The Uses of Astronomy

Part 1

THE USES OF ASTRONOMY.

AN ORATION

Delivered at Albany, on the 28th of August, 1856

EDWARD EVERETT,

ON THE

OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE DUDLEY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY,

WITH A

CONDENSED REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS,

AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE

DEDICATION OF NEW YORK STATE GEOLOGICAL HALL.

NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY ROSS & TOUSEY, 103 NASSAU STREET. 1856.

A NOTE EXPLANATORY.

The undersigned ventures to put forth this report of Mr. EVERETT'S Oration, in connection with a condensed account of the Inauguration of the Dudley Observatory, and the Dedication of the New State Geological Hall, at Albany,--in the hope that the demand which has exhausted the newspaper editions, may exhaust this as speedily as possible; not that he is particularly tenacious of a reward for his own slight labors, but because he believes that the extensive circulation of the record of the two events so interesting and important to the cause of Science will exercise a beneficial influence upon the public mind. The effort of the distinguished Statesman who has invested Astronomy with new beauties, is the latest and one of the most brilliant of his compositions, and is already wholly out of print, though scarcely a month has elapsed since the date of its delivery. The account of the proceedings at Albany during the Ceremonies of Inauguration is necessarily brief, but accurate, and is respectfully submitted to the consideration of the reader.

A. MAVERICK. NEW YORK, October 1, 1856.

TWO NEW INSTITUTIONS OF SCIENCE;

AND

THE SCENES WHICH ATTENDED THEIR CHRISTENING.

In the month of August last, two events took place in the city of Albany, which have more than an ephemeral interest. They occurred in close connection with the proceedings of a Scientific Convention, and the memory of them deserves to be cherished as a recollection of the easy way in which Science may be popularized and be rendered so generally acceptable that the people will cry, like Oliver Twist, for more. It is the purpose of this small publication to embody, in a form more durable than that of the daily newspaper, the record of proceedings which have so near a relation to the progress of scientific research. A marked feature in the ceremonies was the magnificent Oration of the Hon. EDWARD EVERETT, inaugurating the Dudley Observatory of Albany; and it is believed that the reissue of that speech in its present form will be acceptable to the admirers of that distinguished gentleman, not less than to the lovers of Science, who hung with delight upon his words.

THE DEDICATION OF THE GEOLOGICAL HALL.

On Wednesday, August 27, 1856, the State Geological Hall of New York was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. For the purpose of affording accommodation to the immense crowds of people who, it was confidently anticipated, would throng to this demonstration and that of the succeeding day, at which Mr. EVERETT spoke, a capacious Tent was arranged with care in the center of Academy Park, on Capitol Hill; and under its shelter the ceremonies of the inauguration of both institutions were conducted without accident or confusion; attended on the first day by fully three thousand persons, and on the second by a number which may be safely computed at from five to seven thousand.

The announcement that Hon. WM. H. SEWARD would be present at the dedication of the Geological Hall, excited great interest among the citizens; but the hope of his appearance proved fallacious. His place was occupied by seven picked men of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of whom (Prof. HENRY) declared his inability to compute the problem why seven men of science were to be considered equal to one statesman. The result justified the selections of the committee, and although the Senator was not present, the seven Commoners of Science made the occasion a most notable one by the flow of wit, elegance of phrase, solidity and cogency of argument, and rare discernment of natural truths, with which their discourse was garnished.

The members of the American Association marched in procession to the Tent, from their place of meeting in the State Capitol. On the stage were assembled many distinguished gentlemen, and in the audience were hundreds of ladies. GOV. CLARK and Ex-Governors HUNT and SEYMOUR, of New York, Sir WM. LOGAN, of Canada, Hon. GEORGE BANCROFT, and others as well known as these, were among the number present. The tent was profusely decorated. Small banners in tri-color were distributed over the entire area covered by the stage, and adorned the wings. The following inscriptions were placed over the front of the rostrum,--that in honor of "The Press" occupying a central position:

GEOLOGY. THE PRESS. METEOROLOGY. MINERALOGY. METALLURGY. ETHNOLOGY. ASTRONOMY.

The following were arranged in various positions on the right and left:

CHEMISTRY. TELEGRAPH. PHYSIOLOGY. LETTERS. CONCHOLOGY. HYDROLOGY. PALÆONTOLOGY. ZOOLOGY. MICROSCOPY. ICHTHYOLOGY. ART. MANUFACTURES. STEAM. AGRICULTURE. COMMERCE. PHYSICS. SCIENCE. ANATOMY. NAVIGATION. BOTANY.

