The Philosopher's Mite to the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Date:
[1851?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Philosopher's Mite to the Great Exhibition of 1851. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    dertaking, there are those who tremble for its success, and are jealous for your future reputation and popu¬ larity. Permit us, amiable Prince! permit us to act as your Mentor! Burn our letter, if you like; but first read and reflect upon it. Hear us, for we speak not of ourselves. Hear us, for we speak not for our¬ selves, but for you, and it may be for thousands. Hear us, for it will cost you but a few minutes’ labour, and may save you years of misery. Hear us, because we speak sine ambitione on a subject which concerns us only as philosophers, while you it may affect not only as a Philosopher, hut as a Prince, a Consort, a Father, a Citizen. Hear us, for at the distance and in the privacy within which we move the praise or censure of court or public would scarcely reach us. You are known to be well versed in history, let History there¬ fore speak to you. Hear her voice, and consider us, as in fact we nearly are, past and forgotten. Please to observe, while men and matter are ever undergoing change, the laws of nature are immutable. And this is one of her great laws, verified by the concordant testimony of all ages throughout the world,—“ Great, sudden human gatherings, domiciliated in a confined space, are liable to be followed by pestilence in the compound ratio of the diversity of the sources from whence they come, the diversity of breed, habits, and diet, and the length of their sojourn in such given confined space,—a liability scarcely to he obviated at all, if such accumulation be protracted, and, even if con¬ tinuing for a few weeks, demanding special regulations for the public health.”