108 PROCEEDINGS OF THE REGENTS. 



circle of his own literary interests. He was the first named trustee 

 of the Astor Library under the will of its munificent founder, and for 

 many years acted as the president of the board. He served as a 

 director in the Savings Bank in the place of his residence until his 

 death; and he was an officer of the village church, from which his 

 own lifeless remains were borne to their final resting place by his 

 mother's side. He had the prospects of this Institution much at 

 heart, and gave his constant attendance to its proceedings during a 

 whole season passed by him in Washington. Ripe in age, crowned 

 with the most enduring honors of the world and with the warmest 

 affections of his countrymen, having finished the work which was 

 given him to do and laid aside his pen forever, after a short period 

 of repose in the midst of his friends, at the close of an evening of 

 social and domestic enjoyment, he passed away in a moment by a 

 blessed euthanasia. We cannot be surprised at such an event, though 

 it excites our sensibility. His death was in beautiful harmony with 

 his life, for he died as he had lived, the beloved of men and the 

 favored of Heaven. 



Thinking thus, Mr. Chancellor, of Mr. Irving' s life, character, and 

 death, I offer the following resolutions: 



Resolved, That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 

 recognize in the character of their late associate, Washington Irving, 

 a conspicuous example of the noblest virtues and the most generous 

 qualities that belong to human nature. 



Resolved, That while lamenting his death with the peculiar sorrow 

 of countrymen and associates in this Institution, yet, in common with 

 the whole civilized world, they gratefully appreciate the services he 

 has rendered to literature, and hold in reverent remembrance his long 

 career of labors as an author no less loyal to truth and virtue than 

 brilliant with the gift of genius and graced with the amenities. and 

 courtesies that are the fairest ornaments of social life. 



On motion of Senator Douglas, it was 



Resolved, That a copy of the above resolutions, together with the 

 remarks that preceded them, be transmitted to the family of the 

 deceased. 



The resolutions were then adopted. 



Professor Bache made the following remarks: 



James P. Espy, one of the most original and successful meteor- 

 ologists of the present time, died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 24th of 

 January, 1860, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, after an illness of 

 a week, at the residence of his nephew, John Westcott. 



The early career of Mr. Espy as an instructor was marked by the 

 qualities which led to his later distinction in science. He was one 

 of the best classical and mathematical instructors in Philadelphia, 

 which at that day numbered Dr. Wylie, Mr. Sanderson, and Mr. 

 Crawford among its teachers. 



Impressed by the researches and writings of Dalton and of Daniell 

 on meteorology, Mr. Espy began to observe the phenomena, and then 

 to experiment on the facts which form the groundwork of the science. 



