450 BENJAMIN PEIRCE. 



as easy as it is just. But it was a saying of Professor Bache, that " it 

 would be easy enough to crush directly the men who betrayed the 

 good repute of the service if it was not for uncles, aunts, and cousins, 

 who proposed, in their turn, to crush him." 



It was after his return from one of his earliest tours of inspection 

 that Professor Peirce, in conversation with one of the older assistants, 

 said he purposed to give, at least at the outset, greater freedom of 

 action to the officers of the corps, that each might indicate the full 

 scope of his powers and receive promotion, or give place to another 

 according as the results of his work might determine. " The office," 

 he said, " can add nothing to my reputation unless I can give it greater 

 dignity by raising the standard of the service. I mean to bring the 

 best men to the front and secure publicity to their merits, that they 

 may feel directly responsible to the community and do their utmost for 

 its approbation. To become the leader of a corps of distinguished men 

 is the best thing I can do for the country, for the men themselves, and 

 for my own reputation." This was the policy which he initiated in 

 the Coast Survey, and its wisdom was demonstrated at once. A very 

 large proportion of the officers appreciated his motives, caught the 

 enthusiasm of his genius, and found a new delight in serving a master 

 who coveted nothing, but with rare simplicity lent his own strength to 

 secure to them the full rewards of their labors. 



The most important work started by Professor Peirce, and much 

 advanced under his direction, was the actual extension of geodetic 

 work into the interior of the country by continuing the great diagonal 

 arc from the vicinity of Washington to the southward and westward 

 along the Blue Ridge, eventually to reach the Gulf of Mexico near 

 Mobile. He also planned the important work, now in active progress, 

 for measuring the arc of the parallel of thirty-nine degrees, to join the 

 Atlantic and Pacific systems of triangulation ; and for determining 

 geographical positions in States having geological or topographical 

 surveys in progress. 



He conferred a very important benefit on public interests, by so 

 enlarging the scope of the Survey as practically to extend geodetic 

 work into the interior States. 



As soon after the war as vessels and officers could be had, he renewed 

 operations for deep-sea soundings and dredgings, and he gave earnest 

 support and aid to all scientific work in any way related to the 

 Survey. 



While Superintendent he also took personal charge of the American 

 expedition to Sicily, to observe the eclipse of the sun in December, 

 1870. 



