444 JOHN COUCH ADAMS. 



His claims to distinction must have been recognized in more semi- 

 naries of learniug than he knew. His text-books have had, and still 

 have, a largely extended use in colleges and academies. The degree 

 of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by the University of New 

 York in 1858, and that of Doctor of Laws by Western Reserve Col- 

 lege in 1870, by Trinity College in 1871, and by the University 

 of Edinburgh in 1886. His was a not infrequent and an always 

 welcome presence at Harvard College, where he is gratefully re- 

 membered as a Phi Beta Kappa orator and as a preacher in Appleton 

 Chapel. 



President Porter was in every respect a man of high tone, large- 

 hearted, broad-minded, true, sincere, faithful, honorable, making him- 

 self not only respected but beloved, and most by those who knew him 

 best. He was a firm Christian believer, with fixed opinions based on 

 deliberate conviction, but with only the kindest regard for those who dif- 

 fered from him. He cannot but have endeared himself to his students 

 by a gentleness which was never weak and a firmness which was never 

 harsh or stern. His text-books are conservative in their philosophy, 

 and especially valuable for the justice and candor with which he treats 

 the various schools and types of speculation, even when most remote 

 from his own. As a preacher he was always instructive and im- 

 pressive ; for his sermons were full of profound thought on subjects 

 of infinite moment, and his style, while massive and with little orna- 

 ment, was marked by purity of diction, clearness of meaning, and 

 precision of statement. In his early ministry he must have been a 

 popular preacher, in the better sense of the term ; of late years he 

 has commanded close attention and deep interest in proportion to the 

 receptivity of his hearers, and their own nearness to his own elevated 

 plane of mind, heart, and soul. 



FOREIGN HONORARY MEMBERS. 



JOHN COUCH ADAMS. 



John Couch Adams was born at Lidcot, England, on June 5, 

 1819. His unusual mathematical abilities became evident early in his 

 life, and obtained for him the highest honors at the University of 

 Cambridge, where he graduated as Senior Wrangler in 1843. His 

 election to college fellowships made it practicable for him to devote 



