144 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



In 1891, he called the attention of the Executive of the 

 Commonwealth to the "sweating system," sending refer- 

 ences, to which Governor Russell replied: "I thank you 

 very much for your letter of March 9 with its references on 

 the * sweating system,' which I shall be glad to examine." 



In his immediate environment he was a transcendent 

 power of beneficent action, but this action was silent in its 

 operations and shunned publicity. Indeed, he was one of 

 those rare spirits, "who passing through the valley of 

 Baca make it a well." 



He was one of the most grateful of men, and his grati- 

 tude extended beyond the courteous or kindly act done per- 

 sonally to him to the heroes who had struck a blow for 

 right, or ennobled life by a heroic deed or beautiful thought. 

 This enabled him to appreciate every institution, or opin- 

 ion, that had done anything to ennoble the lot of men. He 

 probably thought that the monks were men "whose chief 

 distinction was to be unmanly"; but he saw one phase of 

 their life, and in his address on "The Influence of the Monks 

 on Agriculture," he speaks of them as fellow workers. It 

 was a luxury to do him a favor, not because he never forgot 

 it, but because he made you feel that he stood on that high 

 vantage ground where a "grateful mind by owing owes 

 not." 



He saw the beauty in the common relations of life, in 

 noble conduct, in heroic deeds, in wide sympathies and in 

 the aspirations of mankind. Of the invocation at the end 

 of the Governor's Proclamation for the annual Thanks- 

 giving, — "God save the Commonwealth of Massachu- 

 setts," — he said, "It always fills me with uncontrollable 

 emotions, and I wonder how anybody can read it in public." 



