Tom is a noble-hearted, faithful fellow, if he is blackShelby, that if he were put to it, he would lay down his life for you ?I know it,?I dare say;?but what?s the use of all this??I can?t help myself ?Why not make a pecuniary sacrifice? I?m willing to bear my part of the inconvenienceShelby, I have tried?tried most faithfully, as a Christian woman should?to do my duty to these poor, simple, dependent creaturesI have cared for them, instructed them, watched over them, and know all their little cares and joys, for years; and how can I ever hold up my head again among them, if, for the sake of a little paltry gain, we sell such a faithful, excellent, confiding creature as poor Tom, and tear from him in a moment all we have taught him to love and value? I have taught them the duties of the family, of parent and child, and husband and wife; and how can I bear to have this open acknowledgment that we care for no tie, no duty, no relation, however sacred, compared with money? I have talked with Eliza about her boy?her duty to him as a Christian mother, to watch over him, pray for him, and bring him up in a Christian way; and now what can I say, if you tear him away, and sell him, soul and body, to a profane, unprincipled man, just to save a little money? I have told her that one soul is worth more than all the money in the world; and how will she believe me when she sees us turn round and sell her child??sell him, perhaps, to certain ruin of body and soul!? ?I?m sorry you feel so about it,?indeed I am,? said MrShelby; ?and I respect your feelings, too, though I don?t pretend to share them to their full extent; but I tell you now, solemnly, it?s of no use?I can?t help myselfI didn?t mean to tell you this Emily; but, in plain words, there is no choice between selling these two and selling everythingEither they must go, or all mustHaley has come into possession of a mortgage, which, if I don?t clear off with him directly, will take everything before itI?ve raked, and scraped, and borrowed, and all but begged,?and the price of these two was needed to make up the balance, and I had to give them upHaley fancied the child; he agreed to settle the matter that way, and no otherI was in his power, and had to do itIf you feel so to have them sold, would it be any better to have all sold?? MrsShelby stood like one strickenFinally, turning to her toilet, she rested her face in her hands, and gave a sort of groan ?This is God?s curse on slavery!?a bitter, bitter, most accursed thing!?a curse to the master and a curse to the slave! I was a fool to think I could make anything good out of such a deadly evilIt is a sin to hold a slave under laws like ours,?I always felt it was,?I always thought so when I was a girl,?I thought so still more after I joined the church; but I thought I could gild it over,?I thought, by kindness, and care, and instruction, I could make the condition of mine better than freedom?fool that I was!? ?Why, wife, you are getting to be an abolitionist, quite ?Abolitionist! if they knew all I know about slavery, they might talk! We don?t need them to tell us; you know I never thought that slavery was right?never felt willing to own slaves ?Well, therein you differ from many wise and pious men,? said Mrs sermon, the other Sunday?? ?I don?t want to hear such sermons; I never wish to hear MrMinisters can?t help the evil, perhaps,?can?t cure it, any more than we can,?but defend it!?it always went against my common senseAnd I think you didn?t think much of that sermon, either ?Well,? said Shelby, ?I must say these ministers sometimes carry matters further than we poor sinners would exactly dare to doWe men of the world must wink pretty hard at various things, and get used to a deal that isn?t the exact thingBut we don?t quite fancy, when women and ministers come out broad and square, and go beyond us in matters of either modesty or morals, that?s a factBut now, my dear, I trust you see the necessity of the thing, and you see that I have done the very best that circumstances would allow ?O yes, yes!? said MrsShelby, hurriedly and abstractedly fingering her gold watch,??I haven?t any jewelry of any amount,? she added, thoughtfully; ?but would not this watch do something??it was an expensive one, when it was boughtIf I could only at least save Eliza?s child, I would sacrifice anything I have ?I?m sorry, very sorry, Emily,? said MrShelby, ?I?m sorry this takes hold of you so; but it will do no goodThe fact is, Emily, the thing?s done; the bills of sale are already signed, and in Haley?s hands; and you must be thankful it is no worseThat man has had it in his power to ruin us all,?and now he is fairly offIf you knew the man as I do, you?d think that we had had a narrow escape ?Is he so hard, then?? ?Why, not a cruel man, exactly, but a man of leather,?a man alive to nothing but trade and profit,?cool, and unhesitating, and unrelenting, as death and the graveHe?d sell his own mother at a good per centage?not wishing the old woman any harm, either ?And this wretch owns that good, faithful Tom, and Eliza?s child!? ?Well, my dear, the fact is that this goes rather hard with me; it?s a thing I hate to think ofHaley wants to drive matters, and take possession tomorrowI?m going to get out my horse bright and early, and be shop off

