The Three Secretaries 119 



character of a child, and that of a man also, is in most cases 

 formed probably before the age of seven years.' ' 



It was not until 1815 that he discovered the real tendency 

 of his mind toward scholarship, through the instrumentality 

 of a work entitled " Lectures on Experimental Philosophy, 

 Astronomy, and Chemistry, intended chiefly for the Use of 

 Young Persons," published in London, in 1809, by the Rev- 

 erend George Gregory, D.D., editor of the "New Annual 

 Register." The book, which the chance of fortune placed 

 in his hands, is still preserved by his family, and upon one 

 of its blank leaves, written by the hand of Henry, are the 

 following words : 



"This book, although by no means a profound work, has, 

 under Providence, exerted a remarkable influence on my 

 life. It accidentally fell into my hands when I was about 

 sixteen years old, and was the first book 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 acqui- 

 sition of knowledge. J. H." 



The purpose of his life having been determined, his future 

 might easily have been predicted by any one familiar with his 

 peculiar mental and physical endowments. An iron constitu- 

 tion, capable of fatigueless effort for sixteen hours or more 

 each day, year in and year out, and an indomitable will, even 

 more powerful in control of self than in that of others, to- 

 gether with a mind clear and original, shaped by many 

 generations of ancestors living in the rural simplicity of old 

 Scotland; a pleasing presence, and an attractive personality, 

 were his heritage. The community in which he lived was 



