"The crystallizations, or regular forms of inorganic matter, are intimately connected with definite proportions, and depend upon the nature of the combinations of the elementary particles; and both the laws of electrical polarity, and the polarization of light, seem related to these phenomena. As to the origin of the primary arrangement of the crystalline matter of the globe, various hypotheses have been applied, and the question is still agitated, and is perhaps above the present state of our knowledge; but there are two principal facts which present analogies on the subject,—one, that the form of the earth is that which would result, supposing it to have been originally fluid; and the other, that in lavas, masses decidedly of igneous origin, crystalline substances, similar to those belonging to the primary rocks, are found in abundance."
It is the privilege of genius to be in advance of the age, and to see, "as by refraction, the light, as yet below the horizon." It is with such a feeling that I have introduced the foregoing extracts, which I cannot but regard as prophetic of future discoveries.
The first discourse was delivered on the 30th of November 1821, on the occasion of announcing the award of two medals, on Sir Godfrey Copley's donation; one to J. F. W. Herschel, Esq. for his various papers on mathematical and physico-mathematical subjects; and the other, to Captain Edward Sabine, R.A., for his papers containing an account of his various experiments and observations made during a voyage and expedition in the Arctic regions.
As I am desirous that the reader should be made acquainted with the nature and style of the address with which he accompanied the presentation of the medal, I cannot select a happier example, or one in the sentiments of which every person will more readily participate, than the following:—
"Mr. Herschel—Receive this medal, Sir, as a mark of our respect, and of our admiration of those talents which you have applied with so much zeal and success, and preserve it as a pledge of future exertions in the cause of Science and of the Royal Society; and, believe me, you can communicate your labours to no public body by whom they will be better received, or through whose records they will be better known to the philosophical world. You are in the prime of life, in the beginning of your career, and you have powers and acquirements capable of illustrating and extending every branch of physical enquiry; and, in the field of science, how many are the spots not yet cultivated! Where the laws of sensible become connected with those of insensible motions, the mechanical with the chemical phenomena, how little is known! In electricity, magnetism, in the relations of crystallized forms to the weight of the elements of bodies, what a number of curious and important objects of research! and they are objects which you are peculiarly qualified to pursue and illustrate.
"May you continue to devote yourself to philosophical pursuits, and to exalt your reputation, already so high—
'Virtutem extendere factis.'
And these pursuits you will find not only glorious, but dignified, useful, and gratifying in every period of life: this, indeed, you must know best in the example of your illustrious father, who, full of years and of honours, must view your exertions with infinite pleasure; and who, in the hopes that his own imperishable name will be permanently connected with yours in the annals of philosophy, must look forward to a double immortality."
In the discourse of the succeeding year, it was his painful duty to announce the death of the elder Herschel, whom, in his former address, he had eulogized in such eloquent and touching language.
In alluding to the labours and discoveries of Sir William Herschel, he observed, that "they have so much contributed to the progress of modern astronomy, that his name will probably live as long as the inhabitants of this earth are permitted to view the solar system, or to understand the laws of its motions. The world of science—the civilized world, are alike indebted to him who enlarges the boundaries of human knowledge, who increases the scope of intellectual enjoyment, and exhibits the human mind in possession of new and unknown powers, by which it gains, as it were, new dominions in space; acquisitions which are imperishable—not like the boundaries of terrestrial states and kingdoms, or even the great monuments of art, which, however extensive and splendid, must decay—but secured by the grandest forms and objects of nature, and registered amongst her laws."