of his work arose from his sense of order, and from the soundness and
rigor of his principles. He possessed not only physical, but
intellectual and moral courage. In the face of hardship or difficulty
he was undaunted, ever energetic at the moment, ever hoping for better
times. His power of working was enormous, for he made virtually no
false motions, but proceeded silently, swiftly, with no apparent
effort, and for long periods without interruption.

Much has been said by his friends of the depth and sincerity of his
sentiments in point of religion. But he had little sympathy with
clergymen, or with the definite forms in which the religious experience
of man has expressed itself--though these forms are in their essence
and development not unlike the natural forms which he so reverently
studied. One who knew him well affirms that in early manhood Agassiz,
if not precisely a materialist, was at all events a sceptic; but his
later studies, with mature reflection, led him to believe in a Divine
Creator. The external universe became to him the language in which the
Divine Being conveys his ideas to man, and natural history the
discipline by which men interpret that language. Thus he says, in the
_Essay on Classification:_ 'To me it appears indisputable that
this order and arrangement of our studies are based upon the natural,
primitive relations of animal life--those systems, to which we have
given the names of the great leaders of our science who first proposed
them, being in truth but translations into human language of the
thoughts of the Creator. And if this is indeed so, do we not find in
this adaptability of the human intellect to the facts of creation, by
which we become instinctively, and, as I have said, unconsciously, the
translators of the thoughts of God, the most conclusive proof of our
affinity with the Divine mind? And is not this intellectual and
spiritual connection with the Almighty worthy of our deepest