BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 159 



Humboldt, by this Society, was highly desirable. It was also suggested that Professor Agas- 

 siz be invited to deliver an address upon the occasion. The invitation was extended to 

 Professor Agassiz and accepted. Various circumstances connected with that memorable 

 occasion, at a time like the present, come to the mind with peculiar power. 



In Professor Agassiz's public address, his introductory remarks were, "I am invited to 

 an unwonted task. Thus far I have appeared before the public only as a teacher of nat- 

 ural history. To-day, for the first time in my life, I leave a field in which I am at home, 

 to take upon myself the duties of a biographer." 



Thus this Society had the privilege of inviting Professor Agassiz to a duty (most nobly 

 fulfilled), which without this invitation in all probability he would never have entered 

 upon. That being as he himself expressed it, the first time in his life he had undertaken 

 such a task ; it was also, as we now know, destined to be the last. This event which, on 

 eve^y account, had great interest, for these reasons possesses a solemn and sacred import. 

 That anniversary we would keep in grateful remembrance, forming as it does, in connec- 

 tion with many reminiscences, an added and, may we not say, an indissoluble tie between 

 us and him. 



At the time when the invitation was extended to Prof. Agassiz, he was overwhelmed 

 with work ; while by previous labor, both body and mind had already been overtaxed. 

 Under such circumstances, it would have appeared next to impossible for him to comply 

 with the request of the Society, yet so desirous was he to meet their wishes that he under- 

 took the task. 



On the 3d of July Prof. Agassiz wrote as follows : . . 



" For weeks past I have intended every day to write to you, but the fact is that just 

 now I have scarcely time to breathe, and with the sincere desire of accepting the invita- 

 tion tendered to me through you, I have been trying to free myself in some degree of 

 the tasks before me. It is not so easy to do this as it seems. 



" However, I write now to say that I will do my best so far as it depends upon me, to 

 make the Anniversary of Humboldt worthy of his memory, and serviceable to science in 

 the country. The task will be a difficult, and in some respects a painful, one to me, none 

 the less because of my personal relations with him. But I will do my best, and I beg 

 you to believe that the confidence placed in me by those who wish to make this occasion 

 a marked day, has gratified and touched me deeply. 



" I wish you would express this sentiment in my behalf, and add that my great cause of 

 hesitation has been the fear that I might not satisfy the expectations of those who have 

 thus honored me. Believe me, 



" Ever truly yours, 



" Louis AGASSIZ." 



In a note dated July 21st, he says, "I have been completely prostrated this week." 



Yet notwithstanding this exhaustion (doubtless far beyond what was imagined by his 



most intimate friends, and, added to this, serious illness among the members of his own 



family, his son leaving for Europe, on account of his health, the very day upon which the 



address was delivered), Professor Agassiz most conscientiously devoted himself through the 



