180 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



are steadfast; I shall never be parted from him any 

 more/' I think his character is noble and ardent. 

 His intellect is of the encyclopedic kind, though it 

 is true that his steady purpose (that of applying all 

 he can learn to the welfare and enlightenment of 

 his people) gives coherence and unity to what would 

 otherwise seem a rather fragmentary accumulation 

 of disconnected facts. His capacity for receiving and 

 retaining that kind of knowledge is wonderful; how 

 far he digests it I do not know, but he acquires a 

 certain familiarity with means and processes which 

 makes it more easy for him to introduce them after- 

 ward in his own country. 



The following note from Longfellow is in harmony with 

 the foregoing letters. It was written in acknowledgment 

 of a basket of flowers which Mrs. Agassiz had sent to him 

 on the same day with a birthday greeting, although his 

 birthday had occurred a fortnight earlier. The "three 

 friends," with whom Longfellow recorded his friendship in 

 the well-known series of sonnets, Three Friends of Mine, 

 were President Felton, Agassiz, and Charles Sumner. 



TO MRS. LOUIS AGASSIZ 



Cambridge, March 12, 1877 



DEAR MRS. AGASSIZ: I thank you very much for 

 these lovely roses and lilies that are filling my room 

 with perfume, and still more for your kind remem- 

 brance of me and my birthday. Coming a little 

 late they are all the more welcome, and friendly 

 remembrance is never too late. 



