Lord Kelvin

“ If the laws of gravitation, and the decomposition of light by the prism, were the chief achievements of the immortal Newton; the magnitudes and motions of atoms, the theory of the age of the world, and oceanic telegraphy, were the principal discoveries of the immortal Kelvin.
A mere material universe, however, did not satisfy Lord Kelvin. There are such things as intelligence, volition, and emotion; the power to reason, the capacity to distinguish good and evil, and taste to admire the beautiful, which cannot be expressed in terms of length, breadth, and depth ”

“ If, as we seem entitled to think, there is this kind of power-house available in the Sun, he need not be shrinking so rapidly—indeed he need not be shrinking at all. The calculations of Lord Kelvin are, in fact, rendered so much waste-paper, since they start with an assumption which may not be correct at all. ”

“ Extreme modesty, almost amounting to diffidence, was combined with the utmost kindliness in Lord Kelvin’s bearing to the most elementary student, and nothing seemed to give him so much pleasure as an opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of the humblest scientific worker. The progress of physical discovery during the last half of the 19th century was perhaps as much due to the kindly encouragement which he gave to his students and to others who came in contact with him as to his own researches and inventions ”

“ Led by such investigators as Lord Kelvin, they have become ever more and more insistent that the time demanded by the old uniformitarian and new biological speculator is not at their disposal. The publication in the seventh decade of the past century of Lord Kelvin's calculations, going to show that the sun had not been shining sixty millions of years, already gave pause to the reckless drafts which had been accustomed to be made on time; and the situation was rendered more and more acute by subsequent revisions of Lord Kelvin's work, progressively diminishing this estimate. ”

“ Thus, at the meeting of the British Association just held at Toronto, we have seen such men as Lord Kelvin and Lord Lister, Sir John Evans, and a dozen others of almost corresponding prominence, present, as interested and taking as active a part as if they were younger men still having their spurs to win. ”

“ He had the true spirit of a philosopher, more anxious to see science advance than that he should have priority in the advancement. Lord Kelvin has stated that before he removed from Cambridge in 1852, Stokes explained to him the principles of spectrum analysis upon which solar and stellar chemistry has been founded, a work which was afterwards carried out fully by Balfour Stewart and Kirchoff. ”

“ He was always an active member of the Geological Society of Glasgow, and was its president for twenty-one years (1872-1893) . The distribution of heat in the substance of the earth was the subject of his inaugural dissertation as Professor of Natural Philosophy; and previously, as a student, he had written an essay on "The Figure of the Earth," for which he had been awarded a University Gold Medal. He never ceased to ponder over the problems of terrestrial physics, and he wrote much on the subject. His papers are to be found as Appendices to Thomson and Tait's Natural Philosophy, and in vol. ”

“ Find the problem.
But that future-mind was hideous.
And suddenly, with drunken clarity, Kelvin realized that he was profoundly drawn to that dim, shadowy world of the future.
He could not see its complete pattern, but he sensed it somehow. He knew that it was right, a far better world and time than this. If he could be that unknown man who dwelt there, all would go well.
Man must needs love the highest, he thought wryly. Oh, well. ”

“ A very interesting phenomenon, presented by what was originally a clear homogeneous crystal of chlorate of potash, and was altered by heating to about 245°-248° Cent., which I am able to show you through the kindness of Lord Rayleigh, and of its discoverer, Mr. Madan, presents another very wonderful case of changing molecular tactics, most instructive in respect of the molecular constitution of elastic solids. ”

“ We were close friends.”
“Kelvin—excuse me—you are getting to be impossible.”
“All right. Look at your watch. Time was made for unbelievers. There’s no convincing a sceptic but by foot-rule. Look at your watch.”
“I did, I confess—covertly—in the instant of distraction caused by Kelvin’s little son, who came to bid his father good night. He was a quiet, winning little fellow, glowing with health and beauty.
“Good night, Bobo,” said Kelvin, kissing the child fondly. “Ask God to make little Patsy’s bed comfy, before you get into your own.” ”

