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JOURNAL OF THE [Juljj 



conscientiousness made imperative with him — one of his charac- 

 teristics being the thoroughness with which he treated every task 

 set before him — was too heavy a draft upon his delicate organi- 

 zation. "I have not," he said, in 1887, "I liave not been free 

 from pains in the head for twenty-five years." He gave up the 

 school. He came to New York. No steady professional em- 

 ployment seemed suited to his peculiar condition of physical 

 health. Therefore, to exercise his abilities and to put to profit- 

 able use in such manner as his health permitted, the learning 

 with which his mind was stored, he adoi)ted the plan of giving 

 instruction by lessons of short duration in the more recondite 

 lines of study, to the high grades of private schools, to individ- 

 uals and to such institutions as the Cooper Union of New York. 

 By this means he obtained intervals of rest between his mental 

 labors and thus was enabled to follow the plan for a number of 

 years, to the very great advantage of those who were privileged 

 to receive his instruction. Except for his imperfect health he 

 would have entered the faculty of some college, chairs in several 

 of which were within his acceptance, or he would have taken the 

 ])osition offered to him by the government of one of the thriving 

 South American states — a position for which his qualifications 

 adapted him — namely, that of director and superintendent of 

 the entire educational affairs of that country. Thus hampered 

 by circumstances over which he had no control, subject con-, 

 stantly to ill-health which defied all remedial skill, and which 

 rendered impossible the free exercise by him of his mental 

 powers, Benjamin Braman had no opportunity of obtaining that 

 high place in the world of letters which his intellect untram- 

 meled would assuredly have won for him. No evidence of dis- 

 appointed hopes ever appeared, however, in his words or in his 

 looks : his sympathetic nature remained unchanged, his ardor 

 as a teacher suffered no abatement, his suavity of manner 

 underwent no alteration. During his residence in New York he 

 was an active member of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 

 tion, and always manifested much interest in its concerns. For 

 four successive years, commencing in 1865, he was President of 

 the Literary Society of that Association. In 1879 he 

 became a member of the New- York Microscopical Society, 

 served as its President during 1883 and 1884, and edited 

 its Journal for the years 1884 and 1885. His mind was 



