108 J. HOPKINSON ANNIVEESART ADDRESS : 



To study for the Churcli he spends three years at Cambridge, 

 but, " so far as the academical studies were concerned," his time is 

 wasted almost as much as it was during the years he spent at 

 Edinburgh and at school, the only part of the course of instruction 

 of the least use to him in the education of his mind being the 

 careful study of Paley's 'Evidences of Christianity,' and his 'Moral 

 Philosophy; ' the logic of the 'Evidences,' and of Paley's ' ISTatural 

 Theology,' giving him as much pleasure as did Euclid. In January, 

 1831, he takes his degree of B.A. of Cambridge University, passing 

 his examination, tenth on the list, "by answering well the exami- 

 nation questions in Paley, by doing Euclid well, and by not failing 

 miserably in Classics." 



But these three years at Cambridge are very pleasant ones, " the 

 most joyful in my happy life," he says. In "excellent health, 

 and almost always in high spirits," he eagerly collects beetles; 

 hires the chorister boys to sing in his rooms, for he was passionately 

 fond of music, though strangely had no ear for it, scarcely knowing 

 one tune from another; reads with profound interest Humboldt's 

 ' Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoxial Regions of the 

 New Continent,' and Herschell's ' Introduction to the Study of 

 Natural Philosophy,' books which, he says, influenced him more 

 than any others he ever read ; attends Professor Henslow's lectures 

 on botany and his delightful botanical excursions ; associates with 

 men of science much older than himself, such as Dr. "Whewell and 

 the Rev. Leonard Jenyns (now Blomefield) ; and finally commences 

 the study of geology, accompanying Professor Sedgwick, on leaving 

 Cambridge, in a geological expedition through North Wales. To 

 show his zeal for collecting beetles, he relates that one day, on 

 tearing off some old bark, he saw two rare beetles and seized one 

 in each hand ; then he saw a third which he could not bear to lose, 

 so he popped one into his mouth ; but alas ! it ejected some 

 intensely acrid fluid which burnt his tongue so that he was forced 

 to spit it out. Evidently entomology was his " first love." 



His intercourse with Professor Henslow begets a warm and 

 lifelong friendship. He had for him the highest admiration, and 

 he speaks of his knowledge being great in botany, entomology, 

 chemistry, mineralogy, and geology ; of his being deeply religious, 

 strictly orthodox, free from every tinge of vanity ; and having the 

 highest moral qualities, an imperturbably good temper, the most 

 winning and courteous manners, and unbounded benevolence. 



On returning home from his geological tour in North "Wales, 

 Charles Darwin finds a letter from Henslow informing him that 

 "Captain Eitz-Roy was willing to give up part of his own cabin to 



