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MP-NRLF 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


•• 


MICHAEL   FARADAY, 


J.  H.  GLADSTONE,  PH.D.,  F.R.S. 


NEW     YORK: 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 


PREFACE. 


SHORTLY  after  the  death  of  Michael  Fara- 
day, Professor  Anguste  de  la  Rive,  and  others 
of  his  friends,  gave  to  the  world  their  impres- 
sions of  his  life,  his  character,  and  his  work ; 
Professor  Tyndall  drew  his  portrait  as  a  man 
of  science ;  and  after  a  while  Dr.  Bence  Jones 
published  his  biography  in  two  octavo  volumes, 
with  copious  extracts  from  his  journals  and 
correspondence.  In  a  review  of  this  "  Life 
and  Letters"  I  happened  to  mention  my  thought 
of  giving  to  the  public  some  day  my  own  rem- 
iniscences of  the  great  philosopher ;  several 
friends  urged  me  to  do  so,  not  in  the  pages  of 
a  magazine,  but  in  the  form  of  a  little  book 
designed  for  those  of  his  fellow-countrymen 
who  venerate  his  noble  character  without  be- 
ing able  to  follow  his  scientific  researches.  I 


VI  PREFACE. 

accepted  the  task.  Professor  Tyndall  and  Dr. 
Bence  Jones,  with  Messrs.  Longman,  the  pub- 
lishers, kindly  permitted  me  to  make  free  use 
of  their  materials ;  but  I  am  indebted  to  the 
Corporation  of  the  Trinity  House,  and  to  many 
friends,  for  a  good  deal  of  additional  informa- 
tion ;  and  in  compiling  my  book,  I  have  pre- 
ferred, where  practicable,  to  illustrate  the  char- 
acter of  Faraday  by  documents  or  incidents 
hitherto  unpublished,  or  contained  in  those 
sketches  of  the  philosopher  which  are  less  gen- 
erally known. 

It  is  due  to  myself  to  say  that  I  had  pretty 
well  sketched  out  the  second  part  of  this  book 
before  I  read  M.  Dumas's  "  Eloge  Historique." 
The  close  similarity  of  my  analysis  of  Professor 
Faraday's  character  with  that  of  the  illustrious 
French  chemist  may  perhaps  be  accepted  as 
an  additional  warrant  for  the  correctness  of 
our  independent  estimates. 


CONTENTS. 


SKCT.  PAGE 

I.  THE  STORY  or  HIS  LIFE 9 

II.  STUDY  OF  HIS  CHARACTER 82 

III.  FRUITS  OF  HIS  EXPERIENCE 123 

IV.  His  METHOD  OF  WORKING 159 

V.  THE  VALUE  OF  HIS  DISCOVERIES 185 

SUPPLEMENTARY  PORTRAITS 211 

APPENDIX:  LIST  OF  HONORARY  FELLOWSHIPS,  ETC..  217 
INDEX....  .  221 


MICHAEL  FARADAY. 


SECTION  I. 

THE    STORY    OF   HIS   LIFE. 

AT  the  beginning  of  this  century,  in  the  neigh- 
borhod  of  Manchester  Square,  London,  there  was 
an  inquisitive  boy  running  about,  playing  at 
marbles,  and  minding  his  baby-sister.  He  lived 
in  Jacob's  Well  Mews,  close  by,  and  was  learn- 
ing the  three  R's  at  a  common  day-school.  Few 
passers-by  would  have  noticed  him,  and  none 
certainly  would  have  imagined  that  this  boy,  as 
he  grew  up,  was  to  achieve  the  truest  success  in 
life,  and  to  die  honored  by  the  great,  the  wise, 
and  the  good.  Yet  so  it  was ;  and  to  tell  the 
utory  of  his  life,  to  trace  the  sources  of  this  suc- 
cess, and  to  depict  some  of  the  noble  results  of 
his  work,  are  the  objects  of  this  biographical 
sketch. 

It  was  not  at  Jacob's  Well  Mews,  but  in  New- 
irigton  Butts,  that  the  boy  had  been  born,  on 
September  22, 1791,  and  his  parents,  James  and 
Margaret  Faraday,  had  given  this,  their  third 


10  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

child,  the  unusual  name  of  Michael.  The  father 
was  a  journeyman  blacksmith,  and,  in  spite  of 
poverty  and  feeble  health,  he  strove  to  bring  up 
his  children  in  habits  of  industry  and  the  love 
of  God. 

Of  course  young  Michael  must  soon  do  some- 
thing for  his  living.  There  happened  to  be  a 
bookseller's  shop  in  Blandford  Street,  a  few  doors 
from  the  entrance  to  the  Mews,  kept  by  a  Mr. 
Riebau,  an  intelligent  man,  who  is  said  to  have 
had  a  leaning  to  astrology ;  and  there  he  went 
as  errand-boy  when  thirteen  years  old.  Many  a 
weary  walk  he  had,  carrying  round  newspapers 
to  his  master's  customers ;  but  he  did  his  work 
faithfully ;  and  so,  after  a  twelvemonth,  the  book- 
seller was  willing  to  take  him  as  an  apprentice, 
and  that  without  a  premium. 

Now  a  boy  in  a  bookseller's  shop  can  look  at 
the  inside  as  well  as  the  outside  of  the  books  he 
handles,  and  young  Faraday  took  advantage  of 
his  position,  and  fed  on  such  intellectual  food  as 
Watts's  "  Improvement  of  the  Mind,"  Mrs.  Mar- 
cet's  "  Conversations  on  Chemistry,"  and  the  ar- 
ticle on  "  Electricity"  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica,)  besides  such  lighter  dishes  as  Miss  Bur- 
ney's  "Evelina;"  nor  can  we  doubt  that  when 
he  was  binding  Lyons's  "  Experiments  on  Elec- 
tricity," and  Boyle's  "  Notes  about  the  Produci- 
bleness  of  Chymicall  Principles,"  he  looked  be- 


THE    STORY    OP    HIS   LIFE.  11 

yond  the  covers.*  And  his  thirst  for  knowledge 
did  not  stop  with  reading :  he  must  see  whether 
Mrs.  Marcet's  statements  were  correct,  and  so,  to 
quote  his  own  words,"!  made  such  simple  ex- 
periments in  chemistry  as  could  be  defrayed  in 
their  expense  by  a  few  pence  per  week,  and  also 
constructed  an  electrical  machine,  first  with  a 
glass  phial,  and  afterward  with  a  real  cylinder, 
as  well  as  other  electrical  apparatus  of  a  cor- 
responding kind." 

One  day,  walking  somewhere  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Fleet  Street,  he  saw  in  a  shop-window  a 
bill  announcing  that  lectures  on  natural  philoso- 
phy were  delivered  by  Mr.  Tatum,  at  53  Dorset 
Street,  at  eight  in  the  evening ;  price  of  admis- 
sion one  shilling.  He  wanted  to  hear  these  lec- 
tures. His  master's  permission  was  obtained, 
but  where  was  the  money  to  come  from  ?  The 
needful  shillings  were  given  him  by  his  elder 
brother  Robert,  who  earned  them  as  a  black- 

*  These  books,  with  others  bound  by  Faraday,  are  pre- 
served in  a  special  cabinet  at  the  Koyal  Institution,  together 
with  more  valuable  documents — the  laboratory  notes  of  Davy 
and  those  of  Faraday,  his  notes  of  Tatum' s  and  Davy's  lec- 
tures, copies  of  his  published  papers  with  annotations  and 
indices,  notes  for  lectures  and  Friday  evening  discourses,  ac- 
count-books and  various  memoranda,  together  with  letters 
from  Wollaston,  Young,  Herschel,  Whewell,  Mitscherlich, 
and  many  others  of  his  fellow-workers  in  science.  These 
were  the  gift  of  his  widow,  in  accordance  with  his  own  desire. 


12  MICHAEL    FAEADAY. 

smith ;  and  so  Michael  Faraday  made  his  first 
acquaintance  with  scientific  lectures.  And  not 
with  lectures  only,  for  Tatum's  house  was  fre- 
quented by  other  earnest  students,  and  lifelong 
friendships  were  formed.  Among  these  students 
was  Benjamin  Abbott,  a  young  Quaker,  who  had 
received  a  good  education,  and  had  then  a  situa- 
tion in  a  City  house  as  confidential  clerk.  With 
him  Faraday  chatted  on  philosophy  or  any  thing 
else,  and  happily  for  us  he  chatted  on  paper,  in 
letters  of  that  fullness  and  length  which  the 
penny  post  and  the  telegraph  have  well-nigh 
driven  out  of  existence ;  and  happily  for  us,  too, 
Abbott  kept  those  letters,  and  Dr.  Bence  Jones 
has  published  them.  They  are  wonderful  letters 
for  a  poor  bookseller's  apprentice ;  they  bear  the 
stamp  of  an  innate  gentleman  and  philosopher. 

Long  afterward,  when  Benjamin  Abbott  was 
an  old  man,  he  used  to  tell  how  Faraday  made 
his  first  experiments  in  the  kitchen  of  his  house, 
and  delivered  his  first  lecture  from  the  end  of 
that  kitchen  table.  The  electrical  machine  made 
by  him  in  those  early  days  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  Sir  James  South,  and  now  forms  one  of 
the  treasures  of  the  Royal  Institution. 

As  the  eager  student  drank  in  the  lectures  of 
Tatum,  he  took  notes,  and  he  afterward  wrote 
them  out  carefully  in  a  clear  hand,  numbering 
and  describing  the  different  experiments  that  he 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  13 

saw  performed,  and  making  wonderfully  neat 
drawings  of  the  apparatus,  in  good  perspective. 
These  notes  he  bound  in  four  volumes,  adding 
to  each  a  copious  index,  and  prefixing  to  the 
first  this  dedication  to  his  master : 

"  To  ME,  G.  RIEBAU. 

"  SIR, — When  first  I  evinced  a  predilection  for 
the  sciences,  but  more  particularly  for  that  one 
denominated  electricity,  you  kindly  interested 
yourself  in  the  progress  I  made  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  facts  relating  to  the  different  theories  in 
existence,  readily  permitting  me  to  examine  those 
books  in  your  possession  that  were  in  any  way 
related  to  the  subjects  then  occupying  my  atten- 
tion. To  you,  therefore,  is  to  be  attributed  the 
rise  and  existence  of  that  small  portion  of  knowl- 
edge relating  to  the  sciences  which  I  possess, 
and  accordingly  to  you  are  due  my  acknowl- 
edgments. 

"  Unused  to  the  arts  of  flattery,  I  can  only  ex- 
press my  obligations  in  a  plain  but  sincere  way. 
Permit  me,  therefore,  sir,  to  return  thanks  in  this 
manner  for  the  many  favors  I  have  received  at 
your  hands  and  by  your  means,  and  believe  me 
your  grateful  and  obedient  servant, 

"  M.  FARADAY." 

Now  there  happened  to  be  lodging  at  Mr.  Rie- 


14  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

ban's  a  notable  foreigner  of  the  name  of  Masque- 
rier.  He  was  a  distinguished  artist,  who  had 
painted  Napoleon's  portrait,  and  had  passed 
through  the  stirring  events  of  the  first  French 
Revolution,  not  without  serious  personal  danger, 
and  was  now  finding  a  refuge  and  a  home  in 
London.  He  was  struck  with  the  intelligence 
of  the  apprentice,  whose  duty  it  was  to  do  vari- 
ous offices  for  him ;  and  he  lent  the  young  man 
his  books,  and  taught  him  how  to  make  the  draw- 
ings in  perspective  which  have  already  been  al- 
luded to. 

But  the  lectures  in  Dorset  Street  were  not  the 
only  ones  that  Michael  Faraday  attended;  and 
as  the  Royal  Institution  is  the  central  scene  of 
all  his  subsequent  history,  we  must  pay  a  mental 
visit  to  that  building.  Turning  from  the  busy 
stream  of  Piccadilly  into  the  quiet  of  Albemarle 
Street,  we  see,  in  a  line  with  the  other  houses, 
a  large  Grecian  fa9ade  with  fourteen  lofty  pilas- 
ters. Between  these  are  folding  doors,  which 
are  pushed  open  from  time  to  time  by  grave- 
looking  gentlemen,  many  of  them  white-headed ; 
but  often  of  an  afternoon,  and  always  on  Friday 
evening  during  the  season,  the  quiet  street  is 
thronged  with  carriages  and  pedestrians,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  who  flock  through  these  folding 
doors.  Entering  with  them,  we  find  ourselves 
in  a  vestibule,  with  a  large  stone  staircase  in 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  15 

front,  and  rooms  opening  on  the  right  and  left. 
The  walls  of  these  rooms  are  lined  with  myriads 
of  books,  and  the  tables  are  covered  with  scien- 
tific and  other  periodicals  of  the  day,  and  there 
are  cabinets  of  philosophical  apparatus  and  a 
small  museum.  Going  up  the  broad  staircase 
and  turning  to  the  right,  we  pass  through  an 
anteroom  to  the  lecture  theatre.  There  stands 
the  large  table,  horseshoe-shaped,  with  the  neces- 
sary appliances  for  experiments,  and  behind  it  a 
furnace  and  arrangements  for  black-board  and 
diagrams ;  while  round  the  table  as  a  centre 
range  semicircular  seats,  rising  tier  above  tier, 
and  surmounted  by  a  semicircular  gallery,  the 
whole  capable  of  seating  700  persons.  On  the 
basement  is  a  new  chemical  laboratory,  fitted  up 
with  modern  appliances,  and  beyond  it  the  old 
laboratory,  with  its  furnaces  and  sand-bath,  its 
working  tables  and  well-stored  shelves,  flanked 
by  cellars  that  look  like  dark  lumber-rooms.  A 
narrow  private  staircase  leads  up  to  the  suite  of 
apartments  in  which  resides  the  Director  of  the 
house.  Such  is  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great 
Britain,  incorporated  by  Royal  Charter  in  the 
year  1800,  "for  the  diffusing  knowledge  and  fa- 
cilitating the  general  introduction  of  useful  me- 
chanical inventions  and  improvements,  and  for 
teaching,  by  courses  of  philosophical  lectures  and 
experiments,  the  application  of  science  to  the 


1(5  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

common  purposes  of  life" — with  the  motto,  "II- 
lustrans  commoda  vitse."  Fifty  or  sixty  years 
ago  the  building  was  essentially  what  it  is  now, 
except  the  fa9ade  and  entrance,  and  that  the  la- 
boratory, which  was  considered  a  model  of  per- 
fection, was  even  darker  than  at  present,  and  in 
the  place  of  the  modern  chemical  room  there 
was  a  small  theatre.  The  side  room,  too,  was 
fitted  up  for  actual  work,  though  even  at  mid- 
day it  had  to  be  artificially  lighted  ;  and  beyond 
this  there  was,  and  still  is,  a  place  called  the 
Froggery,  from  a  certain  old  tradition  of  frogs 
having  been  kept  there.  The  first  intention  of 
the  founders  to  exhibit  useful  inventions  had  not 
been  found  very  practicable,  but  the  place  was 
already  famous  with  the  memories  of  Rumford 
and  Young ;  and  at  that  time  the  genius  of  Sir 
Humphry  Davy  was  entrancing  the  intellectual 
world  with  brilliant  discoveries,  and  drawing 
fashionable  audiences  to  Albemarle  Street  to 
listen  to  his  eloquent  expositions. 

