persons having no sort of knowledge of science are admitted, it must
cease to be sought after as an object of ambition by men of science, and
the class of persons to whom it will become an object of desire will be
less intellectual.

Let us now compare the numbers composing some of the various academies
of Europe.-The Royal Society of London, the Institute of France, the
Italian Academy of Forty, and the Royal Academy of Berlin, are amongst
the most distinguished.

Name Number of Number
Population. Members of
Country. of its Foreign
Academy. Members

1. England. 22,299,000 685 50
2. France. 32,058,000 76 8 Mem. 100 Corr.
8. Prussia. 12,915,000 38 16
4. Italy.. 12,000,000 40 8

It appears then, that in France, one person out of 427,000 is a member
of the Institute. That in Italy and Prussia, about one out of 300,000
persons is a member of their Academies. That in England, every 32,000
inhabitants produces a Fellow of the Royal Society. Looking merely at
these proportions, the estimation of a seat in the Academy of Berlin,
must be more than nine times as valuable as a similar situation in
England; and a member of the Institute of France will be more than
thirteen times more rare in his country than a Fellow of the Royal
Society is in England.

Favourable as this view is to the dignity of such situations in other
countries, their comparative rarity is by no means the most striking
difference in the circumstances of men of science. If we look at the
station in society occupied by the SAVANS of other countries, in several
of them we shall find it high, and their situations profitable. Perhaps,
at the present moment, Prussia is, of all the countries in Europe, that
which bestows the greatest attention, and most unwearied encouragement
on science. Great as are the merits of many of its philosophers, much of
this support arises from the character of the reigning family, by whose
enlightened policy even the most abstract sciences are fostered.

The maxim that "knowledge is power," can be perfectly comprehended
by those only who are themselves well versed in science; and to the
circumstance of the younger branches of the royal family of Prussia
having acquired considerable knowledge in