Page:Annualreportofbo1906smitfo.djvu/649

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SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY.
533

But this memorial, inadequate as it may be, must draw to a close. I have been able to faintly trace the lines of a great mind and a great soul, one that left a powerful impress upon the knowledge and thinking of the country in which he was born and the time in which he lived, and his name and his fame are bound to be handed down through all posterity. Yet he valued these labors and the results which sprung from them but little when compared with the affection of his kin and of his friends—affections not many in number nor easily obtained, for he was, as I have said, a shy man; but he gave in full measure his confidence and Ins love to those whom he called friend.

A long life filled with many perplexities left his soul white. This Nation and the world at large is the richer for the life of this great man.