242 The Smithsonian Listitittion 



of his father, he shipped before the mast in a trading vessel 

 bound for Calcutta. The vessel was wrecked near the mouth 

 of the Hoogly, and young Hodgkins found himself penniless 

 and friendless in Calcutta, where he was taken ill and carried 

 to the hospital. He has since said that it was here, while 

 he was a sick lad, and was told that he had not six months 

 to live, that he made up his mind that he would live, that he 

 would acquire a fortune, and that he would devote it to large 

 and philanthropic ends. 



He recovered sufficiently to prepare a petition to the Gov- 

 ernor-General of India, who was then the Marquis of Hast- 

 ings, asking for aid to return to England ; and he walked a 

 long distance into the country, where the Governor-General 

 was staying at his country-seat, to deliver it. He arrived at 

 the viceregal residence barefooted and ill-clad, and asked 

 an audience with the ruler of India with such persistence that 

 the attendants, who at first refused, finally consented to pre- 

 sent his petition. This so impressed the Viceroy when he 

 read it that he directed that the young sailor should be ad- 

 mitted to see him, and the interview that followed ended by 

 his offering young Hodgkins a position in his household 

 which any gentleman's son might have been willing to ac- 

 cept, but which he refused from his overmastering wish to 

 return to his father. 



I think this curious adventure (as it may almost be called) 

 deserves narration as an instance both of the remarkable force 

 of Mr. Hodgkins's character and of the evidence of gentle 

 breeding his manners always bore, and of the influence both 

 had on others even in his earliest years. 



After going home he went to Spain ; later, returning to 

 England, he married, and in 1830 came to this country. He 

 immediately engaged in business, which he pursued with un- 

 remitting energy for thirty years, when he retired on what was 



