6o MEMORIES OF MY LIFE
for most of the excursions, so the whole morning was left free for reading. Matheson, the mathematical tutor, was a well-known Fellow of Trinity College, a considerable pianist and a good walker. He also knew the country and many of its residents. Among these was the Rev. Frederic Myers (1811-1850, Vicar of Keswick, who had married into the Marshall family, and who showed me much kindness. He was father to the as yet unborn poet and spiritualist, Frederic W. H. Myers 0843-1900, and his house was a social centre.
I saw a most amusing scene in its drawing-room, which those who recollect the formidable presence of Dr. Whewell will appreciate. All male animals, including men, when they are in love, are apt to behave in ways that seem ludicrous to bystanders. Whewell *was not exempt from the common lot, though he had to sustain his new dignity of " Master of Trinity." He was then paying court to the lady who became his first wife, and his behaviour reminded me irresistibly of a turkey-cock similarly engaged. I fancied that I could almost hear the rustling of his stiffened feathers, and did overhear these sonorous lines of Milton rolled out to the lady 4 propos of I know not what, "cycle and epicycle, orb and orb," with hollow o's and prolonged trills on the r's.
The following skit indicates the feeling in regard to Whewell's manner that was current in Cambridge after he had assumed his office. I was reminded of it not so very many months ago, by the late Lord Kelvin:
You may roam where you will through the realms of infinity And find nothing so great as the Master of Trinity."
