2*76 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL. [CHAP. X. 



visitor at their house. His deep and varied know- 

 ledge, not only of his own and kindred subjects, but 

 of history, literature, and theology, his excellence of 

 heart, and the religious earnestness which underlay 

 his humorous " shell," were there appreciated and 

 admired. He had^been asked to join them in their 

 annual visit to Ardhallow, the home of the Principal's 

 son-in-law, |Mr. M'Cunn, in the neighbourhood of 

 Dunoon, and had accepted the invitation. The time 

 of his stay there in September 1857 is marked by 

 letters which, unlike some others of this period, 

 reflect his brightest mood. 



In February 1858 he announced his betrothal to 

 Katherine Mary Dewar, and they were married early 

 in the following June. In May he had made a 

 journey to the south of England to visit me in my 

 parish of Milford, in Hampshire, and to act as " best 

 man " on the occasion of our marriage, which took 

 place at Brighton. My wife and I found our way to 

 Aberdeen in time to be present at the wedding there, 

 and were shortly afterwards entertained at Glenlair. 



The correspondence of these months and the poems 

 then written contain the record of feelings which in 

 the years that followed were transfused in action and 

 embodied in a married life which can only be spoken 

 of as one of unexampled devotion. 1 



He remained for two more sessions at Aberdeen. 



1 See the Poems of 1858 amongst the Occasional Pieces in 

 Part III. 



