The star had moved, and in the direction which theory indicated; and for once, at least, the world rang with applause at a brilliant scientific conquest from which there was not one cent of money to be made. Yet, was that conquest any less important to the world? What had it secured? It had confirmed the theory of astronomy which Copernicus and his successors had built up, and it had clinched the last nail in the proof that those grand conceptions of modern astronomy, now household thoughts, are realities, and not dreams. Certainly no military conquest can compare with this. Do not smile at the enthusiasm which rates so high a purely intellectual achievement? Go out with me under the heavens, in some starlight night, and, looking up into the depths of space, recall the truths you have learned in regard to that immensity, and allow the imagination free scope as it stretches out into the infinitudes of time, space, and power, carrying the mind on, bound by bound, through the limitless expanse, until even the imagination refuses to follow, and fairly quails before the mighty form of the Infinite, which rises to confront it! Remember now that your forefathers, of only a few centuries back, saw there nothing but a solid dome hemming in the earth and skies, and that you are able to look upon this grand spectacle only because great minds have lived who have opened your intellectual eyes; and then answer me, is not this result worth all the labor, all the sacrifice, all the treasure it has cost? Every educated man, who has not sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, lives a grander and nobler life, because the great astronomers have thought and taught, and this elevation of human life is the greatest achievement of which man can boast. Before it all material conquests appear of little worth, and the lustre of all military or civil glory grows dim. Cherish this intellectual life; foster it; sustain it; do what you can by your own spirit and influence, and, if you are blessed with riches, give of your abundance to support and encourage those who, by genius, talent, and devotion, will widen the intellectual kingdom. Be assured you will thus help to confer an inestimable boon on your race and on your country; and the influence for good will not be felt by the intellectual life of the nation only. That corruption which is now festering at the heart of our body politic, and threatening its destruction, can in no way be fought and conquered so effectually as by keeping constantly before the nation noble and high ideals; for, where the higher life is cherished and honored, the mercenary and sensual motives of action, which both invite and shield corruption, lose much of their force and power.