Louis Agassis. 



Agassiz took no active part in the civil war. His 

 sympathies were with the North, and during the 

 struggle he was naturalised as an American and lost 

 no occasion to aid the cause of humanity by word 

 or deed. In truth, his opinions,widely expressed in 

 Europe during the war, had more effect than is 

 generally supposed. 



His discussion with Dr. Howe in 1863 on the posi- 

 tion of the negro, attracted universal attention, and 

 abstracts of the answers which Agassiz gave to the 

 circular sent out by Dr. Howe were copied widely in 

 this country and Europe. The question before the 

 people was what to do with the liberated slaves and 

 what position should they occupy. The particular 

 question which Dr. Howe, the philanthrophist, asked 

 of Agassiz, the naturalist, was, Is it probable 

 that the African race, represented by less than 

 two million blacks and a little more than two 

 million mulattoes, unrecruited by immigration, will 

 be a persistent race in the country? or will it be 

 absorbed, diluted, and finally effaced by the white 

 race, numbering twenty-four millions, and con- 

 tinually increased by immigration, beside natural 

 causes." 



Agassiz's reply was, in brief, that the negroes could 

 not be compared to the Indians who fell away and 

 disappeared before the white man. They were more 

 pliable, and as they readily adapted themselves to 

 various conditions of life they would hold their own ; 

 indeed, increase in the South ; and time has shown 

 that he was right. Regarding the political rights of 

 the negro Agassiz said : I have no hesitation in 



