-^rr 
 
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 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 DEEIYERED IN 
 
 THE STATE HOUSE, DEC. 1, 1857, 
 
 BY ORDER OF THE BOARC OF TRUSTEES bF THE SOUTH 
 CAROLINA COtiLEGE. 
 
 B¥ JOHN LECONTE, M. D., 
 
 PROFESSOE OF NATURAL AND MECHANICAL PHlLOSOPHt. 
 
 COLUMBIA, g. C: 
 STEAM-POWER PJIESS OF R. W. GIBBES. 
 
 1858. 
 
INAUGUEAL ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED IN 
 
 THE STATE HOUSE, DEC. 1, 1857, 
 
 BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SOUTH 
 CAROLINA COLLEGE. 
 
 BY JOHN LECONTE, M. D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF NATURAL AND MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 
 >^ 
 
 Library^ 
 
 COLUMBIA, S. C.I 
 STEAM-POWER PRESS OF R. W. GIBBES. 
 
 1858. 
 

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Library^ 
 
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 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 Edmund Burke, in his admirable Essay on the 
 '^ Sublime and Beautiful/' declares that " It is our ignor- 
 ance of things that causes all our admiration, and chiefly 
 excites our passions." The sentiment thus distinctly 
 and unequivocally enunciated by one of the most 
 elegant and accomplished writers of the last century, 
 seems to have found a very general approving response 
 in the minds of his successors. A deep-rooted conviction 
 appears to have taken possession of the public, that 
 an increasing taste for the cultivation of the exact 
 sciences, necessarily tends to chill the feelings, to dry 
 up the fountains of those nobler enjoyments which 
 spring from the contemplation of nature, and to rob 
 her of the charm and magic of her power. They 
 would have us believe, that in proportion as we learn 
 more and more how to unveil the secrets of nature, in 
 the same proportion do we stifle the vivifying breath of 
 imagination, and obliterate the aesthetic feelings. I 
 think it can be clearly shown, that such a sentiment 
 in relation to the influence of the study of the physical 
 sciences, is without the slightest foundation : — that the 
 opprobrium is as unjust as its reign must be transitory. 
 Such an opinion appears to have had its origin in those 
 narrow-minded views which limit the breadth and depth 
 of physical investigations to the discovery of mere de- 
 tails^ or to that weak and morbid sentimentality, which 
 
sees in the explosion of antiquated errors, nothing more 
 than a total obliteration of all that is glorious in the 
 realms of fancy. It may be interesting to attempt to 
 trace out the sources of this wide-spread error : for it is 
 obvious that no erroneous sentiment of this kind could 
 have obtained such universality, unless it reflected in 
 so.ne measure the peculiar characteristics of the philo- 
 sophy of the age. The origin of these fallacious views 
 in relation to the influence of the study of the physical 
 sciences, may be traced to several causes. I shall select 
 from them only a f^w of the more striking and prominent. 
 1. One of the most efiicient causes of this anti- 
 sesthetic sentiment seems to me to be the general 
 predominance of the analytical spirit among the culti- 
 vators of science. Nothing exercises a more injurious 
 influence on the development of the imaginative faculties 
 than the prevalence of a system which seems to subject 
 nature to a process of disintegration. It is the province 
 of the imagination to combine and to build — not to 
 tear down and to scatter. During the last century, 
 the influence of this spirit was so overshadowing, that 
 it is by no means astonishing that Burke and his con- 
 temporaries mistook a transient phase in the progress of 
 civilization for a permanent condition of scientific de- 
 velopment. The temporary ascendancy of the analytical 
 spirit seems to have been a necessary stage in the 
 progress of the human mind towards those higher and 
 more general views, which physical science has be- 
 queathed to our age. Such was the mission of the 
 brilliant galaxy of physical philosophers who flourished 
 during the last century. They developed and elaborated 
 those specialities by means of which we arc enabled to 
 
ascend to higher and more comprehensive generalizations, 
 hich enrich the intellect, enlarge the sphere* of ideas, 
 and nourish and vivify the imagination. Many depart- 
 jjients of ph3^sical science cannot be thoroughly compre- 
 hended without subjecting them to analytical processes, 
 without disintegrating them. But this does not satisfy 
 man's instinctive longing after harmony and connection 
 — symmetry and order. The accurate knowledge of 
 special phenomena thus secured, constitutes a precious 
 heritage to our day and generation. This is the ma- 
 terial which must be used in the work of synthesis, 
 and out of which, when combined and co-ordinated, is to 
 be constructed a beautiful and symmetrical Temple of 
 Science. As an edifice cannot produce a striking effect 
 until the scaffolding is removed, which had, of necessity, 
 been used in its erection, so the isolated investigations 
 which have led to general results, must be kept out of 
 view, in order that the imaginative faculties may derive 
 nourishment and strength from the contemplation of 
 Nature. We must distinguish between those great 
 results which form the beacon-lights of Science, and the 
 long series of means by which they have been attained. 
 If, in the laborious processes by which these results have 
 been secured to mankind, the wings of fancy seem to 
 have been over-borne by the multiplicity of details, it 
 has been only to plume them for still loftier flights in the 
 domains of imagination. 
 
