abstract sciences, we are much below other
nations, not merely of equal rank, but below several even of inferior
power. That a country, eminently distinguished for its mechanical
and manufacturing ingenuity, should be indifferent to the progress of
inquiries which form the highest departments of that knowledge on whose
more elementary truths its wealth and rank depend, is a fact which is
well deserving the attention of those who shall inquire into the causes
that influence the progress of nations.

To trace the gradual decline of mathematical, and with it of the highest
departments of physical science, from the days of Newton to the present,
must be left to the historian. It is not within the province of one who,
having mixed sufficiently with scientific society in England to see
and regret the weakness of some of its greatest ornaments, and to see
through and deplore the conduct of its pretended friends, offers these
remarks, with the hope that they may excite discussion,--with the
conviction that discussion is the firmest ally of truth,--and with the
confidence that nothing but the full expression of public opinion can
remove the evils that chill the enthusiasm, and cramp the energies of
the science of England.

The causes which have produced, and some of the effects which have
resulted from, the present state of science in England, are so mixed,
that it is difficult to distinguish accurately between them. I shall,
therefore, in this volume, not attempt any minute discrimination,
but rather present the result of my reflections on the concomitant
circumstances which have attended the decay, and at the conclusion of
it, shall examine some of the suggestions which have been offered for
the advancement of British science.

CHAPTER I. ON THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION.

That the state of knowledge in any country will exert a directive
influence on the general system of instruction adopted in it, is a
principle too obvious to require investigation. And it is equally
certain that the tastes and pursuits of our manhood will bear on them
the traces of the earlier impressions of our education. It is therefore
not unreasonable to suppose that some portion of the neglect of science
in England, may be attributed to the system of education we pursue. A
young man passes from our public schools to the universities, ignorant
almost of the elements of every branch of useful knowledge; and at these
latter est