BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF JOSEPH IIEXRY, 145 



effects. Ho joined a juvenile forensic and tlieatrical society, called tliu 

 Eostrum, and soon distinguished himself iu it by his ingenuity iu stage 

 arrangements. He was made president, and having nothing else to do 

 at the time, he gave his whole attention to the Eostrum. He drama- 

 tized a tale, wrote a comedy, and took a part in its representation. Un- 

 usually comely in form and features, and of i)repossessing address, our 

 future philosopher was in a fair way to become an actor, perhaps a dis- 

 tinguished one. 



But now a slight illness confined him for a few days to his mother's 

 house. To while away the hours he took up a small book which a 

 Scotchman, who then occupied a room in the house, had left upon his 

 mother's table. It was '•• Lectures on Experimental Philosophy, Astron- 

 omy, and Chemistry, intended chiefly for the use of young persons, by 

 G. Gregory," an English clergyman. It is an unpretending volume, but 

 a sensible one. It begins by asking three or four questions, such as 

 these : 



"You throw a stone, or shoot an arrow into the air; why does it not 

 go forward in the line or direction that you give it ? Why does it stop 

 at a certain distance, and then return to you ? * * * On the con- 

 trary, vviiy does flame or smoke always mount upward, though no force 

 is used to send them in that direction? And why should not the flame 

 of a candle drop toward the floor when you reverse it, or hold it down- 

 ward, instead of turning up and ascending into the air? * * * 

 Again, you look into a clear well of water and see your ovrn fjice and 

 figure, as if painted there. Why is this? You are told that it is done 

 by reflection of light. But what is reflection of light?" 



Young Henry's mind was aroused by these apt questions, and allured 

 by the explanations ; he now took in a sense of what knowledge was. 

 The door to knowledge opened to him, that door which it thence became 

 the passion of his life to open wider. Thenceforth truth charmed him 

 more than fiction. At the next meeting of his dramatic association he 

 resigned the office of president and took his leave in a valedictory ad- 

 dress, in which he assured his comrades that he should now prepare to 

 play his part on another stage, with nobler and more impressive scenes. 

 Tlie volume itself is preserved in Professor Henry's library. On a fly- 

 leaf is the following entry: 



'' This book, although by no means a profound work, has, under Prov- 

 idence, exerted a remarkable influence upon my life. It accidentally 

 fell into my hands when I was about sixteen years old, and was the first 

 work I ever read with attention. It opened to me a new world of 

 thought and enjoyment; invested things before almost unnoticed with 

 S. Mis. 59 10. 



