140 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 



Hon. Peter Parker, Eev. Dr. John Maclean, Prof. Asa Gray, Prof. Henry 

 Copp^e, President Noah Porter, General Sherman, and the Secretary, 

 Professor Baird. 



The minutes of the meeting of January 15 were read and approved. 



The Ghancellor laid before the Board several hundred letters received 

 in reply to the circulars issued by the Institution, announcing the death 

 of Professor Henry, and the election of his successor. 



The subject of the publication of the eulogies on Professor Henry, 

 together with an account of his scientific writings, «&c., was discussed, 

 and on motion of Dr. Maclean, it vfns — 



Besol'ved, That a special committee of three be appointed, of which 

 the Secretary of the Institution shall be one, to prepare a memorial of 

 Professor Henry, to include in a separate volume of the Smithsonian 

 series such biographies and notices of the late Secretary of the Institu- 

 tion as may be considered by them worthy of preservation and publi- 

 cation. 



The Chancellor appointed Messrs. Gray, Parker, and Baird, as the 

 committee. 



The Chancellor then stated that any remarks the Eegents desired to 

 make in relation to Professor Henry were in order. 



Dr. Parker addressed the Board as follows : 



Mr. Chancellor and fellow Regents: We are making history, 

 and I wish to say a few words that shall remain upon its page, in mem- 

 ory of Joseph Henry, our beloved and lamented friend and Secretary, 

 when we, like him, shall have passed from earth. 



Man}" have already pronounced his eulogy and set forth his rare tal- 

 ents and influence upon the world, and I need not, and could not, were 

 I to attemi)t it, add to your appreciation of Professor Henry, his life 

 and character, as a friend, scientist, and Christian, the highest type of 

 man. 



For twenty years I have been intimately acquainted with Professor 

 Henry, and happily associated with him in many ways ; for ten years as 

 a Pegent of the Smithsonian Institution, aud as a member of the Exec- 

 utive Committee all that period our intercourse has been frequent and 

 intimate. I liare never Icnown a more exceUent mem. 



His memory has been much on my mind since he left us, and I often 

 find myself inquiring how he and others like him are occupied now. 

 His connection with time is severed, but his existence continues. When 

 I recall the names of Professors Franklin Bache, Charles G. Page, Louis 

 Agassiz, Joseph Henry, and others of similar intellect and virtue, I 

 find myself asking the question. Are to them all consciousness and 

 thought suspended by separation from the body? I am reluctant to 

 come to such conclusion. But this I know, the Injinite Father's ways are 

 right. 



It seems most providential that Professor Henry had the opportunity 



