Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1825-12-15

branches OF sciences. 1t is not incum-
bent upon US TO inquire, whether we
are not bound by obligations of high
and honorable character, to contribute
our portion of energy and exertion, to
the common stock3 The voyage of
discovery, prosecuted in the course of
that time, at the expense of those ma
tons, have not only redounded to their
glory, but to the Improvement of bu-
man knowledge. We have been par
takers OF that Improvement, and owe
for tia sacred debt, not only of graft
tude, but of equal or proportionable
exertion in the same common cause -
OF the cost of these undertakings, if the
mere expenditures of outfit, equipment,
and completion of the expeditions, were
to be considered the only charges, it
would be unworthy of great and gem
erous nation to take second thought
One hundred expeditions of circumna-
vigation, like those of Cook and La Pc
rouse, would not burthen the exchequer
Of the nation in fitting them out, so
much as the WAYS and means of defrav-
ing single campaign in war. But if
we take into the account the lives of
those benefaciors of mankind. of which
their services in the cause of their spe-
cies were the purchase, how shall the
cost Of those heroic enterprises be esti-
mateds Is it not by bearing them in.
atFectionate RENE mberance? Is it not
still more by initiating their example
b. enabling countrymen OF our own to
pursue the same Career, and to hazard
their lives in the same way?
In inviting TIE attention Of congress
TO the subject ofinternal improvements
upon view thus enlarged, it is not my
design to recommend the equipment of
an expedition for circumnavigating the
globe for the purposes of scientific re,
search and inquiry. We have objects
of useful investigation nearer home, &
TO which our cares may be more benef-
ciall, applied. The. interior of our own
territories have yet been very imper-
fectly explored. Our coasts along many
degrees OF latitude upon the shores
of the Pacific ocean, though much fire.
quebted by our spirited commercial
uavigators, have been barely visited by
our public ships. The River of the
West, first fully discovered and nayiga
ted by countryman of our own, still
bears the name of the ship in which he
ascended its waters, and claims the pro-
lection of our armed national flag at its
mouth. With the establishment of
piliiary post there, or at some other
point of that coast, recommended by
my p edecessor, and already matured in
the deliberations of the last congress, |
would suggest the expediency of con-
Meeting the equipment of a public ship
for the exploration of the whole north
west coast of this continent.
The establishment of an uniform
standard ofweigbts and measures was
one of the specific objects contemplated
in the formation OF our constitution,
and to fix that standard was one of the
powers delegated by express terms, in
that instrument to congress. The gov
eminent Of Great Britain and France
have scarcely ceased to be occupied
with enquiries and speculations on the
same subject, since the existence of
our constitution, and with them it has
expanded into profound, laborious, and
expensive researches into the figure of
the cath, and the comparative length of
the pendulum vibrating seconds in va
rious latitudes from the equator to the
Pole. The researches have resulted
in the composition and publication of
several works highly interesting to
the cause of science. The experiments
are yet in the process of performance.
Some of them have recently been made
on our own shores, within the walls of
one of our own colleges, and partly by
one of our own fellow citizens. 1t
would be honorable to our country if
the sequel of the same experiments
should be countenanced by the patron
age of our government, as they have
hitherto been by those Of France and
Britain.
Connected with the establishment Of
an university, or separate from 1T, might
be undertaken the erection of an as
Economical observatory, with provision
for the support of an astronomer, to be
in constant attendance of observation
upon the phenomena of the heavens; s.
for the periodical publication Of his OBJ
servations. 1t 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 upwards of one