 The unprecedented enlargement of the circle of the 
 Physical Sciences which followed the epochs of Galileo 
 and Newton, rendered a division of labor necessary 
 for the development of knowledge. Thus originated 
 those specialities which have contributed so. much to 
 
augment our stock of information in relation to the 
 laws of physics. It may be true, that the undue pre- 
 dominance of the specializing and disintegrating spirit 
 may have, temporarily, tended to repress those general 
 views so favorable to the excitement of the imagination. 
 But such a state must be transitory. It is only a short- 
 sighted and narrow-minded view which looks upon the 
 exercise of those powers by which it is permitted man 
 to comprehend Nature, to lift the veil that shrouds her 
 phenomena, and submit the results of observation to 
 the test of reason and of intellect — as necessarily un- 
 favorable to the development of the aesthetic feelings. 
 The mere accumulation of unconnected details, devoid 
 of generalization of ideas, may have tended to create 
 and foster this deep-rooted prejudice against the Physical 
 Sciences. Those who still continue to cherish such 
 erroneous views in the present age, and amid the ad- 
 vancement of all branches of knowledge, fail in duly 
 appreciating the value of every enlargement of the sphere 
 of mind, and the importance of the detail of isolated 
 facts in conducting us to general results, alike ennobling 
 to the intellect and to the soul of man. It is true that 
 the imagination is not the faculty of mind we evoke to 
 preside over the laborious and elaborate observations by 
 which we strive to attain a knowledge of the greatness 
 and excellence of the universe. The astronomer who, 
 day after day, and year after year, measures patiently 
 the relative distances between two stars composing a 
 binary system, does not feel his imagination more excited 
 than the botanist who examines the fructification of a 
 moss. Indeed, the total absence of all excitement of 
 the imaginative faculties, is the very guarantee of the 
 
precision and trustworthiness of their labors. Yet, the 
 multitude of angular measurements, on the one hand, 
 and the detail of organic relations on the other, alike 
 aid in preparing the way for the attainment of higher 
 views of the laws of the universe. 
 
 Those who look upon exact knowledge as exercising 
 a chilling influence on the aesthetic feelings, evidently 
 confound the disposition of mind in the observer at the 
 time he is pursuing his researches, with the ulterior 
 greatness of views resulting from investigation and the 
 exercise of thought. Thus, Mr. Macaulay declares, 
 (Essay on Milton,) speaking of the Poet, that " His 
 creed on such subjects will no more influence his poetry, 
 properly so-called, than the notions which a painter 
 may have conceived respecting the lachrymal glands, 
 or the circulation of the blood will affect the tears of 
 his Niobe, or the blushes of his Aurora." However 
 specious such a view may appear to the mind of the 
 unreflecting, yet it is easy to show its utter fallacy. The 
 painter who is absorbed in anatomical and physiological 
 details, may not experience a glow of imagination during 
 his laborious pupilage ; but the exact knowledge of 
 structures and functions which he has thus obtained, will 
 most certainly enable him to portray Nature with greater 
 truthfulness, and to carry his art to increased perfection. 
 The fact that the greatest painters and sculptors have 
 found it necessary to undergo a preliminary training in 
 anatomical studies, is, itself, sufficient to show the utter 
 groundlessness of Macaulay's opinion. Regarded in a 
 proper point of view, I am bold to say that no one will 
 deny that the painter who has acquired a correct know- 
 ledge of the physiology of lachrymation and blushing, is, 
 
8 
 
 cceteris paribus, better able to depict " the tears of his 
 Niobe, or the blushes of his Aurora." 
 
 2. A second source of this wide-spread prejudice against 
 the study of the exact sciences, may be found in the gen- 
 eral prevalence of one-sided views and exclusive systems. 
 To these may be traced the overwhelming supremacy of 
 empiricism, bigotry and dogmatism. Unfortunately, the 
 mass of mankind are liable to be captivated by narrow- 
 minded and exclusive views. Positiveness and dogma- 
 tism carry with them the air of truth and sincerity, 
 which sways the popular mind. Thus, by the side of 
 the solid and genuine scientific system, another is seen 
 growing — a system of unproven or mistaken empirical 
 knowledge. Embracing but few particulars, it is the 
 more presuming, because of its utter ignorance of the 
 facts by which it is assailed. Shut up within itself, it 
 is unchanging in its axioms, and arrogant, like every- 
 thing else that is restricted ; whilst enlightened science, 
 enquiring, and therefore doubting, goes on separating 
 the firmly established from the merely probable, and 
 perfects itself daily through the extension and correc- 
 tion of its views. Instead of investigating the medium 
 2^oint about which, despite the apparent unfettered aspect 
 of nature, all phenomena oscillate — it only takes cogniz- 
 ance of the exceptions to the law — it is ever disposed 
 to presume the train of natural sequence interrupted, 
 and to overlook in the present all analogy with the past. 
 This one-sidedness, and its concomitant arrogance and 
 dogmatism, is as destructive to the true scientific spirit, 
 as it is extinguishing to the noblest aspirations of the 
 soul. Science does riot claim it as her legitimate off- 
 spring. She is not responsible for the charlatanism and 
 
superficial half-knowledge, so characteristic of the present 
 day. The prevalence of such a system opposes every- 
 thing like those comprehensive views which exalt our 
 conceptions of the dignity and grandeur of Nature, by 
 the discovery of universal laws. The more deeply we 
 penetrate into the mysteries of Nature, the more har- 
 mony do we detect : the more do we perceive the connec- 
 tion of phenomena which, severally and superficially 
 regarded, seemed long to resist all attempts at co-ordina- 
 tion and arrangement. We must approach truth from 
 many sides in order to comprehend it in that totality 
 and completeness which the true spirit of science 
 demands, and which imparts a living perennial vitality 
 alike to the intellect and to the imagination. 
 
