Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1856-10-15
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

/. TIE E.es Of Astronomy: an Grafton " Hon.
EHs.a,d Everett, detirered at Albany 26th A"-
:. CAST: Loston, 1856
49, OF all the means which modern civilization mas
devised borrowed for cultivatng the INTELLECT
and improving the taste of the masses the Lecture
stands prc-eminent. Freely combining in grace,
full wreaths of beauty the rhetoric OF the orator anu
the eloquence of the essayist with proiouno ac-
quaintance' with his subject, the popular lecturer
addresses, not merely the cultivated rev, whose u
Outstanding and leisure enable them to study with
protit nor only those VIII may with convenience at.
tend the delivery of his discourses but by means OF
the printing press and the telegraph, he att same
moment of time communicates with an unlimited
audience, widely separated from him and itself anu
present but in Imagination. Should he possess 'he
rare faculty of rising superior technicaites and
has the capacity and industry to famiarize or TO
discard theu by happy aizations, nc leads the
Imagination captive and eectrifes the general mind
with the most accurate and enduring instruction.
1t is true, as has been objected that the Lecture
is not always an authority. The very effort to dis
robe science of mystery and introduce her to gem
eral acquaintance necesstates vagueness OF DETAIL
and not unfrequently assembling with truth, in
which her severer beauties are obscured or lost;
but if the lecturer accomplishes no more than q
transient awakening of the faculties, and dim ana
superficial insight into subjects habituay consider
ed above the ordinary comprehension, there IS
something permanently beneficial in even mo-
meniary abstraction of the thoughts, amidst the
ceaseless CHATTER and strife fpractca existenceex-
banding the faculties and spiritnalizing the charac
ter of the multitude-that it is matter of regret
that with US it is not oftener attempted.
The patriotic scholar may by this means achieve
an additional object Recent experience mas demon
strated that while the fancy and the taste may De
amused it is also possible to appeal to higher sen.
timent. Who that has heard our authors lecture
upon WASHINGTON, does not recognise in that
eminent saveholding Southerner,an abiding bono OF
union-a protest against fanatcism-an appeal to
his forbearance and his patriotism? Who that mas
heard our Jamie Banks, does not know, that, while
the countrymen of FLORA MCDONALD, might not
have been the earliest to desert their king and Tor
get their oaths IN 1776-the loyalty of their descend.
ants was proved at the Puente Nacional, and famed
upon the heights of Cerro Gordo?
We of Raleigh appear to be getting sensible OF
the advantages Of public Lectures. That gallant
CORPS the Oak.City Guards, have, we understand,
organized Literary Club; and, as we learn, ar
rangements are being made for full course this
winter Such men as Banks, Hawks and Swain of
our own State, Smms Of South Carolina, and Smith
of Virginia, are confidently expected, and will, we
trust find it both convenient and profitable TO at
tend They all lecturers of the first class. They
ought to receive equal welcome with their brethren
of the stump the press and the tribune. Wthou: the
latter some argue, the peculiar doctrines OF pOpu-
lar sovereignty would soon fail to be understood or
appreciated. Without the former, how long would
the so-called Republic OF Letters remain free? 1t
would become-if it be not already-an oligarchy,
whose privileges and honors shared by few,
while the of even a reading public are hope
lessly and entirely excluded from them. The pop
ular Lecture is, therefore, essentially democratic
OR, if you please,-a republican institution. 1t
is, however, no leveller. 1t does not reduce the
scholar. 1t offers no premium to Incidence 1t
builds no royal road to instruction; but it does
C. a. f>o ofah = lie
plays and ascertans TO the ordinary apprehension,
intellectual territories in dispute. The people hear
no longer unntelligble iargon. The thoughts
which swell the brain and inspire the conceptions of
genius translated into the vernacular, and car
rying life and health, to the whole community, be-
come, like the atmosphere, common properly.
We are led to these observations by the perusal
of an Grafton upon the practical uses of Astronomy,
delivered by the Hon. Edward Everett at Albany, on
the 26th August last and published the next day in
the Boston papers, for copy of which We are in
de5ted 10 the gifted author As our limits will not
permit more than an allusion to some of the SUBJ
jects Of the Address and but few extracts, and
will not permit of its being presented bodily to the
readers of the Standard, we have concluded, in
stead of detached morsels to give general sum-
mary of this fine composition, greatly condensed,
and, We fear too, greatly marred by the memorable
necessities of weekly paper.
The occasion upon which the Grafton was deliv-
cred was highly favorable to the exhibition of the
orators highest powers. Several months ago, lady
of the of Biandina Dudley, together with other
pubic-spirted citizens of the City Of Albany, con.
tributed large sum for the purpose of erecting
there observatory of the first Glass; named after
Mrs. Dudley, and situated as We learn from the Ad-
dress, upon commanding elevation in the nor
thern edge oil the City, literally given for that pur-
pose by the head of family in which the patron
age of science is hereditary" Its ample dimensions
and noble proprieties, combining the requisites of
sod;ty, convenience and good TASTE rise to attest
the munfcence of its founders and the intelligence
and refinement Of the community.
The twenty-eighth of August was the day select
ed for the Inauguration of the buildings and the in
stalation of its officers; and Mr.. Everett being Sc
lected as the speaker, from all the country round
there assembled an array of learning. talent and
beauty rarely witnessed on this side of the Allan
tic. The occasion and the speaker were both at
tractive; and seldom has an audience been so re.
warded. What the banquet must have been, we
may conjecture from the fragments.
With admirable taste, the orator begins with a
passing aluson to the early history of Albany and
relates many curious and interesting incidents.
which, in the course of his extensive reading
and travel in other lands he had collected; and hav
ing in this manner easily introduced himself and his
subject to their attention, begins by defining the
meaning and uses of an Astronomical Observatory
and an explanation of the designation and quail.
ties OF the various instruments usually found there.
in This SO highly interesting and instructive that
we give the same in his own words:
AN astronomical observatory is" lie saws building
erected for the reception and appropriate OF asonom-
cal instruments, and the accommodation of The men of sci.
ence employed in making and reducing observations of the
heavenly bodies These instruments mainly Of three
classes to which all others OF strictly char
acter may be referred.
lst The inst ruments by which the Heavens are inspcc-
ted with view to discover the existence hose celestial
bodies which visible naked eve tbeyond ali
comparison more numerous than those which and the
magnitude shapes, and other sensible qualities both of
those which and those which are thus visible tn the
unaided sight The instruments Of this are desgna-
ted by the general name of Telescope; kinds:
the reactng telescope which derives its mapnying now
from system Of convex lenses and the refecn teles