CAMBRIDGE. 



41 



his * Moral Philosophy.' This was done in a thorough man- 

 ner, and I am convinced that I could have written out the 

 whole of the ' Evidences ' with perfect correctness, but not of 

 course in the clear language of Paley. The logic of this 

 book and, as I may add, of his * Natural Theology,' gave me 

 as much delight as did Euclid. The careful study of these 

 works, without attempting to learn any part by rote, was the 

 only part of the academical course which, as I then felt and 

 as I still believe, was of the least use to me in the education ' 

 of my mind. I did not at that time trouble myself about 

 Paley's premises ; and taking these on trust, I was charmed 

 and convinced by the long line of argumentation. By an- 

 swering well the examination questions in Paley, by doing 

 Euclid well, and by not failing miserably in Classics, I gained 

 a good place among the ol ttoXXoI or crowd of men who do 

 not go in for honours. Oddly enough, I cannot remember 

 how high I stood, and my memory fluctuates between the 

 fifth, tenth, or twelfth, name on the list.* 



Public lectures on several branches were given in the 

 University, attendance being quite voluntary ; but I was so 

 sickened with lectures at Edinburgh that I did not even 

 attend Sedgwick's eloquent and interesting lectures. Had I 

 done so I should probably have become a geologist earlier 

 than I did. I attended, however, Henslow's lectures on 

 Botany, and liked them much for their extreme clearness, 

 and the admirable illustrations ; but I did not study botany. 

 Henslow used to take his pupils, including several of the 

 older members of the University, field excursions, on foot or 

 in coaches, to distant places, or in a barge down the river, 

 and lectured on the rarer plants and animals which were 

 observed. These excursions were delightful. 



Although, as we shall presently see, there were some re- 

 deeming features in my life at Cambridge, my time was sadly 

 wasted there, and worse than wasted. From my passion for 

 shooting and for hunting, and, when this failed, for riding 



* Tenth in the list of January 1831. 



