BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXVii 
III. 
It has been suggested that I should say something about my dear personal 
friend and official intimate, Dr. G. Brown Goode, but since Dr. Gill, who is 
so much better fitted for the task than I, has consented to speak of his 
scientific career, I prefer to leave that side of Dr. Goode’s life-work in such 
competent hands. 
I do not want the occasion to pass, however, without saying briefly that 
I have never known a more perfectly true, sincere, and loyal character than 
Dr. Goode’s ; or a man who with a better judgment of other men, or greater 
ability in moulding their purposes to his own, used these powers to such 
uniformly disinterested ends, so that he could maintain the discipline of 
a great establishment like the National Museum, while retaining the per- 
sonal affection of every subordinate. He was not only possessed of the 
exact scientific training which found expression in the ways which Dr. Gill 
has noted, and as a specialist in museum administration, but was an adept 
in many other branches of knowledge. His historical powers in grouping 
incidents and events were akin to genius. His genealogical writings showed 
wide and accurate research, while his literary faculty displayed itself with 
singular charm in some of his minor writings. 
But how futile these words seem to be in describing a man, of whom 
perhaps the best, after all, to be said, is that he was not only trusted, but 
beloved by all with an affection that men rarely win from one another. 
