122 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CHAP. 



useful. I fear we are losing rather than gaining in parlia- 

 mentary and political influence, and every opportunity should 

 be seized to keep at any rate what is already held. 



Yours very truly, 



JAMES P. JOULE. 



I not only took an interest in the proposal to erect 

 a statue to Dr. Joule in Manchester, but also in the 

 foundation of an international Joule memorial which 

 should indicate the feeling of indebtedness which men 

 of science of all countries share concerning the tran- 

 scendent value of his work. In connection with this 

 I addressed a letter to the Times, and as a result a 

 general committee was formed and the sum of ,1,500 

 was raised, the whole of which was handed over to 

 the Royal Society for the foundation of an interna- 

 tional scholarship for the encouragement of research 

 especially among younger men in those branches of 

 physical science more intimately connected with 

 Joule's work. 



It was also decided that a memorial to Joule should, 

 if possible, be placed in Westminster Abbey, and as 

 the honorary secretary to the committee I consulted 

 on several occasions the Dean of Westminster, Dr. 

 Bradley. Of course he was very polite, but he was 

 unacquainted with Joule's work and brought forward 

 the difficulty, which no doubt was a real one, of finding 

 space anywhere in the Abbey. As I saw that my 

 assertions as to the world- wide importance of Joule's 

 researches did not appear to bring conviction to the 

 Dean's mind, I enlisted the good offices of the 

 President of the Royal Society, Lord Kelvin, and we 

 made a joint attack upon the reverend gentleman. 

 We succeeded in convincing him that Joule's name 

 was as well known on the Continent as that of Newton, 

 and at last, with our aid, he discovered an area of 