 3. Another source of this erroneous view in regard to 
 the study of the physical sciences, may be traced to the 
 feeling of insecurity which arises in the ill-instructed 
 multitude, whenever old and deep-rooted errors are 
 exploded by the increase of knowledge. It seems to be a 
 condition of our race, that in the advance towards truth, 
 the mind must fly from one extreme to another. When 
 the former ideas of the physical universe are broken up, 
 there is a period of insecurity and license, which throws 
 back a people or whole nations, into a depth of error 
 and darkness, from which it may require centuries to 
 disentangle themselves. The half-educated pretender 
 gladly embraces the opportunity to promulgate his 
 narrow-minded views : doubt, scepticism and infidelity, 
 with regard to all intellectual questions, take the place 
 of security, faith, and mental repose. Hence arises that 
 strange dread, possessed by so many, of the results of 
 science ; a dread which threatens to destroy that world, 
 
10 
 
 which their faith and feeling for the beautiful had cre- 
 ated. They are thus consigned to a state of vacuity and 
 nothingness which would indeed be lamentable and fear- 
 ful, were it unavoidable. The triumphant conquests of 
 physical science which give us the purest pleasure, are, for 
 such unhappy beings, no less than the dangerous ap- 
 proaches'of a conquering foe. It is obvious, that the dis- 
 cord and insecurity which usually pervade the public 
 mind during such a coniiict of old and new ideas, exer- 
 cises a most prejudicial influence on the aesthetic facul- 
 ties. But its effects on science are equally disastrous ; 
 for under such circumstances, it is impossible to rise to 
 those universal and ennobling views which are the 
 never-failing fountains of true science. Is physics to 
 bear the blame of such ruinous results ? Assuredly not 
 —-for history shows that it is through the instrument 
 tality of a more accurate knowledge of physical science, 
 that the insecurity and discord are dispelled, and the 
 connection and harmony restored, without which nothing 
 can be achieved which is exalted or noble in the realms 
 of intellect or of fancy. The source of the evil must be 
 sought in the ignorance of the true principles of science, 
 in the extreme superficiality of those who lead the 
 multitude, and in the weakness of man's faith in the 
 eternal and indestructible nature of the empire of truth. 
 No lurking mistrust can find a place in the bosom of the 
 genuine man of science. He who knoics that all kinds 
 of truth are intimately connected, and that all the best 
 hopes and encouragements which are vouchsafed to our 
 nature must be consistent with truth, will be satisfied 
 and confirmed, rather than surprised and disturbed, to 
 find the boundaries of knowledge enlarged. In the 
 
11 
 
 firmness of that unshaken faith which the contemplation 
 of the order and harmony of Nature inspires, he regards 
 every discovery as a stepping-stone by which man is 
 conducted to higher and more ennobling views, and 
 thereby approaches the eternal source of law, and of 
 intellectual and moral beauty. In short, is it not mani- 
 fest, that in exchanging vagueness for certainty, the 
 imagination derives nourishment and vigor from the 
 power it acquires of portraying the features of Nature 
 with vivid truthfulness ? It is ignorance^ that, with 
 dazzled eyes, just emerging from the darkness of be- 
 nighted exclusiveness, perceives that she has been 
 dreaming, without being able to distinguish, in the 
 sunshine, the beautiful lineaments of the great realities 
 which science has exposed to her gaze. " It would, 
 indeed," says another, " be an unworthy homage to the 
 truths which we profess to venerate, to suppose that 
 adoration can be paid to them only while we are igno- 
 rant of their nature ; and that to approach their altars 
 would be to discover, that the majestic forms, which 
 seem animated at a distance, are. only lifeless idols, as 
 insensible as the incense which we have offered to 
 them." 
 
 Having pointed out a few of the sources of the pre- 
 judice which prevails in relation to the influence of the 
 study of the physical sciences, I shall now endeavor 
 to show how the truths which are obtained by observa- 
 tion and reflection, contain rich materials for the 
 imagination. It should be premised^ however, that the 
 discoveries of science can only produce their full effects 
 on the aBsthetic feelings of mankind, when the know- 
 ledge of them becomes so generally diffused as to be 
 
