Excerpt from A Discourse Commemorative of the Life and Services of the Late William Beach Lawrence: Pronounced Before the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia on Thursday Evening May 5 1881HE duty that I perform to-night is truly a sad pleasure. It is, T indeed, a great privilege-to be allowed to lay a tribute upon the grave of a departed friend, but, at the same time, it is a priv ilege that we would always be happier were we not called upon to embrace. William Beach Lawrence, the honorary vice-presi dent of this Society for the State of Rhode Island, died in New York, at the Albemarle Hotel, on Saturday, March 26, 1881, in the eighty-first year of his age. My acquaintance with Mr. Law rence began in the summer of 1868, and, for the remaining thirteen years of his life, our relations were not only friendly, but intimate. This may seem strange, considering the disparity of our years, he being nearly half a century my senior, - but the great theme that for so long occupied his mind and pen, - 'the Law of Nations, ' was one that had early attracted my attention, and thus our simi lar tastes bridged over the gulf of years. Living far apart, in dif erent States, our intercourse, except by letter, was necessarily limited but I recall with great pleasure the occasions when I eu joyed the hospitality of his beautiful home at Ochre Point, and it is with equal satisfaction that I look back to when he was my guest here. Notwithstanding his engrossing labor upon his last great work, he was a no mean correspondent, and I find in my portfolio nearly fifty letters, closely written in his minute and characteristic hand. I need not say that I have felt ¿attered by his valued friend ship, but in drawing up this memoir I have endeavored neither to paint the lily nor to gild refined gold, but merely to give a correct delineation of his life and labors.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.