XVm BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCn. 



in his praise. "No one who ever knew him," writes one after his death, 

 " could fail to be fascinated by the amiability of his disposition, his uni- 

 versal knowledge and surpassing intellect." There was a quiet ease and 

 dignity in his person, which, while it in no wise hindered approach, gave 

 evidence of a reserve of force and of a confidence not easily shaken. I 

 remember well with what timidity I, an utter stranger, a mere boy, first 

 ventured to seek him, a man but twelve years my senior, yet clothed 

 with all the garb of learning, — and with what kindness I was received 

 and counseled. The pains he took for others, the time he has given, the 

 immense labor he has undertaken in determining series of beetles for a 

 hundred correspondents all over the country can never be known. The 

 signs of it appear in all the entomological literature of the United States 

 and Canada. 



LeConte was not a man of many words ; his language was precise and 

 vigorous, and his style perhaps a little scholastic for these later days ; at 

 all events it was a style so individualized that I do not think he could 

 have hidden the authorship of a letter or an essay he had written. He 

 was of a philosophic turn of mind, and with a strong natural conserva- 

 tism, was yet openhearted to the truth. He accepted, rather preached, 

 the modern evolutionary philosophy, but had little patience with those 

 who looked upon this as a means of ridding the world of an intelligent 

 control — of " the Providence," as he expressed it, " which presides over 

 and directs the system of evolution." Cautious and never destructive in 

 the tendencies of his thought, he abhorred the crude speculations, 

 whether of the irreverent or bigoted mind. " Let not our vanity," said 

 he, " lead us to believe that because God has deigned to guide our steps 

 a few paces on the road of truth, we are justified in speaking as if He 

 had taken us into intimate companionship, and informed us of all His 

 counsels." Those who knew him better than I can speak better of his 

 personal worth. They have spoken, and they but reflect the feelings a 

 less intimate acquaintance has given me. " We all knew him," writes 

 one, " as a cultured scholar, a refined gentleman, a genial companion, a 

 true friend. To me he was more." It is his colleague. Dr. Horn, who 

 is speaking. " Our friendship ripened to an intimacy never shadowed by 

 the slightest cloud." " Let the world reverence his memory as a dis- 

 coverer," says Professor Lesley, his life-long friend, " as a philosopher, as 

 a genius. I can only remember [him] as an engaging friend, a faithful 

 friend, a speaker of the truth, a judicious adviser, a companion to think 

 with, a reliable coadjutor to deal with, but still, above all, as a most affec- 

 tionate and trustworthy friend." 



