Page:Charles von Hügel (1903 memoir).djvu/89



bearing and character of an admirable and lovable man, who manifested a very rare combination of qualities. In him the man of the world was combined with the man of science; mature experience of life with profound knowledge in many fields; the enjoyment of social pleasures, and the fulfilment of official duties, with persevering, passionate, industry in scientific pursuits. He was considerate, sympathetic, accessible, humane, without pretension and without stiffness. Till middle life notable in salons, he was a loving husband and father. His deep-seated religious feeling and his attachment to his Church had not a trace of narrowness or intolerance, and his christian charity shewed itself both in the mildness of his judgments, and in his beneficence and liberality. He was a warm patriot without antipathy to other nations; a decided Conservative without political intolerance; in all things full of moderation and equity.

In his official career, as in his scientific, he did not go without distinctions; in the one case as in the other he attached to them a proper value without parading them. When the Imperial Academy of Sciences was founded he was nominated one of its members, and in the year 1849 the English Geographical Society conferred upon him the large Victoria medal: Ob terras reclusas. In the midst of official duties and social distractions he never lost sight of scientific interests.