universally appreciated by the intelligent multitude. 
 We must become as intimately acquainted with them 
 as we have been with the legends of the past. To 
 attain this end, it is not, however, obligatory on every 
 one to become a proficient in the study of the details 
 of science, any laore than .that the customary education 
 hitherto given, pre-supposes a thorough acquaintance 
 with the legendary world. It is the general appreciation 
 of comprehensive views which vivifies the imagination 
 and ennobles our enjoyment of the picture of Nature. 
 The knowledge must belong not only to the understand- 
 ing, but must constitute the very essence of our feelings. 
 The most ignorant, as participators of a common heri- 
 tage, have unconsciously gained a knowledge of Nature 
 very difierent from that which was coincident with the 
 childhood of the human race. Truths diffuse themselves 
 gradually and almost insensibly : — at first admired and 
 adopted by a few who are familiar w^ith the condition of 
 science, and are prepared to appreciate the enlargement 
 of view — from them communicated to a large circle, 
 who receive them without discussion ; and at length, 
 in this widening progress, becoming so universal as 
 almost to seem the result of instinct : like the light of 
 the sun, which we readily ascribe to that luminary, as 
 inflows directly from it, and forces its image on our 
 sigBit ; but which, when refiected from object to object 
 constituting that diffused illumination which enlivens 
 and beautifies our apartments — " soon ceases to remind 
 us of its origin, and seems almost to be a part of the 
 very atmosphere which we breathe." It would seem as 
 if the great physical discoveries do not nourish and 
 vivify the imaginative faculties, until they become so 
 
familiar to us, that we contemplate them without being 
 reminded of their origin ; until they become, as it were, 
 a part of ourselves. The feeling of gratitude for the 
 source of any individual truth, must be swallowed up in 
 the higher and more general feeling of veneration for the 
 perception of that harmony and unity which fills the 
 soul with admiration. We are thus prone to overlook 
 the influence which science silently, and almost insen- 
 sibly, exercises on the development of the powers of 
 the imagination. No mind is exempt from the influence 
 of the great physical discoveries of the last three cen- 
 turies ; no one perceives it at any particular -moment, 
 though all are at every moment subject to it. To con- 
 template often the great truths brought under the com- 
 prehension of man, is thus almost to dwell in a sort of 
 social communion with the everlasting source of truth. 
 The influence of the general diffusion of knowledge 
 may — to borrow an illustration from Seneca — in this 
 respect, be compared to that of light, which it is impos- 
 sible to approach, without deriving from it some faint 
 coloring, even though we should not sit in the very 
 sunshine ; or to that of precious odors, amid which we 
 cannot long remain, without bearing away with us some 
 portion of the fragrance. (Seneca, Ep. 108.) 
 
 The physical philosopher who measures with admirable 
 sagacity the waves of light of unequal length, which, by 
 concurrence or interference, mutually strengthen or de- 
 stroy each other ; or who, by the comparison of a long 
 series of observations, is able to trace a periodicity in the 
 secular variation of the magnetic needle, which corres- 
 ponds with the variation in the spots on the sun ; or who, 
 by means of a revolving mirror, proves that the velocity 
 
14 
 
 of the light which emanates from a candle, is identical 
 with that which reaches us by reflection from the satel- 
 lites of Jupiter, or with that which beams upon us from 
 stars which are immeasurably distant, surely cannot fail 
 to experience an impression more imposing and more 
 worthy of the majesty of creation, than those who are 
 unaccustomed to investigate the great mutual relations of 
 phenomena. Is it not evident that the natural, the legiti- 
 mate tendencies of such studies, are to enlarge our sym- 
 pathies, exalt our conceptions, elevate the soul, and enno- 
 ble our enjoyment ; by enabling us to attain a vivid appre- 
 ciation of that endless unity and conn action which binds 
 all nature in one eternal chain of causation ? And must 
 not the imaginative faculties flourish and fructify under 
 such vivifying influences ? How immeasurably have the 
 bounds of space and time been enlarged since the elder 
 Herschel " broke through the enclosures of heaven,'"^ 
 and, like another Columbus, penetrated into an unknown 
 ocean, from which he beheld coasts and groups of islands, 
 whose position and outlines must be determined by future 
 ages ! Every one is familiar with the feeling of sublimity 
 which takes possession of the imagination, when we con- 
 template the boundlessness of the ocean ; but how vastly 
 mcyre boundless, fathomless and sublime, is that universal 
 ethereal ocean which modern science has revealed to us, 
 whose waves are the bearers of messages from world to 
 world, and from system to system ! How illimitable is the 
 empire of universal attraction, as manifested to us in the 
 motions of double stars ! The true student of Nature, 
 whose imagination is stored with such ideas, must be car- 
 
 **'Coelorum perrupit claustra," is the elegant inecription on Sir Wm. Her- 
 fichel's monument at Upton. 
 
15 
 
 ried upwards, penetrated and animated by the presence 
 of that Divine effulgence, which shines on his soul with 
 the same light from Heaven as that which reaches his 
 eye from the remotest nebula. 
 
 In accordance with these views, it is easy to show^ 
 that every important step which has been made in the 
 domains of science, has contributed largely to enrich and 
 vivify the sesthetic faculties. Who does not perceive 
 that many of the most sublime and beautiful passages 
 in the " Paradise Lost," are, as it were, the reflections of 
 those grand views of the universe developed by a full 
 recognition and appreciation of the Copernican system ? 
 How distinctly and admirably does the great epic poet 
 describe the rotation of the earth ! 
 
 ''Or slie from West her silent course advance, 
 With inoflfensive pace, ihat spinning sleeps 
 On her soft axle, while she paces even, 
 And bears thee soft with the smooth air along." 
 
 In like manner, the central position of the sun, and 
 the orbital motion of the planets, form the theme of the 
 most beautiful poetic imagery. 
 