Among  the  customers  of  the  bookseller  in 
Blandford  Street  was  a  Mr.  Dance,  who,  being  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Institution,  took  young 
Faraday  to  hear  the  last  four  public  lectures  of 
Davy.  The  eager  student  sat  in  the  gallery, 
just  over  the  clock,  and  took  copious  notes  of 
the  professor's  explanations  of  radiant  matter, 
chlorine,  simple  inflammables,  and  metals,  while 


THE    STOEY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  17 

he  watched  the  experiments  that  were  perform- 
ed. Afterward  he  wrote  the  lectures  fairly  out 
in  a  quarto  volume,  that  is  still  preserved — first 
the  theoretical  portions,  then  the  experiments 
with  drawings,  and  finally  an  index.  "The  de- 
sire to  be  engaged  in  scientific  occupation,  even 
though  of  the  lowest  kind,  induced  me,"  he  says, 
"  while  an  apprentice,  to  write,  in  my  ignorance 
of  the  world  and  simplicity  of  my  mind,  to  Sir 
Joseph  Banks,  then  President  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety. Naturally  enough,  'No  answer'  was  the 
reply  left  with  the  porter." 

On  the  7th  of 'October  his  apprenticeship  ex- 
pired, and  on  the  next  day  he  became  a  journey- 
man bookbinder  under  a  disagreeable  master, 
who,  like  his  friend  the  artist,  was  a  French  Emi- 
gre. No  wonder  he  sighed  still  more  for  con- 
genial occupation. 

Toward  the  end  of  that  same  October  Sir 
Humphry  Davy  was  working  on  a  new  liquid 
which  was  violently  explosive,  now  known  as 
chloride  of  nitrogen,  and  he  met  with  an  accident 
that  seriously  injured  his  eye,  and  produced  an 
attack  of  inflammation.  Of  course,  for  a  while 
he  could  not  write,  and,  probably  through  the 
introduction  of  M.  Masquerier,*  the  young  book- 
seller was  employed  as  his  amanuensis.  This, 

*  This  seems  probable  from  some  remarks  of  Faraday  to 
Lady  Burdett  Coutts. 

B 


18  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

however,  Faraday  himself  tells  us  lasted  only 
"some  days;"  and  in  writing  years  afterward 
to  Dr.  Paris,  he  says,  uMy  desire  to  escape  from 
trade,  which  I  thought  vicious  and  selfish,  and 
to  enter  into  the  service  of  Science,  which  I  im- 
agined made  its  pursuers  amiable  and  liberal, 
induced  me  at  last  to  take  the  bold  and  simple 
step  of  writing  to  Sir  H.  Davy,  expressing  my 
wishes,  and  a  hope  that%  if  an  opportunity  came 
in  his  way,  he  would  favor  my  views ;  at  the 
same  time  I  sent  the  notes  I  had  taken  of  his  lec- 
tures." Davy,  it  seems,  called  with  the  letter 
on  one  of  his  friends — at  that  time  honorary  in- 
spector of  the  models  and  apparatus — and  said, 
"Pepys,  what  am  I  to  do  ?  Here  is  a  letter  from 
a  young  man  named  Faraday ;  he  has  been  at- 
tending my  lectures,  and  wants  me  to  give  him 
employment  at  the  Royal  Institution — what  can 
I  do  ?"  "  Do  ?"  replied  Pepys ;  "  put  him  to  wash 
bottles :  if  he  is  good  for  any  thing,  he  will  do 
it  directly ;  if  he  refuses,  he  is  good  for  nothing." 
"No,  no,"  replied  Davy,  "we  must  try  him  with 
something  better  than  that." 

So  Davy  wrote  a  kind  reply,  and  had  an  inter-  • 
view  with  the  young  man  upon  the  subject,  in 
which,  however,  he  advised  him  to  stick  to  his 
business,  telling  him  that  u  Science  was  a  harsh 
mistress,  and,  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  but 
poorly  rewarding  those  who  devoted  themselves 


THE    STOEY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  19 

to  her  service."     He  promised  him  the  work  of 
the  Institution,  and  his  own  besides. 

But  shortly  afterward  the  laboratory  assistant 
was  discharged  for  misconduct,  and  so  it  happen- 
ed that  one  night  the  inhabitants  of  quiet  Wey- 
inouth  Street  were  startled  by  the  unusual  ap- 
parition of  a  grand  carriage  with  a  footman, 
which  drew  up  before  the  house  where  Faraday 
lived,  when  the  servant  left  a  note  from  Sir 
Humphry  Davy.  The  next  morning  there  was 
an  interview,  which  resulted  in  the  young  aspi- 
rant for  scientific  work  being  engaged  to  help  the 
famous  philosopher.  His  engagement  dates  from 
March  1,  1813,  and  he  was  to  get  255.  per  week, 
and  a  room  in  the  house.  The  duties  had  been 
previously  laid  down  by  the  managers :  "  To  at- 
tend and  assist  the  lecturers  and  professors  in 
preparing  for  -and  during  lectures.  Where  any 
instruments  or  apparatus  may  be  required,  to  at- 
tend to  their  careful  removal  from  the  model- 
room  and  laboratory  to  the  lecture-room,  and  to 
clean  and  replace  them  after  being  used,  report- 
ing to  the  managers  such  accidents  as  shall  re- 
quire repair,  a  constant  diary  being  kept  by  him 
for  that  purpose.  That  in  one  day  in  each  week 
he  be  employed  in  keeping  clean  the  models  in 
the  repository,  and  that  all  the  instruments  in 
the  glass  cases  be  cleaned  and  dusted  at  least 
once  within  a  month." 


20  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

The  young  assistant  did  not  confine  himself  to 
the  mere  discharge  of  these  somewhat  menial 
duties.  He  put  in  order  the  mineralogical  col- 
lection ;  and  from  the  first  we  find  him  occupy- 
ing a  higher  position  than  the  minute  quoted 
above  would  indicate. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days  he  was  extracting 
sugar  from  beet-root ;  but  all  his  laboratory  pro- 
ceedings were  not  so  pleasant  or  so  innocent  as 
that,  for  he  had  to  make  one  of  the  worst  smell- 
ing of  all  chemical  compounds,  bisulphide  of  car- 
bon ;  and  as  Davy  continued  to  work  on  the  ex- 
plosive chloride  of  nitrogen,  his  assistant's  career 
stood  some  chance  of  being  suddenly  cut  short 
at  its  commencement.  Indeed,  it  seems  that  be- 
fore the  middle  of  April  he  had  run  the  gauntlet 
of  four  separate  explosions.  Knowing  that  the 
liquid  would  go  off  on  the  slightest  provocation, 
the  experimenters  wore  masks  of  glass,  but  this 
did  not  save  them  from  injury.  In  one  case 
Faraday  was  holding  a  small  tube  containing  a 
few  grains  of  it  between  his  finger  and  thumb, 
and  brought  a  piece  of  warm  cement  near  it, 
when  he  was  suddenly  stunned,  and  on  returning 
to  consciousness  found  himself  standing  with  his 
hand  in  the  same  position,  but  torn  by  the  shat- 
tered tube,  and  the  glass  of  his  mask  even  cut  by 
the  projected  fragments.  Nor  was  it  easy  to  say 
when  the  compound  could  be  relied  on,  for  it 


THE    STOEY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  21 

seemed  very  capricious ;  for  instance,  one  day  it 
rose  quietly  in  vapor  in  a  tube  exhausted  by  the 
air-pump,  but  the  next  day,  when  subjected  to 
the  same  treatment,  it  exploded  with  a  fearful 
noise,  and  Sir  Humphry  was  cut  about  the  chin, 
and  was  struck  with  violence  on  the  forehead. 
This  seems  to  have  put  an  end  to  the  experi- 
ments. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  disagreeables  and 
dangers,  the  embryo  philosopher  worked  on  with 
a  joyful  heart,  beguiling  himself  occasionally  with 
a  song,  and  in  the  evening  playing  tunes  on  his 
flute. 

The  change  in  Michael  Faraday's  employment 
naturally  made  him  more  earnest  still  in  the  pur- 
suit of  knowledge.  He  was  admitted  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  "  City  Philosophical  Society,"  a  fra- 
ternity of  thirty  or  forty  men  in  the  middle  or 
lower  ranks  of  life,  who  met  every  Wednesday 
evening  for  mutual  instruction;  and  here  is  a 
contemporary  picture  of  him  at  one  of  its  de- 
bates : 

"  But  hark !     A  voice  arises  near  the  chair ! 
Its  liquid  sounds  glide  smoothly  through  the  air ; 
The  listening  muse  with  rapture  bends  to  view 
The  place  of  speaking,  and  the  speaker  too. 
Neat  was  the  youth  in  dress,  in  person  plain  ; 
His  eye  read  thus,  Philosopher  in  grain; 
Of  understanding  clear,  reflection  deep  ; 
Expert  to  apprehend,  and  strong  to  keep. 


22  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

His  watchful  mind  no  subject  can  elude, 
Nor  specious  arts  of  sophists  e'er  delude ; 
His  powers,  unshackled,  range  from  pole  to  pole  : 
His  mind  from  error  free,  from  guilt  his  soul. 
Warmth  in  his  heart,  good  humor  in  his  face, 
A  friend  to  mirth,  but  foe  to  vile  grimace ; 
A  temper  candid,  manners  unassuming, 
Always  correct,  yet  always  unpresuming. 
Such  was  the  youth,  the  chief  of  all  the  band ; 
His  name  well  known,  Sir  Humphry's  right  hand. 
With  manly  ease  toward  the  chair  he  bends, 
With  Watts's  Logic  at  his  finger-ends. " 

Another  way  in  which  he  strove  to  educate 
himself  is  thus  described  in  his  own  words : 
"  During  this  spring  Magrath  and  I  established 
the  mutual  improvement  plan,  and  met  at  my 
rooms  up  in  the  attics  of  the  Royal  Institution, 
or  at  Wood  Street  at  his  warehouse.  It  consist- 
ed, perhaps,  of  half  a  dozen  persons,  chiefly  from 
the  City  Philosophical  Society,  who  met  of  an 
.  evening  to  read  together,  and  to  criticise,  cor- 
rect, and  improve  each  other's  pronunciation  and 
construction  of  language.  The  discipline  was 
very  sturdy,  the  remarks  very  plain  and  open, 
and  the  results  most  valuable.  This  continued 
for  several  years." 

Seven  months  after  his  appointment  there  be- 
gan a  new  passage  in  Faraday's  life,  which  gave 
a  fresh  impulse  to  his  mental  activity,  and  large- 
ly extended  his  knowledge  of  men  and  things. 


TUB    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  23 

Sir  Humphry  Davy,  wishing  to  travel  on  the 
Continent,  and  having  received  a  special  pass 
from  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  offered  to  take  him 
as  his  amanuensis:  he  accepted  the  proposal, 
and  for  a  year  and  a  half  they  wandered  about 
France,  Italy,  and  Switzerland,  and  then  they  re- 
turned rapidly  by  the  Tyrol,  Germany,  and  Hol- 
land. 

