XX 



rous, defence of what he held to be right ; but there was a judicial 

 temper in his mind which prevented the subjective element in a dis- 

 cussion from disturbing his equanimity. The even balance of his 

 mind enabled him to recognise and appreciate the position of one who 

 differed from him, and his quiet " I do not think so " was all the more 

 effective because its very calmness excluded the slightest suggestion 

 of hostile spirit. 



His figure was spare : until his illness, he could easily endure the 

 fatigue of long walks, in which he delighted, especially in hill country. 

 In later years it became rather bent, and he had the appearance of 

 being frail. His head was very impressive, as may be seen from his 

 portrait and from photographs. In repose, and when his attention 

 was not concentrated upon what was passing, his face had a grave air 

 and the blue-grey eyes suggested that he was far away in thought ; 

 but when attentive or amused, and when expressing pleasui-e, the 

 eyes became singularly keen and a peculiar charm lightened up the 

 whole face. 



He was absolutely modest. The honours conferred on him in full 

 profusion never injured in the least degree the grand simplicity of 

 his character, never gave rise to the slightest trace of vanity, which 

 was alien to his nature. He rarely spoke of them, and, when he did, 

 it never was as of honours : they pleased him, but, perhaps, rather as 

 recognition of his work than as tributes to the worker. If any one 

 expressed appreciation of any of his papers, owing to the help it had 

 given, he would reply very quietly : but he did not stint the expres- 

 sion of his pleasure at advances beyond his own results when they 

 were made by others. Public appearances were rather distressing to 

 him at first, for his disposition was retiring and he could be reserved ; 

 but as time wore on, duty often compelled him to take part in them. 

 In such cases he accepted the claim and discharged it with a straight- 

 forward simplicity that was entirely devoid of self-consciousness ; but 

 he gladly avoided demonstrations whenever it was possible. 



In the spirit of his work one great quality was his generosity to 

 others, particularly to young men, whose work he was always willing 

 to recognise. He ignored the fact that he was a great mathematician 

 probably it never occurred to him to think of his doings : but it 

 may be doubted whether this unconsciousness of his greatness ever 

 proved at once more fascinating or more bewildering than when he 

 was discussing scientific results with young men. He so evidently 

 had his wishes centred on a single-hearted desire for the right result 

 that it was difficult to conceive him approaching a question merely 

 as a learner : yet he was ever a learner. There are few men, if any, 

 with not even a tithe of his scientific achievements, who have had less 

 of controversy or have had such immunity from questions as to 

 priority of discovery. This arose not merely from the indisputable 



