12 CALEB COOKE MEMORIAL TABLET. 



able tablet and border from original and appropriate 

 designs. This upon being moulded proved even more 

 satisfactory than was expected, and was soon completed and 

 placed in the position selected at the Museum, the work of 

 setting the tablet being gratuitously performed by Mr. 

 Joseph N. Peterson, the Academy's mason. 



It would not be the wish of our late friend that we 

 should come here in a spirit of sadness, but rather that 

 we should meet socially and pleasantly as he himself was 

 always wont to do. It is fitting too that, in this hall 

 where, ^^early, thousands of visitors pass to and fro, a 

 simple memorial should meet their eyes and continually 

 remind them of one who contributed so much towards 

 the collection of the specimens and the arrangement of 

 the Museum. 



Mr. Eobert S. Rantoul, in behalf of thö subscribers, pre- 

 sented the tablet to the trustees in the foUowing words : 



The friends of the late Caleb Cooke, and it was my 

 pleasure to be counted among them, have commissioned 

 me to tender, in their name and behalf, to the trustees of 

 the Peabody Academy of Science, the mural tablet which 

 they have placed here, to be a memorial as lasting as it is 

 unique and beautiful, of our lamented friend, anofficerof 

 this school of Science. 



It is well that here, in the very scene of his labors, the 

 generations who are to enjoy the fruits of them should 

 pause before this simple slab. It matters little now that 

 he whose name it bears was the pupil and coadjutor of 

 Agassiz, — that he had been a voyager in both conti- 

 nents of the Southern Hemisphere, — that he lived here 

 or there died. But it matters much for all time to know 

 that here was one who could forego the keener gratifi- 

 cations of the hour for the sake of lasting good. Here 