 " That from his lordly eye keep distance due. 
 Dispenses light from far ; they, as they move 
 Their starry dance in numbers that compute 
 Days, months and years, towards his all-cheering lamp 
 Turn swift their various motions." 
 
 The frequent allusions to the telescopic discoveries of 
 Galileo, in the same poem, show how deeply penetrated 
 was the mind of its immortal author, with the true 
 bearing of the great scientific achievements of the Seven- 
 teenth Century. For we must not forget, that the epoch 
 of Milton, was likewise the age of Kepler, Galileo and 
 
16 
 
 Bacon, of Tycho Brahe, Descartes and Huyghens, of 
 Fermat, Newton, and Leibnitz. 
 
 Let me illustrate this view by another striking ex- 
 ample. The establishment of the progressive Trwtion of 
 light, by Olaus Eoemer in 1675 — scarcely more than a 
 year after the death of John Milton — opened new views 
 of the universe. The singular historical state into 
 which creation was thrown by this discovery, was well 
 calculated to produce a powerful' impression on the 
 imagination. We accordingly find this idea vivifying 
 the poetic aspirations of the succeeding century. Thus, 
 the author of the " Pleasures of Imagination" speaks of 
 the starry sphere : 
 
 "And fields of radiance, whose unfading light 
 Has travell'd the profound six thousand years, 
 Nor yet arrives in sight of mortal things." 
 
 In the same manner, the general recognition of the 
 Newtonian system of universal mutual attraction found 
 a hearty response in the poetical inspirations of the 
 Eighteenth Century. The writings of Pope afford 
 numerous illustrations of the fertility of this step in 
 developing the imaginative faculties. 
 
 ♦'And, if each system in gradation roll 
 Alike essential to th' amazing whole, 
 The least confusion but in one, not all 
 That system only, but the whole must fall." 
 
 Also, Akenside, speaking of the influence of the sun, 
 
 *' Beholds his unrelenting sway 
 Bend the reluctant planets to absolve 
 The fated rounds of Time." 
 
 These examples are sufficient to show, that the great 
 accession made to the general mass of scientific know- 
 
17 
 
 ledge during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, 
 did not tend to repress the development of the imagina- 
 tion but rather, to impart greater comprehensiveness 
 and elevation to the poetic inspirations of that age. It 
 would be easy to show, that the discoveries of modern 
 times have exercised a similar genial influence on the 
 imaginative productions of our day. I shall cite but 
 one example. In Lord Byron's sublime apostrophe to 
 the ocean, there is a peculiar truthfulness and charm 
 derived from the recognition of the comparative stahility 
 of the ocean as contrasted with the instability/ of the 
 solid parts of the earth. And yet, this idea has only 
 derived life and reality from the scientific investigations 
 of the present century. 
 
 It is, therefore, a great error, to suppose, as has been 
 done, that the imaginative faculties must necessarily be 
 extinguished within the atmosphere of our scientific 
 halls. On the contrary, I do not hesitate to say, that 
 the painter or the poet, is a better painter or a better 
 poet from being also well versed in science; and to him 
 the vapour-veiled mountain, and golden-tinted cloud, 
 and ocean-worn cliff, will become invested with fresh 
 beauty and fresh wonder, when he has made himself 
 acquainted with those physical laws which fling the mist 
 over the mountain, and drench the evening cloud in 
 gorgeous colors, and have heaved up that granite mass, 
 a barrier to the advancing billow, and a shelter to the 
 sea-bird in its clefts. Who does not admire the surpass- 
 ingly sublime and pathetic apostrophe to Light, which 
 opens the Third Book of the 'great English epic poem! 
 And yet, who does not feel, that the exalted genius of 
 its nnmortal author could have invested it with a higJier 
 3 
 
18 
 
 sublimity and a deeper pathos, had he been acquainted 
 with the great discoveries of modern science ! with the 
 fact, that the luminous vibrations which reach us from 
 the smallest faintly glimmering telescopic stars of a 
 resolvable nebula, come to us like the voices of the past, 
 leading us back through myriads of centuries into the 
 depths of antiquity ! and with the wonderful connection 
 which exists between sun-light and all the organic and 
 physical processes which take place on the surface of our 
 planet ! 
 
 And it must not be forgotten, that all the phenomena 
 of the physical world are mutually connected. It is a 
 fact, long attested by the history of science, that in the 
 observati»)n of a phenomenon, which at first sight appears 
 to be wholly isolated, may be concealed the germ of a 
 great discovery, which shall enlarge the boundaries of 
 thought and fertilize the fields of fancy. Great truths, 
 truths of mighty significance in the physical and intel- 
 lectual condition of our race, may be dormant within a 
 fact apparently insignificant and unpregnant of result. 
 A few examples will be sufficient to illustrate this imi- 
 versal affinity of the truths of physical science. Who 
 could have dreamed of the import of the truth which 
 quivered forth in the vibrating muscles of the dead frog's 
 leg as it hung upon the wires in the laboratory of Aloysio 
 Galvani ? His contemporaries could never have antici- 
 pated that it placed in the hands of his successors a pow- 
 erful instrument of chemical analysis, and at the same 
 time, a thermoscope and a magnet. Who could have 
 imagined that there dwelt within those quaint old cups 
 of Alexandre Volta, still preserved in the Museum of 
 Como, a Promethean power which now strings the earth 
 
