Decline of Science in England [67]
until, at the last meeting, the cultivators even of pure mathematics were found amongst the ranks of this academy.
Several circumstances, independent of the form and constitution of the academy, contributed to give unwonted splendour to the last meeting, which took place at Berlin in the middle of September of the last year.
The capital selected for its temporary residence is scarcely surpassed by any in Europe in the number and celebrity of its savans.
The taste for knowledge possessed by the reigning family, has made knowledge itself fashionable; and the severe sufferings of the Prussians previous to the war, by which themselves and Europe were freed, have impressed on them so strongly the lesson that "knowledge is power," that its effects are visible in every department of the government; and there is no country in Europe in which talents and genius so surely open for their possessors the road to wealth and distinction.
Another circumstance also contributed its portion to increase the numbers of the meeting of the past year. The office of president, which is annually changed, was assigned to M. Alexander de Humboldt. The universality of his acquirements, which have left no branch within the wide range of science indifferent or unexplored, has connected him by friendship with almost all the most celebrated philosophers of the age; whilst the polished amenity of his manners, and that intense desire of acquiring and of spreading knowledge, which so peculiarly characterizes his mind, renders him accessible to all strangers, and insures for them the assistance of his counsel in their scientific pursuits, and the advantage of being made known to all those who are interested or occupied in similar inquiries.
Professor Lichtenstein, (Director of the Museum of Zoology,) as secretary of the academy, was indefatigable in his attentions, and most ably seconded the wishes of its distinguished president.
These two gentlemen, assisted by several of the residents at Berlin, undertook the numerous preliminary arrangements necessary for the accommodation of the meeting.
On the 18th of September, 1828, there were assembled at Berlin 377 members of the academy, whose names and residences (in Berlin) were printed in a small pamphlet, and to each name was attached a number, to indicate his seat in the great concert room, in which the morning meetings took place. Each member was also provided with an engraved card of the hall of meeting, on which the numbers of the seats were printed in black ink, and his own peculiar seat marked in red ink, so that every person immediately found his own place, and knew where to look for any friend whom he might wish to find.
At the hour appointed for the opening of the meeting, the members being assembled, and the galleries and orchestra being filled by an assemblage of a large part of the rank and beauty of the capital, and the side-boxes being occupied by several branches of the royal family, and by the foreign ambassadors, the session of the academy was opened by the eloquent address of the president.
SPEECH made at the Opening of the Society of German Naturalists and Natural Philosophers at Berlin, the 18th of September, 1828. - By ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.
Since through your choice, which does me so much honour, I am permitted to open this meeting, the first duty which I have to discharge is one of gratitude. The distinction which has been conferred on him who has never yet been able to attend your excellent society, is not the reward of scientific efforts, or of feeble and persevering attempts to discover new phenomena, or to draw the light of knowledge from the unexplored depths of nature. A finer feeling, however, directed your attention to me. You have assured me, that while, during an absence of many years, and in a distant quarter of the globe, I was labouring in the same cause with yourselves, I was not a stranger in your thoughts. You have likewise greeted my return home, that, by the sacred tie of gratitude, you might bind me still longer and closer to our common
Several circumstances, independent of the form and constitution of the academy, contributed to give unwonted splendour to the last meeting, which took place at Berlin in the middle of September of the last year.
The capital selected for its temporary residence is scarcely surpassed by any in Europe in the number and celebrity of its savans.
The taste for knowledge possessed by the reigning family, has made knowledge itself fashionable; and the severe sufferings of the Prussians previous to the war, by which themselves and Europe were freed, have impressed on them so strongly the lesson that "knowledge is power," that its effects are visible in every department of the government; and there is no country in Europe in which talents and genius so surely open for their possessors the road to wealth and distinction.
Another circumstance also contributed its portion to increase the numbers of the meeting of the past year. The office of president, which is annually changed, was assigned to M. Alexander de Humboldt. The universality of his acquirements, which have left no branch within the wide range of science indifferent or unexplored, has connected him by friendship with almost all the most celebrated philosophers of the age; whilst the polished amenity of his manners, and that intense desire of acquiring and of spreading knowledge, which so peculiarly characterizes his mind, renders him accessible to all strangers, and insures for them the assistance of his counsel in their scientific pursuits, and the advantage of being made known to all those who are interested or occupied in similar inquiries.
Professor Lichtenstein, (Director of the Museum of Zoology,) as secretary of the academy, was indefatigable in his attentions, and most ably seconded the wishes of its distinguished president.
These two gentlemen, assisted by several of the residents at Berlin, undertook the numerous preliminary arrangements necessary for the accommodation of the meeting.
On the 18th of September, 1828, there were assembled at Berlin 377 members of the academy, whose names and residences (in Berlin) were printed in a small pamphlet, and to each name was attached a number, to indicate his seat in the great concert room, in which the morning meetings took place. Each member was also provided with an engraved card of the hall of meeting, on which the numbers of the seats were printed in black ink, and his own peculiar seat marked in red ink, so that every person immediately found his own place, and knew where to look for any friend whom he might wish to find.
At the hour appointed for the opening of the meeting, the members being assembled, and the galleries and orchestra being filled by an assemblage of a large part of the rank and beauty of the capital, and the side-boxes being occupied by several branches of the royal family, and by the foreign ambassadors, the session of the academy was opened by the eloquent address of the president.
SPEECH made at the Opening of the Society of German Naturalists and Natural Philosophers at Berlin, the 18th of September, 1828. - By ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.
Since through your choice, which does me so much honour, I am permitted to open this meeting, the first duty which I have to discharge is one of gratitude. The distinction which has been conferred on him who has never yet been able to attend your excellent society, is not the reward of scientific efforts, or of feeble and persevering attempts to discover new phenomena, or to draw the light of knowledge from the unexplored depths of nature. A finer feeling, however, directed your attention to me. You have assured me, that while, during an absence of many years, and in a distant quarter of the globe, I was labouring in the same cause with yourselves, I was not a stranger in your thoughts. You have likewise greeted my return home, that, by the sacred tie of gratitude, you might bind me still longer and closer to our common