From the Edinburgh Journal of Science.

CONGRESS OF PHILOSOPHERS.

Account of the great Congress of Philosophers at Berlin on the 18th of September, 1828.

The existence of a large society of cultivators of the natural sciences meeting annually at some great capital or some central town of Europe, is a circumstance almost unknown to us and deserving of our attention from the important advantages which may arise from it.

About eight years ago, Dr. Okens, of Munich, suggested a plan for an annual meeting of all Germans who cultivated the sciences of medicine and botany.

The first meeting, of about forty members, took place at Leipsig in 1822, and it was successively held at Halle, Wurtsburg, Frankfort on the Maine, Dresden , Munich, and Berlin.

All those who had printed a certain number of sheets of their inquiries were considered as members of this academy.

The great advantages which resulted to these sciences from the communication of observations from all quarters of Germany, soon induced an extension of the plan and other departments of natural knowledge were admitted, until at the last meeting the cultivators even of pure mathematics were found in the ranks of this academy.

Several circumstances independent of the form and constitution of the academy, contributed to give unwonted splendor to the 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, which freed both them and Europe, have impressed on them so strongly the lesson that ‘knowledge is power,’ that its effects are visible in every department of the government, and in no country in Europe do talents and genius so surely open for their possessors the road to wealth and to distinction.

Another circumstance continued to increase the number 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, while the polished amenity of his manners and his intense desire of acquiring and spreading knowledge, render him accessible to strangers and insure them the assistance of his counsel in their scientific pursuits and the advantage being made known to all 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 for the accommodation of the meeting.

On the 18th of September, 1828, there were assembled at Berlin three hundred and seventy-seven members of the academy, whose names and residence (at Berlin) were printed in a small pamphlet, and to each name was affixed a number to indicate his seat in the great concert room, where the morning meetings took place.

Each member was provided with an engraved card of the hall of meeting, on which the numbers of the seats were printed in black 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, the members being assembled, the galleries and orchestra filled by an assemblage of a large part of the rank and beauty of the capital, and the side boxes 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 of Baron Humboldt.— ‘Since through your choice I am permitted to open this meeting, the first duty 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 directs your attention to me.

You have assured me that while during an absence of many years in a distant quarter of the globe, I labored in the same cause with yourselves, I was not a stranger in your thoughts.

‘What can the picture of this our native land present more agreeable to the mind than that we perceive to-day, for the first time, within our walls?

From the banks of the Neckar, the birth-place of Kepler and Schiller, to the remotest border of the Baltic plains; — from hence to the mouth of the Rhine, where, under the beneficent influence of commerce, the treasures of exotic nature have for centuries been collected and investigated, the friends of nature, inspired by the same zeal, flock together to this assembly; from all lands where the German language is used, and its peculiar structure affects the spirit of the people, from the Great European Alps to the other side of the Weichsel , where, in the country of Copernicus, astronomy rose in renewed splendor; wherever, in the extensive dominions of the German nation, we attempt to discover the secret operations of nature, whether in the heavens or in the deepest problems of mechanics, or in the interior of the earth, or in the finely woven tissues of organic structure.

Protected by noble princes, this assembly has annually increased in interest and, extent.

Every distinction which difference of religion or of government can occasion, is here annulled.

Germany manifest itself in its intellectual unity; and since knowledge of truth and performance of duty are the highest objects of morality, that feeling of unity weakens none of the bonds which the religion, constitution and laws of our country endear to each of us.

This emulation in mental struggles even called forth, as the glorious history of our country tells us, the fairest blossoms of humanity, science and art.

The assembly of German naturalists and natural philosophers, since its last meeting, when it was so hospitably received at Munich, has, through the flattering interest of neighboring states and academies, shone with peculiar lustre.

Allied nations have renewed the ancient alliance between Germany and the Scandinavian North.

Such an interest deserves acknowledgement the more, because it increases the mass of facts and opinions here brought into one common union.

It also brings lofty recollections to the mind of the naturalists.

Scarce half a century has elapsed since Linne appeared, in the boldness of the undertakings which he has attempted and accomplished, as one of the greatest men of the last century.

