U2 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP. 



independence of character. Fifty of my corre- 

 spondents show that they possess it in excess, 

 and in only two is it below par. Here are 

 a few examples : 



1. " Left, set. 12 [that is, ran away from], a 

 school where I had received injustice from the 

 master." 2. "Opinions in almost all respects 

 opposed to those in which 1 was educated." 3. 

 " I have always taken my own independent line. 

 My heresy prevented my advancement." 4. 

 " Preference for whatever is not the fashion, 

 not popular, not rich, not very able to help 

 itself, yet with qualities unworthily overlooked 

 or unjustly oppressed." 



The home atmosphere which the scientific men 

 breathed in their youth was generally saturated 

 with the spirit of independence. Examples : 



1. " My father was extremely independent, in 

 some respects more so than I am. He never 

 altered the fashion of his dress ; he never took off 

 his hat to anyone in his life, and never addressed 

 anyone as Esq." 2. "My father was a Liberal 

 when Liberalism (then styled Jacobinism) was 

 highly obnoxious, an early denouncer of slavery 



