ASPECTS OF AMERICAN ASTRONOMY. 97 



care the men at tlie end of the telescope. The coustitutioii of the 

 astiouomer shows curious and interesting features. If he is destined 

 to advance the science by works of real genius, he must, like the poet, 

 be bom, not made. The born astronomer, when placed in command 

 of a telescope, goes about using it as naturally and effectively as the 

 babe avails itself of its mother's breast. He sees intuitively what less 

 gifted men have to learn by long study and tedious experiment. He is 

 moved to celestial knowledge by a passion which dominates his nature. 

 He can no more avoid doing astronomical work, whether in the line of 

 observations or research, than a poet can chain his Pegasus to earth. 

 I do not mean by this that education and training will be no use to 

 him. They will certainly accelerate his early progress. If he is to 

 become great on the mathematical side, not only must his genius have 

 a bend in that direction, but he must have the means of pursuing his 

 studies. And yet I have seen so many failures of men who had the 

 best instruction, and so many successes of men who scarcely learued 

 auything of their teachers, that I sometimes ask whether the great 

 American celestial mechanician of the twentieth century will be a 

 graduate of a university or of the back woods. 



Is the man thus moved to the exi^loration of nature by an uncon- 

 querable passion more to be envied or pitied *? In no other pursuit 

 does success come with such certainty to him who deserves it. l^o life 

 is so enjoyable as that whose energies are devoted to following out the 

 inborn impulses of one's nature. The investigator of truth is little 

 subject to the disappointments which await the ambitious man in other 

 fields of activity. It is pleasant to be one of a brotherhood extending 

 over the world, in which no rivalry exists except that which comes out 

 of trying to do better work than anyone else, while mutual admiration 

 stifles jealousy. And yet, with all these advantages, the experience of 

 the astronomer may have its dark side. As he sees his field widening 

 faster than he can advance he is impressed with the littleness of all 

 that can be done in one short life. He feels the same want of succes- 

 sors to pursue his Avork that the founder of a dynasty may feel for 

 heirs to occupy his throne. He has no desire to figure in history as a 

 ]!s^apoleon of science whose conquests must terminate with his life. 

 Even during his active career his work may be of such a kind as to 

 require the cooperation of others and the active support of the public. 

 If he is disappointed in commanding these requirements, if he finds 

 neither cooperation nor support, if some great scheme to which he may 

 have devoted much of his life thus proves to bo only a castle in the 

 air, he may feel that nature has dealt hardly with him in not endowing 

 him with passions like to those of other men. 



In treating a theme of perennial interest one naturally tries to fancy 



what the future may have in store. If the traveler, contemplating the 



ruins of some ancient city which in the long ago teemed with the life 



and activities of generations of men, sees every stone instinct with 



SM 97 7 



