第79章

Ihaveusedlooseandroundnumbers(theexactunitbeingyetundetermined)merelytogiveageneralideaofthemeasuresandweightsproposed，whencomparedwiththosewenowuse。AndinthenamesofthesubdivisionsIhavefollowedthemetrologyoftheordinanceofCongressof1786，whichfortheirseriesbelowunitadoptedtheRomannumerals。ForthataboveunittheGrecianisconvenient，andhasbeenadoptedinthenewFrenchsystem。

Wecomenowtoourlastquestion，inwhatformshallweofferthismetricalsystemtotheworld?Insomeonewhichshallbealtogetherunassuming；whichshallnothavetheappearanceoftakingtheleadamongoursisterinstitutionsinmakingageneralproposition。Sojealousisthespiritofequalityintherepublicofletters，thatthesmallestexcitementofthatwouldmarourviews，howeversalutaryforall。Weareinhabitsofcorrespondencewithsomeoftheseinstitutions，andidentityofcharacterandofobject，authorizeourenteringintocorrespondencewithall。Letusthenmatureoursystemasfarascanbedoneatpresent，byascertainingthelengthofthesecondpendulumof45degreesbyformingtwotables，oneofwhichshallgivetheequivalentofeverydifferentdenominationofmeasures，weightsandcoinsintheseStates，intheunitofthatpendulum，itsdecimalsandmultiples；andtheotherstatingtheequivalentofallthedecimalpartsandmultiplesofthatpendulum，intheseveraldenominationsofmeasures，weightsandcoinsofourexistingsystem。Thisdone，wemightcommunicatetooneormoreoftheseinstitutionsineverycivilizedcountryacopyofthosetables，statingasourmotive，thedifficultywehadexperienced，andoftentheimpossibilityofascertainingthevalueofthemeasures，weightsandcoinsofothercountries，expressedinanystandardwhichwepossess；thatdesirousofbeingrelievedfromthis，andofobtaininginformationwhichcouldbereliedonforthepurposesofscience，aswellasofbusiness，wehadconcludedtoaskitfromthelearnedsocietiesofothernations，whoareespeciallyqualifiedtogiveitwiththerequisiteaccuracy；thatinmakingthisrequestwehadthoughtitourdutyfirsttodoourselves，andtooffertoothers，whatwemeanttoaskfromthem，bystatingthevalueofourownmeasures，weightsandcoins，insomeunitofmeasurealreadypossessed，oreasilyobtainable，byallnations；thatthependulumvibratingsecondsofmeantime，presentsitselfassuchanunit；itslengthbeingdeterminedbythelawsofnature，andeasilyascertainableatalltimesandplaces；thatwehavethoughtthatof45degreeswouldbethemostunexceptionable，asbeingameanofallotherparallels，andopentoactualtrialinbothhemispheres。Inthis，therefore，asanunit，andinitspartsandmultiplesinthedecimalratio，wehaveexpressed，inthetablescommunicated，thevalueofallthemeasures，weightsandcoinsusedintheUnitedStates，andweaskinreturnfromtheirbodyatableoftheweights，measuresandcoinsinusewithintheircountry，expressedinthepartsandmultiplesofthesameunit。Havingrequestedthesamefavorfromthelearnedsocietiesofothernations，ourobjectis，withtheirassistance，toplacewithinthereachofourfellowcitizensatlargeaperfectknowledgeofthemeasures，weightsandcoinsofthecountrieswithwhichtheyhavecommercialorfriendlyintercourse；andshouldthesocietiesofothercountriesinterchangetheirrespectivetables，thelearnedwillbeinpossessionofanuniformlanguageinmeasures，weightsandcoins，whichmaywithtimebecomeusefultootherdescriptionsoftheircitizens，andeventotheirgovernments。This，however，willrestwiththeirpleasure，notpresuming，inthepresentproposition，toextendourviewsbeyondthelimitsofourownnation。IofferthissketchmerelyastheoutlineofthekindofcommunicationwhichIshouldhopewouldexcitenojealousyorrepugnance。

Peculiarcircumstances，however，wouldrequirelettersofamorespecialcharactertotheInstituteofFrance，andtheRoyalSocietyofEngland。ThemagnificentworkwhichFrancehasexecutedintheadmeasurementofsolargeaportionofthemeridian，hasaclaimtogreatrespectinourreferencetoit。Weshouldonlyaskacommunicationoftheirmetricalsystem，expressedinequivalentvaluesofthesecondpendulumof45degreesasascertainedbyMessrs。

Borda，CoulombandCassini，adding，perhaps，therequestofanactualrodofthelengthofthatpendulum。

WithEngland，ourexplanationswillbemuchmoredelicate。

Theyaretheolder