MEMOIR OF EATON IIODGKINSON. 207 



marked by precocious talents and womlcrful acliievements ; still lie possessed, 

 even in youth, a (piick peroejttion of tlie relations of abstract magnitudes, and 

 manifested, like Xewton and Stephenson, a strong" propensity for making sun- 

 dials. 



Manhood developed in him a profound intellect, a highly cultivated intelli- 

 gence, unwearied perseverance, and a kind and an aftectionate heart. lie dis- 

 charged every relation of life with fidelity, and has left behind him a name 

 great in the annals of science, reflecting every manly virtue, and unsullied by 

 any act of meanness. He was, however, very jealous of the products of his 

 own mental labors, which he regarded as personal property, and was also equally 

 just in the use of the mental property of other cultivators of science, as he 

 would not appropriate the conclusions of any man without due acknowledgment 



If he did entertain any hostile feeling, it was against those who, as he con- 

 ceived, were unscrupulous in their appropriation of the fruit of other men's 

 brains. His sense of justice would not allow him to show the slightest sympa- 

 thy with this class of offenders. 



"The efticiency of Mr. Hodgkinson's lectures at University College, and of his 

 oral instruction generally, wass(jmewhat circumscribed by his hesitancy of speech. 

 This peculiarity interfered with his usefulness as a speaker and teacher, and 

 rendered his explanations of subjects, even those with which he was most familiar, 

 somewhat tedious to the student. And it is perhaps one of the greatest evidences 

 that can be recorded of the power of his mind, that he was thought worthy, in 

 spite of his embarrassed address and slowness of sjieech, to be installed in a pro- 

 fessorial chair in one of the leading scientific colleges of the kingdom. As a 

 relaxation from severe mental toil, he cultivated a taste for general literature 

 and the architecture of the middle ages. Of late years ho frequently travelled, 

 both on the continent and in the British empire, to examine those stupendous 

 cathedrals and other public buildings which adorn western Europe, and which 

 testify to the good taste, piety, and intellectual culture of the age in which they 

 were built. He was fond also of investigating the remains of antiquity. And, 

 what is valued above all l)y a man of science, he enjoyed the friendship and 

 esteem of his contemporaries, who were able to estimate his worth, ap})reciate his 

 talents, and apply his discoveries to useful purposes. Tin; most eminent engineers 

 of the age placed unboumled confidence in the results of his experiments, 

 believing them to l)e faitlifnlly recorded and accurately reduced to meet the 

 requirements of mathematical formulae. As a confirmation of this, it may be 

 stated that the engineers' pocket and text-books of the present time are full of 

 Hodgkinson's formulae for calculating the strength and deflection of pillars and 

 beams. 



Mr. Hodgkinson was twice married, but without issue in each case. His first 

 wife was Miss Catherine Johns, daughter of the respected Rev. William Johns, 

 a distinguished memlu'r of this society, who contributed an interesting paper to 

 its memoirs, entitled '' llemarks on the Use and Origin of Figurative Lan- 

 guage," (vol. ii, new series.) His second wife was Miss llolditch, daughter of 

 Henry Holditch, esq., captain in the Cheshire militia. This lady, who is now 

 left to mourn her loss, devoted her powers to comfort and sustain her husband 

 when his health and memory would not admit of his having recoiu'se to his favor- 

 ite pursuits. Of kite his great mental jxtwers became prostrate, and his mem- 

 or}' failed so much that it was ol)vious to his friends the time had arrived when 

 his faculties required repose. In this state of mental lassitude the services of 

 Mrs. Hodgkinson were of great value to him. It is not unusual with men 

 whose mental powers have been overstrained by excitement and hard labor that 

 the desire for intellectual activity does not cease when the physical power neces- 

 sary to sustain it is feeble. Mr. Hodgkinson was the subject of this painful 

 experience: the desire for mental activity continued unabated to the last ; and 

 it was only a few months before his decease that he was engaged in aiTanging 



