He was rather above the middle size, five feet seven inches. Mr. Giles, who read a memoir of him to the Manchester Society, and who was his pupil, says that "he was robust, athletic, muscular, and stooped slightly as if hasting forward, for he was a rapid walker. His countenance was open and manly. His voice was deep and gruff; and his lectures were by no means interesting, except to those who were satisfied with matter independent of style: he even spoke in a careless and mumbling manner." He was a Quaker, as has been said, and dressed in their peculiar manner, taking care that every article of dress should be of the finest texture, but avoiding the extreme of formality. In his general conversation he did not adopt their style; and never gave any opinion on religious subjects. His most intimate friends found him reserved on such points, although at times they found that there was in him great reverence and deep feeling. But he evidently did not think much on religious subjects, and seems not even to have formed strong opinions upon them, giving way to the opinions of those around him, like one unable or unwilling to form them for himself. If this were the case only with such subjects as are peculiarly religious, we might suppose that it arose simply from a want of agreement with current opinions which he was unwilling to disturb, but as he stood in the same attitude towards metaphysical opinions, we may fairly conclude that those faculties which discuss the moral and intellectual history and position of man, were not highly developed in Dalton. It would not be wise to conclude that they were weak, because we find that he had a great power of concentration, and in his ardent study of a subject he seems to have allowed the rest of his mind to be satisfied with meditative culture. In early life he seemed inclined to answer moral and metaphysical questions in the Gentleman's Magazine; and occasionally a lady would induce him to write a few lines of such poetry as a welleducated man is generally able to write.

But his life was

spent in his laboratory, and all subjects not connected with his pursuits were much neglected; he might have said of their cultivation, as he said when asked why he never got married, "I never had time."

He rose at about eight o'clock in the morning; if in winter, went with his lantern in his hand to his laboratory, lighted the fire, and came over to breakfast, when the family had nearly done. Went to the laboratory and staid till dinner time, coming in a hurry when it was nearly over, eating moderately and drinking water only. Went out again and returned at about five o'clock to tea, still in a hurry, when the rest were finishing. Again to his laboratory till nine o'clock when he returned to supper, after which he and Mr. Johns smoked a pipe, and the whole family seems much to have enjoyed this time of conversation and recreation after the busy day. Dr. Schunck, who dined there as a child at school, says he never appeared in a hurry.

He was rather silent, especially if the company were large, but an attentive listener, whilst he occasionally introduced some short sentence of dry humour. With a few of his intimate friends he enjoyed much a lively conversation, but does not seem to have been fitted for dealing with men assembled in large numbers, either in public or private. This did not arise from any want of self-possession, which is said never to have been known to be ruffled: an illustration of this is given in the following. When in using the air-pump at a lecture a glass vessel burst, making a considerable noise and causing the ladies to scream, he simply said, "that is more than I intended, it's broken," and went on again. His disinclination. to speak made him, as a teacher, by no means communicative; he allowed his pupils to learn, and willingly answered a question, but during the most of the time he was attending to his experiments, thinking, probably, that they were much better off than he ever was to have some one to apply to if a difficulty arose.

His habits were careful and economical, some say parsimonious, but he was by no means wanting in generosity, and gave fifty pounds to the building of the new Meeting House, at a time when he certainly could have had but very little. Such men do not often seek amusements, and he had only one, a remnant of Cumberland, which he seemed never to forget, at the same time also a wholesome exercise. Every Thursday afternoon, about two o'clock, he went outside the town to the "Dog and Partridge," now far within Manchester, and played a few games at bowls. This he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed, watching the bowls with the greatest anxiety, and by his constant movements indicating, as people are apt to do, the way in which they wish the bowl to move, as if endeavouring to influence it. He shewed even there a glimmer of the latent enthusiasm of his mind. He played a fixed number of games and then ceased, took tea at the inn, smoked his pipe, and went to his laboratory. Between twelve and one he usually went to the Portico to read the newspapers, but did not strongly speak on political subjects, so that even the Johns family did not for a long time know that he was Conservative in politics. At the same time Mr. Giles says he was a Liberal, always voting for Liberals, so that we may call him a liberal Conservative, which however indefinite, is somewhat the character of such a man, considerate, desirous of improvement, but not inclined to violent change.

