Professor Henderson

“ In 1822 he was invited by Prince Alexander (Galitzin) to assist the Russian Bible Society in translating the Scriptures into various languages spoken in the Russian empire. After twenty years of foreign labour Henderson returned to England, and in 1825 was appointed tutor of the Mission College, Gosport. In 1830 he succeeded Dr William Harrison as theological lecturer and professor of Oriental languages in Highbury Congregational College. In 1850, on the amalgamation of the colleges of Homerton, Coward and Highbury, he retired on a pension. ”

“ In 1840 he was appointed professor of modern and ancient history in London University. In 1860 he was appointed chief justice of Ceylon, and received the honour of knighthood. Ten years afterwards he returned home on account of indisposition, and although able again to resume his duties, his health was permanently broken, and he finally retired in about two years. ”

“ On quitting the latter university, he established himself in practice at Stendal, the numerous manufactories of which place enabled him to contribute many important observations to the translation of Rammazzini’s Treatise of the Diseases of Artificers, which he published in 1780-83. After practising here several years, he was appointed public Professor in ordinary of medicine, in the university of Altorf in Franconia, which office he continued to fill with great repute to the time of his death, which took place in 1801. All Dr Ackermann’s works display great erudition. ”

“ On 31 Dec. 1640 he returned to the university as public professor of mathematics, and on 3 Jan. following he was in addition made one of the regents of philosophy, the total annual salary granted him for discharging the duties of both chairs being six hundred merks (33l. 6s. 8d.) ”

“ Henderson appears to be a rather mysterious personage. No one knows much about him. Even his clerk admits that he has seen him only once or twice in the eighteen months during which he has had charge of the office. The Doctor attends to the manufacturing part of the business himself; his laboratory, which is down in the cellar, is a most jealously guarded place. No one is ever admitted to it under any pretext. ”

“ I work for your father, Dr. Stone, and will follow his orders without question." He grasped her and turned her down from the laboratory, "You go to your room now," he directed; "I'm going to be busy for awhile."
Her glance darted to the doors of the laboratory. "What are you going to do?" she asked in low tones, an unspoken fear in her eyes.
He looked away and replied roughly, "I said that I have work to do; now will you go away and leave me alone?"
"Don!" He stopped at the horror in her voice. "You—you aren't going to do anything to the tanks, are you?" ”

“ Henderson accordingly matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford, on 6 April 1781, and occupied the rooms which had been tenanted by Dr. Johnson. He was an omnivorous student, and endowed with a marvellous memory. As a linguist he was skilled in Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and among European languages he knew Spanish, Italian, and German. Every branch of knowledge fascinated him. His temper was unruffled, and his benevolence led him, after he had acquired a knowledge of medicine, and an epidemic of fever was raging in Oxford, to practise gratuitously among its poor. ”

“ This over-liberal potion of "Cough Drops" works swift wonders in Henderson's sensitive, excitable organism. He is soon upon his feet221 again, and, as he says gaily to himself, "As bright as ever, and well-nigh as strong." A sensuous delight in existence again thrills his torpid being; a wild eager craving to taste once more its long withheld joy! "Die to-night? ”

“ He was a frequent lecturer at the United Service Institution and before the military societies of Aldershot and Ireland. Some of these lectures have been reprinted with other of his papers in 'The Science of War,' 1905, with a prefatory memoir by Lord Roberts, who writes of Henderson's 'most fascinating personality,' his gifts as a lecturer and a writer, and his value as a staff officer. ”

“ LEG PULL
Jeremiah Henderson came to college late in life, and was vastly superior in knowledge of the world to the mere boys who made up the bulk of his class-roll. He "knew men." He had "seen life." ”

“ Henderson is a very pleasant young man, so far as I can judge, and a clever one, likely to make his own way in the world, with the help of all the very great friends he has. But is he to be thoroughly depended on? ”

