JOSEPH WIXLOCK. 849 



In his administrative capacity, whicli was tested in the Nautical 

 Almanac, at the Observatory, and on two eclipse expeditions, Mr Win- 

 lock evinced a disinterestedness, a strength, and a tranquillity of mind, 

 which commanded the respect and won the affection of his associates. 

 His leadership was nowhere asserted, but everywhere acknowledged. 

 A man of few words, but of much thought ; of no pretensions, but of 

 great performance, — he did his own part patiently and well, and by 

 his example inspired others to do theirs. The magnitude and the 

 variety of work embraced in liis j^rogramme, none of which suffered 

 by default, certify to the prudence and the vigor with which his 

 forces were selected and marshalled. 



In his private life, Mr. Winlock was exceptionally quiet and retir- 

 ing. But little inclined to general society, he was full of hospitality. 

 His hajipiness was not complete without a few very intimate friends ; 

 and he had no enemies. He was remarkably silent before strangers ; 

 but no one talked more or better in the circles which he loved. Indis- 

 posed as he was to take up his pen, when he wrote his words were as 

 transparent as his thoughts. Modest and without self-assertion, he 

 had as much as any other man the courage of his own opinions. Slow 

 to put himself forward, he was genial and accessible ; giving his time 

 and his instruction freely to all who asked ; never hoarding up a dis- 

 covery for his own exclusive benefit, but sharing with all his last 

 thought and his newest invention. He was keenly alive to the ridicu- 

 lous ; but there was no ill-nature in his criticisms. Pretence and 

 charlatanism in science amused him ; but they did not destroy his 

 equanimity. Without any selfish aims, he took no security for his 

 own discoveries and inventions ; so that others, less scrujjulous than he 

 was, too often entered into his labors. His friends sometimes wished 

 that his ambition had been more aggressive ; but perhaps he was 

 wiser, in the simplicity of his character and the purity of his motives, 

 than the men of this generation. The discoveries and inventions 

 which he did not claim for himself will be vindicated for him. 



In an age of bribery and corruption, every example of honor and 

 fidelity in the execution of a public trust is to be cherished. In an 

 age, when superficiality is preferred to depth, when the aspirants for 

 scientific distinction sometimes forget to be just, and even the stars of 

 heaven are obscured by the dust of earth, every life consecrated to 

 honest study, not deflected from its high path by the love of popular 

 applause, silent in its own strength, as the planets whose courses it 

 follows, is a blessing and a legacy to mankind. In an age, when 

 priority of discovery often counts for more than the advancement of 



