AND The University of Pennsylvania 185 



oldest and most densely peopled portion of the United 

 States, that the present splendor of the noblest monu- 

 ment yet reared to the memory of Franklin — the glory 

 of the city, the pride of the Commonwealth, and the 

 inspiration of lives in far distant corners of the earth — 

 is largely due to the unselfish toil and the enlightened 

 zeal of Charles Custis Harrison. 



We have met to pay tribute, in behalf of the Uni- 

 versity that he founded, to the memory of the man vs^ho 

 alw^ays reasoned out his conduct; the sage who never 

 said a word too soon, nor a word too late, nor a word 

 too much ; nor did he fail to say the decisive word at 

 the proper moment; who said what he thought, and who 

 did what he said. He preached his moral lessons with 

 gayety as well as power. His venerable face, his float- 

 ing hair, his shrewd, quick eye, his unclouded amia- 

 bility, are omnipresent. He dissipated prejudices with 

 playfulness, he rallied the selfishness of individuals and 

 the artifices of government with equal skill and good 

 nature. There was no strain of violence in his blood. 

 There was no hysteria in his voice. There was no fierce 

 denunciation of his enemies. As Laboulaye said: 



" Do not expect from him those bursts which raise 

 you above the passing world. Franklin never quits the 

 earth. It is not genius in him, it is good sense expressed 

 in its highest power. Do not seek in him a poet nor 

 even an orator, but a master of practical life — a man to 



