OF ARTS AND SCIENCES : JUNE 4, 1872. 481 



light than as a man of business. He wrote as he talked, with a facility 

 and rapidity and fertility very rarely equalled, as many of his letters 

 remain to show, — letters as impetuous, as ingenious, as close in argu- 

 ment, as vivid in illustration, as if they were verbatim reports of his 

 brilliant conversation. But I am not sure that he ever printed more 

 than one paper, or delivered more than a single lecture. 



In the "North American Review" for October, 1852, is a paper 

 written by him on the subject of the Great Exhibition. It is a very 

 spirited essay, taking the side of the practical workman as an inventor 

 against the pretensions of the man of science. All the characteristics 

 of his mind are very well represented in this essay, which can be read 

 to-day with as much instruction and entertainment as when it was 

 written. He may have pressed his argument at some points, but it is 

 a very striking plea for the discoveries and inventions of the workshop 

 as against those of the laboratory. 



In the winter of 1853-54, Mr. Jackson delivered a lecture, in the 

 course instituted by the Academy, on the " History of the Useful Arts." 

 This lecture was distinguished by the same qualities which character- 

 ized the essay in the "North American Review." Some of its con- 

 clusions were startling; but, if not proved, they were supported by such 

 an array of facts, so ingeniously presented, as to offer a formidable front 

 to an opponent. Most of the inventions claimed by Englishmen, as I 

 remember this lecture, were proved or alleged, with a greater or less 

 show of evidence, not to have come from men of Anglo-Saxon birth, 

 that particular stock never having distinguished itself by inventive 

 talent. The lecture was listened to with great interest, and some of 

 its conclusions were, I think, controverted ; but it was an effort which 

 showed the keen iconoclastic radicalism of his intellect in its fullest 

 development. 



Mr. Jackson's personal character, his fidelity in friendship, the 

 warmth of his attachments, his generous hospitality, added to the 

 attractions of his companionship, made him a great favorite with those 

 who enjoyed the privilege of his intimate acquaintance. 



He died, after a protracted illness, on the 30th of July, 1871, leaving 

 a widow and three children, two sons and a daughter. His eldest 

 daughter, the wife of the Rev. George Folsom, died one month before 

 her father. 



VOL. VIII. 61 



