New-York tribune., 1873-12-22
IN MEMORY OF AGASSIZ.

corNTRy N0uRNING-UNIVERsAIIT OF THE
GREAT SCIENTISTS ATTAINMENTs-A REvERENT
uN1rRrNe AND UNsEIFJsH INvEsT1GAToR-HIs
PLACE, UNTITLED
,yRoM Az OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRIBrNrl
CAMBRIDGE Dec 21.--The funeral sermon of Prof.
Agassis was preached to-day in the chapel of
Harvard University by the Rev. A. p. Peabody,
D. d., the Chaplain. The chapel was still dTaped in
mourning, and large audience in which We're
many members Of the faculty and prominent
citizens OF Cambridge, was in attendance. Dr.
Peabody was for many years n near neighbor OF
Prof Agassiz. who attended frequently al his
ministratons in the chapel aud be enjoyed an
intimacy of friendship with the deceased which
rendered his words far more touching and impress
sivo than If he had only known him as a pubhc
man. The sermon was as follows:
Tho grave whhereth the flower fadeth. but the word
ef our God shall stand forever" Isaiah. xl,s
In the Hebrew Scriptures the Word of God denotes
the euenoo HIS spirit in all Nature Providence being
the word crystalzed in the material made eternal in
the spiritual universe We accustomed to apply the
terms and exclusively TO that portion of its contents
which constitutes uttered OF written revelation This
Ia indeed momentous portion, because it has d.
rect relation destiny duty, and has close
application. express message from God 20
each Of US individually. But for this reason IT is
limited. The light 1t sheds is intense but not
alrevealng. II for you ana me the
born and undying SOULS II illumines the straight,
narrow path 10 heaven that cannot mistake
fhe way there beyond and either side realms
truth vast rich and glorious in which the Word Of
God Is be read only by the patient thought profound
regard inspired genius OF whom God raises up and
epdOws for this very work. as truly commissioned as
prophets and apostles, with this difference that the
latter universal needs. bear credentials
which every can read and understand; while the
former have mission self-authentcated 10 prepared
minds. TO Others alike proofess and protess. So far
are portions Of the word Of God from the
muual antagonsms in which they are sometimes
placed each complement and interpreter of the
other. The text OF revelation has meaning more or
less rich aud powerful the reader takesn more or
less of God Nature while 70 the eve and ear which
Christ has opened Nature offers broader symmetries
and swecfer harmonies than mere groveng philoso
ply either perceive comprehend. Well said the
Savior. Heaven and earth shall pass away but my
words shall not pass away" and this equally true of
the whole unwrtten word Of God. Slowly. sometimes
at remote intervals. syllable by syllable. is it uttered
along the But uttered, 10 never lapses into
oblivion Views OF nature, when broadened, are not
narrowed again. Every advance in science is as a
prophets watcLtower; every accession the of
knowledge is an extension of holy ground every
glimpse Of profounder phlosophic insight, thns or
renes the vail through which looks the face of
God.
A GREAT MIND PASSED HIGHER SERVICE.
To have part in this development is title
to the worlds enduring gratitude, which is the only
fame worth having and worth leaving. inh human history
such stand ont more and more prominently as the
race advances Once thrown into the background by
military gory and material achievements, they now
transcend all claims honor that skill or might or
power can profer. II is worthy OF our emphatic no
tice that such men, while sustaining priesty office
have with the rarest exceptions, been more worthy OF
their priesthood Seldom has the vail been lifted from
the of by other than reverent hand and
tbus must needs
II is because such mind has passed 10 higher ser
vice, and such heart longer thrObs earth. that
our sanctuary bears these tokens OF and deep
sorrow that University, our community our cOun
try mourns. one has been taken from whom we
owned as chief among us whose genius has been
wealth his eloquence Inspiration, his warm and
generous sympathy. his cordial hepfulness, his gentle
meas simplicity and frankness. the grace, the beauty,
loftiness Of his spirit our perpetual JOY He has
passed from us not as would have hoped, when his
life work had rounded by the ful term OF
active service, and he had gathered in the
harvest work whose sheaves have grown and rlpered
under hs culture bat in what had TOO fondy deemed
the OF his vigOr and usefulness, for we had
taken too lrte note OF the turning shadows of his
declining day. He has gone where in the ranks OF
liberal culture the anxious question passes round
VINO can an his place and take up his burdcnf Yet
death rpens the living The spri; exhaled kndes sur
viying souls and though can reproduce what we
have seen in him LET us hope that the trust which he
though with unequal steps, will follow where he has
led with BinGred enthusiasm and selfdevotOn.
rSrvrRsAIrrY or HIS SCIENTIFIC WORKS
II difficult 10 department of natural science
In which he has not c,t his enduring record HIS early
researches among the glaciers OF the Alps, with his H.
ductiOns aud reueralzatons founded upon them, con
hrrned and enlarged by subsequent observation Oh boh
continents, have placed him IN the van Of cosmieal
philosophers: and We indebted TO him than to
any other-Inay say than 10 all others-for our
knowledge OF glacial action IN remote periods Of the
history Of our planet tecond to OF the world
forces that have left their veces 10 be traced and co
ordnated by human science But these Inquiries nave
been but an inter 'ude though momentous
and fruitful. m hrs study Of organized beings
alike in its fossilized ard In its surviving
forms While from an penod tin the very last his
Investigations have been directed with peculiar
pkaee 20 shes coral formations and extinct species OF
aquatic origin he viewed this department only in its
relations to the whole of Nature and 80 far as ac
turate knowledge aud even fresh curiosity were con
rerned seemed 10 have specially. Ii Is classified
ton alone that converts natural history into natural
science and this cOEyors0D lie hss undoubtedly been
the foremost man Of bis tune. His view compre
hended the separate types, corelatiOns, and great
groups Of organized beings that the world
below presented 10 Kim orderly a symmetry, pro-
portion, and mutual adaptation as the as
tonomer the places relations, and courses OF
the heavenly bodies. His classification remains unm-
paehed by subsequent theories for 10 founded not
on speculaons iu cosnoeoDy which cannot be verified,
hut OIL the historical record Embedded IN the esrths
,trta On the actual oistrbution of living species, and
Oh the deductions Of comparative anatomy The details
Of hs scientific aD0r belong not 10 the place of 'ne
hour. That they could have been brought "Ithin
ssnge lifetime those massive volumes those Scsearches
% fruitful by land and under the equatorial sun ana
among the eternal ice and those vast collections