His glory, however bright, has not rendered Europe blind to the merits of Scheele and Bergman. —

The catalogue of great names is not completed, but, lest I should offend noble modesty I dare not speak of the light still flowing in richest profusion from the north, nor mention the discoveries in the chemical nature of substances in the numerical relation of their elements, or the eddying streams of electro-magnetic powers.—May those excellent persons who deterred neither by perils of sea or land, have hastened to our meeting from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, England, and Poland, point out the way to other strangers in succeeding years, so that by turns every part of Germany may enjoy the benefits of scientific communication with the different nations of Europe.

Berzelius and Oersted.

But though I restrain the expression of my personal feelings in presence of the assembly, let me at least name the patriarchs of our national glory detained from us by a regard for lives so dear to our country:

— Goethe, whom the creations of poetic fancy have not withheld from penetrating the secrets of nature, and who now in rural solitude mourns for his princely friend as Germany for one of her greatest ornament; Olbers, who has discovered two bodies where he predicted they would be found; the greatest anatomists of our age, Soemmering, who with equal zeal has investigated the wonders of organic structure and the spots and feculae of the sun, (condensations and openings of the photospheres) — Blumenbach, whose pupil I have the honor to be, whose works and immortal eloquence and labors of half a century have inspired every where a love of comparative anatomy, physiology, and the general history of nature.

These observations on the literary wealth of our country, and the progressive developement of our institution, lead us naturally to the obstructions which may arise from the increasing number of our fellow laborers.

The principal object of this society is not the mutual interchange of treaties, or the publication of innumerable memoirs in some general collection, but it is to bring those personally together who are engaged in the same field of science.

It is the immediate and therefore more obvious interchange of ideas, whether presented as facts, opinions, or doubts.

It is the establishment of friendly connection, which throws light on science, adds, cheerfulness to life, and gives grace and amenity to the manners.

In the most flourishing period of ancient Greece, the distinction between words and writing manifested itself most strongly among a race which had raised itself to the most splendid intellectual superiority, and to whose latest descendants preserved from the shipwreck of nations we still consecrate our most anxious wishes.

It was not the difficulty of interchanging ideas alone, nor the want of German science which has spread thought as on wings through the world, and given it permanence, that led the friends of philosophy and natural history in Magna Grecia and Asia Minor to wander on long journeys.

That ancient race knew the inspiring influence of conversation, as it extemporaneously penetrates the tissue of scientific opinions and doubts.

The discovery of truth without difference of opinion is unattainable, for truth in its full extent can never be recognized by all and at the same time.

Each step that brings the student of nature nearer to his object conducts him to the threshhold of new labyrinths.

The mass of doubt does not diminish, but spreads like a moving cloud over new fields, and whoever calls that a golden period when the disputes of the learned will be finished, has as imperfect a conception of the wants of science, as he who expects that the same opinions in geognosy, chemistry, or physiology will be maintained for centuries.

The founders of this society with a deep sense of the unity of nature have combined in the completest manner, all the branches of physical knowledge and of historical, geometrical and experimental philosophy.

The names of natural historian and natural philosopher are here therefore nearly synonymous, chained by a terrestrial link to the type of the lower animals.

Man completes the scale of higher organization.

In his physiological and pathological qualities, he scarcely presents to us a distinct class of beings.

As to what has brought him to this exalted object of physical study, and raised him to general scientific investigation, it belongs principally to this society. Important as it is not to break that link which connects the investigation of organic and morganic nature, the increasing ties and daily developement of this institution, render it necessary, besides the general meeting destined for these halls, to have specific meetings for single branches of science.

For it is only in such contracted circles and among men whom reciprocity of studies has brought together, that oral discussions can take place.

Without these would the voluntary associations of men in search of truth, be deprived of an inspiring principle.

Among the arrangements for the advancement of the society attention has been paid to the possibility of such a subdivision into sections.

The hope that these arrangements will meet with your approbation imposes the duty of reminding you, that although you had entrusted to two travellers equally the duty of making them, it is to one alone, my noble friend M. Lichtenstein, that the merit of careful precaution and indefatigable activity is due.

Out of respect to the scientific spirit which animates the Society of German Naturalists and Natural Philosophy, and in acknowledgment of the utility of their efforts, the government has readily seconded our wishes.

In the vicinity of the place of meeting thus prepared for our general and special labors are situated the museums of Anatomy, Zoology, Oryctognosy and Geology, offering to the naturalist a rich mine for observation and critical discussion.