From  letters  written  when  abroad  we  can 
catch  some  of  the  impressions  made  on  his  mind 
by  these  novel  scenes.  "  I  have  not  forgot,"  he 
writes  to  Abbott,  "  and  never  shall  forget,  the 
ideas  that  were  forced  on  my  mind  in  the  first 
days.  To  me,  who  had  lived  all  my  days  of  re- 
membrance in  London,  a  city  surrounded  by  a 
flat  green  country,  a  hill  was  a  mountain,  and  a 
stone  a  rock ;  for  though  I  had  abstract  ideas  of 
the  things,  and  could  say  rock  and  mountain, 
and  would  talk  of  them,  yet  I  had  no  perfect 
ideas.  Conceive  then  the  astonishment,  the  pleas- 
ure, and  the  information  which  entered  my  mind 
in  the  varied  county  of  Devonshire,  where  the 
foundations  of  the  earth  were  first  exposed  to 
my  view,  and  where  I  first  saw  granite,  lime- 
stone, etc.,  in  those  places  and  in  those  forms 
where  the  ever-working  and  all-wonderful  hand 
of  nature  had  placed  them.  Mr.  Ben.,  it  is  im- 
possible you  can  conceive  my  feelings,  and  it  is 
as  impossible  for  me  to  describe  them.  The  sea 


24  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

then  presented  a  new  source  of  information  and 
interest;  and  on  approaching  the  shore  of  France, 
with  what  eagerness,  and  how  often,  were  my 
eyes  directed  to  the  south  !  When  arrived  there, 
I  thought  myself  in  an  uncivilized  country ;  for 
never  before  nor  since  have  I  seen  such  wretched 
beings  as  at  Morlaix."  His  impression  of  the 
people  was  not  improved  by  the  fact  of  their 
having  arrested  the  travelers  on  landing,  and 
having  detained  them  for  five  days,  until  they 
had  sent  to  Paris  for  verification  of  their  papers. 
Again,  to  her  toward  whom  his  heart  was 
wont  to  turn  from  distant  lands  with  no  small 
longing :  "  I  have  said  nothing  as  yet  to  you, 
dear  mother,  about  our  past  journey,  which  has 
been  as  pleasant  and  agreeable  (a  few  things  ex- 
cepted,  in  reality  nothing)  as  it  was  possible  to 
be.  Sir  H.  Davy's  high  name  at  Paris  gave  us 
free  admission  into  all  parts  of  the  French  do- 
minions, and  our  passports  were  granted  with 
the  utmost  readiness.  We  first  went  to  Paris, 
and  stopped  there  two  months ;  afterward  we 
passed,  in  a  southerly  direction,  through  France 
to  Montpellier,  on  the  borders  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean. From  thence  we  went  to  Nice,  stopping 
a  day  or  two  at  Aix  on  our  way;  and  from 
Nice  we  crossed  the  Alps  to  Turin,  in  Piedmont. 
From  Turin  we  proceeded  to  Genoa,  which  place 
we  left  afterward  in  an  open  boat,  and  proceed- 


THE    STOKY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  25 

ed  by  sea  toward  Lerici.  This  place  we  reached 
after  a  very  disagreeable  passage,  and  not  with- 
out apprehensions  of  being  overset  by  the  way. 
As  there  was  nothing  there  very  enticing,  we 
continued  our  route  to  Florence,  and,  after  a 
stay  of  three  weeks  or  a  month,  left  that  fine 
city,  and  in  four  days  arrived  here  at  Rome. 
Being  now  in  the  midst  of  things  curious  and 
interesting,  something  arises  every  day  which 
calls  for  attention  and  observations.  The  relics 
of  ancient  Roman  magnificence,  the  grandeur  of 
the  churches,  and  their  richness  also — the  differ- 
ence of  habits  and  customs,  each  in  turn  engages 
the  mind,  and  keeps  it  continually  employed. 
Florence,  too,  was  not  destitute  of  its  attractions 
for  me,  and  in  the  Academy  del  Cimento  and 
the  museum  attached  to  it  is  contained  an  in- 
exhaustible fund  of  entertainment  and  improve- 
ment; indeed,  during  the  whole  journey,  new  and 
instructive  things  have  been  continually  present- 
ed to  me.  Tell  B.  I  have  crossed  the  Alps  and 
the  Apennines ;  I  have  been  at  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes ;  at  the  museum  arranged  by  Buffon;  at 
the  Louvre,  among  the  chefs  d'ceuvre  of  sculp- 
ture and  the  masterpieces  of  painting ;  at  the 
Luxembourg  Palace,  among  Rubens's  works ; 
that  I  have  seen  a  GLOWWORM  ! ! !  water-spouts, 
torpedo,  the  museum  at  the  Academy  del  Ci- 
mento, as  well  as  St.  Peter's,  and  some  of  the  an- 


26  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

tiquities  here,  and  a  vast  variety  of  things  far 
too  numerous  to  enumerate." 

But  he  kept  a  lengthy  journal,  and  as  we  turn 
over  the  pages — for  the  best  part  of  it  is  print- 
ed by  Bence  Jones — we  meet  vivid  sketches  of 
the  provokingly  slow  custom-house  officers,  the 
postilion  in  jack-boots,  and  the  thin  pigs  of  Mor- 
laix — pictures  of  Paris,  too,  when  every  French- 
man was  to  him  an  unintelligible  enemy ;  when 
the  Apollo  Belvidere,  the  Venus  de  Medici,  and 
the  Dying  Gladiator  were  at  the  Louvre,  and 
when  the  First  Napoleon  visited  the  Senate  in 
full  state.  "  He  was  sitting  in  one  corner  of  his 
carriage,  covered  and  almost  hidden  from  sight 
by  an  enormous  robe  of  ermine,  and  his  face 
overshadowed  by  a  tremendous  plume  of  feath- 
ers that  descended  from  a  velvet  hat."  We 
watch  Sir  Humphry  as  Ampere  and  others 
bring  to  him  the  first  specimens  of  iodine,  and 
he  makes  experiments  with  his  traveling  appa- 
ratus on  the  dark  lustrous  crystals  and  their 
violet  vapor;  we  seem,  too,  to  be  present  with 
the  great  English  chemist  and  his  scholar  as 
they  burn  diamonds  at  Florence  by  means  of 
the  Grand-Duke's  gigantic  lens,  and  prove  that 
the  invisible  result  is  carbonic  acid ;  or  as  they 
study  the  springs  of  inflammable  gas  at  Pietra 
Mala,  and  the  molten  minerals  of  Vesuvius.  The 
whole,  too,  is  interspersed  with  bits  of  fun,  and 


THE    STOEY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  2V 

this  culminates  at  the  Roman  Carnival,  where 
he  evidently  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  follies  of 
the  Corso,  the  pelting  with  sugar-plums,  and  the 
masked  balls,  to  the  last  of  which  he  went  in  a 
nightgown  and  nightcap,  with  a  lady  who  knew 
all  his  acquaintances ;  and  between  the  two  they 
puzzled  their  friends  mightily. 

This  year  and  a  half  may  be  considered  as  the 
time  of  Faraday's  education;  it  was  the  period 
of  his  life  that  best  corresponds  with  the  colle- 
giate course  ^of  other  men  who  have  attained 
high  distinction  in  the  world  of  thought.  But 
his  University  was  Europe ;  his  professors  the 
master  whom  he  served,  and  those  illustrious 
men  to  whom  the  renown  of  Davy  introduced 
the  travelers.  It  made  him  personally  known, 
also,  to  foreign  savants,  at  a  time  when  there  was 
little  intercourse  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
Continent ;  and  thus  he  was  associated  with  the 
French  Academy  of  Sciences  while  still  young, 
his  works  found  a  welcome  all  over  Europe,  and 
some  of  the  best  representatives  of  foreign  sci- 
ence became  his  most  intimate  friends. 

In  May,  1815,  his  engagement  at  the  Royal  In- 
stitution was  renewed,  with  a  somewhat  higher 
position  and  increased  salary,  which  was  again 
raised  in  the  following  year  to  £100  per  annum. 
The  handwriting  in  the  Laboratory  Note-book 
changes  in  September,  1815,  from  the  large  run- 


28  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

ning  letters  of  Brande  to  the  small,  neat  charac- 
ters of  Faraday,  his  first  entry  having  reference 
to  an  analysis  of  "  Dutch  turf  ash,"  and  then 
soon  occur  investigations  into  the  nature  of  sub- 
stances bearing  what  must  have  been  to  him  the 
mysterious  names  of  Paligenetic  tincture,  and 
Baphe  euge?ies  chruson.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  constituents  of  this  golden  dye  agreed  to- 
gether better  than  the  Greek  words  of  its  name. 

We  can  imagine  the  young  philosopher  tak- 
ing a  deeper  interest  in  the  researches  on  flame 
which  his  master  was  then  carrying  out,  and  in 
the  gradual  perfection  of  the  safety-lamp  that 
was  to  bid  defiance  to  the  explosive  gases  of  the 
mine ;  this  at  least  is  certain,  that  Davy,  in  the 
preface  to  his  celebrated  paper  on  the  subject, 
expresses  himself  "  indebted  to  Mr.  Michael  Far- 
aday for  much  able  assistance,"  and  that  the 
youthful  investigator  carefully  preserved  the 
manuscript  given  him  to  copy. 

Part  of  his  duty,  in  fact,  was  to  copy  such  pa- 
pers ;  and  as  Sir  Humphry  had  a  habit  of  de- 
stroying them,  he  begged  leave  to  keep  the  orig- 
inals, and  in  that  way  collected  two  large  vol- 
umes of  precious  manuscripts. 

But  there  came  a  change.  Hitherto  he  had 
been  absorbing ;  now  he  was  to  emit.  The 
knowledge  which  had  been  a  source  of  delight 
to  himself  must  now  overflow  as  a  blessing  to 


THE    STORY    OF   HIS   LIFE.  29 

others,  and  this  in  two  ways.  His  first  lecture 
was  given  at  the  City  Philosophical  Society  on 
January  17, 1816,  and  in  the  same  year  his  first 
paper  was  published  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of 
Science.  The  lecture  was  on  the  general  prop- 
erties of  matter ;  the  paper  was  an  analysis  of 
some  native  caustic  lime  from  Tuscany.  Nei- 
ther was  important  in  itself,  but  each  resembled 
those  little  streams  which  travelers  are  taken  to 
look  at  because  they  are  the  sources  of  mighty 
rivers,  for  Faraday  became  the  prince  of  experi- 
mental lecturers,  and  his  long  series  of  published 
researches  have  won  for  him  the  highest  niche 
in  the  temple  of  science. 

When  he  began  to  investigate  for  himself,  it 
could  not  have  been  easy  to  separate  his  own 
work  from  that  which  he  was  expected  to  do  for 
his  master.  Hence  no  small  danger  of  misunder- 
standings and  jealousies ;  and  some  of  these  ugly 
attendants  on  rising  fame  did  actually  throw 
their  black  shadows  over  the  intercourse  between 
the  older  and  the  younger  man  of  genius.  In 
these  earlier  years,  however,  all  appears  to  have 
been  bright ;  and  the  following  letter,  written 
from  Rome  in  October,  1818,  will  give  a  good 
idea  of  the  assistant's  miscellaneous  duties,  and 
of  the  pleasant  feelings  of  Davy  toward  him. 
It  may  be  added  that  in  another  letter  he  is  re- 
quested to  send  some  dozens  of  "flies  with  pale 


30  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

bodies"  to  Florence,  for  Sir  Humphry  loved  fly- 
fishing as  well  as  philosophy. 

"  To  MR.  FARADAY. 

"  I  received  the  note  you  were  so  good  as  to 
address  to  me  at  Venice ;  and  by  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Hatchett  I  find  that  you  have  found  the  par- 
allax of  Mr.  West's  Sirius,  and  that,  as  I  expect- 
ed, he  is  mistaken. 

"  If,  when  you  write  to  me,  you  will  give  the 
3  per  cents,  and  long  annuities,  it  will  be  enough. 

"  I  will  thank  you  to  put  the  inclosed  letters 
into  the  post,  except  those  for  Messrs.  Morland 
and  Messrs.  Drummond,  which  perhaps  you  will 
be  good  enough  to  deliver. 

"Mr.  Hatchett's  letter  contained  praises  of  you 
which  were  very  gratifying  to  me ;  and  pray  be- 
lieve me  there  is  no  one  more  interested  in  your 
success  and  welfare  than  your  sincere  well-wish- 
er and  friend,  H.  DAVY. 

"ROME." 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  he  had 
any  astronomical  duties,  for  the  parallax  he  had 
found  was  not  that  of  the  Dog-star,  but  of  a  re- 
puted new  metal,  Sirium,  which  was  resolved  in 
Faraday's  hands  into  iron,  nickel,  and  sulphur. 
But  the  impostor  was  not  to  be  put  down  so  easi- 
ly, for  he  turned  up  again  under  the  alias  of  Yes- 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  31 

tium ;  but  again  he  was  unable  to  escape  the  vig- 
ilant eye  of  the  young  detective,  for  one  known 
substance  after  another  was  removed  from  it, 
and  then,  says  Faraday,  "  my  Vestium  entirely 
disappeared." 

His  occupations  during  this  period  were  mul- 
tifarious enough.  We  must  picture  him  to  our- 
selves as  a  young-looking  man  of  about  thirty 
years  of  age,  well  made,  and  neat  in  his  dress,  his 
cheerfulness  of  disposition  often  breaking  out  in 
a  short,  crispy  laugh,  but  thoughtful  enough 
when  something  important  is  to  be  done.  He 
has  to  prepare  the  apparatus  for  Brande's  lec- 
tures, and  when  the  hour  has  arrived  he  stands 
on  the  right  of  the  professor,  and  helps  him  to 
produce  the  strange  transformations  of  the  chem- 
ical art.  And  conjurors,  indeed,  the  two  appear 
in  the  eyes  of  the  youth  on  the  left,  who  waits 
upon  them,  then  the  l<  laboratory  assistant,"  now 
the  well  -  known  author,  Mr.  William  Bollaert, 
from  whom  I  have  learned  many  details  of  this 
period.  When  not  engaged  with  the  lectures, 
Faraday  is  manufacturing  rare  chemicals,  or  per- 
forming commercial  analyses,  or  giving  scientific 
evidence  on  trials.  One  of  these  was  a  famous 
one,  arising  from  the  Imperial  Insurance  Com- 
pany resisting  the  claim  of  Severn  and  King, 
sugar-bakers;  and  in  it  appeared  all  the  chem- 
ists of  the  day,  like  knights  in  the  lists,  on  op- 


32  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

posite  sides,  ready  to  break  a  lance  with  each 
other. 