“ He promised to write to his uncle when he went away, and if I get you his address, do you think you would do something to oblige me, Mr. Henderson?”
[Pg 194]
“I will do anything,” replied Henderson, eagerly, grasping at the meaning of her words.
“Well, you see, a lady can’t make certain inquiries, but a young man can. If I got you John Temple’s address could you go and find out what he is doing? ”

“ Stone. "Especially when Primo personally delivered the message to me to be sent to the Earth Council."
Don sat down, weak after the first shock. "Then someone else must be directing Primo; he'd never turn against you."
"Why shouldn't a machine run wild?" demanded the general. "This 'Primo' is nothing more than an animated calculating machine."
"Which shows your lack of knowledge concerning science, General," stated Don. "Biologically they are more perfect than even you or I, the later ones even having actual bones for skeletons instead of the earlier model metal ones! ”

“ All men are sinners, you know,” she added, with a laugh; “even my paragon of a nephew, John Temple!”
“What about him?” asked Henderson, sharply.
“Oh, he posed a great deal as a saint, but I don’t quite believe in it all. Now sit down and tell me about Miss Churchill. Do you suppose she was induced to run away by John Temple?”
“How can I tell?” answered Henderson, darkly, with lowering brow. ”

“ Henderson’s exuberant spirits prevented his ever speaking without giving vent to slang, bad puns, or sheer good-humoured nonsense.
“Aren’t you in that form, Kenrick?” asked Walter, as he saw him diverging to the right.
“Oh no! dear me, no!” said Henderson. “I am, but the eternal friend is at least two forms higher; he, let me tell you, is a star of no ordinary magnitude; he’s in the Thicksides”—meaning the Thucydides’ class. “You’ll require no end of sky-climbing before you reach his altitude. ”

“ This tribute of respect to thy name and virtues, my beloved Henderson! is paid by one, who was once proud to call thee tutor and friend, and who will do honour to thy memory, till his spirit rests with thine.
Those who were unacquainted with John Henderson's character, may naturally ask, "What test has he left the world of the distinguished talents thus ascribed to him?"—None!—He cherished a sentiment, which, whilst it teaches humility to the proud, explains the cause of that silence so generally regretted. ”

“ On the way across the campus they smiled understandingly at seeing little groups of undergraduates talking and grinning. And if they saw Henderson hurrying by with his brows knit as if the safety of his young classmates and the honor of the university were resting upon his shoulders they laughed outright. ”

“ Even Don looked to the roboe with increased interest, as did the other three men. The object of their sudden attention smiled and corrected, "There were but 12 of us to come to life on the flights you spoke of, General."
"Just what I thought," declared the Supreme Military Commander with satisfaction.
"Ah, but that's not all of the story," chided Primo. "Once becoming possessed with reasoning power, it was only logical to submit other roboes to laboratory cosmic radiation. There are probably no more than a mere handful right now who are nothing more than mere mechanicals." ”

“ Henderson’s mind, his roominess for all thoughts, and his still reserve, his lentitude, made, as we have said, his expressions clear and quiet, to a degree that a coarse and careless man, spoiled by the violence and noise of other pulpit men, might think insipid. ”

“ The ringing of the door bell cut into Henderson's concentration and he made a gesture of irritation with one outflung hand. But he didn't raise his head or shift his eyes one iota from the tiny green thing on his laboratory table. Tensely absorbed, he stood watching the small miracle he had made and emotion approaching exultation gripped him.
He slid one hand toward a switch, never moving his eyes from the table. The infinitesimal movement of his hand increased the power throb in the machine at his side so imperceptibly that only he could be aware of it. ”

“ Science is itself conservative and judicial. The rich trustees of a university may well feel secure in keeping their hands off academic freedom. The professors of a science do not belong to a mutual admiration society. They are more nearly a swarm of critics, makers of honey but armed with stings. No criticism from the business world could be so persistent, pitiless and remorseless as that with which real scholars pursue the pretender and amateur. But aside from this cooperative chastisement the very discipline of modern scientific method begets caution. ”