On the 18th of September, 1828, there were assembled at Berlin 377 members of the academy, whose names and residences (in Berlin) were printed in a small pamphlet, and to each name was attached a number, to indicate his seat in the great concert room, in which the morning meetings took place Each member was also provided with an engraved card of the hall of meeting, on which the numbers of the seats were printed in black ink, and his own peculiar seat marked in red ink, so that every person immediately found his own place, and knew where to look for any friend whom he might wish to find At the hour appointed for the opening of the meeting, the members being assembled, and the galleries and orchestra being filled by an assemblage of a large part of the rank and beauty of the capital, and the side-boxes being occupied by several branches of the royal family, and by the foreign ambassadors, the session of the academy was opened by the eloquent address of the president SPEECH made at the Opening of the Society of German Naturalists and Natural Philosophers at Berlin, the 18th of September, 1828 - By ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT Since through your choice, which does me so much honour, I am permitted to open this meeting, the first duty which I have to discharge is one of gratitude The distinction which has been conferred on him who has never yet been able to attend your excellent society, is not the reward of scientific efforts, or of feeble and persevering attempts to discover new phenomena, or to draw the light of knowledge from the unexplored depths of nature A finer feeling, however, directed your attention to me You have assured me, that while, during an absence of many years, and in a distant quarter of the globe, I was labouring in the same cause with yourselves, I was not a stranger in your thoughts You have likewise greeted my return home, that, by the sacred tie of gratitude, you might bind me still longer and closer to our common country What, however, can the picture of this, our native land, present more agreeable to the mind, than the assembly which we receive to-day for the first time within our walls; from the banks of the Neckar, the birth-place of Kepler and of Schiller, to the remotest border of the Baltic plains; from hence to the mouths of the Rhine, where, under the beneficent influence of commerce, the treasuries of exotic nature have for centuries been collected and investigated, the friends of nature, inspired with the same zeal, and, urged by the same passion, flock together to this assembly Everywhere, where the German language is used, and its peculiar structure affects the spirit and disposition of the people From the Great European Alps, to the other side of the Weichsel, where, in the country of Copernicus, astronomy rose to renewed splendour; everywhere in the extensive dominions of the German nation we attempt to discover the secret operations of nature, whether in the heavens, or in the deepest problems of mechanics, or in the interior of the earth, or in the finely woven tissues of organic structure Protected by noble princes, this assembly has annually increased in interest and extent Every distinction which difference of religion or form of government can occasion is here annulled Germany manifests itself as it were in its intellectual unity; and since knowledge of truth and performance of duty are the highest object of morality, that feeling of unity weakens none of the bonds which the religion, constitution, and laws of our country, have rendered dear to each of us Even this emulation in mental struggles has called forth (as the glorious history of our country tells us,) the fairest blossoms of humanity, science, and art The assembly of German naturalists and natural philosophers since its last meeting, when it was so hospitably received at Munich, has, through the flattering interest of neighbouring states and academies, shone with peculiar lustre Allied nations have renewed the ancient alliance between Germany and the ancient Scandinavian North Such an interest deserves acknowledgment the more, because it unexpectedly increases the mass of facts and opinions which are here brought into one common and useful union It also recalls lofty recollections into the mind of the naturalist Scarcely half a century has elapsed since Linne appears, in the boldness of the undertakings which he has attempted and accomplished, as one of the greatest men of the last century His glory, however bright, has not rendered Europe blind to the merits of Scheele and Bergman The catalogue of these great names is not completed; but lest I shall offend noble modesty, I dare not speak of the light which is still flowing in richest profusion from the