partially adopted, on account of the restrictions of the enactment of Congress, by which provision was to be made for certain specified objects. He strenuously opposed the contemplated expenditure of a most disproportionate sum in the erection and maintenance of a costly edifice; but failing to prevent this, he introduced the resolution adopted by the board as a compromise, whereby the mischief which he could not wholly avert might at least be lessened. This resolution provided that the time of the erection of the building should be extended over several years, while the fund appropriated for the purpose, being in the mean time invested in a safe and productive manner, would serve in some degree to counterbalance the effect of the great and unnecessary outlay which had been resolved on. It would be difficult for the secretary, however unwilling to intrude anything personal on this occasion, to forbear mentioning that it was entirely due to the persuasive influence of the professor that he was induced, almost against his own better judgment, to leave the quiet pursuit of science and the congenial employment of college instruction to assume the laborious and responsible duties of the office to which, through the partiality of friendship, he had been called. Nor would it be possible for him to abstain from acknowledging with heart-felt emotion that he was from first to last supported and sustained in his difficult position by the fraternal sympathy, the prudent counsel, and the unwavering friendship of the lamented deceased. His demeanor in the board was quiet and unobtrusive, and his opinions sought no support in elaborated or premeditated argument; but when a topic likely to lead to difficulty in discussion was introduced, he seldom failed, with that admirable tact for which he was always noted, to dispose of it by some suggestion so judicious and appropriate as to secure ready acquiescence and harmonious action. The loss of such a man in the councils of the Institution, when we consider the characteristics which it has been our aim to portray, must, indeed, be regarded as little less than irreparable.

As a vice president of the United States Sanitary Commission his influence was felt in selecting proper agents, and suggesting efficient means for collecting and distributing the liberal contributions offered for ameliorating the condition of our soldiers during the war. But the services which he rendered the Government during the recent struggle were not confined to this agency, or to the immediate operations of the Coast Survey. He was called into consultations to discuss plans of attack on the part of the Navy, and for its coöperation with the Army. He acted also as a member of a commission to which various projects, professing to improve the art of war, were referred, and in this capacity it is not too much to say that his judicious counsel contributed to save the Government millions of dollars by preventing the adoption of plausible though impracticable propositions from which nothing but failure and loss could have resulted.

One of the last acts of his life was an exemplification of the devoted

affection which he had always borne to his native city, whither it was his cherished intention to return when he should be at last released from offi cial duty. At the request of the governor of Pennsylvania, although overwhelmed with other public labors, he planned lines of defenses for Philadel phia, and to a certain extent personally superintended their construction. Unaccustomed for many years to direct exposure to the sun, this work proved too much for his physical strength and brought on the first indications of that malady which terminated his life. Though apparently of a vigorous constitution, and capable, under the excitement of official life, of bearing an unusual amount of bodily fatigue, yet he was subject at intervals to "sick headaches," a disease which seems to have been hereditary, and which perhaps conspired with other causes in terminating his useful and distinguished career. Previous to the war he had spent the warmer part of each summer in a tent, at some point of the primary triangulation of the survey, whence he directed the various parties in the field by correspondence; and as the point was usually at the top of a mountain, or at some elevated position, from which other stations of the survey could be seen, he did not want for invigorating air. With this, and the exercise of measuring angles he laid in a store of health sufficient to enable him to carry on without interruption the arduous duties of the remaining portion of the year. But after the commencement of the war his presence was continually required in Washington to give advice and information as to military and naval operations, and to attend the meetings of the scientific commission to which we have previously referred. He was, therefore, no longer able to avail himself of the recuperating influence of mountain air, and in view of this his valuable life may be said to have been one of the sacrifices offered for the preservation of the Union. The first indications of the insidious disease which gradually sapped the citadel of life were numbness in the fingers of his right hand, and, on one occasion, for a short time only, loss of memory. Though these symptoms gave him some uneasiness, they did not diminish his exertions in the line of his duty. Other symptoms, however, exhibited themselves, which, though awaking anxiety, did not much alarm his friends, until he was suddenly deprived, in a considerable degree, of the power of locomotion and of the expression of ideas; the result, it was supposed, of a softening of the brain. But though the power of expression was paralyzed, his memory appeared to retain all the impressions of the past, and he evidently took much pleasure in having recalled to him scenes and events of years gone by. For several months he was very anxious as to the business of the Coast Survey, and it was with difficulty he could be restrained from resuming in full the duties of his office; but as the malady increased his perception of external objects diminished. He took less and less interest in passing events, and finally seemed to withdraw his attention from the exterior world, with which he almost ceased thenceforth to hold any active communication. It was hoped that a voyage to Europe, through the excitements of shipboard

and the revival of old associations, would be of service to him; but, notwithstanding an occasional manifestation of his wonted spirit of social and intellectual enjoyment at the encounter of a friend of former times or distinguished associate in the walks of science, he returned from a sojourn abroad of eighteen months without having experienced any permanent abatement in the progress of his malady. He lingered for a short time longer, and finally resigned his breath at Newport, Rhode Island, on the 17th of February, 1867, in the sixty-first year of his age.

It would be impossible to name an American distinguished on purely scientific grounds to whom the enlightened sentiment of his own countrymen and of foreign nations has awarded more emphatic marks of admiration and esteem. The degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by the principal universities of this country, and few of our leading societies were willing to forego the honor of numbering him among their associates. He was elected in succession president of the American Philosophical Society, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and, of the National Academy of Sciences established by Congress. Nor were foreigners less forward in acknowledging his merit. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, of the Institute of France, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal and Imperial Geographical Society of Vienna, the Royal Academy of Turin, the Mathematical Society of Hamburg, the Academy of Sciences in the Institute of Bologna, the Royal Astronomical Society of London, and of the Royal Irish Academy of Dublin. In addition to these testimonies of appreciation, several medals were awarded to him by foreign governments for his distinguished services in the Coast Survey and in the cause of science generally.

