4 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL. [CHAP. I. 



early, and married Miss Janet Irving, who thus be- 

 came the mother of Sir George Clerk and of John 

 Clerk Maxwell. When Sir George had come of age, 

 and taken up his abode at Penicuik, John Clerk Max- 

 well continued living with his mother, Mrs. Clerk, in 

 Edinburgh. About 1820, in order to be near Isabella, 

 Mrs. Wedderburn, they " flitted" to a house in the 

 New Town, No. 14 India Street, which was built by 

 special contract for them. Mrs. Clerk died there in 

 the spring of 1824. 



The old estate of Middlebie had been considerably 

 reduced, and there was nothing in what remained of 

 it to tempt its possessor, while a single man, to leave 

 Edinburgh, or to break off from his profession at the 

 Bar. There was not even a dwelling-house for the 

 laird. Mr. Clerk Maxwell therefore lived in Edin- 

 burgh until the age of thirty-six, pacing the floor of 

 the Parliament House, doing such moderate business 

 as fell in his way, and dabbling between -whiles in 

 scientific experiment. In vacation time he made 

 various excursions in the Highlands of Scotland and 

 in the north of England, and kept a minute record of 

 his observations. 



But when, after his mother's death, he had married 

 a lady of tastes congenial to his own and of a sanguine 

 active temperament, his strong natural bent towards 

 a country life became irresistible. The pair soon con- 

 story was told : Captain James Clerk was wrecked in the Hooghly 

 and swam ashore, using the bag of his pipes for a float ; and when he 

 gained the shore he " played an unco' fit," whereby he not only cheered 

 the survivors, but frightened the tigers away. 



