﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  227 
  

  

  Thus 
  he 
  came 
  in 
  contact 
  with 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  renowned 
  naturalists 
  in 
  Europe 
  

   — 
  Cuvier, 
  Humboldt, 
  Martius, 
  Spix, 
  and 
  a 
  host 
  besides 
  — 
  and 
  received 
  that 
  in- 
  

   tellectual 
  impress 
  from 
  superior 
  minds 
  which 
  is 
  far 
  more 
  influential 
  than 
  a 
  

   library 
  full 
  of 
  books, 
  or 
  a 
  city 
  full 
  of 
  museums. 
  

  

  Hence 
  he 
  laid 
  a 
  broad 
  basis 
  for 
  his 
  scholarship. 
  Ancient 
  and 
  Modern 
  

   Languages, 
  Philosophy, 
  Human 
  Anatomy 
  and 
  Physiology, 
  Botany, 
  Mineralogy, 
  

   Geology, 
  and 
  Zoology, 
  were 
  all 
  pursued 
  with 
  such 
  enthusiasm, 
  that 
  in 
  any 
  of 
  

   these 
  departments 
  he 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  distinguished. 
  

  

  So 
  was 
  he 
  qualified 
  to 
  teach 
  — 
  by 
  natural 
  endowments, 
  personal 
  presence, 
  

   honorable 
  ancestry, 
  narrow 
  circumstances, 
  prolonged 
  culture, 
  and 
  broad 
  founda- 
  

   tions. 
  What, 
  now, 
  were 
  the 
  consequents 
  of 
  such 
  antecedents 
  — 
  the 
  superstruct- 
  

   ure 
  on 
  such 
  a 
  foundation 
  ? 
  

  

  There 
  was 
  supreme 
  kindliness 
  or 
  self-control 
  in 
  his 
  disposition, 
  which 
  led 
  him 
  

   to 
  be 
  patient 
  with 
  ignorance, 
  and 
  what 
  is 
  harder 
  yet, 
  with 
  arrogance 
  ; 
  which 
  

   made 
  him 
  generous 
  in 
  bestowing 
  his 
  time, 
  his 
  learning, 
  and 
  his 
  letters 
  upon 
  

   others 
  ; 
  which 
  made 
  him 
  accessible 
  to 
  the 
  most 
  timid 
  student, 
  or 
  the 
  most 
  

   humble 
  discoverer 
  of 
  a 
  curious 
  bug. 
  

  

  To 
  this 
  was 
  added 
  a 
  charming 
  enthusiasm, 
  which 
  gushed 
  forth 
  in 
  no 
  spas- 
  

   modic 
  intermittence, 
  but 
  bubbled 
  up 
  perpetually 
  with 
  refreshing 
  effervescence. 
  

   He 
  captivated 
  all 
  whom 
  he 
  met. 
  He 
  made 
  them 
  believe 
  that 
  his 
  work 
  was 
  his 
  

   play 
  ; 
  that 
  they 
  might 
  engage 
  in 
  it 
  with 
  a 
  surety 
  of 
  reward. 
  He 
  seemed 
  to 
  say 
  

   perpetually 
  to 
  his 
  associates, 
  as 
  Faraday 
  said 
  to 
  Tyndall, 
  under 
  untoward 
  cir- 
  

   cumstances 
  : 
  " 
  Our 
  subjects 
  are 
  so 
  glorious, 
  that 
  to 
  work 
  at 
  them 
  rejoices 
  and 
  

   encourages 
  the 
  feeblest 
  ; 
  delights 
  and 
  enchants 
  the 
  strongest." 
  

  

  Genuine 
  gratitude 
  was 
  also 
  conspicuous 
  in 
  all 
  he 
  did. 
  The 
  school-boy 
  who 
  

   brought 
  him 
  an 
  uncommon 
  fish, 
  or 
  the 
  farmer 
  who 
  sent 
  him 
  a 
  nest 
  of 
  turtle's 
  

   eggs, 
  or 
  the 
  woodsman 
  who 
  favored 
  him 
  with 
  a 
  family 
  of 
  little 
  rattlesnakes, 
  was 
  

   as 
  sure 
  of 
  his 
  hearty 
  acknowledgments 
  as 
  the 
  millionaire 
  of 
  Boston 
  who 
  en- 
  

   dowed 
  his 
  museum, 
  or 
  the 
  tobacconist 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  who 
  bought 
  for 
  him 
  Peni- 
  

   kese 
  Island, 
  or 
  the 
  officers 
  of 
  the 
  Government 
  who 
  placed 
  at 
  his 
  command 
  the 
  

   resources 
  of 
  the 
  Coast 
  Survey. 
  No 
  emperor 
  or 
  king 
  ever 
  received 
  such 
  homage, 
  

   voluntarily 
  bestowed 
  by 
  high 
  and 
  low 
  alike, 
  or 
  such 
  tributes 
  from 
  the 
  united 
  

   realms 
  of 
  earth, 
  and 
  air, 
  and 
  sea 
  ; 
  none 
  return 
  such 
  gratitude. 
  This 
  gratitude 
  

   was 
  marked 
  by 
  unmistakable 
  sincerity. 
  His 
  looks, 
  and 
  tones, 
  and 
  the 
  pressure 
  

   of 
  his 
  hand, 
  all 
  confirmed 
  the 
  utterance 
  of 
  his 
  lips. 
  No 
  one 
  need 
  fear 
  that 
  when 
  

   the 
  private 
  letters 
  of 
  Agassiz 
  are 
  made 
  public 
  there 
  will 
  be 
  anything 
  to 
  regret, 
  

   as 
  there 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  posthumous 
  revelations 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  most 
  illustrous 
  contem- 
  

   poraries. 
  

  

  There 
  was, 
  moreover, 
  a 
  hearty 
  co-operation 
  with 
  other 
  workers, 
  and 
  in 
  other 
  

   spheres 
  — 
  a 
  friendly 
  indorsement 
  of 
  their 
  efforts 
  which 
  was 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  tone 
  of 
  

   patronage 
  or 
  of 
  interference. 
  The 
  members 
  of 
  this 
  Academy 
  must 
  well 
  remem- 
  

   ber 
  the 
  generous 
  words 
  which 
  he 
  uttered 
  on 
  the 
  evening 
  when 
  he 
  first 
  set 
  foot 
  in 
  

   San 
  Francisco 
  — 
  his 
  congratulations 
  at 
  the 
  success 
  of 
  the 
  Academy, 
  his 
  words 
  of 
  

   encouragement 
  for 
  the 
  University, 
  and 
  his 
  eulogy 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey, 
  the 
  

   pride 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  science 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  

  

  