A SCIENTIFIC HOME MISSIONARY. 163 



Fitzroy offered to give up part of his own cabin to any naturalist who would 

 join in the expedition in II. M. S. Beagle, Prof. Henslow recommended me as 

 one who knew very little, hut who, he thought, would work. I was strongly 

 attached to natural history, and this attachment I owed, in large part, to him. 

 During the five years' voyage, he regularly corresponded with me, and guided 

 my efforts. lie received, opened, and took care of all the specimens sent home 

 in many large boxes; but I firmly believe that, during these five years, it never 

 once crossed his mind that he was acting toward me with unusual and generous 

 kindness. 



" During the years when I associated so much with Prof. Henslow, I never 

 once saw his temper even ruffled. He never took an ill-natured view of any 

 one's character, though very far from blind to the foibles of others. It always 

 struck me that his mind could not be even touched by any paltry feeling of 

 vanity, envy, or jealousy. "With all this equability of temper and remarkable 

 benevolence, there was no insipidity of character. A man must have been 

 blind not to have perceived that beneath this placid exterior there was a vigor- 

 ous and determined will. When principle came into play, no power on earth 

 could have turned him one hair's-breadth. 



"After the year 1842, when I left London, I saw Prof. Henslow only at long 

 intervals ; but, to the last, he continued in all respects the same man. I think 

 he cared somewhat less about science, and more for his parishioners. When 

 speaking of his allotments, his parish children, and plans of amusing and in- 

 structing them, he would always kindle up with interest and enjoyment. I re- 

 member one trifling fact which seemed to me highly characteristic of the man : 

 In one of the bad years for the potato, I asked him how his crop had fared, but, 

 after a little talk, I perceived that, in fact, he knew nothing about his own po- 

 totoes, but seemed to know exactly what sort of crop there was in the garden 

 of almost every poor man in his parish. 



"In intellect, as far as I could judge, accurate powers of observation, sound 

 sense, and cautious judgment, seemed predominant. Nothing seemed to give 

 him so much enjoyment as drawing conclusions from minute observations. But 

 his admirable memoir on the geology of Anglesea shows his capacity for ex- 

 tended observations and broad views. Eeflecting over his character with grati- 

 tude and reverence, his moral attributes rise, as they should do in the highest 

 character, in preeminence over his intellect. 0. Darwin." 



The moral heroism, here testified to by Mr. Darwin, was an emi- 

 nent trait of Prof. Henslow's character, and a key to his career; but 

 there was one instance of it, in Cambridge, which may be mentioned 

 in passing. In politics, Prof. Henslow was originally a Conservative 

 or Tory. Lord Palmerston had long represented the university on 

 the same side. But when the Duke of Wellington, who was at the 

 head of the government, declared against reform in any shape what- 

 ever, there came a revolution which overthrew his administration, and 

 Lord Palmerston went over to the Liberal side and joined the re- 

 formed ministry. Prof. Henslow, like many others, fell in with the 

 movement, and, of course, made himself obnoxious to the chai'ge of 

 being a " turn-coat." He did not flinch from these attacks, and was at 

 any moment ready to do his duty regardless of popular reprobation, and 

 he soon had an opportunity of incurring it. In the borough election 