North, nor mention the discoveries in the chemical nature of substances, in the numerical relation of their elements, or the eddying streams of electro-magnetic powers [The philosophers here referred to are Berzelius and Oersted May those excellent persons, who, deterred neither by perils of sea or land, have hastened to our meeting from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, England, and Poland, point our 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 But although I must restrain the expression of my personal feelings in presence of this assembly, I must be permitted at least to name the patriarchs of our national glory, who are detained from us by a regard for those lives so dear to their country;--Goethe, whom the great creations of poetical fancy have not prevented from penetrating the ARCANA of nature, and who now in rural solitude mourns for his princely friend, as Germany for one of her greatest ornaments;--Olbers, who has discovered two bodies where he had already predicted they were to be found;--the greatest anatomists of our age--Soemmering, who, with equal zeal, has investigated the wonders of organic structure, and the spots and FACULAE of the sun, (condensations and openings of the photosphere;) Blumenbach, whose pupil I have the honour to be, who, by his works and his immortal eloquence, has inspired everywhere a love of comparative anatomy, physiology, and the general history of nature, and who has laboured diligently for half a century How could I resist the temptation to adorn my discourse with names which posterity will repeat, as we are not favoured with their presence? These observations on the literary wealth of our native country, and the progressive developement of our institution, lead us naturally to the obstructions which will arise from the increasing number of our fellow-labourers, The chief object of this assembly does not consist, as in other societies whose sphere is more limited, in the mutual interchange of treatises, or in innumerable memoirs, destined to be printed in some general collection The principal object of this Society is, to bring those personally together who are engaged in the same field of science It is the immediate, and therefore more obvious interchange of ideas, whether they present themselves as facts, opinions, or doubts It is the foundation of friendly connexion which throws light on science, adds cheerfulness to life, and gives patience and amenity to the manners In the most flourishing period of ancient Greece, the distinction between words and writing first manifested itself most strongly amongst a race, which had raised itself to the most splendid intellectual superiority, and to whose latest descendants, as preserved from the shipwreck of nations, we still consecrate our most anxious wishes It was not the difficulty of interchange of ideas alone, nor the want of German science, which has spread thought as on wings through the world, and insured it a long continuance, that then induced the friends of philosophy and natural history in Magna Graecia and Asia Minor to wander on long journeys That ancient race knew the inspiring influence of conversation as it extemporaneously, freely, and prudently penetrates the tissue of scientific opinions and doubts The discovery of the truth without difference of opinion is unattainable, because the truth, in its greatest extent, can never be recognized by all, and at the same time Each step, which seems to bring the explorer of nature nearer to his object, only carries him to the threshold of new labyrinths The mass of doubt does not diminish, but spreads like a moving cloud over other and new fields; and whoever has called that a golden period, when difference of opinions, or, as some are accustomed to express it, the disputes of the learned, will be finished, has as imperfect a conception of the wants of science, and of its continued advancement, as a person who expects that the same opinions in geognosy, chemistry, or physiology, will be maintained for several centuries The founders of this society, with a deep sense of the unity of nature, have combined in the completest manner, all the branches of physical knowledge, and the historical, geometrical, and experimental philosophy The names of natural historian and natural philosopher are here, therefore, nearly synonimous, chained by a terrestrial link to the type of the lower animals Man completes the scale of higher shop organization

