vi WORK AT MANCHESTER 147 



By this term I did not mean to specify one particular 

 class, for every man who supports his position or 

 who gains a higher one than that in which he was 

 originally placed, is a working man ; he who labours 

 with the brain, by an expenditure of nervous energy, 

 is as much a working man as he who labours 

 solely by the force of his muscles. I said that the 

 popular interest in scientific matters was only just 

 beginning. I felt confident that before long there 

 would be a means whereby anyone who had the 

 requisite intellectual strength and perseverance might 

 step from the bottom of the ladder up to the top. 

 Such a system ought to be organised, and I believed 

 firmly that this would be the case before my hearers 

 were ten years older, and this prediction may be said 

 to have been verified by the passing of the Technical 

 Instruction Acts, and by the establishment of centres 

 for science-teaching throughout the country. 



In March, 1872, I had a letter from an Oxford tutor, 

 and also one from Professor Clifton, suggesting that I 

 should become a candidate for the vacant chair of 

 Chemistry in the University ; they stated that, should I 

 consent to stand, and should I be elected, a fellowship 

 would be attached to the professorship. That I might 

 be Brodie's successor was a tempting suggestion, but 

 after some deliberation I decided not to accept the 

 invitation, feeling that I had a wider scope and more 

 useful life in building up the Chemical School in 

 the Owens College. 



On this subject I may quote letters I received from 

 Professor Huxley and Sir William Fairbairn. 



MY DEAR ROSCOE, 



Many thanks for your kind letter of welcome. My long 

 rest has completely restored me as my doctor told me, I 

 was sound, wind and limb, and had merely worn myself out 



L 2 



