260 ELIZABETH CARY AGASSIZ 



among her ancestors, but she had also had, especially on 

 her mother's side of the family, a line of forbears who had 

 won an enviable reputation in scientific, military, naval or 

 diplomatic fields. She had herself the education that asso- 

 ciation and inheritance give in richer measure than any 

 college, to which force and charm were lent by her intellec- 

 tual and unusual social gifts, her ready wit, her strong reH- 

 gious faith, and her power of affection, and an air of natural 

 distinction entirely independent of the accident of her 

 position, made her presence additionally significant. It is 

 no wonder that she was recognized as a suitable fellow- 

 w^orker with Mrs. Agassiz and one whose coming to 

 Radchffe as dean would be a happy omen for the college. 

 "I hope you will be glad to learn," she wrote to Mrs. Agas- 

 siz in her letter of acceptance of the office, "that I accept 

 the place offered me with a deep sense of its possibiUties 

 and duties, and that I am proud and happy indeed to 

 be associated with you in this work." On the envelope 

 containing this letter Mrs. Agassiz noted: "Acceptance of 

 Deanship, Radcliffe College. A blessed day for me. E. C. 

 Agassiz." And in her diary she recorded for May 24 of that 

 year: "Received Miss Irwin's answer accepting. An im- 

 mense relief." "I know that we understand each other so 

 well," she wrote to Miss Irwin a few years after her work 

 at Radcliffe had begun, "that there is not and never could 

 be a question of precedence of authority between us," and 

 she has left many other expressions of her estimate of Miss 

 Irwin's character and ability. "Under her guidance I be- 

 lieve the institution will always be dignified in its attitude 

 and efficient in its work," she said later to a friend, and it 

 was perhaps this reUance upon Miss Irwin's standards and 



