the Advancement of Science which brought scientists from across the world to Manchester. Gaskell seemed to relish the immense teaching burden he accumulated in later life. Elizabeth Gaskell complained that 'you might as well ask St Pauls to tumble down, as entreat him to give up this piece of work; which does interest him very much, & which no one could do so well certainly...' Though she was referring specifically to his Owens College lectures, he seems to have diligently pursued all his various projects, and found excuses to avoid giving up any obligation he had once started. Literature and writings Gaskell had a fascination with language and was an expert on the Lancashire dialect. Extracts from his lectures on dialect were published in The Examiner, and the 1854 edition of Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel, Mary Barton, was accompanied by his notes on dialect. He published numerous pamphlets and sermons, and wrote or translated over seventy hymns, some of which are still sung. His poem, "Sketches among the Poor, No. 1" (co-written with his wife in the manner of Crabbe), was published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in 1837, and his poetry collection Temperance Rhymes (1839) won the approval of Wordsworth. His poetry varied in form, but always employed plain language and attempted sensitive portrayals of characters drawn from the working classes. The poem "Manchester Song" supplies two of the chapter epigraphs to Mary Barton. Religious writings The Person of Christ 1853 Personal life and Elizabeth Gaskell Gaskell married Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson, daughter of the late Unitarian minister William Stevenson, in 1832. The couple had four surviving daughters. Despite differences in personality, the couple seem to have had a strong relationship, although they frequently spent long periods apart, and Elizabeth Gaskell's biographer Jenny Uglow describes her as breathing more freely when William was away, but still always longing for his return. Unfortunately, none of Elizabeth's many letters to him survives. Gaskell is said to have encouraged his wife to write her first novel as a distraction from her grief at the death of their infant son from scarlet fever in 1845. Elizabeth Gaskell's industrial novels Mary Barton and North and South were directly inspired by her experiences as a minister's wife in the cotton-manufacturing city of Manchester. Gaskell always encouraged his wife's writing, advising her on dialect, editing her manuscripts and acting as her literary agent. He also supported her when