CHAPTER III.

OF SOCIETIES.

Associations for occasional discussion, of men pursuing the same or similar studies, have long been found advantageous for the inter-communication of the difficulties, the doubts, and the discoveries of students. In more recent times, when each art has gradually connected itself with the sciences on which its success depends, the importance of these meetings has become obvious to the manufacturer, although in this country it may not yet have become apparent to the statesman.

The Academia del Cimento, the Royal Society of London and the Academy of Sciences at Paris, have had a long series of imitators in the principal cities of the civilized world. The increasing extension of science and the wants of its cultivators, have led them to subdivide their pursuits and to form Societies specially devoted to each separate subject.

§ These learned bodies, however, are of a stationary character, located for convenience in some capital or large city. With the advance of civilization new wants arose, and Professor Oken of Munich, feeling the great advantage of periodical meetings of the cultivators of the natural sciences, organized an annual assemblage of German naturalists to be held successively in each of the great cities of Germany, thus rendering the field of friendly intercourse and of scientific observation much more easily accessible to all who felt an interest in their common object.

Although the earliest meetings were small,[3] their value was soon perceived, and the cultivators of other sciences more or less connected with natural history, were gradually admitted, to the manifest advantage of all parties, until at the great meeting in 1828 at Berlin, the physical sciences themselves possessed their fair share of eminent representatives. But another important improvement had already commenced: foreigners were admitted to this German union, and amongst upwards of four hundred members, although nearly thirty were aliens in language and in country, they were welcomed with the warmest kindness by their enlightened friends.

Baron Alexander Humboldt, the President of the Association, in his inaugural address proclaimed its principle in the following words:—

“May those excellent persons, who, deterred neither by the perils of the sea nor of the land, have hastened to our meeting from Sweden, from Norway, from Denmark, from Holland, from England, and from Poland, point out the way to other strangers in succeeding years, so that by turns every part of Germany may enjoy the effects of scientific communication with the different nations of Europe.”

At that meeting a map of Europe was published on which were conspicuously indicated those towns and countries only, which had sent representatives to this congress of intellect. On that map Austria figured an intellectual desert, not because her philosophers were less industrious in the researches of science, less acute in combining into laws the facts they had ascertained, nor in any way unworthy of sitting amongst the congregated talent of their own or of other races: but because the government of the country, more ignorant of its interest than the philosophers were of theirs, refused them passports.

§ A few years afterwards, the light of truth having penetrated official heads, the learned of Europe, to the credit of the Austrian government, were invited and hospitably entertained at Vienna. The stability of the great empire which welcomed them, was not shaken by their patient and acute discussions: and it was at last perceived that unless when depressed by neglect or persecution, philosophers possess in their own departments subjects of far more animating and delightful interest than the unstable and inconclusive discussions of politics.

Sweden sent thirteen representatives to the meeting at Berlin in 1828, Denmark seven, Poland three, Holland two. Russia, France, England and Naples each sent one.

§ An account of this scientific congress at Berlin was published in 1829 in the _Edinburgh Journal of Science_. It was communicated by the author of these pages to Sir David Brewster. In the number of the same Journal for April, 1831, is an account by J. F. W. Johnstone, Esq., of the meeting of this scientific Congress, at Hamburgh, in September, 1830. Sir David Brewster, in conjunction with the late secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Sir J. Robison, and the Rev. William Vernon Harcourt, and several other cultivators of science, resolved on attempting to organize a similar institution in Great Britain. The difficulties as well as the advantages of this undertaking were then discussed. In Prussia the social position of men of science is quite different from that which they occupy in England. In Prussia the sovereign was aware of the value of science to his country, and was therefore induced to support it by an enlightened patriotism as well as by a generous ambition. In England science is pursued by no powerful profession which can aid or thwart the measures of the minister of the day. He is, therefore, indifferent to its progress, and is usually incapable of distinguishing the charlatan from the philosopher.

§ In 1831 the first meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science was held at York. It was proposed by those who undertook its management, that each succeeding meeting should be held in some large city or town at a considerable distance from that which received it in the previous year, and that after its objects had become well understood by the public, it should complete its cycle by holding a meeting in the metropolis. But it was soon felt that in order to influence public opinion, it was necessary that it should combine larger interests than were yet enlisted in its cause.

Such at that time was the state of education in England, that amongst the influential classes, country gentlemen, lawyers, members of parliament, peers, &c., few were found qualified for, or even capable of taking any interest in the then _existing_ Sections of the British Association.

