astronomical
observatory, at a cost of $100,000, it was ridiculed by the newspapers,
considered Utopian, and dismissed from the public mind. When our
government, a few years since, voted an appropriation of $50,000 for a
telescope for the National Observatory, it was considered magnificent.
Yet, a quarter of a century since (1838), Russia founded an astronomical
observatory. The government spent $200,000 on instruments, $1,500,000 on
buildings, and annually appropriated $38,000 for salaries of observers.
I naturally thought that a million and a half dollars, and Oriental
ideas, combined, would make the observatory a showy place; I expected
that the observatory would be surmounted by a gilded dome, and that
'pearly gates' would open as I approached. There is not even a dome!

"The central observation-room is a cylinder, and its doors swing back on
hinges. Wherever it is possible, wood is used, instead of stone or
brick. I could not detect, in the whole structure, anything like
carving, gilding, or painting, for mere show. It was all for science;
and its ornamentations were adapted to its uses, and came at their
demand.

"In our country, the man of science leads an isolated life. If he has
capabilities of administration, our government does not yet believe in
them.

"The director of the observatory at Pulkova has the military rank of
general, and he is privy councillor to the czar. Every subordinate has
also his military position--he is a soldier.

"What would you think of it, if the director of any observatory were one
of the President's cabinet at Washington, in virtue of his position?
Struve's position is that of a member of the President's cabinet.

"Here is another difference: Ours is a democratic country. We recognize
no caste; we are born 'free and equal.' We honor labor; work is
ennobling. These expressions we are all accustomed to use. Do we live up
to them? Many a rich man, many a man in fine social position, has
married a school-teacher; but I never heard it spoken of as a source of
pride in the alliance until I went to despotic Russia. Struve told me,
as he would have told of any other honor which had been his, that his
wife, as a girl, had taught school in St. Petersburg. And then Madame
Struve joined in the conversation, and told me how much the subject of
woman's education still held her interest.

"St. Petersburg is about the size of Philadelphia. Struve said, 'There
are thousands of women studying