“It may readily be supposed that his preparatory training for the Cambridge course was far removed from the ordinary type. There had indeed for some time been practically no restraint upon his plan of study, and his mind had been allowed to follow its natural bent towards science, though not to an extent so absorbing as to withdraw him from other pursuits. Though he was not a sportsman--indeed, sport so-called was always repugnant to him--he was yet exceedingly fond of a country life. He was a good horseman and a good swimmer. Whence, however, he derived his chief enjoyment may be gathered from the account which Mr. Campbell gives of the zest with which he quoted on one occasion the lines of Burns which describe the poet finding inspiration while wandering along the banks of a stream in the free indulgence of his fancies. Maxwell was not only a lover of poetry, but himself a poet, as the fine pieces gathered together by Mr. Campbell abundantly testify. He saw, however, that his true calling was science, and never regarded these poetical efforts as other than mere pastime. Devotion to science, already stimulated by successful endeavour; a tendency to ponder over philosophical problems; and an attachment to English literature, particularly to English poetry--these tastes, implanted in a mind of singular strength and purity, may be said to have been the endowments with which young Maxwell began his Cambridge career. Besides this, his scientific reading, as we may gather from his papers to the Royal Society of Edinburgh referred to above, was already extensive and varied. He brought with him, says Professor Tait, a mass of knowledge which was really immense for so young a man, but in a state of disorder appalling to his methodical private tutor.” CHAPTER II. UNDERGRADUATE LIFE AT CAMBRIDGE. Maxwell did not remain long at Peterhouse; before the end of his first term he migrated to Trinity, and was entered under Dr. Thompson December 14th, 1850. He appeared to the tutor a shy and diffident youth, but presently surprised Dr. Thompson by producing a bundle of papers--copies, probably, of those he had already published--and remarking, “Perhaps these may show that I am not unfit to enter at your College.” The change was pressed upon him by many friends, the grounds of the advice being that, from the large number of high wranglers recently at Peterhouse and the smallness of the foundation, the chances of a Fellowship there for a mathematical man were less than at Trinity. It was a step he never regretted; the prospect of a Fellowship had but little influence on his mind. He found, however, at the larger college ampler opportunities for self-improvement, and it was possible for him to select his friends from among men whom he otherwise would never have known.