After exchanging a few words of further arrangement, Haley, with visible reluctance, handed over the fifty dollars to Tom, and the worthy trio separated for the night If any of our refined and Christian readers object to the society into which this scene introduces them, let us beg them to begin and conquer their prejudices in timeThe catching business, we beg to remind them, is rising to the dignity of a lawful and patriotic professionIf all the broad land between the Mississippi and the Pacific becomes one great market for bodies and souls, and human property retains the locomotive tendencies of this nineteenth century, the trader and catcher may yet be among our aristocracy While this scene was going on at the tavern, Sam and Andy, in a state of high felicitation, pursued their way home Sam was in the highest possible feather, and expressed his exultation by all sorts of supernatural howls and ejaculations, by divers odd motions and contortions of his whole systemSometimes he would sit backward, with his face to the horse?s tail and sides, and then, with a whoop and a somerset, come right side up in his place again, and, drawing on a grave face, begin to lecture Andy in high-sounding tones for laughing and playing the foolAnon, slapping his sides with his arms, he would burst forth in peals of laughter, that made the old woods ring as they passedWith all these evolutions, he contrived to keep the horses up to the top of their speed, until, between ten and eleven, their heels resounded on the gravel at the end of the balconyShelby flew to the railings ?Is that you, Sam? Where are they?? ?Mas?r Haley ?s a-restin? at the tavern; he?s drefful fatigued, Missis ?And Eliza, Sam?? ?Wal, she?s clar ?cross JordanAs a body may say, in the land o? Canaan ?Why, Sam, what do you mean?? said MrsShelby, breathless, and almost faint, as the possible meaning of these words came over her ?Wal, Missis, de Lord he persarves his ownLizy?s done gone over the river into ?Hio, as ?markably as if de Lord took her over in a charrit of fire and two hosses Sam?s vein of piety was always uncommonly fervent in his mistress? presence; and he made great capital of scriptural figures and images ?Come up here, Sam,? said MrShelby, who had followed on to the verandah, ?and tell your mistress what she wantsCome, come, Emily,? said he, passing his arm round her, ?you are cold and all in a shiver; you allow yourself to feel too much ?Feel too much! Am not I a woman,?a mother? Are we not both responsible to God for this poor girl? My God! lay not this sin to our charge ?What sin, Emily? You see yourself that we have only done what we were obliged to ?There?s an awful feeling of guilt about it, though,? said Mrs?I can?t reason it away ?Here, Andy, you nigger, be alive!? called Sam, under the verandah; ?take these yer hosses to der barn; don?t ye hear Mas?r a callin??? and Sam soon appeared, palm-leaf in hand, at the parlor door ?Now, Sam, tell us distinctly how the matter was,? said Mr?Where is Eliza, if you know?? ?Wal, Mas?r, I saw her, with my own eyes, a crossin? on the floatin? iceShe crossed most ?markably; it wasn?t no less nor a miracle; and I saw a man help her up the ?Hio side, and then she was lost in the dusk ?Sam, I think this rather apocryphal,?this miracleCrossing on floating ice isn?t so easily done,? said Mr ?Easy! couldn?t nobody a done it, without de LordWhy, now,? said Sam, ??t was jist dis yer wayMas?r Haley, and me, and Andy, we comes up to de little tavern by the river, and I rides a leetle ahead,?(I?s so zealous to be a cotchin? Lizy, that I couldn?t hold in, no way),?and when I comes by the tavern winder, sure enough there she was, right in plain sight, and dey diggin? on behindWal, I loses off my hat, and sings out nuff to raise the deadCourse Lizy she hars, and she dodges back, when Mas?r Haley he goes past the door; and then, I tell ye, she clared out de side door; she went down de river bank;?Mas?r Haley he seed her, and yelled out, and him, and me, and Andy, we took arterDown she come to the river, and thar was the current running ten feet wide by the shore, and over t? other side ice a sawin? and a jiggling up and down, kinder as ?t were a great islandWe come right behind her, and I thought my soul he?d got her sure enough,?when she gin sich a screech as I never hearn, and thar she was, clar over t? other side of the current, on the ice, and then on she went, a screeching and a jumpin?,?the ice went crack! c?wallop! cracking! chunk! and she a boundin? like a buck! Lord, the spring that ar gal?s got in her an?t common, I?m o? ?pinionShelby sat perfectly silent, pale with excitement, while Sam told his story ?God be praised, she isn?t dead!? she said; ?but where is the poor child now?? ?De Lord will pervide,? said Sam, rolling up his eyes shop piously

[During the printing of this chapter, a friend, on whom I had called, complained that the porter of the Royal Society had demanded half-a-crown for leaving the list Such are the paltry interests to which those of the Royal Society are made to bow Another point on which information ought to be given in each volume, is the conditions on which the distribution of the Society's medals are made It is true that these are, or ought to be, printed with the Statutes of the Society; but that volume is only in the hands of members, and it is for the credit of the medals themselves, that the laws which regulate their award should be widely known, in order that persons, not members of the Society, might enter into competition for them Information relative to the