(JEORCK OAniUKL STOKES. 777 



and fornuHl an essential part of his cliaractcr, imd partly lu'caiiM- diir- 

 ino-the last (wentv years of his life there were piihlished addresses and 

 papers on the (piestion hy him. On several occasions he spol<(> before 

 the Church Con<>Tess, the Victoria Institute, and other bodies on the 

 relation between science and faith. What value is (o be set on these, 

 this is not the i)lace to di.scnss; it is sutHcient to mention that he took 

 a [)r()ininent i)art in the et!'orts made in En«rland in edncatin<r the 

 public to hioher views of the relations of science to theolo<;v, and in 

 rescuino- the study of the former from the doubtful position which it 

 had, even amono; some of. the more advanced students of relirjions 

 questions. Tlis own personality and the methods of treatment which 

 he adopted were always on the side of promotinji^ ^ood feelinfj and 

 tendinjr toward the prevention of acrimonious discussion amoniyst 

 those whose opinions differed most widely. He avoided, as a rule, 

 dotrmatic statements and treated the (juestions in his usual scientific 

 manner, allowino- his own ()])inions to be inferred i-ather than ex- 

 pressly stated. 



The published portraits of Stokes, represent in<2: I'iiii with a some- 

 what severe type of countenance, fail to brino; out a characteristic 

 expression. Ordinarily silent in society, he woidd freely talk on any 

 subject that interested him. While tellino: of some remarkable fact 

 or observation, the broad hiah forehead would ])ucker into a thousand 

 wrinkles and a smile would lioht up his face with a brilliancy which 

 seemed to show a concentrated picture of the whole man. Those who 

 had the privileo;e of listening to his hi<i-hly finished and carefully 

 worded lectures on the wave theory of lia-ht delivered without a note, 

 or of watching: the simple experiments and diagrams with which he 

 illustrated them, will remember how eagerly they looked for the first 

 symptoms of this change. The lectures, too, were characteristic. 

 Toward the end of the course, evidently wishing to give more than 

 was possible in the limited time, he would continue further and 

 further over the allotted hour until the last day when, on one occa- 

 sion, amid the gradual disappearance of the class to fulfill othei- 

 engagements, he kept those who remained interested for nearly three 

 hours. 



There w-as but little apparent failure of Stokes's physical and 

 intellectual powers until within a few^ days of his death at the age of 

 83. He died as he had lived, in harness, and a great figure passed 

 away from the scene at the close of a well rounded and successfid 

 career. His work, mainly on wave motion and thc^ transformations 

 which, in its different forms, it undergoes under \:irious circimi- 

 stances, has already taken a permanent plaoe in the history of science. 

 And he has left behind with those who knew him a memorial of him- 

 self which will not be easily effaced. 



