﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  237 
  

  

  city 
  standing 
  upon 
  tliese 
  shores, 
  so 
  grand, 
  so 
  prosperous, 
  so 
  ricli. 
  and 
  so 
  young." 
  

   Great 
  and 
  manifold 
  as 
  are 
  the 
  changes 
  we 
  have 
  noticed, 
  great 
  also 
  lias 
  been 
  

   the 
  progress 
  of 
  science 
  and 
  intellectual 
  advancement 
  in 
  the 
  nation. 
  The 
  in- 
  

   creased 
  and 
  constantly 
  increasing 
  interest 
  in 
  scientific 
  study 
  and 
  literature 
  is 
  

   most 
  marked 
  and 
  astonishing. 
  

  

  I 
  cannot 
  but 
  remember, 
  and 
  with 
  regret, 
  that 
  when 
  a 
  boy 
  some 
  thirty 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  when 
  first 
  I 
  became 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  natural 
  history, 
  there 
  were 
  

   neither 
  books 
  nor 
  teachers. 
  How 
  often 
  have 
  those 
  early 
  disadvantages 
  been 
  

   brought 
  to 
  mind, 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time, 
  as 
  in 
  after 
  years 
  I 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  muster 
  roll 
  

   of 
  friends, 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  younger 
  men 
  who 
  were 
  privileged 
  to 
  sit 
  under 
  the 
  teach- 
  

   ings 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  master. 
  

  

  As 
  some 
  good 
  mother, 
  by 
  the 
  fireside's 
  glow, 
  spreads 
  the 
  new 
  book 
  upon 
  her 
  

   lap, 
  and, 
  calling 
  her 
  children 
  near, 
  points 
  out 
  the 
  pictures 
  and 
  explains 
  their 
  

   meaning 
  ; 
  so 
  he, 
  with 
  radiant 
  face 
  and 
  winning 
  voice, 
  gathered 
  around 
  him 
  those 
  

   nature-loving 
  boys, 
  and, 
  opening 
  wide 
  the 
  book 
  of 
  the 
  greater 
  mother, 
  page 
  by 
  

   page, 
  pointed 
  to 
  its 
  living 
  illustrations 
  — 
  explained 
  their 
  history 
  and 
  their 
  rela- 
  

   tions, 
  their 
  beauty 
  and 
  their 
  use. 
  

  

  HcT 
  shall 
  we 
  estimate 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  early 
  training 
  under 
  such 
  a 
  teacher? 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  earlier 
  students, 
  Stimpson 
  has 
  passed 
  away. 
  He 
  had 
  accumulated, 
  

   though 
  but 
  forty 
  years 
  of 
  age, 
  the 
  ample 
  store 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  years' 
  

   investigation. 
  His 
  manuscripts 
  and 
  plates 
  were 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  fire 
  in 
  

   Chicago. 
  Of 
  this 
  sad 
  event 
  and 
  its 
  effect 
  upon 
  him 
  he 
  wrote 
  : 
  " 
  My 
  own 
  books, 
  

   collections, 
  manuscripts, 
  and 
  drawings 
  — 
  twenty 
  years' 
  work 
  — 
  all 
  gone." 
  What 
  

   a 
  pang 
  must 
  have 
  shot 
  through 
  his 
  heart 
  as 
  he 
  wrote 
  that 
  line 
  ! 
  " 
  His 
  old 
  

   teacher 
  offered 
  him 
  all 
  the 
  resources 
  of 
  the 
  museum 
  at 
  Cambridge, 
  but, 
  with 
  all 
  

   his 
  old 
  love 
  for 
  the 
  work, 
  his 
  strength 
  was 
  gone." 
  

  

  We 
  may 
  speak 
  freely 
  of 
  the 
  dead, 
  if 
  no 
  evil 
  is 
  in 
  our 
  speech 
  ; 
  but 
  delicacy 
  

   suggests 
  that 
  we 
  should 
  cautiously 
  praise 
  the 
  living. 
  

  

  Other 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  earlier 
  classes 
  are 
  professors 
  and 
  teachers 
  in 
  various 
  

   colleges 
  and 
  schools 
  throughout 
  the 
  country, 
  or 
  faithfully 
  toiling 
  in 
  some 
  field 
  

   of 
  investigation. 
  I 
  may 
  not 
  call 
  their 
  names. 
  Many 
  have 
  already 
  acquired 
  

   distinguished 
  reputation, 
  and 
  all 
  are 
  contributing 
  to 
  " 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  human 
  knowl- 
  

   edge." 
  Some 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  borne 
  upon 
  the 
  roll 
  of 
  this 
  Academy, 
  and 
  share 
  with 
  

   us 
  the 
  duties 
  of 
  this 
  occasion. 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  days 
  more 
  than 
  eighteen 
  months 
  have 
  gone 
  since 
  Stimpson 
  died 
  ; 
  and 
  

   now 
  the 
  illustrious 
  teacher 
  has 
  followed 
  his 
  old-time 
  pupil, 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  inevit- 
  

   able 
  path. 
  

  

  Shall 
  we 
  not 
  pause, 
  before 
  we 
  say 
  farewell, 
  and 
  review 
  the 
  labors 
  and 
  services 
  

   of 
  the 
  master, 
  since 
  the 
  day 
  when 
  he 
  made 
  our 
  country 
  his 
  own 
  ? 
  

  

  How 
  much, 
  what 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  intellectual 
  growth 
  and 
  material 
  advancement, 
  

   with 
  its 
  resulting 
  higher 
  and 
  expanding 
  civilization, 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  him 
  ? 
  

  

  Of 
  those 
  lofty 
  qualities 
  which 
  lift 
  man 
  above 
  the 
  merely 
  imitative 
  and 
  sensual 
  

   animal, 
  and 
  place 
  him 
  nearer 
  the 
  divine 
  — 
  in 
  all 
  which 
  makes 
  a 
  people 
  wise 
  and 
  

   virtuous 
  and 
  a 
  nation 
  great 
  — 
  who 
  has 
  done 
  more 
  to 
  disseminate 
  the 
  seed 
  and 
  

   encourage 
  the 
  growth 
  than 
  Louis 
  Agassiz 
  ? 
  

  

  