XV11 



" So much the worse," he added, " it may be, for a particular 

 meeting ; but the meeting is the individual which on evolu- 

 tion principles must be sacrificed for the development of the 



rane. 



Granting then the inevitably stern character (as popularly esti- 

 mated) that must mark any proper exposition of his subject, the 

 address is one of singular interest. It undoubtedly made a great 

 impression. Parts of it were incomprehensible to all but mathe- 

 maticians : still, there was much which others could understand and, 

 understanding, found excellent. Even leader-writers at the time 

 recognised its lucidity, its finish, its native elegance, and its instruc- 

 tive and stimulating essence. To mathematicians it counts for much. 

 Not merely is it a valuable historical review of various mathematical 

 theories ; but the exposition possesses all the freshness, the inde- 

 pendence of view, the suggestiveness and the amazing knowledge 

 that were so characteristic of Cayley. And, consequently, it can 

 often be recurred to with unfailing profit. 



After this event, his life pursued the unbroken tenor of its scientific 

 course. Ever thinking, working, writing, he maintained the flow of 

 his papers with the same unslackening vigour, and he showed the 

 same sympathetic encouragement of others, as had marked him 

 before the scientific world had tried to acknowledge his genius by 

 showering its honours upon him. 



It is now some years since the painful internal malady, which 

 ultimately was the cause of death, began to show itself. At 

 first, its action was slow ; and there was reasonable hope that his 

 naturally strong constitution would enable him to throw it off. 

 Unfortunately these hopes were not realised; its growth was steady, 

 its undermining influence persistent. Change of scene was tried 

 once or twice, but without good effect ; and it soon appeared that 

 Cambridge itself troubled him least. Three years ago his friends 

 saw that his health began to fail : he ha"d occasional attacks of severe 

 illness which confined him to his bed for weeks together, each of 

 them leaving him gravely frailer than before. Gradually he became 

 confined to his house and his garden ; he could see only very few 

 friends, and usually even them only for a short time. When they 

 did see him, they found only too clearly how rare and brief were his 

 intervals of relief from pain, though occasionally his gentleness and 

 his patience would almost delude them into hope. 



The last of the severe attacks began on the 8th of January; he 

 seemed to be getting better when, on the 21st, his strength suddenly 

 began to collapse. He died about six o'clock on the evening of 

 Saturday, 26th January, 1895. The funeral took place on the suc- 

 ceeding Friday when, in Trinity Chapel, a great assemblage, com- 

 VOL. LVIII. c 



