254 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



army. Some one well said of him that, " Ifad he been trained to the 

 profession of the law, he would have been an eminent jurist." And 

 it is curious to note the effect of rigid military education acting on a 

 mind which was a legal one in its ready spring and its power of weigh- 

 ing evidence. Neither of these qualities was diminished. The readi- 

 ness remained, but was developed as a faculty carefully limited and 

 ever liable to be called on to " report itself." The judicial power was 

 there, but was used as the judge uses it, to weigh all the evidence ; not 

 as the advocate, to sift the testimony on one side. To such inborn 

 traits, there was added, by the studies of the School, a knowledge of 

 the exact sciences, and the rules of a soldier's life. Thus it was that 

 a man, who in the natural course would have risen to the bench, came 

 by the accident of his education to be the leader of armies and the 

 governor of territories. 



Born in Cadiz, of American jiarents, in 1815, Meade was early 

 destined for the army, and graduated at West Point in 1835, as a 

 brevet second lieutenant of artillery. He resigned his commission at 

 the end of a twelvemonth, and for six years was engaged in civil pur- 

 suits; much of the time as an engineer. In 1842 he entered the 

 corps of topographical engineers as a second lieutenant, and dis- 

 tinguished himself in that capacity during Taylor's Mexican campaign. 

 He served in the celebrated actions of Palo Alto and Resaca de la 

 Palma, and was brevetted a first lieutenant for gallantry before IMon- 

 terey. From the close of the JMexican war to the outbreak of the 

 Rebellion, he was an untiring worker in his branch of the service, and 

 did much to build up its great and deserved reputation. It was he 

 who erected the remarkable lighthouses on some of the Florida reefs, 

 the most difficult of access. To him we are indebted for admirable 

 surveys of the northern lakes, and for numerous hydrographic observa- 

 tions. He was still engaged on this work, when the events of the 

 spring of 1861 summoned him — then a captain of engineers — from 

 his head-quarters in Detroit. At that moment he gave characteristic 

 proof of the rigor of his j.udgment, and of what may be termed his 

 incapacity for being affected by general enthusiasm. At an excited 

 public meeting, he calmly told the peoj)le that they could not over- 

 come the crisis either in a short time or by small means, but must 

 make up their minds to vast sacrifices. This cool lecture was ill 

 received ; and only as time went on did the hearers learn how wise it 

 was. 



Meade was appointed a Brigadier-General of volunteers, and was 

 given command of the second brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves. 