19 
 
 with a nerve-net, and animates a continent with thought 
 and sympathy? Who could have pictured to himself 
 the marvellous growth of the young giant force which 
 James Watt summoned into being, and which no sneer 
 of the scoffer could strangle in its cradle ? When Huy- 
 ghens first observed, in 1678, the phenomenon of the 
 polarization of light in the divided beam produced by a 
 doubly refracting crystal, or when Mains, in 1808, 
 detected a similar modification while observing the light 
 of the setting sun reflected from the windows of the 
 Luxembourg, through a crystal of Iceland spar — who 
 could have foreseen that the illustrious Arago would, by 
 his discovery oi colored jpolarization, be led to discern, by 
 means of a small fragment of the same crystal, whether 
 solar light emanates from a solid body, or a gaseous cov- 
 ering ; or whether comets shine by direct or reflected 
 light ? When the contemporaries of Robert Hooke ridi- 
 culed his experiments with the ^^swing-swangs," they 
 little dreamed that the pendulum would one day enable 
 the physical philosopher to determine the figure and 
 weight of the earth, and even to sound, as it were, its 
 unseen depths and reveal to us, in some measure, the 
 internal constitution of its strata. When the alchemists, 
 centuries ago, observed that one of the salts of silver 
 was blackened by exposure to light, who could have anti- 
 cipated, that the fleeting images of a camera-obscura 
 would be rendered permanent, or that the sunbeam con- 
 tained in it a pictorial power far surpassing in truthful- 
 ness the most elaborate efforts of human ingenuity ? 
 
 It thus appears evident that the smallest contribution 
 to knowledge adds something to the enduring structure 
 of scientific truth, which shall ennoble the enjoyment of 
 
20 
 
 future generations. There are times — as for example the 
 17th century — when a multitude of great geniuses step 
 forward at once, as if by previous concert, and science 
 is filled with great discoveries. A quieter period follows, 
 in which the great ideas of the previous time are 
 explained, arranged and determined. This endeavor at 
 first promotes the organization of the new ideas ; the 
 imagination is nourished and animated by the contem- 
 plation of the new views of Nature. But at length the 
 definition is carried to such an extent, that it destroys all 
 life, and it would transform science to a soulless petrifac- 
 tion, did not genius again appear and rekindle the extin- 
 guished fire. It seems as if it were the instinctive dread 
 of that universal death, which most powerfully stimu- 
 lates the slumbering energies of the intellect, and which 
 leads us up to those higher views of science which enrich 
 the imaginative faculties. As our corporeal life consists 
 in a perpetual struggle of antagonistic forces; so our 
 mental life maintains its vigor and strength through a 
 similar contest between truth and error. Every doubt, 
 every contradiction to truth, awakens an argument in its 
 defence, places it in a clearer light, and thus prepares the 
 way for a vivid appreciation of those wider generaliza- 
 tions which exalt our conceptions of Deity and re-act on 
 the moral faculties of mankind. 
 
 The fear of sacrificing the free enjoyment of nature, 
 under the influence of scientific reasoning, is often asso- 
 ciated with the apprehension that the enlargement of the 
 empire of reality, must necessarily contract the domains 
 in which the creative powers of fancy delight to rove. 
 It seems to me, that such a view is based upon a miscon- 
 ception of the subject. For it is the peculiar g-ttribute 
 
21 
 
 of the progress of knowledge, that as the field acquires 
 additional extension, the horizon by which it is bounded 
 incessantly recedes before the eyes of the enquirer. Each 
 step that we make in the more intimate knowledge of 
 science leads us to the threshold of new labyrinths. 
 Nature, as it has been defined, and as the word was inter- 
 preted by the Greeks and Romans, is 'Hhat which is ever 
 growing and ever unfolding itself in new forms." The 
 domain of reality thus progressively extending through 
 the perfection of knowledge, is perpetually berdered by a 
 half-transparent, vapor-veiled realm of fancy; a fairy- 
 land where imagination revels and lends a definite out- 
 line to the ever-unfolding manifestations of ideal creation. 
 Thus it is, that every accession to science enriches the 
 fields of fancy, and animates the imaginative faculties 
 by bringing new mysteries within their sphere, and open- 
 ing to them higher and more soul-elevating sources of 
 enjoyment. 
 
 There is no danger that the domains of imagination 
 will ever be obliterated by the progress of exact know- 
 ledge. We shall never succeed in exhausting the im- 
 measurable riches of Nature ; and no generation of men 
 will ever have cause to boast of having comprehended 
 the total aggregation of physical phenomena. In science, 
 as in life, every man, strong or weak, carries his burden 
 but a little way, and then gives place to a younger, who 
 seizes the load joyfully, thinking in his pride, that it is 
 for him to bear it to the end of the journey. But after 
 a short space he is also superseded, for the distance of 
 the goal is infinite ; and when we have all passed away 
 Nature will still be inexhaustible. 
 
