xvi OBITUARY NOTICES OF MEMBERS DECEASED. 



man of any prominence in expounding their peculiar views, but 

 those who sought his advice and encouragement in reference to a 

 matter of any importance found him more than ready to give such 

 assistance as lay in his power. 



His busy life naturally limited his social activities. He cared 

 little for fashionable gatherings, but he greatly enjoyed the com- 

 pany of congenial minds, and many men of science, residents of 

 Washington, and visitors from other places, can testify to the hos- 

 pitality with which they were entertained at his home. He was 

 very fond of history and poetry, his favorite poems seem to have 

 been memorized with very little effort. Addison's Ode, " The Spa- 

 cious Firmament on High," especially the closing lines, appears to 

 have given him great pleasure : 



" What though in solemn silence all 

 Move round the dark terrestrial ball ? 

 What though no real voice nor sound 

 Amid their radiant orbs be found? 

 In reason's ear they all rejoice 

 And utter forth a glorious voice 

 Forever singing as they shine. 

 The hand that made us is divine ! " 



Professor Newcomb was always religiously inclined, though he 

 never became a church communicant. For many years he attended 

 the Presbyterian Church with his wife and family. And he was a 

 firm believer in a future life. One of the great pleasures to which 

 he looked forward was that of meeting such men as Hipparchus, 

 Copernicus, Newton and others who had gone before. 



Professor Newcomb was the oldest of seven children. Two 

 brothers and two sisters survived him. 



In 1863, he married Miss Mary Caroline Hassler, daughter of 

 Dr. Hassler, of the U. S. Navy, who lost his life in the wreck of the 

 steamer Atlantic. Her grandfather was Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, 

 founder and first superintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey. 



A widow, three daughters and eleven grandchildren survive him. 

 An only son died in infancy. After a protracted and very painful 