All  his  spare  time  Faraday  was  occupied  with 
original  work.  Chlorine  had  a  fascination  for 
him,  though  the  yellow  choking  gas  would  get 
out  into  the  room,  and  he  investigated  its  com- 
binations with  carbon,  squeezed  it  into  a  liquid, 
and  applied  it  successfully  as  a  disinfectant  when 
fatal  fever  broke  out  in  the  Millbank  Peniten- 
tiary. Iodine  too,  another  of  Davy's  elements, 
was  made  to  join  itself  to  carbon  and  hydrogen ; 
and  naphthaline  was  tormented  with  strong  min- 
eral acids.  Long,  too,  he  tried  to  harden  steel 
and  prevent  its  rusting  by  alloying  it  with  small 
quantities  of  platinum  and  the  rarer  metals ;  the 
boy  blew  the  bellows  till  the  crucibles  melted, 
but  a  few  ordinary  razors  seem  to  have  been  the 
best  results.  Far  more  successful  was  he  in  re- 
peating and  extending  some  experiments  of  Am- 
pere on  the  mutual  action  of  magnets  and  elec- 
tric currents ;  and  when,  after  months  of  work 
and  many  ingenious  contrivances,  the  wire  be- 
gan to  move  round  the  magnet,  and  the  magnet 
round  the  wire,  he  himself  danced  about  the  re- 
volving metals,  his  face  beaming  with  joy — a  joy 
not  unmixed  with  thankful  pride — as  he  exclaim- 
ed, "There  they  go  !  there  they  go  !  we  have  suc- 
ceeded at  last."  After  this  discovery  he  thought 
himself  entitled  to  a  treat,  and  proposed  to  his 


THE    STOKY    OF   HIS   LIFE.  33 

attendant  a  visit  to  the  theatre.  "  Which  shall 
it  be  ?"  "  Oh,  let  it  be  Astley's,  to  see  the  horses." 
So  to  Astley's  they  went ;  but  at  the  pit  entrance 
there  was  a  crush ;  a  big  fellow  pressed  roughly 
upon  the  lad,  and  Faraday,  who  could  stand  no 
injustice,  ordered  him  to  behave  himself,  and 
showed  fight  in  defense  of  his  young  companion. 

The  rising  philosopher  indulged,  too,  in  other 
recreations.  He  had  a  wonderful  velocipede,  a 
progenitor  of  the  modern  bicycle,  which  often 
took  him  of  an  early  morning  to  Hampstead  Hill. 
There  was  also  his  flute ;  and  a  small  party  for 
the  practice  of  vocal  music  once  a  week  at  a 
friend's  house.  He  sang  bass  correctly,  both  as 
to  time  and  tune. 

And  though  the  City  Philosophical  Society 
was  no  more,  the  ardent  group  of  students  of  na- 
ture who  used  to  meet^here  were  not  wholly 
dispersed.  They  seem  to  have  carried  on  their 
system  of  mutual  improvement,  and  to  have  read 
the  current  scientific  journals  at  Mr.Nicol's  house 
till  he  married,  and  then  alternately  at  those  of 
Mr.  R.  H.  Solly,  Mr.  Ainger,  and  Mr.  Hennel,  of 
Apothecaries'  Hall,  who  came  to  a  tragical  end 
through  an  explosion  of  fulminating  silver.  Sev- 
eral of  them,  including  Mr.  Cornelius  Yarley,  join- 
ed the  Society  of  Arts,  which  at  that  time  had 
committees  of  various  sciences,  and  was  very 
democratic  in  its  management ;  and,  finding  that 
C 


34  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

by  pulling  together  they  had  great  influence, 
they  constituted  themselves  a  "  caucus,"  adopt- 
ing the  American  word,  and  meeting  in  private. 
Magrath  was  looked  upon  as  a  "  chair-maker," 
and  Faraday  in  subsequent  years  held  the  office 
of  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Chemistry,  and 
occasionally  he  presided  at  the  large  meetings  of 
the  society. 

During  this  time  (1823)  the  Athenaeum  Club 
was  started — not  in  the  present  Grecian  palace 
in  Pall  Mall,  but  in  a  private  house  in  Waterloo 
Place.  Its  members  were  the  aristocracy  of 
science,  literature,  and  art,  and  they  made  Fara- 
day their  honorary  secretary;  but  after  a  year 
he  transferred  the  office  to  his  friend  Magrath, 
who  held  it  for  a  long  period. 

Among  the  various  sects  into  which  Christen- 
dom is  divided,  few  are  less  known  than  the  San- 
demanians.  About  a  century  and  a  half  ago, 
when  there  was  little  light  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland,  a  pious  minister  of  the  name 
of  John  Glas  began  to  preach  that  the  Church 
should  be  governed  only  by  the  teaching  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  that  its  connection  with 
the  state  was  an  error,  and  that  we  ought  to  be- 
lieve and  to  practice  no  more  and  no  less  than 
what  we  find  from  the  New  Testament  that  the 
primitive  Church  believed  and  practiced.  These 
principles,  which  sound  very  familiar  in  these 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  35 

days,  procured  for  their  asserter  much  obloquy 
and  a  deposition  by  the  Church  courts,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  several  separate  congregations 
were  formed  in  diiferent  parts  of  Great  Britain, 
especially  by  Robert  Sandeman,  the  son-in-law 
of  Mr.  Glas,  and  from  him  they  received  their 
common  appellation.  In  early  days  they  taught 
a  simpler  view  of  faith  than  was  generally  held 
at  that  time ;  it  was  with  them  a  simple  assent 
of  the  understanding,  but  produced  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  its  virtue  depended  not  on  any  thing 
mystical  in  the  operation  itself,  but  on  the  gran- 
deur and  beauty  of  the  things  believed.  Now, 
however,  there  is  little  to  distinguish  them  in 
doctrine  from  other  adherents  of  the  Puritan 
theology,  though  they  certainly  concede  a  great- 
er deference  to  their  elders,  and  attach  more  im- 
portance to  the  Lord's  Supper  than  is  usual 
among  the  Puritan  churches.  Their  form  of 
worship,  too,  resembles  that  of  the  Presby ten 
ans  ;  but  they  hold  that  each  congregation 
should  have  a  plurality  of  elders,  pastors,  or 
bishops,  who  are  unpaid  men ;  that  on  every 
"  first  day  of  the  week"  they  are  bound  to  as- 
semble, not  only  for  prayers  and  preaching,  but 
also  for  "  breaking  of  bread,"  and  putting  to- 
gether their  weekly  offerings ;  that  the  love- 
feast  and  kiss  of  charity  should  continue  to  be 
practiced;  that  "blood  and  things  strangled" 


36  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

are  still  forbidden  as  food ;  and  that  a  disciple 
of  Christ  should  not  charge  interest  on  loans,  or 
lay  up  wealth  for  the  unknown  future,  but  rath- 
er consider  all  he  possesses  as  at  the  service  of 
his  poorer  brethren,  and  be  ready  to  perform  to 
them  such  offices  of  kindness  as  in  the  early 
Church  were  expressed  by  washing  one  anoth- 
er's feet. 

But  what  gives  the  remarkable  character  to 
the  adherents  of  this  sect  is  their  perfect  isola- 
tion from  all  Christian  fellowship  outside  their 
own  community,  and  from  all  external  religious 
influence.  They  have  never  made  missionary 
efforts  to  win  men  from  the  world,  and  have  long 
ceased  to  draw  to  themselves  members  from  oth- 
er churches ;  so  they  have  rarely  the  advantage 
of  fresh  blood,  or  fresh  views  of  the  meaning  of 
Scripture.  They  constantly  intermarry,  and  are 
expected  to  "bear  one  another's  burdens;"  so 
the  Church  has  assumed  the  additional  charac- 
ter of  a  large  intertwined  family  and  of  a  mutual 
benefit  society.  This  rigid  separation  from  the 
world,  extending  now  through  three  or  four  gen- 
erations, has  produced  a  remarkable  elevation  of 
moral  tone  and  refinement  of  manner ;  and  it  is 
said  that  no  one  unacquainted  with  the  inner 
circle  can  conceive  of  the  brotherly  affection  that 
reigns  there,  or  the  extent  to  which  hospitality 
and  material  help  is  given  without  any  ostenta- 


THE    STOKY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  37 

tion,  and  received  without  any  loss  of  self-re- 
spect. The  body  is  rendered  still  more  seclusive 
by  demanding  not  merely  unity  of  spirit  among 
its*  members,  but  unanimity  of  opinion  in  every 
Church  transaction.  In  order  to  secure  this, 
any  dissentient  who  persists  in  his  opinion  after 
repeated  argument  is  rejected :  the  same  is  also 
the  consequence  of  neglect  of  Church  duties,  as 
well  as  of  any  grave  moral  offense  ;  and  in  such 
a  community  excommunication  is  a  serious  social 
ban,  and  though  a  penitent  may  be  received  back 
once,  he  can  never  return  a  second  time. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  little  community 
that  Faraday  received  his  earliest  religious  im- 
pressions, and  among  them  he  found  his  ecclesi- 
astical home  till  the  day  of  his  entrance  into  the 
Church  above. 

Among  the  elders  of  the  Sandemanian  Church 
in  London  was  Mr.  Barnard,  a  silversmith  of  Pat- 
ernoster Row.  The  young  philosopher  became 
a  visitor  at  his  house,  and  though  he  had  pre- 
viously written, 

"What  is't  that  comes  in  false,  deceitful  guise, 
Making  dull  fools  of  those  that  'fore  were  wise  ? 

'Tis  Love," 

he  altered  his  opinion  in  the  presence  of  the  citi- 
zen's third  daughter,  Sarah,  and  wrote  to  her 
what  was  certainly  not  the  letter  of  a  fool : 

"You  know  me  as  well  or  better  than  I  do 


38  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

myself.  You  know  my  former  prejudices  and 
my  present  thoughts — you  know  my  weaknesses, 
my  vanity,  my  whole  mind ;  you  have  convert- 
ed me  from  one  erroneous  way,  let  me  hope  you 
will  attempt  to  correct  what  others  are  wrong. 
....  Again  and  again  I  attempt  to  say  what  I 
feel,  but  I  can  not.  Let  me,  however,  claim  not 
to  be  the  selfish  being  that  wishes  to  bend  your 
affections  for  his  own  sake  only.  In  whatever 
way  I  can  best  minister  to  your  happiness,  either 
by  assiduity  or  by  absence,  it  shall  be  done.  Do 
not  injure  me  by  withdrawing  your  friendship, 
or  punish  me  by  aiming  to  be  more  than  a  friend 
by  making  me  less ;  and  if  you  can  not  grant  me 
more,  leave  me  what  I  possess — but  hear  me." 

The  lady  hesitated,  and  went  to  Margate. 
There  he  followed  her,  and  they  proceeded  to- 
gether to  Dover  and  Shakspeare's  Cliff,  and  he 
returned  to  London  full  of  happiness  and  hope. 
He  loved  her  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  nature, 
and  in  due  course,  on  June  12,  1821,  they  were 
married.  The  bridegroom  desired  that  there 
should  be  no  bustle  or  noise  at  the  wedding,  and 
that  the  day  should  not  be  specially  distinguish- 
ed ;  but  he  calls  it  himself"  an  event  which  more 
than  any  other  contributed  to  his  happiness  and 
healthful  state  of  mind."  As  years  rolled  on 
the  affection  between  husband  and  wife  became 
only  deeper  and  deeper ;  his  bearing  toward  her 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  39 

proved  it,  and  his  letters  frequently  testify  to  it. 
Doubtless  at  any  time  between  their  marriage 
and  his  final  illness  he  might  have  written  to  her 
as  he  did  from  Birmingham,  at  the  time  of  the 
British  Association :  "After  all,  there  is  no  pleas- 
ure like  the  tranquil  pleasures  of  home,  and  here 
—even  here — the  moment  I  leave  the  table,  I 
wish  I  were  with  you  IN  QUIET.  Oh  !  what  hap- 
piness is  ours !  My  runs  into  the  world  in  this 
way  only  serve  to  make  me  esteem  that  happi- 
ness the  more." 

He  took  his  briclo  home  to  Albemarle  Street, 
and  there  they  spent  their  wedded  life ;  but  un- 
til Mr.  Barnard's  death  it  was  their  custom  to 
go  every  Saturday  to  the  house  of  the  worthy 
silversmith,  and  spend  Sunday  with  him,  return- 
ing home  usually  in  the  evening  of  that  day. 
His  own  father  died  while  he  was  at  Riebau's,but 
his  mother,  a  grand-looking  woman,  lived  long 
afterward,  supported  by  her  son,  whom  she  occa- 
sionally visited  at  the  Institution,  and  of  whose 
growing  reputation  she  was  not  a  little  proud. 