Accident fortunately supplied an occasion for remedying, at least partially, this defect. The opportunity occurred at the meeting at Cambridge in 1833, and was instantly seized upon, although in a somewhat irregular manner. Professor Quetelet had been deputed by the Belgian government to attend the third meeting of the British Association. The varied knowledge and enthusiastic love of science possessed by M. Quetelet, might have qualified him to take part in any of its sections, but it so happened that he had brought over with him some highly interesting statistical documents which unfortunately could find a reception in none. Under these circumstances, a gentleman[4] who fully understood their value invited a few of his private friends most interested in that subject to meet M. Quetelet in his own rooms in college, for the purpose of talking over this valuable budget. The author of these pages was one of those thus honoured. He perceived the advantage that might be taken of the accident, and immediately suggested to his friend that the invitation should be extended to all those known to be interested in statistical inquiries, and that those present should at once form themselves into a Statistical Section, and then apply to the council for a bill of indemnity for the irregularity. The plan being unanimously approved of, it was immediately acted upon, and before the termination of the meeting a Statistical Section was not only recognised by the Association, but was as fully attended as even the most popular of the other sections.

At the concluding meeting of the Statistical Section at Cambridge it was resolved, that a more permanent body was necessary to carry out the views and wishes of the section, and it was agreed to establish a Statistical Society in London. The author of these pages was deputed to carry out those arrangements which terminated in its establishment.

The more pressing difficulty being thus removed, the principle of extending the basis of the Association so as to unite the interests of various classes, was steadily and unremittingly pursued. The Physical and Mathematical Section was divided, and a new section, that of the practical application of mechanical science, or Civil Engineering, was formed. The next step was very important, but more difficult to accomplish. It was proposed by an exhibition of the raw produce, the processes, and the instruments for the production of manufactured goods, to unite in the same common interest, not only all the consumers, but all those who contributed to the production, or even to the distribution of wealth.

The numerous foreigners who flocked to these annual meetings of the British Association, might, it was naturally thought, be induced to bring over with them new instruments of science, or objects of art and industry, the produce of their respective countries. Whilst thus giving, and receiving in return new ideas and valuable information, the commercial interchanges between different nations would necessarily be augmented by the steadily increasing knowledge of the wants of each, and by the peaceful rivalry of all.

The first exhibition of this kind took place at Newcastle in 1838. The number of exhibitors was not large, but it was hoped that with time and encouragement this commencement might lead to much more extensive expositions of more general utility. It was followed by another on an enlarged scale, held at Birmingham in the succeeding year, after which it was discontinued.

The following extracts from a letter addressed by the Author to the Members of the British Association, were printed in 1839:—

“My reasons for not resigning the trusteeship of the British Association at Newcastle were, that by retaining it until the following meeting, I should give the Society more time to select my successor; and that by remaining on the council until the meeting at Birmingham, I might be enabled to assist more effectually in the arrangement of the collections relating to the mechanical arts, which it was anticipated would be amongst the largest yet called forth by the British Association.”

“The real merits of the British Association have been misunderstood by the superficial; but it possesses in its bearings upon the pecuniary interests of large masses of the community a power and an influence which nothing but great misconduct can destroy. Look at the manufacturers of produce and of machinery, flocking to our annual meeting to interchange their ideas, enlightening their practical experience by the reasonings of science, and returning laden with the seeds of permanent ameliorations in their establishments. Look at the exhibitions of the productions of our factories, and say whether the humblest shopkeeper has not an interest in the existence of that body which gives publicity to the objects in which he deals, and which spreads them so largely before the eyes of those who can appreciate their merit, as well as of those who are likely to become consumers.”

“These are material interests permanently engaged in our cause by the strongest ties—those of mutual advantage, cemented by reciprocity of kindly feelings.”

§ This is not the place to discuss the causes which have led to the present state of things. It is sufficient here to observe, that if the views of those who originally organized the British Association, had been supported both from within and from without, in the manner which so important a project in the history of science deserved, the Exhibition of 1851 would have found itself led by the science of the country, prepared by long experience on a smaller scale, yet under very various circumstances, to guide with some reasonable prospect of success that gigantic undertaking, and to elicit from it the many invaluable services it might be expected to render to civilization.

