Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-12-07

pIlnCipC AL more e0harSeQ eXteut
The great object ofthe institution o.
civil goyernme Mt, is the improvement
Of the condition ofthose who are par
ties to the social compact. And nc
government, in whatever form consti
tuted, can accomplish the lawful end:
gifts institution, but in proportion a.
it improves the condition Of those over
whom it is established.-Roads and Ca
nails, by multiplying and facilitating
the communications and intercourse
between distant regions, and multi
tudes Of men, are among the most i'm.
portant means of improvement. Bu'
moral, political, intellectual improve.
ment, are duties assigned, by the au.
thor Of our existence, to social, no less
than to individual man. For the fulfil
ment Of thd@ duties, governments are
invested with power, and to the attain
ment OF the end, the progressive i'm
provement of the condition Of the gov
erned, the exercise of delegated power
is duty as sacred and indispensable
as the usurpa,ion ofpower not granted
is criminal and odious Among the
first, perhaps the very first instrument
for the improvement Of the condition
ofmen, is knowledge; and to the acqui'
sition Of much of the knowledge adapt.
ed to the wants, the comforts and en-
jovments OF human life, public institu-
lions and seninaries of learning are es-
sential. So convinced ofthis was the
FIRST Of my predecessors in this office,
now first in the memory, as, living, he
was first in the hearts of our country,
that once and again in his addresses 10
the Congresses, with whom he cooper
ated in the public service, he earnestly
recommended the establishment OF
seminaries of learning, to prepare for
all the emergencies fpeace and war
a national university, and military
academy. With respect to the latter,
had he lived to the present day, in
turning his eyes to the institution at
West Point; he would have enjoyed the
qualification ofhis most earnest wish
es. But. in surveying the city which
has been honoured with his name, he
would have seen the spot Of earth
which he had destined and bequeathed
to the use and benefit Of his country,
as the site for an university, still bare
and barren.
In assuming her station among the
civilized nations Of the earth, it would
seem that our country had contracted
the engagement to contribute her share
ofmind, of Iabour and ofexpense, to the
improvement Of those parts Of know
ledge which lie beyond the reach of in
lividuaI acquisition; and particularly
to geographical and astromical science,
Looking back to the history only OF
the half century since the declaration
Of our independence, and observing the
generous emulation with which the
governments Of France, Great Britain,
and Russia, have devoted the genius,
the intelligence, the treasures OF their
respective nations. to the common i'm
provement Of the species in these
branches of science, is it not incum-
bent on 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 stock? The VOYAGES Of dis
covery, 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
human knowledge. We have been
partakers in that improvement, and
owe for it a sacred debt, not only Of
gratitude, but equal and proportion
able exertion in the same common
cause. OF the cost of these undertake
ings, if the mere expenditures Of out
fiji. equipment, and completion Of the
expeditions, were to be considered the
only charges, il would be unworthy of a
great and generous nation to take a
second thought One hundred expen-
dirures Of decentralization, like those
Of Cook and La Perouse, would not
burden the exchequer Of the nation fit
ting them out, so much as the ways
and means Of defraying a single cam
paign IN war. But if we take into the
account the lives of those beneiactors
of mankind of which their services in
tie cause Of their species were the
purchase, how shall the cost Of those
heroic enterprises be estimated? And
what compensation can be- made to
them, or 10 their countries, for them?
Is il not bv bearing them in affect;onate
remembrance? Is il not still more by
initiating their example? By enabling
countrymen Of our own TO pursue the
same career, and to hazard their lives
in the same cause?
In inviting the attention Of Congress
to the subject Of internal improve
ments, upon view thus enlarged, it is
no, my design to recommend the eqaip-
men, Of an expedition for circumnavi-
eating the globe for purposes Of sci
entifc research and inquiry We have