The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-08-29


rous ptatythe land The finest for cultivation ho
set foot onoihe natives Kind and gentle tnat,
when they found he would not remain with them over
night and feared that he left them children OF ma
ture, because he afraid OF their weaponshe, whose
quarter deck was heavy with ordnance-they broke
their arrows in pieces add threw them 10 the hre" On
the following morning. with the early nood tide, the
18th Of ptsmber 1909 the Half Moon higher up
two leagues above the Shoals and 10 anchor in
deep water the site OF the present city OF Albany
Happy he could have closed his gallant on the
banks OF the which SO Justly bears his pame
thus have escaped sorrowful and mysterious catas
trophe which awaited him the next year.
But the discovery Of your great river and OF the
renders the year loco memorable in the annals Of
America and the world, II Of those years
great results unconsciously pervades the and
the minds OF While Hudson discovered this mighty
pany Champlar in the same year, carried the lilies Of
France 10 The beautiful lake which bears his name
your northern limits; the anguiahng establishments Of
England in Virginia strengthened by the second
charter granted that colony the little church of Robin
removed from Amsterdam 10 Leyden from which, in
few years they went forth TO lay the foundations Of
New England on Plymouth Rock the United Pro-
vincee oil the Netherlands after that terrific struggle of
sosty years {the commencement of which has Just been
emba med 10 a worthy of the great event by
American historan), wrcsted from Spain the virtual
acknowledgment Of their independence in the Twelve
Years truce; and James the frst in the year,
granted TO the Britih East India Company their first
permanent charter stone Of empire de tined
two centuries TO overshadow the East.
One more incident is wanting to complete the list CT the
memorable occurrences which sgnaize the year 1909,
and one most worthy to be by US on this
occasion Contemporaneously with the events which
have enumeraederas OF history, dates Of empires the
starting point in some Of the greatest POLITICAL social and
moral revolutions in annais-an Italian astronomer
who had heard of the magnyug glasses which had been
made II Holland, by which distant OBJ ects could be
brought seemingly near caught the dea constructed
. telescope, and pointed it to the heavens. Yes, my
friends, in the same year in which Hudson discovered
your river and the site Of your ancient townin which
Robinson made his melancholy Hegira from Amsterdam
70 Ley dep Calico Galei with telescope the work OF
his own bands discovered the phases Of Venus AMI the
satellites OF Jupiter and after the lapse OF less than
centuries and O half a spot then embosomed in
the wdernessthe covert OF the least civilized OF all the
races OF men, MISUNDERSTANDING Of the Hol
hnders, descendants Of the Pgrimsn this ancient and
prosperous city, TO naugurae establishment Of nrst
class Astronomical Observatory
One more glance at your early history Three years
after the landing OF the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Fort
Orange was erected, in the centre OF what is now the
business part OF the city of Albany and few years
later, the little hamlet of Beverswyck began nestle
der IT'S walls. Two centuries ago. my Albanian friends,
Shs very year and believe this very month OF August
your ere.athers assembled, not to inaugurate obser
yatory, but TO lIy the foundations OF church IN
the pa,e OF the rude cabin which had hitherto served
them in that capacity. built at the inter Of
Yonkers and Haadeaars better known TO you State
and Market streets Public and private beraity ope
rated in the important work. the authorities at the fort
gave fifteen hundred guders the PATRON Of that early
day, with the hberaty coeval with the name and the
whose benefit was erected whose numbers small
and their resources smaller subscribed twenty beavers
the purchase OF an oaken pulpit IN Holand" Whe,
her the largest part OF this subscription bestowed
BY some liberal beneiactress tradition has not informed
Nor the year 1855 memorable in the annals OF Albany
Alone. In that same year. imperial metropolis then
numbering about three hundred inhabitants FIRST laid
oy q s 0 M s9
Orange and Its dependant hamlet the OF
Aibany-a century Of various fortune succeeds, the
scoufge OF French and Indian rarely absent from
The snd-every shock OF European policy vlbrates with
electric rapidy the Atlantic but the year 1855
nnds population of 3oco in your growing province.
