38 PETER HENDERSON. 



divisions of horticulture. To have been either the 

 leading florist, great seed merchant, or the versatile 

 horticultural writer, would have been fame enough for 

 most men. So when it is considered that he held almost 

 the highest rank in all three departments, we begin to 

 understand how wonderful his genius and his industry 

 must have been. 



His Modesty and Freedom from Envy and Jealousy. 



His modesty as regards his own unusual achievements 

 showed the rare balance of his mind. What he had ac- 

 complished, he knew, — ^no man better, — but he never 

 boasted of it, nor in any way was he ever egotistical. 

 No man ever rejoiced at another's success more than he. 

 Envy was foreign to him and jealousy unknown; in fact 

 whenever he could applaud merit in another, he took 

 the greatest delight in so doing. Although a public 

 spirited man in the best sense, he never could be in- 

 duced to hold any public office. 



He was, however, at one time a director in the Bergen 

 Savings Bank, Jersey City, which through the misman- 

 agement of its president, suffered a large deficit. For 

 this neither Mr. Henderson nor his fellow directors were 

 responsible; but he, and two or three others felt that as 

 their names had been used in the directorate, they were 

 morally so, and, they therefore paid out of their own 

 pockets the bank's loss, so that every depositor was paid 

 in full. 



During the last twenty years of his life he was 

 asked to fill many positions of honor from his own city, 

 the state, and the nation, and the strongest pressure 

 was several times brought to bear, to make him accept ; 

 but he was inflexible — refusing them all. While no 

 man ever realized his power better than he did in certain 

 directions, no one more clearly understood his own 

 limitations. 