With  a  mind  calmed  and  strengthened  by  this 
beautiful  domestic  life,  he  continued  with  great- 
er and  greater  enthusiasm  to  ask  questions  of 
Nature,  and  to  interpret  her  replies  to  his  fellow- 
men.  Just  before  his  marriage  he  had  been  ap- 
pointed at  the  Royal  Institution  superintendent 
of  the  house  and  laboratory,  and  in  February, 


40  ,  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

1825,  after  a  change  in  the  management  of  the 
Institution,  he  was  placed  as  director  in  a  posi- 
tion of  greater  responsibility  and  influence.  One 
of  his  first  acts  in  this  capacity  was  to  invite  the 
members  to  a  scientific  evening  in  the  laborato- 
ry; this  took  place  three  or  four  times  in  1825, 
and  in  the  following  years  these  gatherings  were 
held  every  week  from  Feb.  3  to  June  9;  and 
though  the  labor  devolved  very  much  upon  Far- 
aday, other  philosophers  sometimes  brought  for- 
ward discoveries  or  useful  inventions.  Thus 
commenced  those  Friday  evening  meetings 
which  have  done  so  much  to  popularize  the  high 
achievements  of  science.  Faraday's  note-books 
are  still  preserved,  containing  the  minutes  of 
the  committee-meetings  every  Thursday  after- 
noon, the  Duke  of  Somerset  chairman,  and  he 
secretary;  also  the  record  of  the  Friday  even- 
ings themselves,  who  lectured,  and  on  what  sub- 
ject, and  what  was  exhibited  in  the  library,  till 
June,  1840,  when  other  arrangements  were  prob- 
ably made. 

The  year  1827  was  otherwise  fruitful  in  lec- 
tures :  in  the  spring,  a  course  of  twelve  on  chem- 
ical manipulation  at  the  London  Institution;  aft- 
er Easter,  his  first  course  at  Albemarle  Street, 
six  lectures  on  chemical  philosophy  (he  had  help- 
ed Professor  Brande  in  1824);*  and  at  Christ- 

*  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  used  to  tell  how  he  was  attend- 


THE    STOKY    OF   HIS   LIFE.  41 

mas,  his  desire  to  convey  knowledge,  and  his 
love  to  children,  found  expression  in  a  course  of 
six  lectures  to  the  boys  and  girls  home  for  their 
holidays.  These  were  a  great  success ;  indeed, 
he  himself  says  they  "  were  just  what  they  ought 
to  have  been,  both  in  matter  and  manner — but 
it  would  not  answer  to  give  an  extended  course 
in  the  same  spirit."  He  continued  these  juve- 
nile lectures  during  nineteen  years.  The  notes 
for  courses  of  lectures  were  written  in  school 
copy-books,  and  sometimes  he  appends  a  gen- 
eral remark  about  the  course,  not  always  so  fa- 
vorable as  the  one  given  above.  Thus  he  writes, 
"  The  eight  lectures  on  the  operations  of  the  la- 
boratory, April,  1828,  were  not  to  my  mind."  Of 
the  course  of  twelve  in  the  spring  of  1827,  he 
says  he  "found  matter  enough  in  the  notes  for 
at  least  seventeen." 

Up  to  1833  Faraday  was  bringing  the  forces 
of  nature  in  subjection  to  man  on  a  salary  of 
only  £100  per  annum,  with  house,  coals,  and  can- 
dles, as  the  funds  of  the  Institution  would  not 
at  that  time  afford  more ;  but  among  the  sedate 
habitues  of  the  place  was  a  tall,  jovial  gentle- 
ing  Brande's  lectures,  when  one  day,  the  professor  being  ab- 
sent, his  assistant  took  his  place,  and  lectured  with  so  much 
ease  that  he  won  the  complete  approval  of  the  audience. 
This,  he  said,  was  Faraday's  first  lecture  at  the  Royal  Insti- 
tution. 


42  MICHAEL   PAEADAY. 

man,  who  lounged  to  the  lectures  in  his  old-fash- 
ioned blue  coat  and  brass  buttons,  gray  smalls, 
and  white  stockings,  who  was  a  munificent  friend 
in  need.  This  was  John  Fuller,  a  member  of 
Parliament.  He  founded  a  Professorship  of 
Chemistry,  with  an  endowment  that  brings  in 
nearly  £100  a  year,  and  gave  the  first  appoint- 
ment to  Faraday  for  life.  When  the  Institution 
became  richer,  his  income  was  increased;  and 
when,  on  account  of  the  infirmities  of  age,  he 
could  no  longer  investigate,  lecture,  or  keep  ac- 
counts, the  managers  insisted  on  his  still  retain- 
ing in  name  his  official  connection  with  the  place, 
with  his  salary  and  his  residence  there.  Nor, 
indeed,  could  they  well  have  acted  otherwise ; 
for,  though  the  Royal  Institution  afforded  in  the 
first  instance  a  congenial  soil  for  the  budding 
powers  of  Faraday,  his  growth  soon  became  its 
strength,  and  eventually  the  blooming  of  his  ge- 
nius, and  the  fruit  it  bore,  were  the  ornament 
and  glory  of  the  Institution. 

It  will  be  asked,  Was  this  £100  or  £200  per 
annum  the  sole  income  of  Faraday  ?  No ;  in 
early  days  he  did  commercial  analyses  and  oth- 
er professional  work,  which  paid  far  better  than 
pure  science.  In  1830  his  gains  from  this  source 
amounted  to  £1000,  and  in  1831  to  considerably 
more ;  they  might  easily  have  been  increased, 
but  at  that  time  he  made  one  of  his  most  re- 


THE    STOKY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  43 

markable  discoveries — the  evolution  of  electric- 
ity from  magnetism* — and  there  seemed  to  lie 
open  before  him  the  solution  of  the  problem  how 
to  make  one  force  exhibit  at  will  the  phenomena 
of  magnetism,  or  of  common  or  voltaic  electric- 
ity. And  then  he  had  to  face  another  problem 
— his  own  mental  force  might  be  turned  either 
to  the  acquisition  of  a  fortune,  or  to  the  follow- 
ing up  of  those  great  discoveries ;  it  would  not 
do  both :  which  should  he  relinquish  ?  The 
choice  was  deliberately  made :  Nature  revealed 
to  him  mjore  and  more  of  her  secrets,  but  his 
professional  gains  sank  in  1832  to  £155  9s.,  and 
during  no  subsequent  year  did  they  amount  even 
to  that. 

Still  his  work  was  not  entirely  confined  to  his 
favorite  studies.  In  a  letter  to  Lord  Auckland, 
long  afterward,  he  says :  "  I  have  given  up,  for 
the  last  ten  years  or  more,  all  professional  occu- 
pation, and  voluntarily  resigned  a  large  income, 
that  I  might  pursue  in  some  degree  my  own  ob- 
jects of  research.  But  in  doing  this  I  have  al- 
ways, as  a  good  subject,  held  myself  ready  to 
assist  the  government  if  still  in  my  power — not 
for  pay ;  for,  except  in  one  instance  (and  then 
only  for  the  sake  of  the  person  joined  with  me), 

*  The  laboratory  note-book  shows  that  at  this  very  time 
he  was  making  a  long  series  of  commercial  analyses  of  salt- 
petre for  Mr.  Brande. 


44  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

I  refused  to  take  it.  I  have  had  the  honor  and 
pleasure  of  applications,  and  that  very  recently, 
from  the  Admiralty,  the  Ordnance,  the  Home  Of- 
fice, the  Woods  and  Forests,  and  other  depart- 
ments, all  of  which  I  have  replied  to,  and  will 
reply  to  as  long  as  strength  is  left  me."  He  had 
declined  the  Professorship  of  Chemistry  at  the 
London  University  —  now  University  College; 
but  in  1829  he  accepted  a  lectureship  at  the 
Royal  Academy, Woolwich,  and  held  it  for  about 
twenty  years.  In  1836  he  became  scientific  ad- 
viser to  the  Trinity  House,  and  his  letter  to  the 
Deputy  Master  also  shows  his  feelings  in  refer- 
ence to  such  employment :  "  You  have  left  the 
title  and  the  sum  in  pencil.  These  I  look  at 
mainly  as  regards  the  character  of  the  appoint- 
ment ;  you  will  believe  me  to  be  sincere  in  this 
when  you  remember  my  indifference  to  your 
proposition  as  a  matter  of  interest,  though  not 
as  a  matter  of  kindness.  In  consequence  of  the 
good  will  and  confidence  of  all  around  me,  I  can 
at  any  moment  convert  my  time  into  money,  but 
I  do  not  require  more  of  the  latter  than  is  suf- 
ficient for  necessary  purposes.  The  sum,  there- 
fore, of  £200  is  quite  enough  in  itself,  but  not  if 
it  is  to  be  the  indicator  of  the  character  of  the 
appointment ;  but  I  think  you  do  not  view  it  so, 
and  that  you  and  I  understand  each  other  in 
that  respect,  and  your  letter  confirms  me  in  that 


THE    STOEY    OP   HIS   LIFE.  45 

opinion.  The  position  which  I  presume  you 
would  wish  me  to  hold  is  analogous  to  that  of  a 
standing  counsel."  For  nearly  thirty  years  Far- 
aday continued  to  report  on  all  scientific  sugges- 
tions and  inventions  connected  with  light-houses 
or  buoys,  not  for  personal  gain  or  renown,  but 
for  the  public  good.  His  position  was  never 
above  that  of  a  "  standing  counsel."  In  his  own 
words, "  I  do  not  know  the  exact  relation  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  the  Trinity  House  to  each 
other ;  I  am  simply  an  adviser  upon  philosophi- 
cal questions,  and  am  put  into  action  only  when 
called  upon." 

In  regard  to  the  lectureship  at  Woolwich,  Mr. 
Abel,  his  successor,  writes  thus :  "  Faraday  ap- 
pears to  have  enjoyed  his  weekly  trips  to  Wool- 
wich, which  he  continued  for  so  many  years,  as 
a  source  of  relaxation.  He  was  in  the  habit  of 
going  to  Woolwich  in  the  afternoon  or  evening 
preceding  his  lecture  at  the  Military  Academy, 
then  preparing  at  once  for  his  experiments,  and 
afterward  generally  taking  a  country  ramble. 
The  lecture  was  delivered  early  the  following 
morning.  No  man  was  so  respected,  admired, 
and  beloved  as  a  teacher  at  the  Military  Acad- 
emy in  former  days  as  Faraday.  Many  are  the 
little  incidents  which  have  been  communicated 
to  ine  by  his  pupils  illustrative  of  his  charms  as 
a  lecturer,  and  of  his  kindly  feelings  for  the  youths 


46  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

to  whom  he  endeavored  to  impart  a  taste  for,  if 
not  a  knowledge  of,  science.  But  for  some  not 
ill-meant,  though  scarcely  judicious  proposal  to 
dictate  modifications  in  his  course  of  instruction, 
Faraday  would  probably  have  continued  for  some 
years  longer  to  lecture  at  Woolwich.  In  May, 
1852,  soon  after  I  had  been  appointed  his  success- 
or, Faraday  wrote  to  me  requesting  the  return 
of  some  tubes  of  condensed  gases  which  he  left  at 
the  Academy.  This  letter  ends  thus:  'I  hope 
you  feel  yourself  happy  and  comfortable  in  your 
arrangements  at  the  Academy,  and  have  cause 
to  be  pleased  with  the  change.  I  was  ever  very 
kindly  received  there,  and  that  portion  of  regret 
which  one  must  ever  feel  in  concluding  a  long 
engagement  would  be  in  some  degree  lessened 
with  me  by  hearing  that  you  had  reason  to  be 
satisfied  with  your  duties  and  their  acceptance. 
Ever  very  truly  yours,  M.  FAKADAY.'  " 

For  year  after  year  the  life  of  Faraday  afford- 
ed no  adventure  and  little  variety,  only  an  ever- 
growing skill  in  his  favorite  pursuits,  higher  and 
higher  success,  and  ever-widening  fame.  But, 
simple  as  were  his  mind  and  his  habits,  no  one 
picture  can  present  him  as  the  complete  man ; 
we  must  try  to  make  sketches  from  various  points 
of  view,  and  leave  it  to  the  reader's  imagination 
to  combine  them. 

Let  us  watch  him  on  an  ordinary  day.    After 


THE    STOKY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  47 

eight  hours'  sleep,  he  rises  in  time  to  breakfast 
at  eight  o'clock,  goes  round  the  Institution  to 
see  that  all  is  in  order,  and  descends  into  the  la- 
boratory, puts  on  a  large  white  apron  full  of  holes, 
and  is  busy  among  his  pieces  of  apparatus.  The 
faithful  Anderson,  an  old  soldier,  who  always  did 
exactly  what  he  was  told,  and  nothing  more,*  is 
waiting  upon  him ;  and  as  thought  flashes  after 
thought  through  his  eager — perhaps  impatient — 
brain,  he  twists  his  wires  into  new  shapes,  and  re- 
arranges his  magnets  and  batteries.  Then  some 
conclusion  is  arrived  at  which  lights  up  his  face 
with  a  gleam  of  satisfaction,  but  the  next  minute 
a  doubt  comes  across  that  expressive  brow — may 
the  results  not  be  due  to  something  else  yet  im- 
perfectly conceived?  —  and  a  new  experiment 
must  be  devised  to  answer  that.  In  the  mean 
time  one  of  his  little  nieces  has  been  left  in  his 
charge.  She  sits  as  quiet  as  a  mouse,  with  her 

*  The  following  anecdote  has  been  sent  me  on  the  author- 
ity of  Mr.  Benjamin  Abbott:  "  Sergeant  Anderson  was  en- 
gaged to  attend  to  the  furnaces  in  Mr.  Faraday's  researches 
on  optical  glass  in  1828,  and  was  chosen  simply  because  of 
the  habits  of  strict  obedience  his  military  training  had  given 
him.  His  duty  was  to  keep  the  furnaces  always  at  the  same 
heat,  and  the  water  in  the  ash-pit  always  at  the  same  level. 
In  the  evening  he  was  released,  but  one  night  Faraday  forgot 
to  tell  Anderson  he  could  go  home,  and  early  next  morning 
he  found  his  faithful  servant  still  stoking  the  glowing  furnace, 
as  he  had  been  doing  all  night  long. " 


48  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

needle-work ;  but  now  and  then  he  gives  her  a 
nod,  or  a  kind  word,  and  throwing  a  little  piece 
of  potassium  on  to  a  basin  of  water  for  her  amuse- 
ment, he  shows  her  the  metal  bursting  into  pur- 
ple flame,  floating  about  in  fiery  eddies,  and  the 
crack  of  the  fused  globule  of  potash  at  the  end. 
Presently  there  is  handed  to  him  the  card  of 
some  foreign  savant,  who  makes  his  pilgrimage 
to  the  famous  Institution  and  its  presiding  ge- 
nius; he  puts  down  his  last  result  on  a  slate, 
comes  up  stairs,  and,  disregarding  the  interrup- 
tion, chats  with  his  visitor  with  all  cordiality  and 
openness.  Then  to  work  again  till  dinner-time, 
at  half  past  two.  In  the  afternoon  he  retires  to 
his  study  with  its  plain  furniture  and  the  India- 
rubber  tree  in  the  window,  and  writes  a  letter  full 
of  affection  to  some  friend,  after  which  he  goes 
off  to  the  council  meeting  of  one  of  the  learned 
bodies.  Then  back  again  to  the  laboratory;  but 
as  evening  approaches  he  goes  up  stairs  to  his 
wife  and  niece,  and  then  there  is  a  game  at  bag- 
atelle or  acting  charades ;  and  afterward  he  will 
read  aloud  from  Shakspeare  or  Macaulay  till  it 
is  time  for  supper  and  the  simple  family  worship, 
which  now  is  not  liable  to  the  interruptions  that 
generally  prevent  it  in  the  morning.  And  so  the 
day  closes. 

