Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser

The following extract of a letter, (says the New-York Columbian) written by the President of the Institute of France to the President of the Lyceum at New-York, sheds such light upon the enterprise under Major Long, that we publish it for the honor of science and our country.

"Paris, July 15, 1818.

"You are one of the men, who honor America most by your information and talents. How happily are the citizens of the United States situated, for the cultivation of the natural and physical sciences! how many different climates are embraced by the immense territory of your great republic, from the regions beyond your northern lakes, quite to the Gulf of Mexico! how many discoveries will be the consequence of the investigation, the description and the comparison of so many animals, plants, minerals and fossils! an acquaintance with your continent, and the enumeration of its productions, will contribute to the solution of many problems. What illumination will it reflect on Europe for the light it has received from her! You have a great share, sir, in this new glory which awaits your country; which glory is the more secure, inasmuch as the exertions necessary to establish it are necessarily connected with the advancement of culture, the progress of population, and the operation of that system of public economy, which arises from the happiness and liberality of your political organization.

"I have waited a long time, for full information on the subject of the ophidian animal (the sea serpent of Massachusetts) which the naturalists of New-England have seen on the ocean, and the account of which occupies great space in our journals.

"To Professor Mitchell, &c.