Albany, however nay stu be regarded almost iron
tier settlement " te twelve counties INTO which the
province div q hundred years az the county OF
Albany eompre lded al that lay north ami west OF the
city and the city Itself contained but about three hundred
One more century another act in the great drama Of
EMPIRE another French and IndiaB beneath the ban
ner Of England successful revolution, or which some
q e P2s y H2qssa2 y6nstful6nn q edsrq sarE
nent, your population carried 10 the St Lawrence and
the great lakes and their waters poured into the Hudson
your territory covered with network Of canals and rail
Yoads-flled with life and action and power-with all
she works Of peaceful art and prosperous entcrpsewh
nj the Institutions which constitute and advance the civil
hzation OF the ageis population exceeding that OF the
WHOM at the date of the Revoluon-your numbers
twice as large those Of the largest city Of that lay you
have met together, my friends rust two hundred years
since the erection OF the little church OF BeyerswycS
dedicate noble temple OF science and TO take becoming
pablo notice Of the establishment OF institution.
aeetined trust to exert a beneficial in iucnce on
she progress OF useful knowledge at home anu abroad
and through that en- the general cause q civilization
You will Observe that careful t6oay the progress
q science at home and abroad for the study a
Dcmy In this country has long since nap0y ~ edd
passed that point where IS content 10 repeAa sl>s
has boldly and successfully tered the field u ovSea
invest CATION, discovery and specua,iou there Is
now single department Of the science in which the
names Of American observers and mathemaiicians are
not cited by b. ehren the water side side
with the most eminent OF their European contemporaries
This state Of things Is certainly recent During the
colonial period and in the nrs generation after tie Rsvo
button, no department Of science was for obvious causes
very extensively cultivated in America-astronomy per
haps as much as the kindred branches. The improve
Dent in the quadrant commonly known Hadleys had
already been ace at Philadelphia by Godfrey Ia the
OF the collmatng telescope made later period.
BY Rienhouse an astronomer OF distinguished repate
1he trspsts Of Venus OF 1891 and 1899 were OBJ.
served and orreres wereconstruced In different parts
the country and some respectable scientific
contained and valuable observations recorded the
early volumes of the transactions OF the Philosophical
Society at Philadelphia and the American Academy OF
Arts and Sciences Mt Boston and Cambridge But In tho
absence Of class OF OF science 10 encou
and aid each other without observaories and with
cut valuable nsrumens little OF Importance coald BIO e.
pected in the higher walks Of astroDomics research
The greater the credit due Tor the achievement OF
enterprise commenced in the early part Of the present
century and which would reflect honor the science OF
any country and any age-f mean the translation and
commentary on Iaplaces " Mecanque Celeste by Bow
ditch-a work Of merit am myself wholly unabl-
70 form opinion. but which suppose places the leara
I'd translator and commentator level with the abegt
astronomers and seomeiers o. NE day The work may
rcan fcicnce. The country was stn almost wholly
aeacent IN Instrumental power; but the want was
generally ie by men Of science and tue public mind
various part Of the country began be turned towards
she means Of supplying Il. Ia 1875, President John
y
hory before Congress Political considerations prevented
~ being mvorably entertained al that time and II was
mot al 1872, and incident Of the exploring expe1i
roa that appropriation made for depot for the
charts and instruments OF the navy Ga this modest bass
has been reared the National Observatory at Washington
institution which has already taken and fully
m honorable position among the scientific establishments
of The age.
Besides the institution at Washington fifteen or twenty
obeervaores have within the last few years been esta0
hshed different parts Of the country Of them
modest scale for the gracatonof the scientific taste and
l0ff nafa
and usefnness Ia these establish nents public and pr.
va,e the provided for the highest order OF
sonica observaton research aHd instruction There u
already IN the country an amount OF instrumental
power, Ito which addition Is constantly making aud OF
matnemateal tkin on the part Of OF science,
adequate 70 manly composition with their European
contemporaries The fruits already before the world
IN the uangaion OF several Of the Sties In the great
work O the coast survey, Ia the scientific
vcys OF the interior n the tnent In the astronomical
department. OF the exploring expedition, n the scientific
expedition 70 Chil-in The brilliant Autographed la
bors OF the Observatory Al Wsshngton the published
observations Of Washington and Cambrdge in the Jour