The original has a notation: ‘Part of a letter to Professor Owen’. The ascription is likely, but no corroboration of the reference to William Whewell’s ‘scolding’ has been found. Whewell and Owen had been schoolfellows at the Blue School, Lancaster, and were lifelong friends.
This may refer to Whewell’s reaction to those who wanted to reform the university curriculum to provide a greater emphasis on the study of science at Cambridge. Whewell had earlier criticised Charles Lyell’s chapter on university education in Travels in North America (C. Lyell 1845; Whewell 1845, ch. 2, sec. 2). See letter to Charles Lyell, [2 June 1847], and K. M. Lyell ed. 1881, 2: 127.