His great delight was to visit the hills of Cumberland where he first studied the clouds and the aurora, and when the usual day of June had come, old Matthew Jobson came out of his cottage under the slopes of Helvellyn, and looked out for Dalton and his instruments. He ascended the hill from thirty to forty times during his life, walking rapidly and with ease, generally keeping before any party who accompanied him, so as on one occasion to have brought out the exclamation from a friend, "John, I wonder what thy legs are made of." In later

life occasionally he was accompanied by some of the younger members of the family to whom he was now as a relation, and we can well believe Miss Johns, when she says, "that to those who have seen him only on ordinary occasions, it is impossible to convey an idea of his enthusiasm on those occasions. He never wearied." Jonathan Otley, the veteran guide, at Keswick, who has spent his life mapping, describing, and showing the country around, often accompanied Dalton, and he has in a journal given an account of some of their excursions. These were undertaken partly with a view of "bringing into exercise a set of muscles, which would otherwise have grown stiff," as Dalton said, and partly to make meteorological observations, or to bring down air for analysis from the highest points of the county, gas from the floating island, and minerals from every hill.

In order to give his habits of thought on objects not scientific, a few of his letters may be introduced with advantage; at the same time they will give an account of some portions of his life, which would lose much of their interest if the words of another were alone used.

Having been invited to lecture at the Royal Institution, he thus describes his visit in a letter to his brother, February 1st, 1804. His first visit to London had been made in 1792. "Dear Brother, I have the satisfaction to inform thee that I returned safe from my London journey, last seventh day, having been absent six weeks. It has, on many accounts, been an interesting vacation to me, though a laborious one. I went in a great measure unprepared, not knowing the nature and manner of the lectures in the institution, nor the apparatus. My first was on Thursday, December 22nd (1803), which was introductory, being entirely written, giving an account of what was intended to be done, and natural philosophy in general. All lectures were to be one hour each, or as near as might be. The number attending were from one to three hundred of both sexes, usually more than half men.

I was

agreeably disappointed to find so learned and attentive an audience, though many of them of rank. It required great labour on my part to get acquainted with the apparatus and to draw up the order of experiments and repeat them in the intervals between the lectures, though. I had one pretty expert to assist me. We had the good fortune, however, never to fail in any experiment, though I was once so ill prepared as to beg the indulgence of the audience, as to part of the lecture, which they most handsomely and immediately granted me by a general plaudit. The scientific part of the audience was wonderfully taken with some of my original notices relative to heat, the gases, &c., some of which had not before been published. Had my hearers been generally of the description I had apprehended, the most interesting lectures I had to give, would have been the least relished, but as it happened, the expectations formed had drawn several gentlemen of first-rate talents together; and my eighteenth, on heat, and the cause of expansion, &c., was received with the greatest applause, with very few experiments. The one that followed was on mixed elastic fluids, in which I had an opportunity of developing my ideas, that have already been published on the subject more fully. The doctrine has, as I apprehended it would, excited the attention of philosophers throughout Europe. Two journals in the German language, came into the Royal Institution, whilst I was there, from Saxony, both of which were about half filled with translations of the papers I have written on the subject, and comments on them. Dr. Ainslie was occasionally one of my audience, and his sons constantly: he came up at the concluding lecture, expressed his high satisfaction, and he believed it was the same sentiment with all or most of the audience. I was at the Royal Society one evening, and at Sir Joseph Banks's another. This gentleman I had not, however, the pleasure of seeing, he being indisposed all the time I was in London.

"I saw my successor, William Allen, fairly launched; he