“ Kelvin, by all means."
"Your ladyship is very kind."
"Yes, go, by all means," said Sir Thomas. "A most invaluable, man, Kelvin--so clear-headed, and all that--never seems in a muddle, you know--never messes his fingers with the ink when he's writing."
Matthew Kelvin was indeed very ill--worse, perhaps, than Olive Deane had thought he would be. But, on the other hand, had he not been very ill, no valid necessity would have existed for Olive to accompany him home. He was grateful to her for offering to go with him. It was much nicer to have Olive by his side than one of the Stammars footmen. ”

“ There was an outcry of horror, accompanied by a turning up of eyes and a holding up of hands, as the news spread from one country house to another; but nothing could be done save to excommunicate the late Miss Carstairs, with "bell, book, and candle," and try to forget that any such creature had ever had an existence.
Whether, when the romance of girlhood was over, Mrs. Kelvin ever regretted that she had forgotten the obligations of caste in order to become the wife of a provincial lawyer, was a fact best known to herself ”

“ A man of strong convictions, Kelvin did not, however, wear his religion on his sleeve, but treasured it in the depths of his heart, where it was never disturbed by the tossing and ever-changing wave-forms of individual opinion. He quietly but uniformly maintained that physical science demands the existence and action of creative power ”

“ Kelvin was thoroughly startled, is to say no more than the truth. Olive was right. There would be a refinement--a subtlety--about such a scheme which his own scheme altogether lacked. But, would it not be a mean and dastardly advantage to take of an innocent girl like Eleanor Lloyd? He got up from his chair and crossed to the window, and then walked slowly back again and sat down without a word. He was a man whom circumstances had never before tempted to step out of the beaten track of morality. ”

“ Kelvin was no soft-hearted swain who thinks the world is no longer good for anything because a certain pair of white arms refuse to coil themselves round his neck. It is true that he had told her of his wounds, but he had expressed no desire to be healed of them; he had given Olive no encouragement whatever to offer herself as his nurse. He had expressed himself very bitterly with regard to the person who had so wounded him, and Olive had done her best to intensify that bitterness ”

“ On the other hand, there was a spice of romance about the affair that appealed to some hidden feeling, of whose existence she herself was hardly aware.
"Child! child!" she said in an aside to Eleanor, "if you had but given me your confidence! Two paupers! What are you to do? How are you to live? It's dreadful to contemplate!"
Kelvin's cheeks flushed as he listened to Gerald's words. He set his teeth and glared savagely out of his hollow eyes at his successful rival. Was it for this that he had humiliated himself by his recent confession? ”

“ Kelvin, a moment or two later.
"Indeed! bow's that?" asked Kelvin, indifferently.
"She is going to Stammars, as governess to Lady Dudgeon's two little girls. At her own terms, too--a hundred guineas a year."
"Well done, Olive!" cried the lawyer. "A clever girl, very; but I'm afraid that she and Lady Dudgeon won't agree long together."
"She may perhaps have a private reason of her own for so readily accepting Lady Dudgeon's offer. Mind, dear, I only say she may have; I don't say she has."
Matthew Kelvin knew that it was expected of him to show some curiosity in the matter. ”

“ Kelvin won't be long," he said, as he handed Gerald a chair and a newspaper.
Five minutes later, Matthew Kelvin opened the door and walked in. Gerald rose as he entered, smiled, and held out his hand. For a moment or two Kelvin was evidently at a loss.
"I seem to know your face," he said, "and yet you must excuse me if for the moment I fail to recollect where I have seen it before."
"Don't you recollect Jack Pomeroy and the Jolly Anglers' at Grasmere?"
"Of course, of course!" shaking him by the hand. "How one's memory fails as one grows older! ”

“ Matthew Kelvin shrugged his shoulders, but did not rejoin.
"But why call up such reminiscences?" said Olive. "I want to hear about yourself. A rising man like you, Matthew--a man born to fight his way upward--how is it that you are still unmarried? A rich wife would do so much to help forward your ambitious schemes!"
"My ambitious schemes, indeed;" said Kelvin, with a sly twinkle in his eye. "What has a simple-minded country lawyer like me to do with ambition?" ”

