806 The Smithsonian Institution 



however pleasant this would be ; but in praise of the two who 

 are gone too much can hardly be said. Neither Henry nor 

 Baird sought popularity. They were so much absorbed by 

 their duties that they had not the leisure requisite for easy 

 and familiar relations with the multitude. Henry rarely, 

 Baird hardly ever, if at all, appeared as a public speaker. 

 Yet they were always at the service of those who for any 

 good reason desired of them counsel, or sought for informa- 

 tion. No one could come into relations with either of these 

 great men, orally or by correspondence, without being im- 

 pressed with his desire to be cooperative. As they grew 

 old, they did not enjoy attendance upon large assemblies, 

 even of a scientific character; but in the early days of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science they 

 were foremost among its supporters. To the end of their 

 days, they were not only efficient aids to all the learned men 

 of the country, but they had the disposition, far more un- 

 common, to be patient with and helpful to the uneducated 

 and ill-informed, the men who ride hobbies and the men who 

 turn cranks. They were examples to the country of in- 

 dustry, fidelity, suggestiveness, and kindliness. These per- 

 sonal qualities governed their official action during the 

 period of forty years in which they guided the Institution. 

 Those who are familiar with the intellectual development of 

 this nation must admit the justice of a claim put forth in 

 these words, that " the most important service which the 

 Smithsonian Institution has rendered to the nation in- 

 tangible, but none the less appreciable has been its fifty 

 years of constant cooperation with the government, with 

 public institutions, and with individuals, in every enterprise, 

 scientific or educational, which needed its advice, support, or 

 aid from its manifold resources." Each secretary in his own 

 way has been free, and has felt free, to open new roads and 



