“When I received the copy of your inaugural oration on the opening of the
Liverpool Royal Institution, which you were so kind as to send me, I was on the
wing for my usual holiday excursion, and since my return home I have been so
much occupied by the commencement of my school labours, that I had not time to
read it till a day or two ago. On its perusal, I am by no means surprised at
the universal satisfaction with which it was received at its delivery. The
views which it exhibits of the causes of the rise and decline of literature and
art, in various countries, are at once profound and clear. Its assertion of the
dignity and utility of the pursuits of science and learning
| 162 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
