DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 319 



during those times of feverish excitement apprehension and circum- 

 spection necessarily attendant on the prevalence of a gigantic rebel- 

 lion, (unparalleled in incentive, in temper, and in magnitude,) many 

 of whose leaders had been among his personal friends, he was not 

 unnaturally looked upon by many as lukewarm in his patriotism, 

 if not disloyal in his citizenship. To the occasional inuendoes of 

 the press, he deigned no answers : he was the last man to accord 

 compliance with the urgency of a popular clamor. And yet during 

 the entire period of the Southern Insurrection, he was the personal 

 and trusted friend of President Lincoln.* 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE AT WASHINGTON. 



In addition to what may be called the public labors of Henry so 

 diligently performed in various fields after his advent to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, it is well briefly to contemplate the special scien- 

 tific work he was able to accomplish in the intervals of his exacting 

 occupations, that some estimate may be formed of the independent 

 value of his later contributions, as well as of his wonderful indus- 

 try. While still engaged in his difficult task of organizing and 

 shaping the policy of the Institution, in 1850, on taking occasion 

 to present before the American Association at New Haven, Conn. 



* Early in the war (in the autumn of 1861,) a caller at the Presidential Mansion 

 very anxious to see the Chief Magistrate of the nation, was informed that he 

 could not then be seen, being engaged in an important private consultation. 

 The caller not to be repulsed, wrote on a piece of paper that he must see Mr. 

 Lincoln personally, on a matter of vital and pressing importance to the public 

 welfare. This of course secured his admission to the presence of Mr. Lincoln, 

 who was sitting with a middle-aged gentleman. Observing the hesitancy of his 

 visitor, the President told him he might speak freely, as only a friend was 

 present. Wliereupon the visitor announced that for several evenings past he 

 had observed a light exhibited on the highest of the Smithsonian towers, for a 

 few minutes about nine o'clock, with mysterious movements, which he felt 

 satisfied were designed as signals to the rebels encamped on Munson's hill in 

 Virginia. Having gravely listened to this information with raised eyebrows, but 

 a subdued twinkle of the eye, the President turned to his companion, saying 

 "What do you think of that? Professor Henry." Rising with a smile, the person 

 addressed replied, that from the time mentioned, he presumed the mysterious 

 light shone from the lantern of ah attendant who was required at nine o'clock 

 each evening to observe and record the indications of the meteorological instru- 

 ments placed on the tower. The painful confusion of the officious informant, at 

 once appealed to Henry's sensibility; and quite unmindful of the President, he 

 approached the visitor, offering his hand, and with a courteous regard counselled 

 him never to be abashed at the issue of a conscientious discharge of duty, and 

 never to let the fear of ridicule interfere with its faithful execution. 