“ After JOHN HENDERSON'S acquaintance and friendship had been matured with Dean Tucker, he informed a particular friend, the Rev. James Newton, "that whenever he was in the company of young Henderson, he considered himself as a Scholar in the presence of his Tutor." The late Robert Hall also well knew John Henderson, and in the latter part of his life, referring to him, told me, that he considered John Henderson to have been a Prodigy, and that, when in his company, he always considered himself as a pupil. ”

“ An extraordinary suppressed energy was visible in every line of John Henderson's body as he sat crouching over the fire; and a look of irrepressible excitement smoldered in the eyes that gazed into the glowing coals. He was barely twenty-three years old, but the self-control that comes from endurance and privation sat unmistakably on his knitted brows and closed lips. He was neither handsome of feature nor graceful of figure, yet there was something more striking and interesting than either grace or beauty [Pg 4] in the strong, youthful form and the strong, intelligent face. ”

“ He and Henderson are not fit to be among decent fellows, in my opinion.”
“That’s an entirely new version of the fracas between Clark and Henderson,” said the one to whom Gordon had spoken, “and puts another face on that affair; but how about his informing about the [43] algebra keys? Henderson says he heard him talking to Bobby about it.”
“Henderson!” repeated Gordon scornfully. “Don’t quote Henderson to me! Such a foul-mouthed cad as he is, is a disgrace to any school. ”

“ There went abroad, therefore, an impression of her amiability, her fabulous wealth in jewels and apparel, her graciousness and her cleverness and her domesticity. Her manners seemed to the reporters those of a “lady,” and of this both her wit and freedom from prudishness and her courteous treatment of them convinced them. And the best of all this was that while it was said that Henderson was one of the boldest and shrewdest of operators, and a man to be feared in the Street, he was in his family relations one of the most generous and kind-hearted of men. ”

“ He had earned his own living—in fact, he had earned considerably more than his living in the four or five years he had seen life and known men as a contractor in Tucson, Arizona; and he came East to buy a college education with it. This is undoubtedly a respectable way of spending one's savings, and he was duly respected for it by his young classmates; but he had not seen much of the campus world, naturally, and his knowledge of "college men" was vastly inferior to that of the mere boys who entered with him. So Jeremiah Henderson was taught a great deal not mentioned in the annual catalogue. ”

“ There is nowhere else so much wisdom and such understanding of life as in a city club of young fellows, who have their experience still, for the most part, before them. Henderson was that night in great “force”—as the phrase is. His companions thought he had made a lucky turn, and he did not tell them that he had won the love of the finest girl in the world, who was at that moment thinking of him as fondly as he was thinking of her—but this was the subconsciousness of his gayety. ”

“ But though thousands of these unsophisticated insects singe their wings every evening, the thousand-and-first one comes to the charge with a light heart in his bosom, and quite as satisfied of his good fortune as I was when Mrs. Van Arsdel with the sweetest and most motherly tones said to me, "I know, Mr. Henderson, the lonely life you young men must lead when you first come to cities; you have been accustomed to the home circle, to mother and sisters, and it must be very dreary. ”

“ Henderson had never a chance with a sick husband and two healthy, unruly boys—and a house where the very door-knobs were off, and no money to speak of—Philip, don’t step on that bed! There are bulbs in it—Mrs. Henderson is a very intelligent woman. She admires ‘Wings and Winds,’ and can quote my verses. ”

“ Henderson on many points, his book is a valuable contribution to the controversy, and it will be indispensable to the student. The general reader will find it fresh and clear and well-informed. We feel bound to add that it is to a considerable extent spoiled by Mr. Henderson’s irritating habit of correcting his predecessors on points of detail. Sometimes he is right, but more often it seems to us, there is as much evidence for their view as for his. ”

“ Hannah More deplored Henderson's unprofitable way of life, and Wesley wrote in his ‘Journal’ that ‘with as great talents as most men in England he had lived two and thirty years and done just nothing.’ A story is told, however, that during his stay at Oxford the manuscripts which he had left in an unlocked trunk in his father's house at Hanham were used by a servant as materials to light the fire. ”