358 JAMES CLEEK MAXWELL. [CHAP. XII. 



closely connected with Cambridge, for by his genius effects 

 were produced which could hardly have been produced in 

 any other way. Before coming there to occupy the position 

 he then held, he (Lord Eayleigh) had not given any particu- 

 lar attention to electricity, but he found Cambridge to be so 

 saturated with the subject that he quickly came to the con- 

 clusion that it would be best to make it his particular study. 

 All this was owing to the influence of Maxwell. 1 



While speaking of his work in lecturing, it may be 

 well briefly to advert to the famous " Discourse on 

 Molecules," delivered before the British Association at 

 Bradford in September 1873, which has been more 

 often quoted than, perhaps, any other of his writings. 

 This address was extremely rich in scientific matter, 

 but its chief interest lay in the concluding paragraphs, 

 which may be said to indicate more clearly than any 

 other of Maxwell's writings the position of his mind 

 towards certain doctrines maintained by scientific 

 men: 



In the heavens we discover by their light, and by 

 their light alone, stars so distant from each other that no 

 material thing can ever have passed from one to another ; 



1 Professor Westcott's utterance on the same occasion, though less 

 immediately relevant, ought not to be omitted : " It was impossible 

 to think of him whom they had so lately lost, to whom first the charge 

 of the Cavendish Laboratory had been committed, Prof. Clerk Max- 

 well, and to recollect his genius and spirit, his subtle and profound 

 thought, his tender and humble reverence, without being sure that that 

 close connection between Physics and Theology which was consecrated 

 by the past was still a living reality among them. That was an omen 

 for the future. He felt, as probably all present felt, that he owed a 

 deep debt of gratitude to him, both for his researches, and for the 

 pregnant words in which he gathered up their lessons." 



