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Royal Society of london for his
research on color blindness. He was
one of the first scientists to demon-
strate color photography.

He was the designer and founding
director of the Cavendish labora-
tory at Cambridge, which led to the
discoveries of the electron and the
structure of dNA.

James’ mother, Frances, had been
the center of their family. She had
taught James to read. He enjoyed his-
tory, geography, and literature, espe-
cially Milton and Shakespeare, and
he remembered most of what he had
read. Frances became ill and died when
she was 47 years old and James was
only eight. He and his father became
very close. In 1856, James left Cam-
bridge to return to Scotland to be near
his father whose health was failing.

during the last years of his life,
James nursed his wife personally
and with great care. He began hav-
ing symptoms of his own fatal ill-
ness, but he told no one of them for
a long time. His pain became very
severe, but he never complained un-
til he was no longer able to care for
his wife. like his mother, James died
of abdominal cancer on November 5,
1879, aged 48.

one of the greatest scientists of all
times believed in God and refuted
evolution as nonsense.

James’ mother was a dedicated
Christian. Because of her, he had
an exceptional memory. As a child,
James memorized all of Psalm 119,
which has 176 verses. His mother
helped James to see God’s scientific
genius and compassionate hand in the
beauties of nature. This had a great
influence on his life and work.

e did not believe darwin’s The-
ory of Evolution, which became
popular at the time. He believed that
speculations involved in evolution-
ary thinking contradicted scientific
evidence. He presented a paper to the
British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science in 1873 that stated,
“No theory of evolution can be
formed to account for the similari-
ty of molecules, for evolution neces-
sarily implies continuous change….

The exact equality of each molecule to
all others of the same kind gives it…
the essential character of a manufac-
tured article and precludes the idea of
its being eternal and self-existent.”
In a prayer found among Max-
well’s notes was written his belief
that scientific investigation and the
teachings of the Bible should be
linked together.

Almighty God, Who hast
created man in Thine own
image, and made him a living
soul that he might seek after
Thee, and have dominion over
Thy creatures, teach us to study
the works of Thy hand… so to
receive Thy blessed Word, that
we may believe on Him Whom
Thou hast sent, to give us the
knowledge of salvation and the
remission of our sins. All of
which we ask in the name of the
same Jesus Christ, our Lord.

H J
ames Maxwell helped to establish
a church near his home at Glenlair,
near Corsock in dumfries and Gallo-
way. He had an extensive knowledge
of the Bible. Because of his Christian
commitment, he gave generously of
his time and money. He visited the
sick, read to them, and prayed with
them. He was a modest man and a
man of integrity.

The minister who regularly vis-
ited James during the last weeks
of his life wrote the following: “He
had gauged and fathomed all the
schemes and systems of philosophy,
and had found them utterly empty
and unsatisfying.” “Unworkable”
was his own word about them, and
he turned with simple faith to the
Gospel of the Savior.

12 • NATIONS



LATVIA
T he
L egacy of
L enin
W Mary Ray
It was not a beautIful vIllage.

The buildings were dingy and uninviting. Tall weeds seemed to
cover every inch of the ground. The huge apartment complexes
were depressing. Whole families lived in one room and had to
share a bathroom that was at the end of the hall with all of the
other families on their floor.

hen the communists took
control, private property was
confiscated, and people were re-
located to state owned high-rise apart-
ments where they had little control over
their own environment. Even their heat
was controlled by a central office.

We were in the country of latvia
to make plans for a Bible distribution
in the capital city of Riga. our latvian
driver, who was a Christian, lived in a
small village a few miles outside of the
city. He invited us to have lunch with
him and his family. As we drove to his
home, he told us that he and his fam-
ily were excited about our visit because
they had never had the privilege of
having American guests. He explained
that under communism, it would never
have been allowed. He also told us that
he and his wife were thrilled that they
had recently moved into a three-room
apartment. Previously,
the family of four had
lived in one room.

s we turned a cor-
ner in the village,
I saw a strange sight in
the midst of the weeds.

It was a HEAd—a huge
CoNCRETE HEAd.

The driver stopped the
van and we got out for
a closer look. It was
the head of Vladimir
lenin. lenin was a Rus-
sian communist revo-
lutionary and was head
of the Bolshevik Party,
which became the
Communist Party. He
became the leader of
the Soviet Union, the
A NATIONS • 13