The Board of Regents 73 



Nothing that was high or worthy in human pursuits failed to 

 elicit his appreciative and powerful support." 



At a meeting, January 18, 1882, Chancellor Waite thus 

 referred to the services of President Garfield : 



" General Garfield first took his seat in Congress at the 

 end of the year 1863. He was then but thirty-six years old. 



"At the beginning of his second term he was appointed a 

 member of this Board by the Speaker of the House of Repre- 

 sentatives, and was present at the meeting of February 3, 

 1866. He continued to hold the same position until 1873, 

 when another was appointed in his place. He appeared 

 again, however, in 1878, and we were never afterwards de- 

 prived of his counsels until he was elected President of the 

 United States, which made him ex officio the presiding officer 

 of the Smithsonian Institution. 



" From the beginning his presence here was felt. He was 

 eminently fitted for such a trust. 



" He was himself a scholar, and the 'increase and diffusion 

 of knowledge among men ' always gave him the greatest 

 pleasure. 



"At every meeting of the Board during his successive 

 terms, when he could be present, his name appears among 

 active and thoughtful members. He manifested his appre- 

 ciation of the place he filled by always doing what it was his 

 privilege to do, and doing it well. When on former occa- 

 sions the Board has given expression to its feelings upon the 

 death of a member his words of heartfelt sympathy have often 

 been heard. The records show that he knew and appreciated 

 the great and good qualities of Chief Justice Chase, and that 

 he fully realized the debt science owed to Agassiz. But the 

 crowning act of all was when, out of the fullness of his heart, 

 at the memorial services in the hall of the House of Repre- 

 sentatives, he made those who heard him feel how great the 

 life of Professor Henry had been. 



" It is not for us to say he ought to have been spared 



6 