admissions and deaths amongst the Society would also be interesting; a list of the names of those whom the Society had lost, and of those members who had been added to its ranks each year, would find a proper place in the historical pages which ought to be given with each volume of our Transactions The want of a distinction between the working members of the Society, and those who merely honour it with their patronage, renders many arrangements, which would be advantageous to science, in some cases, injudicious, and in other instances, almost impossible Collections of Observations which are from time to time given to the Society, may be of such a nature, that but few of the members are interested in them In such cases, the expense of printing above 800 copies may reasonably induce the Council to decline printing them altogether; whereas, if they had any means of discrimination for distributing them, they might be quite willing to incur the expense of printing 250 Other cases may occur, in which great advantage would accrue, if the principle were once admitted Government, the Universities, public bodies, and even individuals might, in some cases, be disposed to present to the Royal Society a limited number of copies of their works, if they knew that they were likely to be placed in the hands of persons who would use themFifty or a hundred additional copies might, in some cases, not be objected to on the ground of expense, when seven or eight hundred would be quite out of the question Let us suppose twenty copies of a description of some new chemical process to be placed at the disposal of the Royal Society by any public body; it will not surely be contended that they ought all to remain on the Society's shelvesYet, with our present rules, that would be the case If, however, the list of the Members of the Society were read over to the Council, and the names of those gentlemen known to be conversant with chemical science were written down; then, if nineteen copies of the work were given to those nineteen persons on this list, who had contributed most to the Transactions of the Society, they would in all probability be placed in the fittest hands Complete sets of the Philosophical Transactions have now become extremely bulky; it might be well worth our consideration, whether the knowledge of the many valuable papers they contain would not be much spread, by publishing the abstracts of them which have been read at the ordinary meetings of the Society Perhaps two or three volumes octavo, would contain all that has been done in this way during the last century Another circumstance, which would contribute much to the order of the proceedings of the Council, would be to have a distinct list made out of all the statutes and orders of the Council relating to each particular subject Thus the President, by having at one view before him all that had ever been decreed on the question under consideration, would be much better able to prevent inconsistent resolutions, and to save the time of the Council from being wasted by unnecessary discussions ORDER OF MERIT Amongst the various proposals for encouraging science, the institution of an order of merit has been suggested It is somewhat singular, that whilst in most of the other kingdoms of Europe, such orders exist for the purpose of rewarding, by honorary distinctions, the improvers of the arts of life, or successful discoverers in science, nothing of the kind has been established in England [At the great meeting of the philosophers at Berlin, in 1828, of which an account is given in the Appendix; the respect in which Berzelius, Oersted, Gauss, and Humboldt were held in their respective countries was apparent in the orders bestowed on them by the Sovereigns of Sweden, of Denmark, of Hanover, and of Prussia; and there were present many other philosophers, whose decorations sufficiently attested the respect in which science was held in the countries from which they came Our orders of knighthood are favourable only to military distinction It has been urged, as an argument for such institutions, that they are a cheap mode of rewarding science, whilst, on the other hand, it has been objected, that they would diminish the value of such honorary distinctions by making them common The latter objection is of little weight, because the numbers who pursue science are few, and, probably, will long continue so It would also be easily avoided, by restricting the number of the order or of the class, if it were to form a peculiar class of another order Another objection, however, appears to me to possess far greater weight; and, however strong the disposition of the Government might be (if such an order existed) to fill it properly, I do not believe that, in the present state of public opinion respecting science, it could be done, and, in all probability, it would be filled up through the channels of patronage, and by mere jobbers in science Another proposal, of a similar kind, has also been talked of, one which it may appear almost