PROF. PETER E^^^GELMAXN. 261 



latiori — of the standard of the piildic schools of Milwaukee, to a much high.er level 

 than they would have otherwise attained. 



But the care of this Academy, absorbing as it was, by no means bounded the 

 sphere of his activity. He and his fiiend Dr. A. Luning, were tiie principal foimd- 

 ers ot the Natural History Society of Wisconsin, and he the Curator of its now very 

 valuable museum from the beginning. Tie bestowed a great amount of labor upon 

 It; zsilously collecting himself, and inciting others to follow his e.xample. Who- 

 ever might be lukewarm; he was not. He nover wearied of the work; he shrank 

 from no drudgery connected wiih it. Much, perhaps most of his leisure was given 

 to the woik of determining, labeling and arranging specimens. Nor was he niggardly 

 of his precious time to either the mere curiosity gazer, the inquiring young student, 

 or the amateur dabbler in science. The courtesy and kindly interest with v.hich he 

 welcomed ail comers, I have occasion to gratefully remember. Since his death, the 

 museum bears his name. 



In spite of this exhausting and absorbing professional ivork, he found time to 

 Avrite many articles fur liberal papers, and to gi/e nuaierous lectures before radical 

 and scientific societies, always without p.iy, and often illustrated by experimtnts at 

 his own expense. In short, he sought knowledge, not fur the personal gratification 

 which it afibrds, but to the end that he might aid in its general diffusion, or make 

 some practical application of it for the gooil of his fellows, and ho carried these dis- 

 interested labors to an extreme that many of his thrifty countrymen could not un- 

 derstand, and they were, some of them, inclined to call him visionary and a fanatic. 

 He was neither. He had sterling good sense, and he rode no hobbies. His mo- 

 tives lay upon the surface, and if men could not read them aright it was their own 

 oblique vision that was at fault. His v/hole life was given to th.e advancement of 

 the rac, to liberty of thought, of speech, of life — with a devotion that most men 

 will admire and few have the courage to imitate. 



His last illness was a sharp attack of congestion of the lungs, under wiiich he sank 

 very rapidly, retaining consciousness to the last. He died, as he had lived, bravely 

 and calmly; without fear or regret. With characteristic modesty he directed that 

 his funeral should be free from formal ob.sequies. There were none of the conven- 

 tional forms, but hundreds followed him to his grave and liid it with flowers as a 

 last feeble tribute to his wotth, and, few indeed are the men who have a place in 

 the tender memories of so many hearts as this self-sacrificing teacher. The future 

 of his beloved enterprises — conceining w hich he had many and ambitions hopes — is 

 now in other hands. They may not suffer, but it will be a long search to find one 

 man who can fill his place. 



This, in brief, and most imperfect outline. Avas the life of Peter Engelmann. It 

 was not, as we have seen an eventful one. His name never became famous, for his 

 A?ere not the qualities which gain fame — as the world goes. Self abnegation, honest 

 steadfastness of purpose, devotion to principal, are prized and valued but are not 

 loudly praised. It is the bold dogmatist, the skilled rhetorician, the sagacious trim- 

 mer of sails to the breeze of public opinion, that wins applause. 



This modest pedagogue knew none of these tricks of success. Vt'ith rare rectitude 

 he, in early manhood, put aside a brilliant scientific career, because he prized inde- 

 pendence, self-respect, the approval of his conscience, more highly than place and 