The greater number of these collections have existed, like the University of Berlin, scarcely twenty years.

The oldest of them, to which the Botanical Garden, the richest one in Europe belongs, have during this period not only been increased, but entirely remodelled.

The amusement and instruction they furnish recall to our grateful minds that they are the work of that great monarch who modestly and in simple grandeur adorns every year this city with new treasures of nature and art—and what is of still greater value—what inspires every Prussian with an enthusiastic love for the ancient reigning family, he attaches to himself every species of talent, and extends with confidence his royal protection to the free cultivation of the understanding.’

Baron Humboldt’s speech was followed by a paper on magnetism, by Professor Oersted, and several other memoirs were then read.

The arrival of so many persons of similar pursuit, (for four hundred and sixtyfour members were present) rendered it convenient to have some ordinary at which those who chose might dine, and introduce their friends and families.

This had been foreseen and his Majesty had allowed the immense building used for the exercise of his troops to be used for this purpose.

One third of it was floored on the occasion, and tables were arranged, at which on one occasion, eight hundred and fifty persons sat down to dinner.

On the evening of the first day, M. de Humboldt gave a soiree in the concert rooms attached to the theatre.

About twelve hundred persons assembled on this occasion, and the King of Prussia honored with his presence the fete of his illustrious Chamberlain.

The nobility of the country, foreign princes, and foreign ambassadors were present.

It was gratifying to observe the princes of the blood mingled with the cultivators of science, and to see the heir apparent to the throne engaged in conversation with those most celebrated for talents of his own or other countries.

Nor were the minor arrangements of the evening beneath the consideration of the President.

The words of the music, selected for the concert, were printed and distributed among the guests, The names of the most illustrious philosophers which Germany had produced, were inscribed in letters of gold at the end of the great concert room.

In the first rank among these, stood a name which England too enrolls among her brightest, and proud as she may well be of having fostered and brought to maturity the genius of the first Herschel, she has reaped an ample reward in being able to claim entirely as her own the inheriter of his talents and his name.

The six succeeding days were occupied in the morning, by a meeting of the academy, at which papers of great interest were read.

In the afternoon, through the arrangements of M. de Humboldt and M. Lichtenstein, various rooms were appropriated for different sections of the academy.

In one the chemical philosophers attended to some chemical memoir, whilst the botanists assembled in another room, the physiologists in a third, and the natural philosophers in a fourth.

Each attended to the reading of papers connected with their several sciences.

Thus every member was at liberty to choose that section in which he felt most interest at the moment, and had at all times access to the others.

The evenings were generally spent at the soirees of the savans, resident at Berlin, whose hospitality and attentions to their learned brethren of other countries were unbounded.

In the morning the collections of natural history, which are rapidly rising into importance, were open to examinations, and the various professors and directors assisted the stranger in his inquiries.

A map of Europe was printed, on which those towns only appeared which had sent representatives to this scientific Congress; and the numbers sent by different kingdoms appeared by the following table, which was attached to it:

Russia, 1 Bavaria, 12 Austria, 0 Hanover, 5 England, 1 Saxony, 21 Holland, 2 Wirtemburg, 12 Denmark, 7 Sweden, 13 France, 1 Naples, 1 Sardina, 0 Poland, 3 Prussia, 95 German States, 43 217 Berlin, 172 Total, 389

Not one from American!

The proportion in which the cultivators of different sciences appeared, was not easy to ascertain, because there were few among the more eminent who had not added to more than one branch of human knowledge.

The following table, though not professing to be very accurate, will afford, perhaps, a tolerably fair view: — Geometers, 1; Astronomers, 5; Natural Philosophers, 23—in all 39. Mines, 5; Mineralogy, 14; Geology, 9—in all 30. Chemistry, 18; Geography, 8; Anatomy, 12. Zoology, 14; Natural History, 8; and Botany, 35—in all 57. Physicians, 175. Amateurs, 9. Various, 33. Grand total, 381.

A medal was struck in commemoration of this meeting; and it was proposed that it should form the first of a series, comprising all those persons most celebrated for discoveries in the past and present age.

The American Lyceum, when its entire organization shall have been carried into practical effect, will present a bolder scene of moral sublimity than even the Congress of Philosophers at Berlin.

The wide spread materials for scientific and literary organization throughout our country demand immediate consideration.