Or,  if  it  be  a  fine  summer  evening,  he  takes  a 
stroll  with  his  wife  and  the  little  girl  to  the  Zoo- 


THE    STORY    OF   HIS   LIFE.  49 

logical  Gardens,  and  looks  at  all  the  new  arrivals, 
but  especially  the  monkeys,  laughing  at  their 
tricks  till  the  tears  run  down  his  cheeks. 

But  should  it  be  a  Friday  evening,  Faraday's 
place  is  in  the  library  and  theatre  of  the  Institu- 
tion, to  see  that  all  is  right  and  ready,  to  say  an 
encouraging  word.to  the  lecturer,  and  to  welcome 
his  friends  as  they  arrive ;  then  taking  his  seat 
on  the  front  bench  near  the  right  hand  of  the 
speaker,  he  listens  with  an  animated  countenance 
to  his  story,*  sometimes  bending  forward,  and 
scarcely  capable  of  keeping  his  fingers  off  the 
apparatus — not  at  all  able  if  any  thing  seems  to 
be  going  wrong ;  when  the  discourse  is  over,  a 
warm  shake  of  the  hand,  with  "  Thank  you  for 
a  pleasant  hour,"  and  "  Good  -  night"  to  those 
around  him,  and  up  stairs  with  his  wife  and  some 
particularly  congenial  friends  to  supper.  On  the 
dining-table  is  abundance  of  good  fare  and  good 
wine,  and  around  it  flows  a  pleasant  stream  of 
lively  and  intellectual  conversation. 

But  suppose  it  is  his  own  night  to  lecture. 
The  subject  has  been  carefully  considered,  an 
outline  of  his  discourse  has  been  written  on  a 

*  One  evening,  when  the  Rev.  A.  J.  D'Orsey  was  lecturing 
"  On  the  Study  of  the  English  Language,"  he  mentioned  as 
a  common  vulgarism  that  of  using  "don't"  in  the  third  per- 
son singular,  as  "  He  don't  pay  his  debts. "  Faraday  exclaim- 
ed aloud,  "That's  very  wrong." 

D 


50  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

sheet  of  foolscap,  with  all  the  experiments  mark- 
ed and  numbered,  and  during  the  morning  ev- 
ery thing  has  been  arranged  on  the  table  in  such 
order  that  his  memory  is  assisted  by  it ;  the  au- 
dience-now  pours  in,  and  soon  occupies  all  the 
seats,  so  that  late  comers  must  be  content  with 
sitting  on  the  stairs,  or  standing  in  the  gang- 
ways or  at  the  back  of  the  gallery.  Faraday 
enters,  and,  placing  himself  in  the  centre  of  the 
horseshoe  table,  perfect  master  of  himself,  his  ap- 
paratus, and  his  audience,  commences  a  discourse 
which  few  that  are  present  will  ever  forget.  Here 
is  a  picture  by  Lady  Pollock :  "  It  was  an  irre- 
sistible eloquence,  which  compelled  attention  and 
insisted  upon  sympathy.  Itf  waked  the  young 
from  their  visions,  and  the  old  from  their  dreams. 
There  was  a  gleaming  in  his  eyes  which  no  paint- 
er could  copy,  and  which  no  poet  could  describe. 
Their  radiance  seemed  to  send  a  strange  light 
into  the  very  heart  of  his  congregation ;  and 
when  he  spoke,  it  was  felt  that  the  stir  of  his 
voice  and  the  fervor  of  his- words  could  belong 
only  to  the  owner  of  those  kindling  eyes.  His 
thought  was  rapid,  and  made  itself  a  way  in  new 
phrases — if  it  found  none  ready  made — as  the 
mountaineer  cuts  steps  in  the  most  hazardous  as- 
cent with  his  own  axe.  His  enthusiasm  some- 
times carried  him  to  the  point  of  ecstasy  when  he 
expatiated  on  the  beauties  of  Nature,  and  when 


THE    STORY    OF   HIS   LIFE.  51 

he  lifted  the  veil  from  her  deep  mysteries.  His 
body  then  took  motion  from  his  mind ;  his  hair 
streamed  out  from  his  head ;  his  hands  were  full 
of  nervous  action ;  his  light,  lithe  body  seemed 
to  quiver  with  its  eager  life.  His  audience  took 
fire  with  him,  and  every  face  was  flushed.  What- 
ever might  be  the  after-thought  or  the  after-pur- 
suit, each  hearer  for  the  time  shared  his  zeal  and 
his  delight."* 

Is  it  possible  that  he  can  be  happier  when  lec- 
turing to  the  juveniles  ?  The  front  rows  are  fill- 
ed with  the  young  people;  behind  them  are 
ranged  older  friends  and  many  of  his  brother 
philosophers ;  and  there  is  old  Sir  James  South, 
who  is  quite  deaf,  poor  man,  but  has  come,  as  he 
says,  because  he  likes  to  see  the  happy  faces  of 
the  children.  How  perfect  is  the  attention ! 
Faraday,  with  a  beaming  countenance,  begins 
with  something  about  a  candle  or  a  kettle  that 
most  boys  and  girls  know,  then  rises  to  what 
they  had  never  thought  of  before,  but  which  now 
is*  as  clear  as  possible  to  their  understandings. 
And  with  what  delight  does  he  watch  the  per- 
formances of  Nature  in  his  experiments  !  One 
could  fancy  that  he  had  never  seen  the  experi- 
ments before,  and  that  he  was  about  to  clap  his 
hands  with  boyish  glee  at  the  unexpected  result ! 
Then,  with  serious  face,  the  lecturer  makes  some 
*  The  St.  Paul's  Magazine,  June,  1870. 


52  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

incidental  remark  that  goes  far  beyond  natural 
philosophy,  and  is  a  lesson  for  life. 

Some  will  remember  one  of  these  occasions 
which  forms  the  subject  of  a  painting  by  Mr. 
Blaikley.  Within  the  circle  of  the  table  stands 
the  lecturer,  and  waiting  behind  is  the  trusty 
Anderson,  while  the  chair  is  occupied  by  the 
Prince  Consort,  and  beside  him  are  the  young 
Prince  of  Wales  and  his  brother,  the  present 
Duke  of  Edinburg ;  while  the  Rev.  John  Barlow 
and  Dr.Bence  Jones  sit  on  the  left  of  the  princes, 
Sir  James  South  stands  against  the  door,  and 
Murchison,  De  la  Rue,  Mrs.  Faraday,  and  others 
may  be  recognized  among  the  eager  audience. 

Let  us  now  suppose  that  it  is  a  Sunday  on 
which  we  are  watching  this  prince  among  the 
aristocracy  of  intellect,  and  we  will  assume  it  to 
be  during  one  of  the  periods  of  his  eldership, 
namely,  between  1840  and  1844,  or  after  1860. 
The  first  period  came  to  a  close  through  his  sep- 
aration both  from  his  office  and  from  the  Church 
itself.  The  reason  of  this  is  said  to  have  been 
that  one  Sunday  he  was  absent  from  the  love- 
feast,  and,  on  inquiry  being  made,  it  appeared 
not  only  that  he  had  been  the  guest  of  the  queen, 
but  that  he  was  ready  to  justify  his  own  conduct 
in  obeying  her  commands.  He,  however,  con- 
tinued to  worship  among  his  friends,  and  was, 
after  a  while,  restored  to  the  rights  of  member- 


THE    STOKY    OP    HIS    LIFE.  53 

ship,  and  eventually  to  the  office  of  elder.  In 
the  morning  he  and  his  family  group  find  their 
way  down  to  the  plain  little  meeting-house  in 
Paul's  Alley,  Red-cross  Street,  since  pulled  down 
to  make  way  for  the  Metropolitan  Railway.  The 
day's  proceedings  commence  with  a  prayer-meet- 
ing, during  which  the  worshipers  gradually  drop 
in  and  go  to  their  accustomed  seats,  Faraday  tak- 
ing his  place  on  the  platform  devoted  to  the  el- 
.ders :  then  the  more  public  service  begins ;  one 
of  a  metrical  but  not  rhyming  version  of  the 
Psalms  is  sung  to  a  quaint  old  tune,  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  another  psalm  follow;  he  rises,  and 
reads  in  a  slow,  reverent  manner  the  words  of 
one  of  the  evangelists,  with  a  most  profound  and 
intelligent  appreciation  of  their  meaning ;  or  he 
offers  an  extempore  prayer,  expressing  perfect 
trust  and  submission  to  God's  will,  with  deep 
humility  and  confession  of  sin.  It  may  be  his 
turn  to  preach.  On  two  sides  of  a  card  he  has 
previously  sketched  out  his  sermon  with  the  il- 
lustrative texts,  but  the  congregation  does  not 
see  the  card,  only  a  little  Bible  in  his  hand,  the 
pages  of  which  he  turns  quickly  over,  as,  fresh 
from  an  honest  heart,  there  flows  a  discourse  full 
of  devout  thought,  clothed  largely  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Scripture.  After  a  loud  simultaneous 
"Amen"  has  closed  the  service,  the  Church  mem- 
bers withdraw  to  their  common  meal,  the  feast 


54  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

of  charity ;  and  in  the  afternoon  there  is  another 
service,  ending  by  invariable  custom  with  the 
Lord's  Supper.  The  family  group  do  not  reach 
home  till  half  past  5  ;  then  there  is  a  quiet  even- 
ing, part  of  which  is  spent  by  Faraday  at  his 
desk,  and  they  retire  to  rest  at  an  early  hour. 

Again  on  Wednesday  evening  he  is  among  the 
little  flock.  The  service  is  somewhat  freer,  for 
not  the  officers  of  the  Church  only,  but  the  ordi- 
nary members,  are  encouraged  to  express  what- 
ever thoughts  occur  to  them,  so  as  to  edify  one 
another.  At  these  times,  Faraday,  especially 
when  he  was  not  an  elder,  very  often  had  some 
word  of  exhortation,  and  the  warmth  of  his  tem- 
perament would  make  itself  felt,  for  he  was 
known  in  the  small  community  as  an  experi- 
mental rather  than  a  doctrinal  preacher. 

The  notes  of  his  more  formal  discourses  which 
I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  indicate, 
as  might  be  expected  from  the  tenets  of  his 
Church,  a  large  acquaintance  with  the  words  of 
Scripture,  but  no  knowledge  of  modern  exege- 
sis. They  appear  to  have  impressed  different 
hearers  in  different  ways.  One  who  heard  him 
frequently,  and  was  strongly  attached  to  him, 
says  that  his  sermons  were  too  parenthetical 
and  rapid  in  their  delivery,  with  little  variety  or 
attractiveness ;  but  another  scientific  friend,  who 
heard  him  occasionally,  writes,  "  They  struck  me 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  55 

as  resembling  a  mosaic  work  of  texts.  At  first 
you  could  hardly  understand  their  juxtaposition 
and  relationship ;  but  as  the  well-chosen  pieces 
were  filled  in,  by  degrees  their  congruity  and  fit- 
ness became  developed,  and  at  last  an  amazing 
sense  of  the  power  and  beauty  of  the  whole  fill- 
ed one's  thoughts  at  the  close  of  the  discourse." 

Among  the  latest  of  his  sermons  was  one  that 
he  preached  at  Dundee  about  four  years  before 
his  death.  He  began  by  telling  his  audience  that 
his  memory  was  failing,  and  he  feared  he  could 
not  quote  Scripture  with  perfect  accuracy ;  and 
then,  as  said  one  of  the  elders  present,  "his  face 
shone  like  the  face  of  an  angel"  as  he  poured 
forth  the  words  of  loving  exhortation. 