The life we have here sketched is eminently suggestive, both from a philosophical and a practical point of view. It presents an unbroken series of successful efforts, with no interruptions in its sustained and constantly ascending course; all parts follow each other in harmonious continuity; and not only is each stage of its progress in advance of the one which preceded it, but it furnishes the means of education for that which succeeded. It is not merely curiosity, laudable as that might be, but a sense of the importance of the inquiry, which prompts us to ask, What were the mental and moral characteristics of the mind which produced such results? And we say intentionally, the mind which produced these results, for although it be true that accident has in many cases a determining influence on the fortunes of an individual, it will be clear from what precedes, or we shall have greatly failed in the task which we proposed to ourselves, that the element of casualty had but little to do with the success which crowned the life to which the question at present relates.

From long acquaintance with him and critical study of the events of

his life, and the distinctive manifestations of his moral and intellectual nature, we venture, though not without hesitation, to present the following analysis of the character of one who has performed so conspicuous a part, and in whose memory so many are deeply interested.

Alexander Dallas Bache possessed, or we may perhaps say originally inherited, a mind of strong general powers, with no faculty in excess or in deficiency, but, as a whole, capable of unusual expansion or development in any direction which early training or the education of life might determine. He also possessed strong passions, which, instead of exerting an unfavorable effect on his character by their indulgence, became, under the restraining influence to which they were in due season subjected, a reserved energy, as it were, ready to manifest itself spontaneously and at any time in the vindication of truth and justice. He was likewise endowed with a power of will which, controlling all his faculties and propensities, rendered them subservient to those fixed purposes which had once received the sanction of his deliberate judgment. Eminent also among his characteristics, and perhaps most conspicuous of all, was the social element of refined humanity, a regard for his fellowman, which craved as an essential want of his nature fraternal sympathy, not only with those within the wide circle of his daily associations, but with those from whom he could expect no reciprocation of the sentiment, the entire brotherhood of mankind. These characteristics, with a nice perception of right and a conscience always ready to enforce its mandates, are, we think, sufficient to explain the remarkable career we have described.

They were perhaps indicated by himself, though with an admission not to be accepted without some reserve, in a conversation with the writer of this sketch in reference to his entrance at West Point. "I knew," he said, "that I had nothing like genius, but I thought I was capable by hard study of accomplishing something, and I resolved to do my best, and if possible to gain the approbation of the teachers, and, above all, to make myself loved and respected by my classmates."

To illustrate the progressive development of the individual traits of his character, we may be allowed to dwell for a moment on a few analytical details. The early period of his life, including that which preceded his first call to Philadelphia, was almost wholly devoted to the improvement of the mechanical, or the "doing" faculties of his mind, and but little attention was given to invention, or the exercise of original thought. His final examination at the Academy, perfect as it was in its kind, only exhibited his capacity for the acquisition of knowledge not the power to originate or apply it. When his efforts were first turned in the latter direction, he evinced, as I well remember, no especial aptitude for it that would indicate future success; but in a short time, and under the stimulus of the associations into which he was thrown in Philadelphia, the faculties of investigation and of generalization were rapidly developed, and had he not been partially turned aside

from such pursuits, I doubt not but that he would have still more highly distinguished himself in the line of experimental research. Again, the change in the circumstances and relations of his life produced by his election to the presidency of Girard College introduced him to a famil iarity with an entirely new class of ideas, which served to exercise and expand another faculty of his mind, that, namely, which observes and appreciates moral truths, though without impairing his aptitude for physical research. In like manner, his foreign mission with reference to popular education, by bringing him into intimate and friendly association with minds of the first order in the principal cities of Europe, afforded him an opportunity for enlarging the sphere of his sympathies, as well as of studying men under a great variety of social and mental peculiarities.

Again, his long residence and high social position at the seat of Government, his intimate acquaintance and friendly intercourse with statesmen and politicians, imbued him with a thorough knowledge of the working of the Government, such as few have ever possessed, while his exertions to sustain the Coast Survey and improve its condition served to call into active operation his power to appreciate character, to discern motives, and, therefore, to convince, persuade, and control men. His ability in this latter respect was remarkable; a personal interview with an opponent of the survey scarcely ever failed to convert perhaps an active enemy into an influential friend. His success in this respect often astonished those who frequently harassed Congress with propositions covertly designed to promote their own interest at the expense of public utility; hence the exclamation was not unfrequently heard, "Bache is certainly a wonderful manager." If that which is unusual constitutes, an element of wonder, then the exclamation was not without truth, though not in the sense of those by whom it was uttered, for he never advocated any measure that was not just, expedient, and proper, either as concerned the interests of the country or the welfare of his species.

On the whole, if we would seek the real secret of his influence over his fellow-men, it would be found, no doubt, to have consisted in the singular abnegation of self which pervaded his whole conduct; his great practical wisdom, his honesty of purpose, and his genial though quiet and unobtrusive manner. In the exercise of these characteristics, he was so far from the least appearance of dissimulation, that no one ever approached him without feeling that it was equally impossible to doubt the purity of his intentions as it was to elude the penetration of his quiet but thorough scrutiny. His calmness served as a shield from within and without; and as a guard against himself as well as a protection against others. It enabled him to weigh the motives and observe the character of those who consulted him with the view of securing his influence or gaining his patronage. His genial nature enabled him to descend gracefully from the heights of science and to enter fully and frankly into the feelings of any company with which he might be