1869. A NEW WELCOME. 479 



attempt at a monopoly in knowledge, as, e.g., with the monks 

 and knights of old. Even the Universities of Christendom had 

 been tainted with the spirit of selfish exclusiveness ; and thus 

 the " intellectual blood which should have flowed in the veins 

 of the World, was left to stagnate in the Heart, and paralyse its 

 motions." 



The plan and purpose of his Chair, and the Museum in con- 

 nexion with it, are more fully developed in this lecture than in 

 any previous one ; and, as befits his intermediate position, he 

 pleads, on the one hand, that scientific knowledge be extended 

 and made serviceable to every practical worker ; while, on the 

 other, he shows what claims the workers in pure science have 

 on the gratitude of all. 



The crowded audience on this opening day seemed to give 

 him a new welcome, and open before him a bright vista of use- 

 ful and honourable service to his fellow men. Each succeeding 

 day confirmed the promise of this one, till the difficulty came 

 to be how his audience could be accommodated in the lecture- 

 room. The disadvantages of previous years in regard to such 

 matters became more than ever obvious, and it was felt that 

 now, for the first time, Technology was having fair play. So 

 passed the early part of November, each day adding to the roll 

 of pupils, and he exhibiting an energy and freshness surprising 

 to those who knew the state of his health, the haemorrhage, 

 which had increased to more than the usual extent for two 

 months previously, being accompanied by sadly diminished ap- 

 petite. But his buoyant cheerfulness compelled one to forget 

 all this, and, while in his presence, to share the happiness of 

 which he had apparently a store not only enough for his own 

 needs, but to spare for all around him. " It is a becoming act 

 of Christian thanksgiving," he wrote to a lady on her birth- day, 

 " to acknowledge God's kindness in granting us so great a gift 

 as life." Not the less did he feel this that he never looked for- 

 ward, but sought, from the time of entrance on his public career, 

 to " live as a dying man ; the best preparation for a happy life ; 

 the best preparation for a peaceful death." " I spin my thread 

 of life from week to week rather than from year to year." 

 About six months previously, when visiting his friend, Miss 