“ If she could but have comforted him! if she could but have laid his head against her bosom, and have kissed back the pleasant light into his eyes, and the sunny smile to his lips, as she remembered them in the days before the shadow of Eleanor Lloyd had ever crossed his path! But that might not be.
"Do you see much of Miss Lloyd nowadays?" asked Kelvin, presently, in as indifferent a tone as he could assume.
"I generally see her at breakfast and luncheon when she is at home. Not often besides."
"She is quite well, I suppose?"
"Quite well, so far as I know. Why should she not be?" ”

“ Kelvin had not been without his own thoughts all this time as to the course he had taken at Olive's suggestion in keeping from Miss Lloyd the contents of the sealed packet sent him by Miss Bellamy. He was not usually a man whose mind vacillated with regard to any of his intentions or purposes. "There's no shilly-shallying about Matthew," his mother would often say. "When he sees his point he goes straight at it: fire and water would hardly keep him back." ”

“ Mind you, I don't think this fellow is worth half the trouble that you two women are taking about him."
"Blind--blind as ever!" muttered Olive to herself as she stood at the window and watched Kelvin hurrying down the street in the direction of the station. "A woman of my own age and any brains at all would detect ray motive at once, but a man can rarely see beyond his nose."
CHAPTER VI. "THAT'S THE MAN!"
As already explained, Mr. Piper had a tiny glass-fronted office, or rather den, all to himself, at the far end of the passage which led from the main entrance to Matthew Kelvin's premises. ”

“ Kelvin by this time had been able to note his visitor's appearance--to note that his clothes, although originally well-made, were now worn and shabby: and Kelvin never liked a man who did not dress well; to note that there was not a single item of jewellery visible, that his scarf was without a pin, and his pocket minus a watch, and that altogether there was a decidedly impecunious look about his unwelcome Bohemian acquaintance. In Kelvin's estimation, a man who could not afford to carry a gold watch was hardly worth knowing. ”

“ It was this:--The present Mathew Kelvin's father had run away with and married Miss Barbara Carstairs, an orphan niece of the late Sir Frederick Carstairs of Wemley, one of the chief magnates for twenty miles round. Miss Carstairs, to be sure, had not a penny that she could call her own, and was living the life of a genteel dependent at Wemley, when young Kelvin--who was passing backwards and forwards between Sir Frederick and his father, in connection with certain law business--persuaded her to elope. ”

“ But he was a very dilatory man in many ways, and he put off making his will from day to day and year to year, till at length death surprised him suddenly, and no time was given him to repair his fatal omission."
There was a pause. Dr. Whitaker whispered something in his patient's ear, but Kelvin only shook his head impatiently.
"You remarked just now, Mr. Kelvin," said Lady Dudgeon, "that there were some other circumstances connected with this remarkable case which you thought it desirable that we should become acquainted with." ”

“ At the present time he is one of the city district surgeons. A man of the most retiring dispositions, he has hitherto avoided public reputation, and has written verses, as he has studied botany, solely for his amusement. He will, however, be remembered as the writer of some exquisitely sweet and simple lyrics. [Pg 264]
KELVIN GROVE.
Let us haste to Kelvin Grove, bonnie lassie, O! ”

“ Kelvin dropped the paper knife with which he had been playing, and gazed steadily at his cousin for a moment before speaking.
Her eyes met his unshrinkingly.
"You are right, Olive," he said, speaking 'gravely enough now. "I do< br> cherish some strangely bold dreams. I am an ambitious man; but you are the only person who seems to have divined that fact. I am far richer than the world knows of ”

“ Kelvin calls himself by a very strong name for having spoken so hastily. He has carefully concealed from his mother the fact of Olive Deane having been implicated in any way with regard to his long illness. He has dreaded the effect such a revelation might have upon her. He has allowed her to surmise and wonder as to the origin of their sudden estrangement, but he has never really enlightened her.
"Olive went off to Stammars one morning with a letter from you," resumes the old lady. ”

“ Kelvin was still too ill to attend to business. Gerald was debating in his own mind as to the advisability of going over to Pembridge and seeking an interview with Kelvin, when the receipt of certain news from Ambrose Murray decided him to wait a short time longer. Murray told him the result of the inquiries in Wales, and how he and Peter Byrne were going to start for Marhyddoc in the course of a few days; and Gerald was entreated to follow them as quickly as possible. Under these circumstances there seemed to Gerald no necessity for troubling Kelvin any further at present. ”