ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 1 I 9 



expressed the most friendly interest in its affairs, a warm appre- 

 ciation of its objects, as well as a generous sympathy for those 

 who were unselfishly working to build up a scientific organiz- 

 ation, and to advance the cause of science on the western shores 

 of our country. 



Though not educated in those higher schools where the mind 

 is trained to scientific study and thought, his native breadth of 

 mind was nevertheless quick to perceive the lofty aims and grand 

 successes of Science, and the many blessings she has conferred 

 upon mankind. 



If we examine into the character of his numerous gifts and 

 the objects he designed to subserve thereby, we find that he 

 acted consistently and in perfect harmony with the sentiment I 

 have indicated, and which governed him in the division and 

 varied dispensation of his exceediug wealth. 



Whatever may have been his idiosyncracies, his varying moods 

 of temper, his mind was clear and logical as to how or in what 

 manner his fortune could be best apportioned, and it was be- 

 stowed thoughtfully and in pursuance of long cherished convic- 

 tions. He loved his country, and the sentiment of patriotism 

 incited him to dedicate a portion of his means to the perpetu- 

 ation, by a monument, of the memory of the author of " The Star 

 Spangled Banner." He was proud of his adopted State and city, 

 hence his gift for a group of statuary illustrative of the settle- 

 ment and growth of California. He was, during a portion of his 

 life a mechanic, hence the endowment for a school of instruction 

 in the mechanical arts and his gift to the Mechanics' Institute. 

 Himself one of the earliest settlers in the State, he cherished 

 the Society of California Pioneers, and made it and them par- 

 ticipants in his bounty. "With a high regard for Science and a 

 warm friendship for our Society, he remembered the dubious 

 days in its history; he was familiar with our embarrassments, 

 and not unmindful of our poverty; he had witnessed our "strug- 

 gle for existence," and gave us with a generous hand. 



So, to the University of California, in which he has endowed 

 an Astronomical Department, which is to bear his name, with a 

 princely gift of the value of nearly three quarters of a million 

 of dollars. And so on through the long list of his benefactions 

 we find maturity of design, and a sagacity in the selection of 



