244 The Smithsonian Institution 



of view would in time lead to results which would justify his 

 almost devout interest in the subject. 



He was very explicit in his statements that it was not 

 for sanitary science or for meteorology, or for the like 

 branches of study alone, or for those which might seem most 

 obviously suggested by the words of his trust, to profit ex- 

 clusively by it, for he believed that every department of 

 philosophy (using the term in its widest sense) would be 

 found to be finally connected with every other, through this 

 common bond of union ; so that it was his particular desire 

 to have such varied investigations in the atmosphere made as 

 would aid in the enlargement of each and all of these aspects 

 of knowledge. 



Mr. Hodgkins brought to all his studies, as to this, a very 

 retentive memory, while general reading and travel had 

 stored his mind with singularly varied information. He was 

 a good French scholar and loved to quote from the French 

 classics. His catholicity of mind was sufficient to include a 

 not inconsiderable sense of humor, and his favorite quotation 

 from Boileau pointed to his consciousness of a perhaps too 

 imaginative indulgence in his favorite themes. He was a 

 punctilious correspondent, and what it is not too much to call 

 his real literary ability was never shown more happily than in 

 his letters, which were in many respects models of epistolary 

 ease, and even of charm of diction. He was hospitable and 

 enjoyed entertaining the few friends whom he admitted to his 

 table, where his manner, as a host of the old school, was a 

 happy one. 



Mr. Hodgkins had no family and no known blood relations, 

 and, recognizing the difficulties which often arise over the 

 settlements of large estates, he chose to be his own executor 

 rather than leave the disposition of his affairs to those who 

 might either misinterpret or disregard his requests when he 

 could no longer appear as a witness in his own behalf. He, 



