66 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



probably in throwing himself so violently away 

 from the engine. He lingered but a few days, 

 and finally expired on Thanksgiving Day, the 

 18th of Xovember. His mind was remarkably 

 clear up to within a few hours of his death, 

 and when the physicians informed him that his 

 life was rapidly drawing to a close, he became 

 perfectly calm and resigned to his fate ; thank- 

 ing his numerous friends over and over again 

 for their kind attention, aud declaring that he 

 was ready to die— that he had lived beyond the 

 average lot of mortal man, and that he ought to 

 be, and was contented. Indeed, though not a 

 church member, nor professing any religious 

 faitli, he met his t\ite with the calm dignity 

 which befits one who has honestly labored to 

 leave the world better for his having lived in it. 

 During his last moments he dwelt wanderingly 

 on entomological subjects, and finally expired 

 so quietly that considei-able time elapsed before 

 those around him could feel assured that his 

 spirit had really departed. On account of the 

 severe storm which was sweeping over the 

 Xorthwest at the time, and which precluded 

 telegraphic communication, we were not per- 

 mitted to be at his death bed, but those friends 

 who were present declare that they never knew 

 any one wlio bore a more pei'fect expression of 

 life in death. 



The funeral services took place on Sunday, 

 the 20th, at the Baptist church in Kock Island, 

 and the large congregation there assembled, and 

 the unusual interest manifested, evidenced the 

 very general respect in which Mr. Walsh was 

 held, and the sincere regret that was felt at his 

 loss. In the course of some appropriate and 

 impressive remarks that were made on this 

 occasion by Dr. Davis, he paid the following 

 well merited compliment to the deceased: 



Mr. "Walsh was the friend of social progress 

 and of law and order; believing that all men 

 are born free and equal, ami, areiall entitled to 

 certain inalienable rights, among which are life, 

 liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He was a 

 strictly temperate man, himself abstaining to- 

 tally iVdin ardent spirits, and was decidedly 

 opi)ose(l to their unrestrained sale or use. Clear 

 iiud distiiKt ill the formation of his sentiments, 

 he was bold and fearless in declaring and in 

 defending them. He has left behind him a 

 name and a reputation that will long beremem- 

 liercd and respected. We shall no more behold 

 his rapid walk along our streets, nor hear the 

 well known tap of his staflF upon our sidewalks. 

 No longer will his vigorous motions among us 

 bear testhiKniy to the activity and energy of an 

 intellect tliat tired not by age or was ever 

 fatigued by constant employment. * * * 



Mr. Walsh came to this country a stranger 



from Old England— England, which, wHh all 



- her faults, and faults she has, \ye still should 



respect aud love. Here his alien birth and edu- 

 cation presented no obstacle to his progress. 

 He asked for no peculiar privileges, he sought 

 for no special favors. Entering the arena of 

 life, he relied upon what he was and what an 

 acquaintance with him would prove to others 

 he possessed, for success and distinction. 



He has not toiled in vain. Success and repu- 

 tation attended him, and he has been and will 

 be no less respected and distinguished because 

 Old England instead of Young America, was 

 his birth-place. * * * * 



AVhen the calamity that befel Mr. Walsh was 

 known around, the people of this city and vicin- 

 ity united in one general lamentation; and 

 when the intelligence of his death was spread 

 abroad, all felt that a great public loss had been 

 sustained, a iDublic calamity had befallen this 

 city and land. And though he is to be borne to 

 the grave with none but his beloved and res- 

 pected wife to attend him as chief mourner — 

 all, all our hearts are dressed in the habiliments 

 of mourning. Better, far better than to beat- 

 tended to the grave by a community in mourn- 

 ing, though but few relations aud kindred unite 

 in the solemnities, than to be followed to the 

 tomb with hosts of kindred and relations, en- 

 shrouded in all the pomp and circumstance of 

 mourning, and none but they, and hardly they, 

 to feel any loss. 



This city, this community, sympathize with 

 the bereaved, the afflicted widow, and with one 

 heart commend her to the support and grace of 

 that compassionate God, who has said, " Leave 

 thy widows with me." 



And thus has this truly great man in his spe- 

 cial department of science, been abruptly takeu 

 from our midst! Inscrutable, indeed, the ways 

 of Providence must seem, when such a man is 

 called away at the very time of his greatest 

 glory — the moment of his greatest success! In 

 the prime of his intellectual vigor, and not yet 

 beyond the age from which much might have 

 been expected, he would doubtless, had his life 

 been spared, have accomplished more for the 

 good of the world, would have achieved far 

 greater fame, aud would have attained a much 

 more exalted position during the ten years to 

 come, than he had done in the whole past coui'SC 

 of his Rfe. We are not stepping beyond the 

 bounds of truth in asserting that Mr. Walsh 

 was one of the ablest and most thorough Ento- 

 mologists of our time ; and wheu wc consider 

 his isolation from any of the large libraries of 

 the country, and the many other disadvantages 

 under which he labored, we are the more aston- 

 ished at the work he accomplished. He was 

 essentially original and siii generis; everything 

 about him was Walshian, and though he had 

 some of those eccentricities which frequently 

 belong to true genius, aud though he made many 

 enemies by his bold, outspoken manner, aud his 

 hatred of all forms of charlatanism ; yet those 

 best acquainted with him know what n deep- 



