The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-06-29
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY.
MEETING OF THE ALUMNI.


nusi meeting in this city st evening" when Prof Draper
delivered ths following interesting discourse the city
of New York and its University
Gnux,ns-when I received your Invitation, year
ago. TO address you this OCCASION first intention
was decline the proered honor, since there are 80
many among you who, by profsssoa and practice, are
far better fitted for such public performance. you
want eloquent speaker you must look for him in the
pulpit the bar certainly net in the gig of doctor.
But considerations which win presehty appear, LED
to change this intention and then the inquiry,
what shall the address be sbou,s There 10 the whole
range of literature and the whole range of science but
of science you have had enough from Indeed my
thoughts wandered from topic another matter
at what point they began they gradually shaped them
selves into the Of hing about the University
That this should be the is not at all surprising
Many of the best years of life have been spent in it
some Of the happest of yours And so 1t furnishes an
appropriate subject the occasion of present meet
ing
If ever there institution misunderstood it has
been this The city of Nes York has not comprehended
her University; she has virtually said to itThou great
mendcaSt what become of the hundreds of thousands
of dollars have givenfwhere thofe promised crowds
of youth expected in thy hals?-how is 1t that in
twenty years. and at all this cost thou hast completed
the education OF only ass personsare there no. in
streets half million of peoples-what is the meaning Of
these contemplate classes of sixty seventy annually
under thy roofs
My rierd you know II is true tbs. this has been the
feeling and the University has remained submissive and
without reply. From time TO time, emergencies
arose generous ard religious here and there have
afforded relief but the city has stood aoof And by de-
grees there have crept in amoog of mgivngs;
nay, more by hearing the thing reiterated often
msy have come to believe that duty has been very
impeSfectly done.
Is it not then right and expedient there be among
us who from position and long connection has the
necessary knowledge that he should stand forth and
answer That Is what am going to do to night have
served the University for nearly thirds of its exs
tence and sometimes under circumstances of response.
Lility For what may be said one bat myself is
accountable; the result OF the promptngs
counsel of any person trust that what may be pre-
sented to you and through you to the public may tend
awaken better feeling towards this deserving insitu-
ton.
Upiver tiles bavetw distinct duties to perform l. is
their Office to increase the stock OF human Wedge
and to disseminate that knowledge among 10 for
times they the centres around which the cult
vaors Of science literature clustered the repua
ton of many of the great European institutions is
nectsd with the discoveries made in their walls Their
Office Of disseminating knowledge may be accomplished
in many different ways by the printing of books or
u
csion to the actual merit of these establishments In
the United States the often applied is the
number Of students-a standard wholly falacious. All
the world assigns the glory of mmoI tai discoveries
Newton TO the University Cambridge but does any
roub Bile himself to inquire how many students there
in those times?
Fourteen years ago there stood upon the floor of the
chemical laboratory of University pair of old fash
Toned gslyanic batteries Like the cradle of baby they
worked upon rockers ard the acic might turned
or of grsy haired gentleman had been using them
for many years to whether he could produce enough
magnetism in piece of IRON at distance to move a
pencil and make marks upon paper. he had contrived
brass instrument that had keys something like piano
in miniature, ony there engrayen each a letter
of the alphabet. When these were touched the nau-
Of the batteries sent through copper WIRE
and a mark, answering to letter, was made a long
way Off.
1t Is related That the University of Oxford six hundred
years sgo the scene of similar incident friar
of the Roger Bacon Invented brass Instrument
IN the shape Ct mans lead, which he could csue TO
speak. Tie pubic let it do~n for magc snd The church
taking note of Ii and other Inventions imprisoned him
for ten years In vain he hook the non sxist
of nagic-the Pope inexorabie. But in the
midst Of the dark Oxford kuey her interests better
than New York does in time With the highest
eccesias teal Influences against her. he had furnished
her philosopher with $40 COO to carry his inquiries
On immense sum for that period And four centuries
after German traveller relates that he she
that tosn with pride, a house on which written
"Tbis Is the house Of FIiar Bacon
How does the matter stand between the city Of Ne
York ard Its University respects the invention Of the
magnetic Telegraph this invention Of the profess
of this institution What obligation Professor Morse
under TO the city? Who Is the debtor Have the mer
camille interests given ths University thousndh
part OF Inc benefit il has coner1 ed them Have
millions upsu millions been made the of the
steamships in Halifax and Boston? Do they send
New Orleans and back in siogle morning? Nay more
et leave ties poor and interests look
at eIsndev resuts Has any biog been done brd
geths this erest nedsracy republics more eectual
than these IRON wesS Have they not given tn CONSOLE
dalton which greatest statesmen the value of.
and dsspaedS Have they not made it possible for the
IsntP
Bat perhaps some one may say All this is well
enough but such inventions belong rather to the age
than to any one man. aud what Morse did here would
have been done by Steinbeil in Germany, by Wheat
stone io England My good friend, you know nothing
about the matter. Long after the telegrapbc instru
ments were perfected, IL doubtful whether ntel
gence could be scot to any considerable distance 1t is
thing TO send an electric current few yards, and
totally different affair to send II thousand miles. Ex
peIiments which bad been made under the auspices of
unYersity Of bopat had led to the interence that the
law OF the conducting power of wires. originally dis
covered IN Germany, was coIec aud in addition, cor
Academy Of Scspce at st Petersburg By LEM AT this
time so little Known in England regards this i'm
portant point that rome of the most eminent natural
philosophers connected with Universities there embraced
the opposite view. may be able to make the pre-
else point in dispute clear it this current pass
ing through certain length of wire suffers certain
amount Of loss IL IL should go through wire thou
eard tin lorg will the loss be thousand times
crest Tie Russians said yesthe English said If
the former the case, IL was universally considered
sba. the electric telegraph would not be practicable for
any considerable distance. A series Of expert nsnts
made in the University OF New York, which
established, beyond all question the truth Of the
Russian view but st that time the higher
mathematics were cultivated in our laboratory
as vel as mere experimenting; and submitting the
results to such mathematical discussion the paratox
cal conclusion brought out, that IL is necessary
Consequence Of that law that after certain length Of
wire has used the losses become ptbe You
may find o statement Of these things in SI,imans
Journal
Encouraged by this, party Of gentlemen went with
the inventor Of The telegraph to rorevalk Bloom
ingdae, summers morning. and there tested The
truths Of these conclusions lengths Of wire varying
from one TO some hundred miles The losses Of the cur