When  a  mind  is  stretched  in  the  same  direc- 
tion week-day  and  Sunday,  the  tension  is  apt  to 
become  too  great.  With  Faraday  the  first  symp- 
tom was  loss  of  memory.  Then  his  devoted  wife 
had  to  hurry  him  off  to  the  country  for  rest  of 
brain.  Once  he  had  to  give  up  work  almost  en- 
tirely for  a  twelvemonth.  During  this  time  he 
traveled  in  Switzerland,  and  extracts  from  his 
diary  are  given  by  Bence  Jones.  His  niece,  Miss 
Reid,  gives  us  her  recollections  of  a  month  spent 
at  Walmer:  "How  I  rejoiced  to  be  allowed  to 
go  there  with  him  !  We  went  on  the  outside  of 
the  coach,  in  his  favorite  seat  behind  the  driver. 
When  we  reached  Shooter's  Hill,  he  was  full  of 


56  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

fun  about  FalstafF  and  the  men  in  buckram,  and 
not  a  sight  nor  a  sound  of  interest  escaped  his 
quick  eye  and  ear.  At  Walmer  we  had  a  cot- 
tage in  a  field,  and  my  uncle  was  delighted  be- 
cause a  window  looked  directly  into  a  black- 
bird's nest  built  in  a  cherry-tree.  He  would  go 
many  times  in  a  day  to  watch  the  parent  birds 
feeding  their  young.  I  remember,  too,  how  much 
he  was  interested  in  the  young  lambs,  after  they 
were  sheared  at  our  door,  vainly  trying  to  find 
their  own  mothers.  The  ewes,  not  knowing 
their  shorn  lambs,  did  not  make  the  customary 
signal.  In  those  days  I  was  eager  to  see  the  sun 
rise,  and  my  uncle  desired  me  always  to  call  him 
when  I  was  awake.  So,  as  soon  as  the  glow 
brightened  over  Pegwell  Bay,  I  stole  down  stairs 
and  tapped  at  his  door,  and  he  would  rise,  and  a 
great  treat  it  was  to  watch  the  glorious  sight 
with  him.  How  delightful,  too,  to  be  his  com- 
panion at  sunset !  Once  I  remember  well  how 
we  watched  the  fading  light  from  a  hill  clothed 
with  wild  flowers,  and  how,  as  twilight  stole  on, 
the  sounds  of  bells  from  Upper  Deal  broke  upon 
our  ears,  and  how  he  watched  till  all  was  gray. 
At  such  times  he  would  be  well  pleased  if  we 
could  repeat  a  few  lines  descriptive  of  his  feel- 
ings." And  then  she  tells  us  about  their  exam- 
ining the  flowers  in  the  fields  by  the  aid  of  "Gal- 
pin's  Botany,"  and  how  with  a  candle  he  showed 


THE    STORY    OF   HIS   LIFE.  57 

her  a  spectre  on  the  white  mist  outside  the  win- 
dow ;  of  reading  lessons  that  ended  in  laughter, 
and  of  sea-anemones  and  hermit  crabs,  with  the 
merriment  caused  by  their  odd  movements  as 
they  dragged  about  the  unwieldy  shells  they  ten- 
anted. "  But  of  all  things  I  used  to  like  to  hear 
him  read  '  Childe  Harold ;'  and  never  shall  I  for- 
get the  way  in  which  he  read  the  description  of 
the  storm  on  Lake  Leman.  He  took  great  pleas- 
ure in  Byron,  and  Coleridge's  'Hymn  to  Mont 
Blanc'  delighted  him.  When  any  thing  touched 
his  feelings  as  he  read — and  it  happened  not  un- 
frequently — he  would  show  it  not  only  in  his 
voice,  but  by  tears  in  his  eyes  also." 

A  few  days  at  Brighton  refreshed  him  for  his 
work.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  running  down 
there  before  his  juvenile  lectures  at  Christmas, 
and  at  Easter  he  frequently  sought  the  same  sea- 
breezes. 

But  it  was  not  always  that  Faraday  could  run 
away  from  London  when  the  mental  tension  be- 
came excessive.  A  shorter  relaxation  was  pro- 
cured by  his  taking  up  a  novel  such  as  "Ivan- 
hoe,"  or  "Jane  Eyre,"  or  "Monte  Christo."  He 
liked  the  stirring  ones  best,  "a  story  with  a 
thread  to  it."  Or  he  would  go  with  his  wife  to 
see  Kean  act,  or  hear  Jenny  Lind  sing,  or  per- 
haps to  witness  the  performance  of  some  "Wiz- 
ard of  the  North." 

Now  and  then  he  would  pay  a  visit  to  some 


58  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

scene  of  early  days.  One  of  his  near  relatives 
tells  me  :  "It  is  said  that  Mr.  Faraday  once  went 
to  the  shop  where  his  father  had  formerly  been 
employed  as  a  blacksmith,  and  asked  to  be  al- 
lowed to  look  over  the  place.  When  he  got  to 
a  part  of  the  premises  at  which  there  was  an 
opening  into  the  lower  workshop,  he  stopped  and 
said,  'I  very  nearly  lost  my  life  there  once.  I 
was  playing  in  the  upper  room  at  pitching  half- 
pence into  a  pint  pot  close  by  this  hole,  and  hav- 
ing succeeded  at  a  certain  distance,  I  stepped 
back  to  try  my  fortune  further  off,  forgetting  the 
aperture,  and  down  I  fell ;  and  if  it  had  not  been 
that  my  father  was  working  over  an  anvil  fixed 
just  below,  I  should  have  fallen  on  it,  broken 
my  back,  and  probably  killed  myself.  As  it  was, 
my  father's  back  just  saved  mine.'" 

Business,  as  well  as  pleasure,  sometimes  took 
him  away  from  home.  He  often  joined  the  Brit- 
ish Association,  returning  usually  on  Saturday, 
that  he  might  be  among  his  own  people  on  the 
Lord's  Day.  During  the  meeting  he  would  gen- 
erally accept  the  hospitality  of  some  friend ;  and 
it  was  one  of  these  occasions  that  gave  rise  to 
the  folio  wing  jeu  d>  esprit: 

"  'That  P  will  change  to  F  in  the  British  tongue  is  true 
(Quoth  Professor  Phillips),  though  the  instances  are  few :' 
An  entry  in  my  journal  then  I  ventured  thus  to  parody, 
'  I  this  day  dined  with  Fillips,  where  I  hobbed  and  nob- 
bed with  Pharaday.'  T.  T. 
"OXFORD,  June  27, 1860." 


THE    STORY    OF   HIS    LIFE.  59 

At  the  Liverpool  meeting  in  1837  he  was  pres- 
ident of  the  Chemical  Section,  and  on  two  other 
occasions  he  was  selected  to  deliver  the  evening 
lecture,  but,  though  repeatedly  pressed  to  under- 
take the  presidency  of  the  whole  body,  he  could 
not  be  prevailed  upon  to  accept  the  office. 

My  first' personal  intercourse  with  him,  of  any 
extent,  was  at  the  Ipswich  meeting  in  1851.  I 
watched  him  with  all  the  interest  of  an  admiring 
disciple,  and  there  is  deeply  engraven  on  my 
memory  the  vivacity  of  his  conversation,  the  ea- 
gerness with  which  he  entered  into  some  mathe- 
rnatico-chemical  speculations  of  Dumas,  and  the 
playfulness  with  which,  when  we  were  dining 
together,  he  cut  boomerangs  out  of  card,  and 
shot  them  across  the  table  at  his  friends. 

Professional  engagements  also  took  him  not 
unfrequently  into  the  country.  Some  of  these 
will  be  described  in  the  later  sections,  that  treat 
of  his  mode  of  working  and  its  valuable  results. 

To  comprehend  a  man's  life  it  is  necessary  to 
know  not  merely  what  he  does,  but  also  what  he 
purposely  leaves  undone.  There  is  a  limit  to  the 
work  that  can  be  got  out  of  a  human  body  or  a 
human  brain,  and  he  is  a  wise  man  who  wastes 
no  energy  on  pursuits  for  which  he  is  not  fitted ; 
and  he  is  still  wiser  who,  from  among  the  things 
that  he  can  do  well,  chooses  and  resolutely  fol- 
lows the  best. 


60  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

Faraday  took  no  part  in  any  of  the  political 
or  social  movements  of  his  time.  To  politics, 
indeed,  he  seems  to  have  been  really  indifferent. 
It  was  during  the  intensely  interesting  period 
of  1814-15  that  he  was  on  the  Continent  with 
Davy,  but  he  alludes  to  the  taking  of  Paris  by 
the  allied  troops  simply  because  of  its  bearing  on 
the  movements  of  the  travelers,  and  on  March  7, 
1815,  he  made  this  remarkable  entry  in  his  jour- 
nal :  "I  heard  for  news  that  Bonaparte  was  again 
at  liberty.  Being  no  politician,!  did  not  trouble 
myself  much  about  it,  though  I  suppose  it  will 
have  a  strong  influence  on  the  affairs  of  Europe." 
In  later  days  he  seems  to  have  awaked  to  suffi- 
cient interest  to  read  the  debates,  and  to  show 
a  Conservative  tendency;  he  became  a  special 
constable  in  1848,  and  was  disposed  generally 
to  support  "  the  powers  that  be,"  though  that 
involved  some  perplexity  at  a  change  of  govern- 
ment. 

It  is  more  singular  that  a  man  of  his  benevo- 
lent spirit  should  never  have  taken  a  prominent 
part  in  any  philanthropic  movement.  During 
the  latter  half  of  his  life,  he,  as  a  rule,  avoided 
serving  on  committees  even  for  scientific  objects, 
and  was  reluctant  to  hold  office  in  the  learned 
societies  with  which  he  was  connected.  I  be- 
lieve, however,  that  this  arose,  not  from  want  of 
interest,  but  from  a  conviction  that  he  was  ill 


THE    STOEY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  61 

suited  by  natural  temperament  for  joining  in  dis- 
cussions on  subjects  that  roused  the  passions  of 
men,  or  for  calmly  weighing  the  different  causes 
of  action,  and  deciding  which  was  the  most  ju- 
dicious. It  is  remarkable  how  little  even  of  his 
scientific  work  was  done  in  conjunction  with 
others.  Neither  did  he  spend  time  in  rural  oc- 
cupations, or  in  literary  or  artistic  pursuits. 
Beasts,  and  birds,  and  flowers  he  looked  at,  but 
it  was  for  recreation,  not  for  study.  Music  he 
was  fond  of,  and  occasionally  he  visited  the  Ope- 
ra, but  he  did  not  allow  sweet  sounds  to  charm 
him  away  from  his  work.  He  stuck  closely  to 
his  fireside,  his  laboratory,  his  lecture-table,  and 
his  Church.  He  lived  where  he  worked,  so  that 
he  had  only  to  go  down  stairs  to  put  to  the  test 
of  experiment  any  fresh  thought  that  flitted 
across  his  brain.  He  almost  invariably  declined 
dinner-parties,  except  at  Lady  Davy's,  and  at  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Masquerier's  at  Brighton,  toward  whom 
he  felt  under  an  obligation  on  account  of  former 
kindnesses.  If  he  went  to  a  soiree  he  usually 
staid  but  a  short  time,  and  even  when  away 
from  home  he  generally  refused  private  hospi- 
tality. Thus  he  was  able  to  give  almost  undi- 
vided attention  to  the  chief  pursuit  of  his  life. 

His  residence  in  so  accessible  a  part  of  London 
did,  however,  expose  him  to  the  constant  inva- 
sion of  callers,  and  his  own  good  nature  often 


62  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

rendered  fruitless  the  efforts  that  were  consider- 
ately made  to  restrict  these  within  reasonable 
limits.  Of  course  he  suffered  from  the  curious 
and  the  inconsiderate  of  the  human  species;  and 
then  there  were  those  pertinacious  bores,  the 
dabblers  in  science.  "  One  morning  a  young 
man  called  on  him,  and  with  an  air  of  great  im- 
portance confided  to  him  the  result  of  some  orig- 
inal researches  (so  he  deemed  them)  in  electrical 
philosophy.  'And  pray,'  asked  the  professor, 
taking  down  a  volume  of  Rees's  Cyclopaedia, '  did 
you  consult  this  or  any  elementary  work  to  learn 
whether  your  discovery  had  been  anticipated  ?' 
The  young  man  replied  in  the  negative.  '  Then 
why  do  you  come  to  waste  my  time  about  well- 
known  facts,  that  were  published  forty  years 
ago  ?'  '  Sir,'  said  the  visitor, '  I  thought  I  had 
better  bring  the  matter  to  head-quarters  imme- 
diately.' 'All  very  well  for  you,  but  not  so  well 
for  head-quarters,'  replied  the  professor,  sharply, 
and  set  him  down  to  read  the  article." 

