CAMBRIDGE. 53 



courteous manners ; yet, as I have seen, he could be 

 roused by any bad action to the warmest indignation 

 and prompt action. 



I once saw in his company in the streets of Cam- 

 bridge almost as horrid a scene as could have been 

 witnessed during the French Revolution. Two body- 

 snatchers had been arrested, and whilst being taken to 

 prison had been torn from the constable by a crowd 

 of the roughest men, who dragged them by their legs 

 along the muddy and stony road. They were covered 

 from head to foot with mud, and their faces were 

 bleeding either from having been kicked or from the 

 stones ; they looked like corpses, but the crowd was 

 so dense that I got only a few momentary glimpses of 

 the wretched creatures. Never in my life have I seen 

 such wrath painted on a man's face as was shown by 

 Henslow at this horrid scene. He tried repeatedly to 

 penetrate the mob ; but it was simply impossible. He 

 then rushed away to the mayor, telling me not to 

 follow him, but to get more policemen. I forget the 

 issue, except that the two men were got into the 

 prison without being killed. 



Henslow's benevolence was unbounded, as he 

 proved by his many excellent schemes for his poor 

 parishioners, when in after years he held the living of 

 Hitcham. My intimacy with such a man ought to 

 have been, and I hope was, an inestimable benefit. I 

 cannot resist mentioning a trifling incident, which 

 showed his kind consideration. Whilst examining 

 some pollen-grains on a damp surface, I saw the tubes 

 exserted, and instantly rushed off to communicate my 