ridiculous to suggest in England, but which would be considered so in no other countryIt is, to ennoble some of the greatest scientific benefactors of their country Not to mention political causes, the ranks of the nobility are constantly recruited from the army, the navy, and the bar; why should not the family of that man, whose name is imperishably connected with the steam-engine, be enrolled amongst the nobility of his country? In utility and profit, not merely to that country, but to the human race, his deeds may proudly claim comparison even with the most splendid of those achieved by classes so rich in glorious recollections An objection, in most cases fatal to such a course, arises from the impolicy of conferring a title, unless a considerable fortune exists to support it; a circumstance very rarely occurring to the philosopher It might in some measure be removed, by creating such titles only for lifeBut here, again, until there existed some knowledge of science amongst the higher classes, and a sound state of public opinion relative to science, the execution of the plan could only be injurious OF THE UNION OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES This idea has occurred to several persons, as likely to lead to considerable advantages to science If the various scientific societies could unite in the occupation of one large building, considerable economy would result from the union By properly arranging their evenings of meeting, one meeting-room only need be required The libraries might either be united, or arranged in adjoining rooms; and such a system would greatly facilitate the inquiries of scientific persons Whether it would be possible to reunite in any way the different societies to the Royal Society, might be a delicate question; but although, on some accounts, desirable, that event is not necessary for the purpose of their having a common residence The Medico-Botanical Society might, perhaps, from sympathy, be the first to which the Royal Society would apply; and by a proper interchange of diplomas, [A thing well understood by the INITIATED, both at HOME and shop ABROAD

[During the printing of this chapter, a friend, on whom I had called, complained that the porter of the Royal Society had demanded half-a-crown for leaving the list Such are the paltry interests to which those of the Royal Society are made to bow Another point on which information ought to be given in each volume, is the conditions on which the distribution of the Society's medals are made It is true that these are, or ought to be, printed with the Statutes of the Society; but that volume is only in the hands of members, and it is for the credit of the medals themselves, that the laws which regulate their award should be widely known, in order that persons, not members of the Society, might enter into competition for them Information relative to the admissions and deaths amongst the Society would also be interesting; a list of the names of those whom the Society had lost, and of those members who had been added to its ranks each year, would find a proper place in the historical pages which ought to be given with each volume of our Transactions The want of a distinction between the working members of the Society, and those who merely honour it with their patronage, renders many arrangements, which would be advantageous to science, in some cases, injudicious, and in other instances, almost impossible Collections of Observations which are from time to time given to the Society, may be of such a nature, that but few of the members are interested in them In such cases, the expense of printing above 800 copies may reasonably induce the Council to decline printing them altogether; whereas, if they had any means of discrimination for distributing them, they might be quite willing to incur the expense of printing 250 Other cases may occur, in which great advantage would accrue, if the principle were once admitted Government, the Universities, public bodies, and even individuals might, in some cases, be disposed to present to the Royal Society a limited number of copies of their works, if they knew that they were likely to be placed in the hands of persons who would use themFifty or a hundred additional copies might, in some cases, not be objected to on the ground of expense, when seven or eight hundred would be quite out of the question Let us suppose twenty copies of a description of some new chemical process to be placed at the disposal of the Royal Society by any public body; it will not surely be contended that they ought all to remain on the Society's shelvesYet, with our present rules, that would be the case If, however, the list of the Members of the Society were read over to the Council, and the names of those gentlemen known to be conversant with chemical science were written down; then, if nineteen copies of the work were given to those nineteen persons on this list, who had contributed most to the Transactions of the Society, they would in all