LIFE OF PROFESSOR CHESTER DEWEY, 233 



hiippiuess, and elevate liis character. His intellectual life was a beau- 

 tiful commentary on the remark of Gibbon, that "it is a greater glory 

 to science to develop and perfect mankind, than it is to enlarge the boun- 

 daries of the known universe." He appeared to study nature, not so 

 niuch for the reputation which knowledge or discovery would secure to 

 him, as from a tender affection for her various forms and aspects con- 

 sidered as exhibiting a grand connection of benevolent uses, means, and 

 ends, revealing the goodness and wisdom of the Almighty. Hence, he 

 was utterly free from those petty jealousies which so often manifest 

 themselves among scientific men. He rejoiced in scientific progress, to 

 whomsoever it was due, and was always most generous in his estimate 

 of the achievements of others. Every discovery which developed new 

 elements in the Divine plan was to him a matter for personal rejoiciug. 

 Whittier's verses, describing St. Pierre's sympathizing relation to nature, 

 are more strictly applicable to Dr. Dewey than to the brilliant French- 

 man : 



" She laid lier great heart bare to hiiu, 

 Its loves and sweet accords — he saw 



The beauty of her perfect law. 



# # ^ * ?f # 



And thus he seemed to hear the soug 

 That swept of old the stars along, 

 And to his eyes the earth once more 

 Its fresh and primal beauty bore." 



To his mind there was no broad separation between the moral and 

 the material order. But he was intensely averse to that false philosophy 

 which seeks unity at the expense of reducing all thought and volition 

 to dynamics, making no distiuction between man and a crystal. To his 

 mind, the whole scheme of material things was ever throbbing and 

 quivering with divine life, benevolence, and power. This profound 

 recognition of God in the modes in which He has revealed himself, rounded 

 and completed his moral and intellectual life, and made him, by way of 

 eminence, the Good Teacher. 



His scientific attainments were supplemented by various and thorough 

 knowledge in the department of critical scholarship. This gave a breadth 

 and many-sidedness to his mind, which is so conspicuously wanting 

 in many of the scientific men of our time. In the lecture-room, Dr. 

 Dewey was exact and brief in his statements of principles ; clear and 

 full in his illustrations of difliculties ; sympathetic with the dull in in- 

 tellect, and patient with the wayward and inatteutive. As a colleague, 

 he was uniformly unselfish and courteous, bearing his share of all com- 

 mon burdens, ready to receive suggestions, never taking offense at trifles, 

 exhibiting always that rare combination of natural qualities and acquired 

 habits which distinguishes the Christiai4 gentleman. He loved his 

 work, continued in it during his whole active life, and neither sought 

 nor wished for any other employment. It was his lot to have been 

 connected with schools and colleges which have been recently founded 



