* 



BY 



HENRY C. CAMERON, D.D., 



PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. 



THE death of Professor HENRY may be justly termed a national 

 loss, for probably no American since the days of Franklin has 

 done so much for the cause of physical science as the late Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution and former Professor of Natural 

 Philosophy in the College of New Jersey. His eminent attain- 

 ments and great reputation reflected honor upon the institution 

 with which he was connected from 1832 to 1848, and no graduate 

 of Nassau Hall in that period went forth from its walls without a 

 profound sense of the great benefit derived from the instructions of 

 the professor, and warm attachment to the man. 



The writer happened to be a member of the Senior Class at 

 Princeton when Professor Henry was elected Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and for a short time held closer relations 

 to him than students are wont to enjoy with a professor. When 

 beginning his lectures to a new class, the Professor was accustomed 

 to select some member of the preceding to assist him, and the writer 

 had the good fortune to occupy this position during a portion of 

 his " senior vacation," as the interval between the final examination 

 and the commencement was styled. Hence these reminiscences, 

 which were given in the College Chapel May 19th and June 2d, 

 and which in response to requests from various quarters are now 

 given to the public. 



When Professor Henry was elected Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, numerous biographies of him appeared in the public 

 journals. While these were correct in the main facts, yet, as was 

 to have been expected, they contained many errors. To correct 

 these, and for the sake of truth, the Professor, overcoming his own 



*" Reminiscences of JOSEPH HENRY, LL. D." Presented in the College Chapel, 

 ut Princeton, on the afternoons of May 19th and June 2d, 1878. 

 (166) 



