7 2 The Smithsonian Institution 



fund appropriated for the purpose, being in the mean time in- 

 vested in a safe and productive manner, would serve in some 

 degree to counterbalance the effect of the great and unneces- 

 sary outlay which had been resolved on. It would be diffi- 

 cult for the Secretary, however unwilling to intrude anything 

 personal on this occasion, to forbear mentioning that it was 

 entirely due to the persuasive influence of the Professor that 

 he was induced, almost against his own better judgment, to 

 leave the quiet pursuit of science and the congenial employ- 

 ment of college instruction to assume the laborious and 

 responsible duties of the office to which, through the partial- 

 ity of friendship, he had been called. Nor would it be pos- 

 sible for him to abstain from acknowledging with heartfelt 

 emotion that he was from first to last supported and sus- 

 tained in his difficult position by the fraternal sympathy, the 

 prudent counsel, and the unwavering friendship of the la- 

 mented deceased. 



" His demeanor in the Board was quiet and unobtrusive, 

 and his opinions sought no support in elaborated or premedi- 

 tated argument ; but when a topic likely to lead to difficulty 

 in discussion was introduced, he seldom failed, with that ad- 

 mirable tact for which he was always noted, to dispose of it 

 by some suggestion so judicious and appropriate as to secure 

 ready acquiescence and harmonious action. The loss of such 

 a man in the councils of the Institution, when we consider 

 the characteristics which it has been our aim to portray, must, 

 indeed, be regarded as little less than irreparable." 



At a meeting on December 19, 1873, Mr. Garfield, speaking 

 of the death of Chief Justice Chase, said: 



" As the Chancellor of this Institution, we saw in happy 

 and harmonious action his ample knowledge of our institu- 

 tions, his wide experience of finance, his reverential love for 

 science and art, and his unshaken faith in the future of his 

 country as the grand theater for the highest development of 

 all that is best and greatest in human nature. No contribu- 

 tion to science offered to this Board escaped his attention. 