Its legislative department would not have been committed to the guidance of a body of men, all of them respectable, and some, indeed, eminent in their several lines, but entirely inexperienced in the conduct and arrangement of any such undertaking—persons, all of them amiable and excellent in their private capacity, yet who have exhibited in their corporate union an entire ignorance of the great principle on which alone such expositions rest,—and who, contrary to the advice and the remonstrance of the best informed, have forbidden the most important quality by which men judge of commodities, their _Price_, from being attached to the objects on which their judgment is to be pronounced.

§ Long, however, before the origin of these itinerant societies, the voice of the statesmen of other countries, and the popular voice in England, had called into existence societies for the promotion of the arts connected with commerce and manufactures. In France, the “Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers” was established. In England the Society of Arts has endured above a century. Its novelty and utility caused it to flourish for a time: its seat in the metropolis of a people whose wealth and power arise entirely from the unbending energy with which they apply themselves to advance the arts and to extend commerce, added to its powers. Yet, even with these advantages, that Society has never risen to the position it deserved, and has for years been languishing in premature decay. Lately, indeed, a powerful impulse has been communicated to its proceedings, but even the presidency of the Prince-Consort has not yet raised it to its due position in the public opinion.

The causes of this state of things are not remote. The position of the Royal and of other societies is equally influenced by them. Although intimately connected with the greatest interests of the country, they can offer to those who give their time or intellect to advance such objects, neither wealth nor rank—neither place nor patronage. They constitute no distinct combination of men into a powerful class, like the Bar, the Navy, or the Army: they are of no party, and finally, they are not fashionable. It is true that the discoveries which such societies profess to reward, are in many instances the source of wealth to the few who, fortunately for themselves, possess those other qualities necessary for its acquisition, but which are so rarely united with genius. It is also true that wealth once acquired, will, if discreetly employed, certainly lead its possessor to all those other things, equally coveted as the great prizes in the lottery of life by the Bar, the Military, and even by the Church. Nor is this to be regretted, seeing that the aristocracy of this country thus fortunately receives fresh blood and renewed intellect by adopting into its class the sagacious merchant, or the skilful fabricator of a princely fortune: the time may thus be postponed when the accident of birth will no longer be admitted as a fit qualification for a legislator. But even here it is the wealth of the aspirant that wins the position, not the integrity and sagacity of the man.

In France the government itself took the lead in directing an institution for the advancement of the arts. In 1795 it established the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in which are deposited an extensive collection of drawings, models, and machines employed in the various manufactures of the nation.

Subsequently, ten professors were attached to this institution, to lecture gratuitously on those sciences more immediately connected with arts and manufactures. One of these devotes himself exclusively to the explanation of machinery in actual employment. There are also lectures on descriptive geometry, and on mechanical drawing. The expense of this establishment is about 6,000_l._ a-year.

§ The government of France perceived at a still earlier period the advantages which would result from the juxtaposition, at proper intervals of time, in one large building, of selected specimens of all the produce of the national industry, and in 1798 the first of these periodic meetings was held at the expense of the government. During upwards of half a century, at intervals of about five years, France, uninterrupted by the many changes in the form of its government, has continued to maintain these valuable expositions with increasing success and advantage. Prussia and Belgium also have adopted the plan of holding these meetings.

But if the principles on which they rest are well founded, it is clear that they are applicable to a still wider field: and that as in the Associations of science, cultivators from all nations are invited to be present, so in the Exhibition of the productions of industry the general advantage of mankind is most advanced by the joint contributions of the whole industrial world.

§ These views have long been felt and expressed, not merely by men of speculation, but by those who take a practical part in the affairs of life.

Enlightened French statesmen had long been aware of the advantage of this species of competition, and only abstained from proposing it until the conviction of the nation justified the foresight of its chiefs.

At length it was thought that the time had arrived for ascertaining more correctly the general opinion. Previously, therefore, to making the necessary arrangements for the Exposition at Paris in 1849, the Minister of Commerce sent circulars to the several Chambers of Commerce throughout France, in order to ascertain whether it was the general opinion that foreign productions should be admitted to the competition.

The opinion of the public was not, however, sufficiently advanced to justify the undertaking; and considering the political situation of the country, the government wisely abstained from a measure which was not yet entirely in unison with the feelings of the people.

Thus it has happened that it was reserved for Great Britain, the country most interested in the cause, though the latest to adopt it, unprepared by any previous experience at once to attempt this vast enterprise.

[3] The first was held at Leipsic in 1822.

[4] The Rev. Richard Jones, Professor of Political Economy at Haileybury.