430 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL. [CHAR XIII. 



first attempts at Cottage-visiting, he made her sit 

 down while he read to her Milton's sonnet ending 

 with the line, " They also serve, who only stand and 

 wait." 



He appears in early days to have been conscious 

 of some superficial weaknesses, of a certain excitability 

 of temperament, leading to " preconscious states " and 

 preventing him from at once setting himself right in 

 new surroundings; also of the equal danger of shrinking 

 into himself, and "mystifying" those about him. This 

 difficulty, and many others "within and without," 

 he overcame. But it would be too much to say of 

 him that " his affections never swayed more than his 

 reason," or that he obtained as firm a foothold in 

 practical life as he had by birthright in the region of 

 scientific thought. This great mass of mind was so 

 delicately hung as to be guided sometimes by a silken 

 thread. Few men, if any, would venture to argue or 

 remonstrate with Maxwell when he had decided on a 

 course of action in the council-chamber of his own 

 breast. But he could not consciously hurt any 

 creature, nor permit the possibility of causing pain 

 to those he loved. Nor was his power over others 

 always adequate to the keenness of his perceptions. 

 For while his penetration often reached the secrets of 

 the heart, his generosity sometimes overlooked the 

 most obvious characteristics especially in the shape 

 of mean or vulgar motives. 



His liberality, in every sense of the word, was 

 absolute. People have been disposed to criticise 

 the plainness of his entertainments, without knowing 



