186 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



It is tliis aspect of Hartt's life work, its absorbing and self-sacri- 

 ficing pursuit of science, its power to impress itself upon others and 

 influence their lives, that I would like to emphasize in this paper, 

 rather tlian the mere record of his scientific work with which you are 

 all familiar. But incidentally 1 shall refer to the chief features of this 

 work ; first, because too little of its scope and far-reaching results are 

 known in Canada; and, secondly, from an educational point, we should 

 refresh our memory occasionally with the record of those men who have 

 sought the larger field and the larger rewards of the pursuit of science 

 outside of Canada. They are Americans in the fullest sense of that 

 term, but we should not lose sight of the fact that they are " Canadians 

 by birth and education ; " that while the product of their labours in 

 science is the property of the world, it was in our own rugged climate, 

 amid natural surroundings fitted to foster the true scientific spirit, in 

 educational institutions laying well a broad foundation for future use- 

 fulness, in homes where Christian principles and honesty of purpose are 

 held as a sacred trust, were nurtured those capacities that have found 

 their fulfilment in after years of active energetic life. 



Charles Frederick Hartt was born in 1840 at Fredericton, New 

 Brunswick, that city which has since given birth to Eoberts, Carman 

 and others whose names are known to the world of literature. He 

 received his academic education in Horton Academy, Wolfville, N.S., 

 then under the princii>alship of his father, the late Jarvis W. Hartt, 

 and later entered Acadia College, whence he was graduated in 1860, 

 with the degree of B.A. Hartt showed various aptitudes besides his 

 taste for science. He had musical ability of a high order, and excelled 

 in drawing. He displayed extraordinary genius in the acquirement of 

 languages. He availed himself of every opportunity from foreigners 

 who came in his way to obtain some knowledge of their language. In 

 this way he acquired the rudiments of Portuguese and Italian, and of 

 various Indian dialects, which proved of the greatest advantage to him 

 when he came to apply himself to his work in Brazil. He was accus- 

 tomed to lecture. to cultured audiences at Rio Janeiro under the patron- 

 age of the Emperor of Brazil. He was never at a loss to express himself 

 in Portuguese, and spoke tliat language with the same facility as his 

 mother tongue. With equal facility he accomplished the more difficult 

 task of making himself acquainted with the various dialects of the Tupi 

 Indians of Brazil, and in the midst of his severer scientific work he 

 accomplished the mighty task of writing a grammar and dictionary of 

 the Tupi dialects, together with kindred volumes on the antiquities and 

 mythology of these Indians. 