The proceedings of the day were opened with prayer by Rev. GEO. W. BETHUNE, D.D., of Brooklyn.

Hon. GARRIT Y. LANSING, of Albany, then introduced Professor LOUIS AGASSIZ, of Cambridge, Mass., who was the first of the "seven men of science" to entertain his audience, always with the aid of the inevitable black-board, without which the excellent Professor would be as much at a loss as a chemist without a laboratory. Professor AGASSIZ spoke for an hour, giving his views of a new theory of animal development. He began by saying:--

We are here to inaugurate the Geological Hall, which has grown out of the geological survey of the State. To make the occasion memorable, a distinguished statesman of your own State, and Mr. FRANK C. GRAY, were expected to be present and address you. The pressure of public duties has detained Mr. SEWARD, and severe sickness has detained Mr. GRAY. I deeply lament that the occasion is lost to you to hear my friend Mr. GRAY, who is a devotee to science, and as warm-hearted a friend as ever I knew. Night before last I was requested to assist in taking their place--I, who am the most unfit of men for the post. I never made a speech. I have addressed learned bodies, but I lack that liberty of speech--the ability to present in finished style, and with that rich imagery which characterize the words of the orator, the thoughts fitting to such an occasion as this. He would limit himself, he continued, to presenting some motives why the community should patronize science, and foster such institutions as this. We scientific men regard this as an occasion of the highest interest, and thus do not hesitate to give the sanction of the highest learned body of the country as an indorsement of the liberality of this State. The geological survey of New York has given to the world a new nomenclature. No geologist can, hereafter, describe the several strata of the earth without referring to it. Its results, as recorded in your published volumes, are treasured in the most valuable libraries of the world. They have made this city famous; and now, when the scientific geologist lands on your shore, his first question is, "Which is the way to Albany? I want to see your fossils." But Paleontology is only one branch of the subject, and many others your survey has equally fostered.

Part 2

He next proceeded to show that organized beings were organized with reference to a plan, which the relations between different animals, and between different plants, and between animals and plants, everywhere exhibit;--drew sections of the body of a fish, and of the bird, and of man, and pointed out that in each there was the same central back-bone, the cavity above and the ribbed cavity below the flesh on each side, and the skin over all--showing that the maker of each possessed the same thought--followed the same plan of structure. And upon that plan He had made all the kinds of quadrupeds, 2,000 in number, all the kinds of birds, 7,000 in number, all of the reptiles, 2,000 to 3,000 in number, all the fish, 10,000 to 12,000 in number. All their forms may be derived as different expressions of the same formula. There are only four of these great types; or, said he, may I not call them the four tunes on which Divinity has played the harmonies that have peopled, in living and beautiful reality, the whole world?

PROFESSOR HITCHCOCK ON REMINISCENCES.

ERASTUS C. BENEDICT, Esq. of New York, introduced Prof. HITCHCOCK, of Amherst, as a gentleman whose name was very familiar, who had laid aside, voluntarily, the charge of one of the largest colleges in New England, but who could never lay aside the honors he had earned in the literature and science of geology.

After a few introductory observations, Prof. HITCHCOCK said:--

This, I believe, is the first example in which a State Government in our country has erected a museum for the exhibition of its natural resources, its mineral and rock, its plants and animals, living and fossil. And this seems to me the most appropriate spot in the country for placing the first geological hall erected by the Government; for the County of Albany was the district where the first geological survey was undertaken, on this side of the Atlantic, and, perhaps, the world. This was in 1820, and ordered by that eminent philanthropist, Stephen Van Rensselaer, who, three years later, appointed Prof. Eaton to survey, in like manner, the whole region traversed by the Erie Canal. This was the commencement of a work, which, during the last thirty years, has had a wonderful expansion, reaching a large part of the States of the Union, as well as Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and, I might add, several European countries, where the magnificent surveys now in progress did not commence till after the survey of Albany and Rensselaer Counties. How glad are we, therefore, to find on this spot the first Museum of Economical Geology on this side of the Atlantic! Nay, embracing as it does all the department of Natural History, I see in it more than a European Museum of Economical Geology, splendid though they are. I fancy, rather, that I see here the germ of a Cis-Atlantic British Museum, or Garden of Plants.

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