 Experimental sciences, based on the observation of the 
 
22 
 
 external world, cannot aspire to completeness ; the nature 
 of tilings, and the imperfection of our organs of sense, 
 are alike opposed to it. No mortal has heen permitted 
 to penetrate all the arcana of the physical universe and 
 comprehend the ' whole ; but as science advances the 
 insight must become more extensive, and even a partial 
 solution of the problem will always remain the eternal 
 and sublime aim of every investigation of Nature. Vanity 
 or self-complacency may lead some minds to believe that, 
 in their own age, humanity has reached the culminating 
 point of intellectual progress ; but such a view is at vari- 
 ance alike with history and the laws of thought. The 
 internal connection existing among all phenomena, ren- 
 ders it certain, that every discovery in science prepares 
 the way for higher conquests, and forces upon us the 
 conviction, that when thousands and thousands of years 
 have passed, untrodden paths will still be opened to the 
 scientific observer, leading him to an illimitable world of 
 thought. The regret of Alexander cannot be applied to 
 the progress of observation and intelligence ; for there is 
 no quiet resting place, no pause, except in the invariable, 
 eternal, all-comprehensive source of order, and harmony^ 
 and beauty. 
 
 The finite nature of our faculties and the position we 
 hold in the physical world, combine to render it impos- 
 sible for man to embrace the whole of Nature in its 
 universality. Physical causes have entirely concealed 
 three^evenths of the surface of our satellite from our obser- 
 vation, and this must always remain so, under existing 
 cosmical arrangements. The zone of a few degrees in 
 breadth on all sides of the border beyond an exact hemi- 
 sphere, which is brought into view by her librations, only 
 
2 
 
 serves to excite an ever-unsatisfied longing to obtain a 
 deeper insight into the physical constitution of this barren, 
 rugged, volcanic and Voiceless wilderness. Nearly similar 
 conditions exist in the intellectual world, where, in the 
 domain of deep research into the mysteries and the prim- 
 eval creative forces of Nature, there are regions simi- 
 larly turned away from us and apparently unattainable ; 
 of which only a narrow^ margin has revealed itself, for 
 thousands of years to the human mind ; appearing from 
 time to time, faintly glimmering either in true or delu- 
 sive light. In the vast majority of cases, however, the 
 principal difficulty in attaining an exact comprehension 
 of the physical universe, lies in the extreme complexity 
 of plienomena and the apparent multiplicity of causes. 
 In these, the gradual progress of physical science will, to 
 some extent, dispel the apparent contradictions, and intro- 
 duce order, simplicity and harmony, in the place of irreg- 
 ularity, complexity and discord. In this process of 
 development, it is certain that we can only hope to 
 approximate towards a more complete knowledge of the 
 physical universe in its totality. Like the asymptote, 
 the human mind is continually verging towards an accu- 
 rate comprehension of Nature, without the possibility of 
 ever reaching the limit. Thus it is, that the realm of 
 fancy and imagination, which borders the domain of 
 reality, must always remain, and must continue to unfold 
 new wonders wdth every enlargement of its circumfer- 
 ence. The feebly glimmering nebulae which are scat- 
 tered through the awful depths of space, must always 
 be the field of the imagination ; while the variable and 
 colored stars, must continue to be the regions of graceful 
 fancy. And it is obvious, that every improvement in our 
 
24 
 
 means of observation, can only heighten the enjoyment 
 which the a3sthetic faculties derive from such contempla- 
 tions. No degree of progress of the physical sciences 
 can ever repress the noble aspirations of the soul, or 
 destroy our appreciation of those sympathies which spring 
 from the depths of the human heart. Supposing the 
 mathematical theory of music to be so far perfected as 
 to enable us — if possible — to calculate all the proportions 
 of a symphony of Mozart or Beethoven ; will any one 
 seriously maintain, that this exactness of knowledge 
 necessarily prevents the awakening of those inexpressible 
 feelings 'of deliaht bv which we are borne heavenward 
 on the strains of musical tones ? On the contrary, is it 
 not certain that we would thereby be prepared to appre- 
 ciate and to enjoy a deeper and a richer harmony than 
 any one can now imagine ? 
 
 The most casual observation is sufficient to convince 
 every reflective mind, that in the present century we 
 feel the necessity of reconciling the worlds of reason 
 and imagination. This reconciliation cannot be ef- 
 fected in a moment ; it must be the result of repeated 
 efforts. In this work of establishing harmony be- 
 tween the two great faculties of the soul, the physi- 
 cal sciences are destined to play a very important part. 
 If we bear in mind the fact, that experimental science 
 cannot boast of a venerable antiquity, we shall be 
 astonished at the great intellectual influence Avhich it 
 has already exercised on mankind. There are a variety 
 of circumstances which render it certain, that a taste 
 for physics must continually grow. No department of 
 knowledge affords more opportunities for daily conversa- 
 tion and communication ; the objects lie closely around 
 
