CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. 313 



honor, and affection, and peace. The press, the university, the church, 

 and the State, have borne witness to the excellence of his character and 

 the usefuhiess of his life. 



CHARLES HENRY DAVIS. 



Charles Henry Davis was born in Boston, 16th January, 1807. 

 His father was the Hon. Daniel Davis, a lawyer of distinction, and 

 lonsr the Solicitor-General of Massachusetts. His mother was born 

 Margaret Freeman, sister to the Rev. James F'reeman, the eminent 

 mini!«ter of the King's Chapel. He was admitted to Harvard College 

 in 1821 ; but left it two years later, to enter the naval profession. 

 In 1841, however, the university conferred on him the degrees of 

 A.B. and A.M., and, in 18()8, that of LL.D., and his name stands iu 

 the triennial catalosue iu the list of members of the class of 1825. 



His commission as midshipman bore date 12th August, 1823. For 

 some fifteen or twenty years after this time, his life was occupied with 

 the duties and pleasures of his profession. He became passed midship- 

 man iu 1829, and lieutenant in 1834. His ever distinct personality 

 outwardly displayed itself chiefly in the gayety, the spirit, and the 

 physical energy of youth. But the activity of nature which thus 

 found its expression was iu reality the outgrowth of the vigor and 

 brilliancy of his mind and character; and these qualities were all the 

 time gaining maturity and tempered strength in reading, reflection, and 

 intercourse with the world. His habits of thou<iht and feeling bore ever 

 after deep and pleasant traces of the education of those earlier years. 



About 1840, Lieutenant Davis took up his residence in Cambridge, 

 and undertook a serious course of reading and study, especially in 

 mathematics, which he pursued under the guidance of Professor 

 Peirce. In 1842, he was ordered to duty on the Coast Survey, of 

 which Professor Bache was the next year appointed superintendent; 

 and he continued as one of the most valued officers in this service till 

 1849. The department to which he was primarily assigned was the 

 investigation of the velocity and directitm of the tides and currents in 

 New York Harbor, in the Gulf Stream, and in the neighborhood of 

 Kantucket ; and the efficiency and ability which he displayed in this 

 work led to his frequent appointment on commissions, both then and 

 subsequently, tx) examine the principal harbors of the country. These 

 researches engaged him in the genei'al study of the laws of tidal action, 

 in which he made valuable additions to knowledge, and was led to the 

 adoption of new and striking views, embodied in his " Memoir upon 



