GEORGE W. CULLUM. 421 



ander Hamilton. Leaving no immediate heirs, he bequeathed the 

 greater part to the institutions in which he had been interested. The 

 most important items were $250,000 for the erection of a Memorial 

 Hall at West Point, stipulating in his will that the sword, bust, 

 and portrait of General Halleck should be deposited there ; $20,000 

 for mural tablets and painted portraits of deceased officers and 

 graduates ; $20,000 for the continuance of Cullum's Biographical 

 Register of the Graduates of the Military Academy, to be published 

 decennially ; $10,000 to the Association of Graduates of the Academy ; 

 and $100,000 for a hall for the American Geographical Society. 



From this sketch it appears that, apart from his professional duties, 

 he devoted his whole life to a few great objects. He was deeply im- 

 pressed with the necessity of thorough military education. He be- 

 lieved that the country had already been saved or benefited in more 

 than one instance by the skill and loyalty of the graduates of West 

 Point, that a complete and unbiased record of their services would 

 be the surest way to establish this belief, and that the certainty of 

 such record in the past and future would also add to the esprit de corps 

 and sense of responsibility of all graduates. He had no sympathy for 

 the conduct of the few that joined the Confederate States in the 

 Civil War, but stated the facts in unequivocal terms, and dropped 

 their military record without further comment. 



His historical writings were all directed to general questions of the 

 military defence of the country against foreign invasion. His geo- 

 graphical labors absorbed the rest of his available time. 



The wealth which economy and other circumstances had placed 

 within his grasp was not squandered in personal indulgence, but 

 reserved for posthumous work, directed to the same general purposes, 

 excepting the portion bequeathed to relatives and friends. 



It is not surprising that he appeared cold and undemonstrative 

 to those who were not in perfect sympathy with his work and his 

 method of conducting it. He had a' few intimate friends to whom he 

 was steadfastly attached. He was an excellent judge of character, 

 and his criticisms of men and motives were often astonishing in view 

 of the relations into which he had been personally thrown with them. 

 He was interested in humanity at large, and this combined with his 

 wide and varied experience, his general information, his refined man- 

 ner, and a certain occult sense of humor to make him a very inter- 

 esting companion. 



