Excerpt from The German Astronomer and Cosmographer of the Times of Columbus: Being the Tenth Annual Discourse Before the Maryland Historical Society, on January 25th, 1855

There are many men who have acted conspicuous parts in scenes of thrilling historical interest, whose names are little known to general readers, and whose surpassing merits are not properly appreciated. They have been either lost in the more refulgent light of brighter luminaries, or have been purposely over-looked by cotemporaneous historians. Fellow laborers in the same field of investigation, who have left records of their own operations, may have from envy or interested selfishness, disregarded their claims to distinction or only casually mentioned their names as associated with themselves. Thus often, real merit in science, literature and art, is depreciated, and many a man, on the other hand, gains credit for what he never achieved, and receives a reward which he never deserved. But posterity often awards to a man the honor to which his cotemporaries have denied him. All history demonstrates this fact. There is a resurrection of genius, which had long been buried in oblivion. Envy and detraction may dig its grave and bury it, but eventually it comes forth reanimate. It was not dead, it only slept.

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