xl PROCEEDINGS OF TILE 
ness, moral courage, and consummate ability with which Professor 
Henslow conducted the duties he volunteered for. It has been 
erroneously stated that he received the living of Hitcham as a 
reward for these services. Such, however, was far from the case ; 
he was made aware, indeed, that he was considered entitled to 
government patronage, but, with conscientious disinterestedness, 
he declined to avail himself of the offer. On the death of the pre- 
vious rector of Hitcham he was recommended by the Bishop of 
Ely (formerly tutor to Lord Melbourne) as being the man who, 
in that prelate’s opinion, was best calculated by his ability, activity, 
and common sense, to reform that populous, remote and wofully 
neglected parish, where the duties of squire, magistrate and rector 
must all fall upon the latter. 
“‘ Amongst the most remarkable instances of a direct benefit con- 
ferred upon agriculture through scientific knowledge, was his dis- 
covery of the use of the phosphate nodules which abound in the 
tertiary formations of the Eastern counties. On the discovery of 
the nature and origin of those petrified animal remains, their value 
to the farmer was instantly apparent to Professor Henslow, who 
at once gave his discovery the widest circulation in the local papers, 
without reservation of any kind; claiming no credit, no reward, 
no consideration even as the discoverer. This was indeed heaping 
coals of fire on the farmers’ heads, to whom: this discovery con- 
tinues to be a source of incalculable wealth, large areas of Norfolk, 
Suffolk, and other counties, being now honeycombed with phos- 
phate pits; yet up to the day of Professor Henslow’s death, no 
acknowledgment even was vouchsafed of his services. In the 
same liberal spirit he printed and circulated his volume of letters 
to the farmers of Suffolk, which pointed out and stimulated them 
to use methods which have largely increased the products of their 
holdings. 
“Though the professional career of Professor Henslow as the 
spiritual guide of his parishioners is a subject unsuited to our 
columns, yet it is right to state that his duties as pastor super- 
seded all others in his estimation; and though they were eclipsed 
in public opinion by his more conspicuous labours, and though he 
had the greatest aversion to a parade of religion, he was ever 
assiduous in spiritual duties—so much so, that for fifteen years he 
was not absent from Hitcham for a single Sunday. 
“But want of space forbids our going further into the philan- 
thropic or scientific career of this most amiable, learned, and ex- 
cellent man; a volume might be filled with the incidents of his 
