38 sketches of the life of Mr John Henderson. Nov. fo 
From the improvement and delight which flowed frora 
his conversation, wherever he went, or whatever party he 
. joined, his company, almost ‘unavoidably produced late. 
hours. Every one knows, particularly at college, that 
frequent encroachments on the sober hours of rest must 
tend to promote excefs; from this, and other causes, in a 
word, he who was the wonder and admiration of all whe 
knew him for some years before his death, frequently trans- 
grefsed the bounds of temperance by the habitual vice 
of drunkennefs. Accustomed to spend the whole night, or 
the greater part of it, either in company, or in study, 
whatever friend he visited, like the unfortunate savage, he 
generally disturbed the economy of the family. If he 
found a companion who had any talents for conversation, of 
which he was extremely fond, it was almost impofsible to 
leave him ; so eminently was he endowed with the various 
powers of arresting attention, communicating knowledge, 
and affording pleasure. This difsipated mode of life,. 
doubtlefs, must have injured his constitution and’ accele- 
rated his death. 
When he studied medicine he tried the effects of vari- 
ous poisons on himself, in a very unjustifiable manners 
that he might mark their progrefs, and, if pofsible, dis- 
cover their antidotes ; and his constitution was materially 
“injured by such experiments. From his intense applica- 
tion and sedentary life, Mr Henderson soon became sub- 
ject to lownefs of spirits, and extreme debility, with 
a tendency to putrid disorders. ‘When the powers of na- 
ture sunk, therefore, under the constant exertions of the: 
mind, he had recourse to opiates. These had a wonder- 
ful effect in producing temporary relief, in exhilarating” 
his spirits, and banishing the drowsinefs of the midnight 
