the brilliant star, the titled name, that have intrinsic charms for him who dedicates his genius to the search for truth. How large a portion of his real greatness, even of his most splendid discoveries, would he not willingly sacrifice to confer on those he loves that exquisite happiness, which arises only when hidden but long-cherished convictions, entertained diffidently from the consciousness of partial affection, receive at length their final confirmation by that decision which national acknowledgment can alone command!"-Pp. 228-231. Such is a brief analysis of Mr. Babbage's volume on the Exposition of 1851,-itself one of the first and best results of that great Panorama of the World's Industry. The most ardent admirers of the Exhibition, and even those who were the most deeply interested in its success, could not have pronounced upon it a higher eulogy than that which breathes through every page of his work. Warm with feeling, and adorned with eloquence, the sentiments which this volume contains will influence the future more than the present, and when the controversies of the hour have ceased, and its interests have expired, posterity will pronounce a righteous judgment upon the truths which it speaks, and the cause which it pleads. Nor is it without its moral, that while a distinguished philosopher has been advocating against the Government of the day the claims of science, a distinguished artist should have been pleading the cause of art against the same men,—its hollow and its shallow patrons. Martyrs at the same stake, Art and Science have risen in allied resistance to their common foe, and marching as they do under the Royal banner of the Exposition, they will not lay down their arms till they have achieved a joint and a glorious triumph. We have already alluded to the advantages which men of science and their institutions, and through them the nation and the world, will derive from the great and successful experiment of the Exhibition. The Ministers of England, who have hitherto been the advisers of the Crown, however great have been their talents in debate, and their sagacity in administration, have been pre-eminently ignorant of science and the arts. Even now they are only beginning to recognise (and act feebly on the recognition) the influence of education and of knowledge in the peace and happiness and prosperity of nations. Science they have ever viewed, as they still do, through the mist of official prejudice, and the cloud of personal ignorance; and though they have thrown some crumbs from the Treasury table,-perchance to gain a little credit with the public, perchance to calm the indignation of a political adherent, they have nevertheless refused, though urged by the two greatest scientific institutions of the country, to grant a small sum out of their financial surplus to promote one of the most interesting objects of astronomical research.† * M. Gambardella, in the pamphlet already referred to in note, p. 543. "In consequence of the discovery of new planets, and new satellites, and new forms of nebulæ, by the united exertions of astronomers, the British Association, at two of its meetings, resolved to apply to Government for the means of constructing a large reflecting telescope, to be employed in a southern climate for the However discouraging to the friends of science, this very refusal may prove the ground of its future triumphs. Contemporaneous with the Exposition, this apathy of the Minister stands in painful contrast with the conduct of his Royal Mistress. A sovereign studying the sciences and the arts in the same school with the humblest of her subjects—a school, too, founded by her Royal Consort, is a sight new in the annals of England. The lofty genius of which she has seen the development, and the matchless skill of which she has admired the results, cannot be to her an object of indifference, or even of temporary gratification. Herself honoured by her country's genius, she cannot but feel for it a reciprocal regard. Herself the fountain of honour, she cannot but dispense a portion of its fulness to enlarge the springs by which it is fed. Round a throne thus enlightened, and thus liberal to the highest efforts of the mind, there will necessarily be found enlightened counsellors and sagacious guardians. Round the altar which that throne defends, there will stand an enlightened priesthood, acknowledging science as its handmaid-accepting her truths as auxiliary to its own-tolerant as knowledge is ever tolerant, and regarding the education and instruction of their flocks as the best passport to that land of rest which is reserved for the wise and the good. The scientific institutions of England will then take their place beside the institutions of other lands, her philosophers will appear, like theirs, in the positions which they merit, and with the decorations they have achieved,-a contented population will surround an enlightened throne, and glory in an enlightened sovereign, and thus perpetuate institutions which the ignorance of the people alone can assail, and the ignorance of a Government alone can overturn. advancement of astronomy. In making this application, our late distinguished President, Dr. Robinson, informed Lord John Russell that an assembly of 1500 persons, among whom were found almost every British name of scientific renown, had received this proposal with enthusiastic approbation. Dr. Robinson assured his Lordship that such a grant was demanded by public feeling, and that it belonged to the rulers of the freest and most enlightened nation in the world to give that encouragement to physical science which the spirit of the age had obtained from the most despotic sovereigns of Europe. The Earl of Rosse, and the Royal Society, seconded this application; and as no preceding Government had refused any of the requests of the British Association, we looked forward with confidence to the realization of a scheme which would have added to the conquests of science, and thrown a fresh lustre over the British name. I regret, however, to say, that in a year of great financial prosperity, this application has been refused, and as it is not possible in matters of science that any secret or sinister influence could affect the judgment of a statesman, we must suppose that Lord John Russell has some better object in view to advance the interests of science, and promote the intellectual glory of the nation.”—Sir David Brewster's Address at Ipswich. Return of Receipts at the Crystal Palace. 567 APPENDIX. We are enabled, through the kindness of the Secretary to the Royal Commissioners, to present our readers with the following interesting RETURN OF RECEIPTS at the Crystal Palace. The Number of Persons who have visited the Exhibition may readily be calculated from the data in the Table. |