breeding, is learned, not by books, but in certain centres of
education. If it be not presumption to say so, Parliament puts a
clever man _au courant_ with politics and affairs of state in a way
surprising to himself. A member of the Legislature, if tolerably
observant, begins to see things with new eyes, even though his views
undergo no change. Words have a meaning now, and ideas a reality, such
as they had not before. He hears a vast deal in public speeches and
private conversation, which is never put into print. The bearings of
measures and events, the action of parties, and the persons of friends
and enemies, are brought out to the man who is in the midst of them
with a distinctness, which the most diligent perusal of newspapers will
fail to impart to them. It is access to the fountain-heads of
political wisdom and experience, it is daily intercourse, of one kind
or another, with the multitude who go up to them, it is familiarity
with business, it is access to the contributions of fact and opinion
thrown together by many witnesses from many quarters, which does this
for him. However, I need not account for a fact, to which it is
sufficient to appeal; that the Houses of Parliament and the atmosphere
around them are a sort of University of politics.

As regards the world of science, we find a remarkable instance of the
principle which I am illustrating, in the periodical meetings for its
advance, which have arisen in the course of the last twenty years, such
as the British Association. Such gatherings would to many persons
appear at first sight simply preposterous. Above all subjects of
study, Science is conveyed, is propagated, by books, or by private
teaching; experiments and investigations are conducted in silence;
discoveries are made in solitude. What have philosophers to do with
festive celebrities, and panegyrical solemnities with mathematical and
physical truth? Yet on a closer attention to the subject, it is found
that not even scientific thought can dispense with the suggestions, the
instruction, the stimulus, the sympathy, the intercourse with mankind
on a large scale, which such meetings secure. A fine time of year is
chosen, when days are long, skies are bright, the earth smiles, and all
nature rejoices; a city or town is taken by turns, of ancient name or
modern opulence, where buildings are spacious and hospitality hearty.
The novelty of place and circumstance, the excitement of strange, or