Lord Kelvin's early home : being the recollections of his sister the late Mrs. Elizabeth King / together with some family letters and a supplementary chapter by the editor, Elizabeth Thomson King ; with illustrations from Mrs. King's own drawings and those of her daughters.

  • King, Elizabeth, 1818-1896.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Lord Kelvin's early home : being the recollections of his sister the late Mrs. Elizabeth King / together with some family letters and a supplementary chapter by the editor, Elizabeth Thomson King ; with illustrations from Mrs. King's own drawings and those of her daughters. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    while they fought till most of them were killed, in the vain effort to withstand their foes; and when they could hold out no longer, with a shout of “ Liberty or death, they blew up the building, killing themselves, along with their wives and little ones, as well as a great number of their enemies. The siege of Mis- solonghi, the frightful sufferings bravely borne by the inhabitants, and its final overthrow, were often told; and the recitals filled our young hearts with sympathetic joy or sorrow as the tide of war turned for or against the Greeks. After dinner we children came down again, and a bit of bright burning “ cannel coal was put on the fire, which blazed up and filled the room with dancing light ; the globes were placed on the table, and we gathered round ; little Willie, and sometimes James also, on the table beside the globes, while our father ex- plained their use and taught us to work out problems on them. He also led us quickly and easily through the difficulties of arith- metic, so that we soon mastered all the rules. William was scarcely four when he began 1 [A Scotch term supposed to be derived from candle coal.]