304 Memorial of George Drouui Goode. 



port of an astronomer, to l)e in constant attendance of observation tipon the phe- 

 nomena of the heavens, and for the periodical publications of his observations. It 

 is with no feeling of pride as an American that the remark may be made that on 

 the comparatively small territorial surface of Europe there are existing upward of 

 130 of these light-houses of the skies, while throughout the whole American hemi- 

 sphere there is not one. If we reflect a moment upon the discoveries which in the 

 last four centuries have been made in the physical constitution of the universe by 

 the means of these buildings and of observers stationed in them, shall we doubt of 

 their usefulness to every nation ? And while scarcely a year passes over our heads 

 without bringing some new astronomical discovery to light, which we must fain 

 receive at second hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from the means 

 of returning light for light while we have neither observatory nor observer upon 

 our half of the globe and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to our unsearch- 

 ing eyes? 



This appeal was received with shouts of ridicule; and the proposal 

 "to estabHsh a Hght-house in the skies" became a common byword 

 which has scarcel}^ yet ceased to be faniihar. So strong was ptibHc feel- 

 ing that, in the year 1832, in reviving an act for the continuance of the 

 survey of the coast, Congress made a proviso, that "nothing in the act 

 .should be construed to atithorize the construction or maintenance of a 

 permanent astronomical observatory.' 



Nothing daunted, Mr. Adams continued the stritggle, and while a 

 member of the House of Representatives, after his presidential term had 

 expired, he battled for the observatory continually and furiously. An 

 oration delivered by him in Cincinnati in 1843, closed with these words: 



Is there one tower erected to enable the keen-eyed observer of the heavenly vault 

 to watch from night to night through the circling year the movement of the 

 starry heavens and their unnumbered worlds? L,ook around you; look from the St. 

 John to the Sabine; look from the mouth of the Neversink to the mouth of the 

 Columbia, and you will find not one! or if one, not of our creation. 



A corre.spondent of the London Athenaeum, writing from Boston in 

 May, 1840, spoke at length of the dearth of observatories in the United 

 States, and of the efforts of John Ouincy Adams to form a national 

 astronomical estal^lishment in connection with the Smithson lieqtiest. 

 The letter is of great interest as showing the state of opinion on scientific 

 matters in America just half a century ago. 



Boston, I\fa\\ 1S40 . 



One of the prominent su1)jects of discussion among our savans ... is the 



establishment of Observatories of a character .suitable to our standing as a civilized 



nation, and still more to our exigencies as a practical, and especially as a commercial 



comnumity. I verily believe that the yearly damage and destruction along our coast, 



' It is interesting to know that in 1827, Mr. James Courtenay, of Charleston, pub- 

 lished a pamphlet, an urgent plea for the establishment of a naval observatory. I 

 am indebted to Mr. William A. Courtenay for the opporttxnit}' to examine this rare 

 tract, which has the following title : 



1827. Courtenay, James. An | Inquiry | into | the Propriet}- | of | e.sta1)lishing | 

 a I National Observatory. | =: | I5y James Courtenay, | of Charleston, South Caro- 

 lina I = I — I Charleston, Printed by W. Kiley, 125 Church .street | — | 1S27. 8° 

 pp. 1-24. 