25 
 
 us, and are attractive from their variety, novelty and 
 utility ; they do not so easily involve mankind in quar- 
 rels as other subjects of reflection, which sometimes 
 encourage dispute by their uncertainty, and sometimes 
 by the share which is taken in them by human passion. 
 Physical truths soon gain acceptance, from the fact, that 
 misapprehension cannot long endure where the subject 
 under consideration can be represented under its sen- 
 sible existence ; and conceit or self love, by which men 
 are often led to the most obstinate assertions of previ- 
 ously adopted opinions, has not here such strong tempta- 
 tions to resist, where men are not so often conquered by 
 the superior power of another mind, as by the sentence 
 of nature herself. Moreover, our science is readily 
 accessible to the artisan, and from its intellectual char- 
 acter, is well calculated to elevate him and give him a 
 higher cultivation. Thus it is, that every mechanic is 
 unconsciously gathering fragments of science, which dis- 
 tribute many seeds for reflection. In this manner, a 
 more general appreciation of the real nature of scientific 
 research will be gradually diffused among the multitude, 
 and must ultimately lead to the perception of that unity 
 and connection, which harmonize all branches of know- 
 ledge, and enrich alike the domains of science and the 
 realms of fancy. The kingdom of truth cannot be at 
 variance with itself: no contradiction is possible in the 
 laws of nature ; they are all in the most perfect har- 
 mony, and constitute together one all-comprehensive 
 whole. The apparent discord is always the result of 
 human perversity and the imperfection of knowledge ; 
 and we may rest assured, that a more profound investi- 
 gation will disclose the purest harmony and repose, and 
 4 
 
26 
 
 lead to higher and more ennobling views of the uni- 
 verse. 
 
 The primary difficulty in making the physical know- 
 ledge already acquired the common property of all classes 
 of society, is the lamentable fact, that those w^ho have 
 attempted to populari7X science in our country, have too 
 frequently been superficial pretenders, who possess not 
 the slightest conception of that mutual connection which 
 constitutes the very life-blood of genuine science. In 
 the hands of such men, every noble and soul-elevating 
 aspiration is merged in a cheerless philosophy which 
 clings to the earth, and reduces the mind to a mechani- 
 cal condition, delighting in the accumulation of isolated 
 facts, regardless of the great laws by which these are 
 regulated, and the harmony of all physical phenomena 
 secured. The great mass of mankind, even in an 
 advanced state of intellectual cultivation, cannot be 
 interested in the details of the processes by which impor- 
 tant results have been reached. But the great general 
 truths to which science has led, are within the compre- 
 hension of every sound understanding ; and these can 
 only be communicated in an intelligible form, by men of 
 clear and vivid conceptions, and enlarged, compre- 
 hensive and well-grounded knowledge. 
 
 Moreover, that there is no reason for apprehending 
 that the study of the phj^sical sciences deprives the mind 
 of imagination, or the character of its elevation and 
 refinement, is abundantly proved by an appeal to facts. 
 The names of ^Leonardo da Vinci, the painter, sculptor, 
 architect and physical philosopher, and of John Wolf- 
 gang Goethe, the great modern poet, will forever link 
 themselves with the highest philosophy of nature : 
 
27 
 
 whilst the imaginative, enthusiastic, and truth-loving 
 Kepler — the speculative and profound Leibnitz — the 
 systematic Linnaeus — the poetical (Ersted — and the com- 
 prehensive Humboldt, are brilliant illustrations of how 
 largely the aesthetic faculty may dwell in minds which 
 have made incursions the deepest and the widest into 
 the realms of scientific truth. 
 
 Finally, it should not be forgotten, that the practical 
 applicatioyis to which almost every conquest in the physi- 
 cal world leads, are themselves the fruit of that unity 
 and harmony which animate the whole material universe. 
 But I am far from believing that it needs any plea of mere 
 utility — in the too-generally accepted sense of that term^ 
 as synonymous with money vahie^-to gain for physical 
 studies a cordial reception from every lover of truth, 
 and every well-wisher of the intellectual and moral ad- 
 vancement of our race. All honor to those practical sci- 
 ences which the ' stern realities of life have called into 
 existence — but " man does not live by bread alone" — it 
 is not enough to minister to mere physical wants — it is, 
 indeed, necessary that he should be housed, and fed, and 
 clothed, but there are higher elements of his beings 
 the intellectual, the moral, and the religious, which link 
 him with a purer order of existence, which make him 
 the heir of immortality, the aspirant of Heaven. Sci- 
 ence is not to be estimated by coin. Truth must not be 
 despised, if we do not find in it a value which can be 
 weighed in the scales of the money-changer. There is 
 another balance in which the labors of th^honest-hearted 
 student, who loves truth for its own sake, will yet be 
 tried, and in which they shall not be found wanting. 
 He who feels a real delight in the knowledge he gains. 
 
28 
 
 without regard to the advantages and the honors which 
 it may procure him, is justified in believing that he has 
 entered the threshold of the sanctuary of science, and 
 he will certainly, by continued efforts, penetrate to its 
 sacred depths. It is then he feels how full of thought is 
 all this marvellous world ; it needs not then poetic fables 
 to people for him every glen and fountain, and wood 
 and hill, with its appropriate genius ; for he kiiows and 
 feels, as none other can, the spiritual which is around 
 him ; and deep in his inmost soul rests forever the un- 
 shaken faith, that on lonely mountain-top, or barren 
 shore, in the deep recesses of the silent wood, or on the 
 boundless expanse of the never-tiring ocean, or the world- 
 islands of unfathomable space, there dwells a Power and 
 a Presence, dimly felt, it may be, through the gross me- 
 dium of sense — but the true philosopher, with hopeful, 
 trustful confidence, awaits the dispersion of the earth- 
 mist, knowing that in God's own time, the twilight of 
 conjecture must yield to the unclouded noontide of 
 knowledge; 
 

 ^ 6. 
 
 
 JC-UU^