America has had but four men of unmistakable origi- 

 nality. These are: Franklin, Emerson, Whitman and 

 Edison. Each worked in a field particularly his own, 

 and the genius of each one was recognized in Europe 

 before we were willing to acknowledge it here. But 

 the word "scientist" can hardly be properly applied 

 to any of these men. For want of a better name we 

 call John Fiske our greatest scientist. He was the 

 most learned man of his day. In the realm of Physical 

 Geography no American could approach him. The 

 combined knowledge of everybody else was his he 

 had a passion for facts, a memory like a day-book, and 

 his systematic mind was disciplined until it was a 

 regular Dewey card-index. 



Louis Agassiz was born in Europe, but he was ours 

 by adoption, and he might dispute with Fiske the title 

 to first place in the American Pantheon of Science 

 were it not for the fact that the Law of Evolution was 

 beyond his ken, being obscured by a marked, myopic, 

 theological, stigmatic squint. 



Agassiz died in his sins, unconvinced, unrepentant, 

 refusing the rite of extreme unction that Asa Gray 

 offered him, his sensitive spirit writhing at mention of 

 the word "Darwin." On his tomb, Clio with moving 

 finger has carved one of his own sentences, nor all 

 your tears shall blot a line of it. And these are the 

 words of Agassiz: " Darwinism seeks to dethrone God, 

 and replace Him by a blind force called The Law of 

 Evolution." So passed away the great soul of Louis 

 Agassiz. 



145 



LITTLE 

 JOURNEYS 



