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fore it, and hourly after, the ideas, traditions, modes of 

 thought and mental habits of those who went before and 

 the community about us. He who boasts he is indeed 

 free is often most a slave. The man who can look the 

 truth squarely in the face with unquailing eye and accept 

 the full consequence of adopting it, is even yet in this 

 nineteenth century a rare man. Oftener he shudders at 

 some social cross which his neighbors keep standing. He 

 trembles at the outer darkness, against which all his edu- 

 cation warns him. He shakes at sight of the Bastile of 

 which his own friends are the sentries. He shrugs, sub- 

 sides, and with bated breath meekly jogs along in the 

 good, old ways of thought and belief, while Torquemada 

 rattles his chain, exhibits his thumb screw, counts his 

 rosary, and gives thanks that he is not as the heathen are. 



The lessons of Agassiz's life to his own compeers in 

 learning, by steadfast pursuit of the truth for the truth's 

 sake only, and by unceasing effort to make the hitherto 

 locked up learning of science the common wealth of all 

 men, are written upon every page of his history. 



His lesson to teachers in studying nature from nature's 

 own open volume, the original author rather than books 

 by compilers, promises to revolutionize the method of study 

 so long in vogue in our country, so profitless and barren 

 in results, so misleading, discouraging and harmful. The 

 museum of comparative zoology at Cambridge and the 

 school of Natural History at Penikese, so earnestly fostered 

 by x\gassiz, will be nurseries to produce a class of investi- 

 gators and observers hereafter, competent to render base- 

 less De Tocquiville's fear that America never would send 

 one great original investigator into the world. 



Speaking of Humboldt's religious views and his al- 

 leged scepticism, Agassiz said that his great patron and 

 friend was certainly no materialist, attributing to matter 

 and force that world which he spoke of reverently as 

 li Grod's Majestic realm." He said further that "it is 

 impossible to become familiar with his writings without 

 feeling that if Humboldt was not a believer, he was not a 

 scoffer? " As much, and more, may be said of Agassiz. 