probability be placed in the fittest hands Complete sets of the Philosophical Transactions have now become extremely bulky; it might be well worth our consideration, whether the knowledge of the many valuable papers they contain would not be much spread, by publishing the abstracts of them which have been read at the ordinary meetings of the Society Perhaps two or three volumes octavo, would contain all that has been done in this way during the last century Another circumstance, which would contribute much to the order of the proceedings of the Council, would be to have a distinct list made out of all the statutes and orders of the Council relating to each particular subject Thus the President, by having at one view before him all that had ever been decreed on the question under consideration, would be much better able to prevent inconsistent resolutions, and to save the time of the Council from being wasted by unnecessary discussions ORDER OF MERIT Amongst the various proposals for encouraging science, the institution of an order of merit has been suggested It is somewhat singular, that whilst in most of the other kingdoms of Europe, such orders exist for the purpose of rewarding, by honorary distinctions, the improvers of the arts of life, or successful discoverers in science, nothing of the kind has been established in England [At the great meeting of the philosophers at Berlin, in 1828, of which an account is given in the Appendix; the respect in which Berzelius, Oersted, Gauss, and Humboldt were held in their respective countries was apparent in the orders bestowed on them by the Sovereigns of Sweden, of Denmark, of Hanover, and of Prussia; and there were present many other philosophers, whose decorations sufficiently attested the respect in which science was held in the countries from which they came Our orders of knighthood are favourable only to military distinction It has been urged, as an argument for such institutions, that they are a cheap mode of rewarding science, whilst, on the other hand, it has been objected, that they would diminish the value of such honorary distinctions by making them common The latter objection is of little weight, because the numbers who pursue science are few, and, probably, will long continue so It would also be easily avoided, by restricting the number of the order or of the class, if it were to form a peculiar class of another order Another objection, however, appears to me to possess far greater weight; and, however strong the disposition of the Government might be (if such an order existed) to fill it properly, I do not believe that, in the present state of public opinion respecting science, it could be done, and, in all probability, it would be filled up through the channels of patronage, and by mere jobbers in science Another proposal, of a similar kind, has also been talked of, one which it may appear almost ridiculous to suggest in England, but which would be considered so in no other countryIt is, to ennoble some of the greatest scientific benefactors of their country Not to mention political causes, the ranks of the nobility are constantly recruited from the army, the navy, and the bar; why should not the family of that man, whose name is imperishably connected with the steam-engine, be enrolled amongst the nobility of his country? In utility and profit, not merely to that country, but to the human race, his deeds may proudly claim comparison even with the most splendid of those achieved by classes so rich in glorious recollections An objection, in most cases fatal to such a course, arises from the impolicy of conferring a title, unless a considerable fortune exists to support it; a circumstance very rarely occurring to the philosopher It might in some measure be removed, by creating such titles only for lifeBut here, again, until there existed some knowledge of science amongst the higher classes, and a sound state of public opinion relative to science, the execution of the plan could only be injurious OF THE UNION OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES This idea has occurred to several persons, as likely to lead to considerable advantages to science If the various scientific societies could unite in the occupation of one large building, considerable economy would result from the union By properly arranging their evenings of meeting, one meeting-room only need be required The libraries might either be united, or arranged in adjoining rooms; and such a system would greatly facilitate the inquiries of scientific persons Whether it would be possible to reunite in any way the different societies to the Royal Society, might be a delicate question; but although, on some accounts, desirable, that event is not necessary for the purpose of their having a common residence The Medico-Botanical Society might, perhaps, from sympathy, be the first to which the Royal Society would apply; and by a proper interchange of diplomas, [A thing well understood by the INITIATED, both at HOME and shop ABROAD