Connected with the establishment of an university, or separate from it, might be undertaken the erection of an astronomical observatory, with provision for the support of an astronomer, to be in constant attendance of observation upon the phenomena of the heavens, and for the periodical publication of his observations. It is with no feeling of pride as an American that the remark may be made that on the comparatively small territorial surface of Europe there are existing upward of 130 of these light-houses of the skies, while throughout the whole American hemisphere there is not one. If we reflect a moment upon the discoveries which in the last four centuries have been made in the physical constitution of the universe by the means of these buildings and of observers stationed in them, shall we doubt of their usefulness to every nation? And while scarcely a year passes over our heads without bringing some new astronomical discovery to light, which we must fain receive at second hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from the means of returning light for light while we have neither observatory nor observer upon our half of the globe and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to our unsearching eyes? [Illustration: The Lewis and Clark expedition] Transcriber’s Notes --Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication. --Silently corrected a few palpable typos, leaving period spellings unchanged. --In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_. --Added subheadings in the text to match entries in the Table of Contents. --Added captions to illustrations based on the attributions in front matter. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Jeffersonians, 1801-1829, by Richard B. Morris and James Woodress