44 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY. 



laws of the nation, so that "the greatest good to the greatest num- 

 ber" shall be promoted and the individual rights of every citizen, 

 however humble, shall be fully protected, are all, whether living or 

 dead, entitled to the homage of their countrymen. But he who 

 like Professor HENRY, through a long life of unwearying labor and 

 research, has drawn from science her hidden treasures ; has enlarged 

 the dominion of mind over matter, and made the forces of nature 

 contribute to the welfare and comfort of man whose genius origi- 

 nated the great idea that in its perfection has put a girdle of com- 

 munication around the earth, which acts with the speed of thought 

 and brings distant parts of the world into instant intercourse ; who, 

 by "the diffusion of knowledge among men," has assisted in raising 

 the world to a higher plane and given a broader value to thought, 

 knowledge, and action; who has made it wiser and better that he 

 lived, is entitled to the honor and undissembled homage of mankind. 



The usefulness and distinguished achievements of Professor 

 HENRY are limited by no national boundaries, but are co-extensive 

 with civilization itself; and his name will be perpetuated and 

 remembered wherever science is cultivated or knowledge is cher- 

 ished. We pause then, as we are borne along by the tide and 

 onward current of human life, to pay a just and fitting tribute to 

 the eminent life, character, and services of Professor HENRY ; and 

 we can but be reminded of the marked parallel which he furnishes 

 in many respects to the distinguished philosophers of the early 

 republics. 



But of his triumphs and distinction in science, specifically, it is not 

 within my province to speak : that duty will be most successfully 

 discharged by the learned gentlemen who are to follow me. 



It was my fortune to have been officially connected with others 

 in framing and enacting the organic law which created the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. Thus I became early acquainted with Professor 

 HENRY, and in a long intercourse of years from then until the time 



