XVIII JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 



The committee retired and on its return reported tbrongh the chair- 

 man, Dr. Welling^, the following preamble and resolutions, which were 

 unanimously adopted: 



Whereas the Board of Kegents of the Smithsonian Institution has 

 been called to meet in extraordinary session by the afflicting intelli- 

 gence that Morrison Remick Waite, late Chief-Justice of the 

 Supreme Court of the United States, and late Chancellor of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, has been removed by the hand of death from the 

 scene of his high activities and distinguished usefulness; therefore be it 



Resolved^ That sitting as we do at this time and i)lace, in the very 

 center of th;it dark shadow whicii has fallen upon the whole land in the 

 laujcnted death of the late Chief-Justice Waite, and ap[)alled as we 

 are by the suddenness as well as by the magnitude of the great afflic- 

 tion wjjich in coming to the nation at large has come to us individually, 

 with an added pathos of sorrow because of the nearer view we have 

 had, for so many years, of the talents, virtues, and graces which found 

 their familiar home in the person of our honored friend, we could with 

 much good reason crave for ourselves, in this hour of bereavement, the 

 humble )»ermission of mourning apart, that we might silently gauge 

 the depth and the dimensions of a calamity which brings to us its 

 message of personal grief and which has also torn away from our high- 

 est seat of justice its venerated and beloved chief; from the legal i)ro- 

 fession of tlie country its foremost official representative aiul therefore 

 its crowning exponent; from the walks of social life in tliis national 

 capital a commanding i)resence no less remarkable for his genial and 

 oi)en heart! d sincerity than for his affable and gracious benignity; and 

 from the Christian communion a true and faithful disciple who wit- 

 nessed a good confession as much by the simplicity and humility with 

 which he walked before God as by the unswerving consistency with 

 Avhich he wore the ornament of a pure heart and of a meek and quiet 

 spirit before the scrutiny of his fellow-men. 



Resolved, That while an obvious sense of propriety must dictate that 

 we should leave to others in that great forum which was the chosen 

 arena of his life's career the sad privilege of depicting, with minute 

 and detailed analysis, the remarkable combination of strong and lovely 

 traits which met in the person of the late Chief-Justice and gave to the 

 symmetrical character of our beloved friend its blended sweetness and 

 light, we can not omit, even in this hour of our special sorrow, to bear 

 our cheerful testimony to the pleasing amenity with which he presided 

 over the deliberations of this council chamber as the Chancellor of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and sharing, as we all do, in a profound ad- 

 miration ior tlie intelligence he brought to our discussions, while ever 

 moderating them by the guidance of his clear thought and mild wisdom, 

 we can but render our reverent homage to the engaging personal qual- 

 ities which endeared him to us as a man, while at the same time grate- 

 fully confessing our obligations to him for the provident care and deep 

 interest which he always brought to the discharge of his official duties 

 in this ])lace, where, through all the years of his honorable and useful 

 service at the head of this Board, the Secretary of the Institution in 

 common with ourselves has leaned on him as the wise and true coun- 

 sellor who could be trusted as well for the rectitude of his moral intui- 

 tions as for the clear perceptions of his calm and judicious intellect. 



Resolved, That we will attend the funeral of our departed Chancellor 

 in a body, and that the Secretary of the Institution, together with a 

 deputation Iron) the meinbcr.s of the Board, be requested to accompany 



