300 SIK WILLIAM KAMSAY 



little sign of exhaustion of bodily or mental powers 

 down almost to the last six months. Work had been 

 going on as usual at college down to the time of his 

 retirement from the Chair of Chemistry. On the 

 10th December, 1910, however, he wrote to Professor 

 Smithells : 



"I have been hovering between life and lumbago for some 

 weeks, and yesterday I was in bed trying to get some ease. . . . 

 In fact, unless I call a halt for a bit I shan't need to call one at 

 all, for I am awfully played out. ... I have no doubt that a 

 decent rest will pull me up, and I am going to try during the 

 holidays to do nothing for a bit, but I have the B.A. address on 

 me and half a dozen other things more or less pressing. One is 

 the liberation of the radium lent by the Austrian government, 

 or its return to Vienna on demand. That in itself means a 

 fortnight's hard work." 



That Ramsay's life was on the whole a very happy 

 one there is abundant evidence. The letters quoted 

 show it, and his own definite avowals at the end of the 

 autobiography (quoted p. 295) and in letters to friends 

 during his last days prove that he thankfully acknow- 

 ledged the happiness which life had afforded him. In 

 writing to a friend (February 1908), this is how he 

 expressed himself: 



" Yes, it is thirty years since you and I first smelt the Liffey. 

 Life has been pretty good to us perhaps I should say * God/ 

 I feel inclined to. You have had a terrible trial which I have 

 been spared ; but you have got a good son and daughter, and 

 that is much to rejoice at. So have I. Just think what it 

 would be if it were different. I can't think of anything more 

 heart-breaking." 



