lic
ships. The River of the West, first fully discovered and navigated by a
countryman of our own, still bears the name of the ship in which he
ascended its waters, and claims the protection of our armed national
flag at its mouth. With the establishment of a military post there or at
some other point of that coast, recommended by my predecessor and
already matured in the deliberations of the last Congress, I would
suggest the expediency of connecting the equipment of a public ship for
the exploration of the whole northwest coast of this continent.

The establishment of an uniform standard of weights and measures was one
of the specific objects contemplated in the formation of our
Constitution, and to fix that standard was one of the powers delegated
by express terms in that instrument to Congress. The Governments of
Great Britain and France have scarcely ceased to be occupied with
inquiries and speculations on the same subject since the existence of
our Constitution, and with them it has expanded into profound,
laborious, and expensive researches into the figure of the earth and the
comparative length of the pendulum vibrating seconds in various
latitudes from the equator to the pole. These researches have resulted
in the composition and publication of several works highly interesting
to the cause of science. The experiments are yet in the process of
performance. Some of them have recently been made on our own shores,
within the walls of one of our own colleges, and partly by one of our
own fellow-citizens. It would be honorable to our country if the sequel
of the same experiments should be countenanced by the patronage of our
Government, as they have hitherto been by those of France and Britain.

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