On Two Occasions I Have Been Asked,

It Will Be Readily Admitted, That A Degree Conferred By An University, Ought To Be A Pledge To The Public That He Who Holds It Possesses A Certain Quantity Of Knowledge.

That A Country, [england], 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.

The Tastes And Pursuits Of 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.

Propose To An Englishman Any Principle, Or Any Instrument, However Admirable, And You Will Observe That The Whole Effort Of The English Mind Is Directed To Find A Difficulty, A Defect, Or An Impossibility In It. If You Speak To Him Of A Machine For Peeling A Potato, He Will Pronounce It Impossible: If You Peel A Potato With It Before His Eyes, He Will Declare It Useless, Because It Will Not Slice A Pineapple.

To Those Who Have Chosen The Profession Of Medicine, A Knowledge Of Chemistry, And Of Some Branches Of Natural History, And, Indeed, Of Several Other Departments Of Science, Affords Useful Assistance.