33: 



NA rURE 



[January 20, 1910 



wliich lie was cnclowcd. Wh,-i( Uively meiiiories rise 

 u|) .IS I icc.ill thai dear (irfsido of loiifr affo our 

 falluT and iikiIIiit silliii)^ llicrc anuinf^ us." 



All his lilr l.oiil Ki'lviii used lo Icsliiv iIkiI liis 

 lalhiT had l:iiit;lil hijn cvcrylhiii),' hr h.ul IcariHcl until 

 hr wiril lo idjj,.^,. in (,!as),^(i\v. llin- is .inollici pic- 

 furc of ihf laniily : 



" ll was \\\v ncxi wiiilcr Ih.al J.aiiu/s (Ihcn cij;!)!) and 

 Willi.un I Ihcn six) wire fusl scn( lo some classes in 

 Oh- lijslilulion lor an hour or two in the (lay, .-uid the 

 diiiKhllul .iflcr-dinncr lessons .and re;idinf,'-s wilh our 

 de.ir l.ilhcr were coiilinued with ever increasin),'- profit 

 and pleasure. As wo dined ;if half-past four and the 

 meal w.as cjuickly ilesp.-itclied, wo had lon^,'- evcninf,'s 

 with him. lie gathered us abouf him, and in every 

 way strove to supply the |)l;ice of our lovely mother. 

 1I(! was ind<ed both father and mother lo us, and 

 watched over us (;ontinunlly. William was a jjreat 

 ])et with him, jKirtlv perhaps on account of his 

 ■exircmi' beauty, p.artly on account of his wonderful 

 quickness of a|)prehension, but most of all, 1 ihinU, 

 ■on account of his eoaxiii^r, f.iscin.atinj; w.-ivs, and the 

 ■caresses he lavished on his ' d.-irlin;,'- ]);ip;i.' Wlx'ti his 

 father stooped lo (.jreet him tlu' child would llinj^- his 

 .arms about his neck, and smother him wilh kisses 

 and stroke liis cheeks endearin),Hv. ... I do not 

 rememher that any of us were ever in the slightest 

 decree jealous of William on account of our f.ilher 

 niakiuf,' him .-i liltle more a pel Ih.ui Ihe rest of us. 

 We were proud of him, and indeed wi' thou^'ht the 

 ■child pelli'd (he lather even more llian the f;ilher 

 pi'lled Ih.^ ehild; bill wi' s.iu plaliih lliai ll„. fondlimr 

 of his little son pleased him. Willie .duavs slept in 

 .1 sm.dl lied in our f.ilher's room that is', .after bis 

 carlv nursery d.-iys because he h;id for some ye.ars a 

 tendency to sleep-wiilkinn', which for .-i lime 'c.nised 

 some anxiety." 



Prof. Thomson's first session .-il (;i,is^;(iw brout^ht 

 sxmietliinj^ of a dls.-ippoinlnnnl. In those days there 

 was no an-anK''nieiil lor a pension when, 'throu),di 

 a^ce or inlirmity, a professor ntired. The oul^joinj,' 

 professor often made :i priv;ite .arr.inncmenl with Ihe 

 new-comer. Lord Kelvin's sister tells us that undi'r 

 such .-in ananj^cnienl his (.nlier ailiialK had .il liisl 

 lo pay his predecessor more ih.ni Ihr chair brou^;hl in. 



"To mili),^•lte Ihe loss, he .announced an .ifleriioon 

 ■course of lectures for ladies on ^^eo^^raphy .and 

 astronomy, lo be f,nven twice a week in bis" cljiss- 

 room. Such .-i \\\\\\^ b;id never been be.ud of before 

 in the iiniversily, and it w.as extremely po|uil,ii-. The 

 liirjje class-room w.is crowded in every corner, .-md it 

 ■was a novel .and inlenslini,^ spectacle lo see bench 

 rising above bench lilk^d wilh fasbionablv dressed 

 ladies, every one lookinj,' intent, and maiiy t.ikinj,' 

 notes. .MI the belles of (il.-isfjow were ainoiiK the 

 students. This class was carried on for two or three 

 \ears with undiminished popul.irilv till the pressure 

 of other en)^:i^;enients compelled niv father lo j^ive il 

 up, the ii'^^ulai- m.illK'in.ilic.il cl.iss becomin(,' so Vw^v 

 as lo nive him c|uilc .-is iiiuch work .is he could over- 

 take." 



New arr.iiiKiinents ,ilso were m.ide wilh bis pre- 

 decessor, and the ladies' classes had to be >;iven up. 

 The children's education continued lo occupy 

 f.-ithcr's lime. 



"We did not f^o to school, hut our f.ilher, 

 hitherto, took ihe K'ner.d supervision of our less. 

