24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS. 



as regarded scientific workers in the mass, he was reserved, and even 

 shy. His mind seemed so concentrated upon the problems imme- 

 diately before him that there came an aloofness from much of the 

 work of others. But many there are who can testify to the warmth 

 of his sympathies and to his tenderness of heart. To those who 

 stood nearest to him, it was well known that from the loss of his 

 friends, Doctor Brown Goode and Professor W'inlock, he never en- 

 tirely recovered. 



Though yielding often to the demands of society and always a 

 welcome guest, he lived in remarkable seclusion, not accessible in his 

 own home save to very few. With no close family ties of his own. 

 he was especially attracted by the friendship of children, and were 

 it not to reveal utterances too sacred for an occasion like this, I 

 might speak of most tender and pathetic evidences of this friendshi]i. 



He had, as an inheritance from his Xew England ancestry, a 

 strong sense of duty, which was expressed at times with more direct- 

 ness than tact. 



His mind was very frequently so absorbed in various fields of 

 science, literature, and art that he seemed to become forgetful or in- 

 dififerent regarding much valuable work which went on about him. 



In his scientific aspirations there was not infrequently a tinge of 

 n^elancholy akin to that shown by so many eminent investigators, 

 including Bacon and Xewton. 



His religious instincts were highly developed, but in a different 

 way from that seen in cither of his predecessors. Xo utterance 

 ever came froiu him on the subject of his religious belief so precise 

 as the well-known letter written by Doctor Henr}' shortly before his 

 death. X'cither was there the quiet acquiescence in dominant re- 

 ligious ideas shown by Professor Baird. Langley was from first to 

 last an ardent seeker for religious truth, and, as is especially shown 

 in some of his writings, equally hostile to dogmatism against and in 

 favor of received opinions. 



A self-seeker he never was. His labor, his thought, his efforts 

 in every field, had as their one object the establishment of truth as 

 truth. For he had high aspirations and a deep faith — aspirations 

 toward the best that humanity can receive, and faith in the truth that 

 makes mankind free. 



