56 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY. 



it stop at a certain distance, and then return to you? - - - On 

 the contrary, why 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 downward, instead of turning up and ascending 

 into the air? - - - Again, you look into a clear well of water 

 and see your own face 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 address, in which he assured his 

 comrades that he should now prepare to play his part on another 

 stage, with nobler and more impressive scenes. The 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 

 Providence, exerted a remarkable influence upon my life. It acci- 

 dentally 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 the highest interest ; fixed my mind on the study of 

 nature, and caused me to resolve at the time of reading it that I 

 would immediately commence to devote my life to the acquisition 

 of knowledge." 



The pursuit of elementary knowledge under difficulties and pri- 

 vations now commenced. At first he attended a night-school, where 

 he soon learned all the master could teach. At length he entered 



