JULY 2, 1897. ] 
““T should have been surprised that it 
could all have come from one man if I had 
not known yourself and your brother, who 
in such matters taught me the nil admirari. 
* * 7 Allow me to thank you for the in- 
struction I have received from you, and for 
the many friendly and noble words you 
have spoken tome. My acquaintance with 
you began with your brother, and I feel 
gratitude to you both. For you both turn 
your deep, wide science into humanity. I 
have found you both always on the side of 
mankind and feel strengthened and en- 
couraged by your example.’? Wherever 
and whenever good speaking was under- 
stood and appreciated Professor Rogers was 
in demand. When in England, in 1849, he 
attended the annual meeting of the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science, 
and in the presentation of a scientific paper 
his extraordinary power of exposition was 
at once recognized. He was put down for 
a speech at the great dinner which cele- 
brated the close of the session, and in a let-. 
ter written on the morning of the day on 
which it occurred he wrote: ‘I suppose I 
shall be compelled to show my Yankee 
‘ oift of the gab.’” He met witha flattering 
reception at the hands of such men as 
Darwin, Faraday, Murchison, Sedgwick, 
Brewster, Mallet and Adams. He writes 
to his brother : “‘ You may imagine how my 
heart beat to hear your name so honored and 
to have our labors so warmly eulogized.”’ 
The younger Mallett, who was present on 
the occasion, afterwards said of it: ‘ Al- 
though I was but a boy at the time, attend- 
ing the meeting with my father, I recollect 
most distinctly the marked impression made 
on the large assembly by Professor Rogers’s 
speech and the enthusiasm it kindled. It 
came late in the evening, after much, per- 
haps most, of the matters appropriate to the 
occasion had been utilized by others, yet it 
was clearly the success of the banquet. 
Americans were less known in England 
SCIENCE. 5. 
than they have since become, and the slight 
foreign flavor which accompanied a speech, 
excellent in itself, and fluently delivered in 
the mother tongue, added to the piquancy 
and effect.’ The orator, like the poet, is 
hardly a manufactured product, but all who 
have occasion to lecture on scientific sub- 
jects will be greatly interested in and bene- 
fited by the many hints as to his own ideas 
of how difficult subjects may be clearly set 
forth, which will be found in Professor 
Rogers’s earlier letters to his brothers. 
In a letter to his brothers, James and 
Robert, written from Virginia in 1841, he 
writes as follows: “Do not attempt to 
crowd too much into a single lecture, and 
avoid the common error of experimenting 
for the eye and not for the understanding. 
Every experiment ought to be accompanied 
by a full and clear explanation, and this 
cannot be too explicit and elementary. Cul- 
tivate a deliberate and distinct enunciation 
without sacrificing earnestness and anima- 
tion of manner. Aboveall, do not attempt 
to be over choice in your phraseology, but 
use the language suggested at the mo- 
ment. ** * * * In my view, the very 
first thing to be sought is a feeling of ease 
and confidence, and this, when the subject 
is thoroughly understood, you cannot fail to 
secure at the outset by giving play to some 
enthusiasm, and, as Rutledge advised, 
‘speaking right on,’ even though at times 
your phrase may be obscure, inelegant or 
even incorrect.” 
The whole of his extensive correspond- 
ence with his brothers is filled with evi- 
dences of the intense affection and brotherly 
love which existed among them. They un- 
derstood and appreciated one another. In 
1822 James, aged 20 years, wrote to Wil- 
liam, two years his junior: “‘I have, I 
think, perceived in Henry (aged 14 years) 
that constitution of mind which is admi- 
rably fitted for success in this world and 
which, if properly cultivated, would mani- 