 Willi.am :ind J.inies be^ran l..itin with him on 

 llamiltonian system, and made r.ipid pro).;ress. T 

 also attended Ihe junior lu.ilhemalii-al cl;iss as 



\'(). JlMjl), \ I It . .Sjl 



the 



Icners, wilhonl hiin;; ex.uninrd oi writiii)^ the exer- 

 cises. In .1 letler lo William, dated M.iv 7, 1886, 

 Mr. Wallace, an old student of our father's,' writes: — 

 ' Il was in .a very bir^'e cl;iss lh;il .-is a mere child 

 (leu years old then) you startled Ihe whole class, not 

 one of whom could answer a certain question, by call- 

 in),'' out, "Do, papa, let me answer." The impression 

 <Mi my mind has never been effaced.'" 



Mrs. Kill); writes afj.'uu ; - 



"Our llrsi summer in .Scoll.-md \\;is spent at 

 Kolhes.-iy, .ind there our father devoled himself in- 

 def.ili),'ably lo our educjilion. livery morniii),' Ibc 

 four elder childn^n ;i),'es fifteen, thirU'cn, eleven, nine 



spent some hours wilh him in his study, and always 

 iifler lessons he look us out for a walk, .and made the 

 walk a daily pleasLire wilh hiH'v;iried converse." 



Next session 1.S34 the auril;', Mrs. Gall, h.id lo 

 leave them to join her husband, and IClizabelh, now 

 a j^irl of sixteen, became mistress of the' bouse. It is 

 most interesliu),'- lo follow the course of their studies. 

 The two grills read Latin (Cajsar's Commentaries) 

 'with our f.ilher durinj^ his breakfast -our own por- 

 iid);c and milk haviii),'' been desp.'ilched earlier. The 

 two boys, James .old William, went in the niorninjj to 

 collej^e classes Ihe )^irls tau^,dit their two youn^fer 

 brothers piano, .ind wrilinj,', jirilhmelic, (jfeofjraphv, 

 .dso ;i liltle l-'rench and Latin, ;ind read (ioldsniilh's 

 llislory of ICiif^'l.and. Nor was poetry iie),^lecl<'d in 

 this course of study. I ^,■■01 books from the collcf^fe 

 library lo read about p.iinliu),' ;ind .■iboul Ihe lives ,'uid 

 works of the old m.islers. .'Xfler dinner our f.ilher 

 K.ive us a short mathematical lesson, and afler that 

 he read .iloud to us. Durinji; this winter he thus 

 re;ul the wholt! of I'ope's Iliad and Odyssey, several 

 <if the plays of .Shakespeare, those also of Goldsmith 

 .uid Sheiidan, besides selections from tlie old poets. 

 William had th(^ stron).jest sense of humour of any 

 of us, and not only enjoyed it himself, but set all the 

 little parly lauj^-'hin),'- mirthfully whenever .-i humorous 

 passa).;(; occurred. .Mrs. M.daprop .and I?ob Acres, 

 \c., were most inspiiiii),'^. Wliilst our father read, 

 .\nn;i and I sewed nol f.iiicy work, but llamx^l petti- 

 coats and the like and our brolheis lay on their backs 

 on Ihe lloor with their arms extended, to ),'ive them a 

 rest and help them to );row str.ii);ht. 'fhe reading 

 was followed by a livi'ly lea, .after which our father 

 returned to his study, the two youn),'esl children w<'re 

 lak<:n up to Ix'd, .anil the four eldi'i' .idjourned lo Ihe 

 dr;iwin^;-room. James and William were allendinj.; 

 Dr. Cooper's n;itural history class, and in the eveninj.js 

 they ret.-iiled their lectures to their sisters after tea. 

 William w;is not ten till the followinj^ June. I was 

 James's pupil, and .Anna was Willi.ani's. About 9 

 o'clock J.imes and William went to bed, and .Anna and 

 I went down lo the study to our father, who took 

 (low 11 a liipiik .111(1 ic.-id to us- - sillinfj on two stools 

 al his leel. It w.as often the Sp(>clator or 

 ^.■unhler lli.il he chose for this purpose sometimes 

 Hl.iir's Sermons, which he considered pure l-aij^lish as 

 well .'IS protil.ible re.adin),''. In .iboul h;ilf-an-hour we 

 s;ud j^ixid-nij^bl. .'\ servant always c.une for our 

 candle .'uhI look it to him that he mij^ht know Ih.it 

 we were snuj; in bed." 



" I Ihink it was .about the end of 1836, when 

 William was Iwelve, that J.ames and William made 

 eleclric.-il m;ichines for themselves, h.aving become 

 iiiucli iiileicsird in the study of electricity at the 

 ii.itui.il philosophy cl;iss. James's machine w.is 

 lar);(r .ind more carefully finished than William's, 

 but William's, lhouj.4h r.ilher rout;b, served every 

 purpose to his own satisf.iclion. They m.ide them 

 eiitireh Iheniselves. The chief thill); ihal I remember 