"A  grave,  elderly  gentleman  once  waited  upon 
him  to  submit  to  his  notice  '  a  new  law  of  phys- 
ics.' The  visitor  requested  that  a  jug  of  water 
and  a  tumbler  might  be  brought,  and  then  pro- 
ducing a  cork, '  You  will  be  pleased  to  observe,' 
said  he, '  how  persistently  this  cork  clings  to  the 
side  of  the  glass  when  the  vessel  is  half  filled.' 
'  Just  so,'  replied  the  professor.  '  But  now,'  re- 


THE    STOEY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  63 

sumed  this  great  discoverer, '  mark  what  happens 
when  I  fill  the  tumbler  to  the  brim.  There  !  you 
see  the  cork  flies  to  the  centre — positively  re- 
pelled by  the  sides  !'  *  Precisely  so,'  replied  the 
amused  electrician,  with  the  air  of  a  man  who 
felt  perfectly  at  home  with  the  phenomenon,  and 
indeed  regarded  it  quite  as  an  old  friend.  The 
visitor  was  evidently  disconcerted.  '  Pray  how 
long  have  you  known  this  ?'  he  ventured  to  ask 
Faraday.  '  Oh,  ever  since  I  was  a  boy,'  was  the 
rejoinder.  Crestfallen — his  discovery  demolish- 
ed in  a  moment — the  poor  gentleman  was  retir- 
ing with  many  apologies,  when  the  professor, 
sincerely  concerned  at  his  disappointment,  com- 
forted him  by  suggesting  that  possibly  he  might 
some  day  alight  upon  something  really  new."* 

But  there  were  other  visitors  who  were  right 
welcome  to  a  portion  of  his  time.  One  day  it 
might  be  a  young  man,  whom  a  few  kind  words 
and  a  little  attention  on  the  part  of  the  great 
philosopher  would  send  forward  on  the  journey 
of  life  with  new  energy  and  hopes.  Another 
day  it  might  be  some  intellectual  chieftain,  who 
could  meet  the  prince  of  experimenters  on  equal 
terms.  But  these  are  hardly  to  be  regarded  as 
interruptions — rather  as  part  of  his  chosen  work. 

Here  is  one  instance  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Rob- 
ert Mallet.  " .  .  .  .  I  was,  in  the  years  that  fol- 

*  British  Quarterly  Review,  April,  1 868. 


64  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

lowed,  never  in  London  without  paying  him  a 
visit,  and  on  one  of  those  times  I  ventured  to 
ask  him  (if  not  too  much  engaged)  to  let  me  see 
where  he  and  Davy  had  worked  together.  With 
the  most  simple  graciousness  he  brought  me 
through  the  whole  of  the  Royal  Institution,  Al- 
bemarle  Street.  Brande's  furnaces,  Davy's  bat- 
tery, the  place  in  the  laboratory  where  he  told 
me  he  had  first  observed  the  liquefaction  of 
chlorine,  are  all  vividly  before  me — but  nothing 
so  clear  or  vivid  as  our  conversation  over  a  spec- 
imen of  green  (crown)  glass,  partially  devitrified 
in  floating  opaque  white  spheres  of  radiating 
crystals :  he  touched  luminously  on  the  obscure 
relation  of  the  vitreous  and  crystalloid  states, 
and  on  the  probable  nature  of  the  nuclei  of  the 
white  spheres.  My  next  visit  to  Faraday  that 
I  recollect  was  not  long  after  my  paper '  On  the 
Dynamics  of  Earthquakes'  had  appeared  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy.  He 
almost  at  once  referred  to  it  in  terms  of  praise 
that  seemed  to  me  so  far  beyond  my  due,  that 
even  now  I  recall  the  very  humble  way  I  felt, 
as  the  thought  of  Faraday's  own  transcendent 
merits  rushed  across  my  mind.  I  ventured  to 
ask  him,  had  the  paper  engaged  his  attention 
sufficiently  that  I  might  ask  him — did  he  con- 
sider my  explanation  of  the  before  supposed 
vorticose  shock  sufficient?  To  my  amazement 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  65 

he  at  once  recited  nearly  word  for  word  the  par- 
agraph in  which  I  took  some  pains  to  put  my 
views  into  a  demonstrative  shape,  and  ended 
with, '  It  is  as  plain  and  certain  as  a  proposition 
of  Euclid  !'  And  yet  the  subject  was  one  pretty 
wide  away  from  his  own  objects  of  study." 

Often,  too,  if  some  interesting  fact  was  exhib- 
ited to  him,  he  would  send  to  his  brother  sa- 
vants some  such  note  as  this : 

"  ROYAL  INSTITUTION,  4th  May,  1852. 
"MY  DEAR  WHEATSTONE, — Dr.  Dubois-Ray- 
mond  will  be  making  his  experiments  here  next 
Thursday,  the  6th,  from  and  after  1 1  o'clock.  I 
wish  to  let  you  know,  that  you  may,  if  you  like, 
join  the  select  few. 

"Ever  truly  yours,  M.  FARADAY." 

It  was,  indeed,  his  wont  to  share  with  others 
the  delight  to  a  new  discovery.  Thus  Sir  Hen- 
ry Holland  tells  me  that  he  used  frequently  to 
run-to  his  house  in  Brook  Street  with  some  piece 
of  scientific  news.  One  of  these  visits  was  after 
reading  Bunsen  and  Kirchhoff's  paper  on  Spec- 
trum Analysis ;  and  he  did  not  stop  short  with 
merely  telling  the  tale  of  the  special  rays  of 
light  shot  forth  by  each  metallic  vapor,  as  the 
following  letter  will  show.  It  is  addressed  to 
the  present  Baroness  Burdett  Coutts. 
E 


66  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

"ROYAL  INSTITUTION, Friday,  17th  May. 

"DEAR  Miss  COTJTTS, — To-morrow  at  4  o'clock, 
immediately  after  Max  Miiller's  lecture,  I  shall 
show  Sir  Henry  Holland  an  apparatus  which  has 
arrived  from  Munich  to  manifest  the  phenomena 
of  light  which  have  recently  been  made  known 
to  us  by  Bunsen  and  Kirchhoff.  Mr.  Barlow  will 
be  here,  and  he  suggests  that  you  would  like  to 
know  of  the  occasion.  If  you  are  inclined  to 
see  how  philosophers  work  and  live,  and  so  are 
inclined  to  climb  our  narrow  stairs  (for  I  must 
show  the  experiments  in  my  room),  we  shall  be 
most  happy  to  see  you.  The  experiments  will 
not  be  beautiful  except  to  the  intelligent. 

"Ever  your  faithful  servant,   M.  FARADAY." 

Sometimes,  too,  the  exhibition  of  a  scientific 
fact  would  take  him  away  from  home.  Thus, 
when  her  majesty  and  the  Prince  Consort  once 
paid  a  private  visit  to  the  Polytechnic,  Mr.  Pep- 
per arranged  a  surprise  for  the  royal  party  by 
getting  Faraday  in  a  quiet  room  to  explain  the 
Ruhmkorff's  coil — the  latest  development  of  his 
own  inductive  currents.  This  he  did  with  his 
usual  vivacity  and  enthusiasm,  and  the  inter- 
view is  said  to  have  gratified  the  philosopher  as 
well  as  the  queen. 

He  could  not,  however,  escape  the  inroads 
made  upon  his  time  by  correspondence.  People 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  67 

would  write  and  ask  him  questions.  Once  a  sol- 
itary prisoner  wrote  to  tell  him, "  It  is,  indeed, 
in  studying  the  great  discoveries  which  science 
is  indebted  to  you  for  that  I  render  my  captivity 
less  sad,  and  make  time  flow  with  rapidity"— 
and  then  he  proceeds  to  ask, "  What  is  the  most 
simple  combination  to  give  to  a  voltaic  battery 
in  order  to  produce  a  spark  capable  of  setting 
fire  to  powder  under  water  or  under  ground? 
Up  to  the  present  I  have  only  seen  employed  to 
that  purpose  piles  of  thirty  or  forty  pairs  con- 
structed on  Dr.  Wollaston's  principles.  They 
are  very  large  and  inconvenient  for  field  service. 
Could  not  the  same  effect  be  produced  by  two 
spiral  pairs  only  ?  and  if  so,  what  can  be  their 
smallest  dimension?"  And  who  was  the  pris- 
oner who  thus  speculated  on  the  applications  of 
science  to  war  ?  It  was  no  other  than  Prince 
Louis  Napoleon,  then  immured  in  the  fortress  of 
Ham,  and  now  the  ex-Emperor  of  the  French. 
At  another  time  he  wrote  asking  for  his  advice 
in  the  manufacture  of  an  alloy  which  should  be 
about  as  soft  as  lead,  but  not  so  fusible — a  ques- 
tion which  also  had  evident  bearing  upon  the 
art  of  war ;  and  offering,  at  the  same  time,  to 
pay  the  cost  of  any  experiments  that  might  be 
necessary. 

Often,  too,  the    correspondents    of  Faraday 
thought  that  they  were  doing  him  a  kindness. 


68  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

He  says  somewhere :  "  The  number  of  sugges- 
tions, hints  for  discovery,  and  propositions  of  va- 
rious kinds,  offered  to  me  very  freely,  and  with 
perfect  good  will  and  simplicity  on  the  part  of 
the  proposers,  for  my  exclusive  investigation  and 
final  honor,  is  remarkably  great,  and  it  is  no  less 
remarkable  that  but  for  one  exception — that  of 
Mr.  Jenkin — they  have  all  been  worthless.  .  .  . 
I  have,  I  think,  universally  found  that  the  man 
whose  mind  was  by  nature  or  self-education  fit- 
ted to  make  good  and  worthy  suggestions,  was 
also  the  man  both  able  and  willing  to  work  them 
out." 

Both  the  askers  of  questions  and  the  givers 
of  advice  expected  answers — and  the  answers 
came.  Most  of  Faraday's  letters,  indeed,  are  of 
a  purely  business  character :  sometimes  they  are 
very  laconic,  as  the  note  in  which  he  announced 
to  Dr.  Paris  one  of  his  principal  discoveries : 

"DEAR  SIR, — The  oil  you  noticed  yesterday 
turns  out  to  be  liquid  chlorine. 

"Yours  faithfully,  M.  FARADAY." 

But  in  other  letters,  as  may  be  expected,  there 
is  found  the  enthusiasm  of  his  ardent  nature  or 
the  glow  of  his  genial  spirit.  An  instance  or 
two  may  suffice. 


THE    STOKY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  69 

"ROYAL  INSTITUTION,  24th  March,  1843. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  and  at  once  look- 
ed at  your  paper.  Many  thanks  for  so  good  a 
contribution  to  the  beloved  science.  What  glo- 
rious steps  electricity  has  taken  in  the  days  with- 
in our  reViemb  ranee,  and  what  hopes  are  held 
out  for  the  future  !  The  great  difficulty  is  to  re- 
move the  mists  which  dim  the  dawn  of  a  subject, 
and  I  can  not  but  consider  your  paper  as  doing 
very  much  that  way  for  a  most  important  part 
of  natural  knowledge. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  most  truly  yours, 

"M.  FARADAY. 
"J.  P.  JOULE,  ESQ." 

"  ROYAL  INSTITUTION,  15th  Oct.,  1853. 
"  MY  DEAR  Miss  MOORE, — The  summer  is  go- 
ing away,  and  I  never  (but  for  one  day)  had  any 
hopes  of  profiting  by  your  kind  offer  of  the  roof 
of  your  house  in  Clarges  Street.  What  a  feeble 
summer  it  has  been  as  regards  sunlight !  I  have 
made  a  good  many  preliminary  experiments  at 
home,  but  they  do  not  encourage  me  in  the  di- 
rection toward  which  I  was  looking.  All  is 
misty  and  dull,  both  the  physical  and  the  mental 
prospect.  But  I  have  ever  found  that  the  ex- 
perimental philosopher  has  great  need  of  pa- 
tience, that  he  may  not  be  downcast  by  inter- 
posing obstacles,  and  perseverance,  that  he  may 
either  overcome  them,  or  open  out  a  new  path  to 


70  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

the  bourn  he  desires  to  reach.  So  perhaps  next 
summer  I  may  think  of  your  house-top  again. 
Many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter  and  all  your 
kindnesses  usward.  My  wife  had  your  note  yes- 
terday, and  I  enjoyed  the  violets,  which  for  a 
time  I  appropriated. 

"  With  kindest  remembrances  and  thoughts  to 
all  with  yon  and  her  at  Hastings,  I  am,  my  dear 
friend,  very  faithfully  yours,  M.  FARADAY." 

The  following  is  written  to  Mr.  Frank  Barnard, 
then  an  Art  student  in  Paris : 

"EOYAL  INSTITUTION,  9th  Nov.,  1852. 
"  MY  DEAR  NEPHEW, — Though  I  am  not  a  let- 
ter-writer, and  shall  not  profess  to  send  you  any 
news,  yet  I  intend  to  waste  your  time  with  one 
sheet  of  paper,  first  to  thank  you  for  your  letter 
to  me,  and  then  to  thank  you  for  what  I  hear  of 
your  letters  to  others.  You  were  very  kind  to 
take  the  trouble  of  executing  my  commissions 
when  I  know  your  heart  was  bent  upon  the  en- 
trance to  your  studies.  Your  account  of  M. 
Arago  was  most  interesting  to  me,  though  I 
should  have  been  glad  if  in  the  matter  of  health 
you  could  have  made  it  better.  He  has  a  won- 
derful mind  and  spirit.  And  so  you  are  hard  at 
work,  and  somewhat  embarrassed  by  your  posi- 
tion ;  but  no  man  can  do  just  as  he  likes,  and  in 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  7l 

many  things  he  has  to  give  way,  and  may  do  so 
honorably,  provided  he  preserve  his  self-respect. 
Never,  my  dear  Frank,  lose  that,  whatever  may 
be  the  alternative.  Let  no  one  tempt  you  to  it ; 
for  nothing  can  be  expedient  that  is  not  right ; 
and  though  some  of  your  companions  may  tease 
you  at  first,  they  will  respect  you  for  your  con- 
sistency in  the  end ;  and  if  they  pretend  not  to 
do  so,  it  is  of  no  consequence.  However,  I  trust 
the  hardest  part  of  your  probation  is  over,  for 
the  earliest  is  usually  the  hardest ;  and  that  you 
know  how  to  take  nil  things  quietly.  Happily 
for  you,  there  is  nothing  in  your  pursuit  which 
need  embarrass  you  in  Paris.  I  think  you  never 
cared  for  home  politics,  so  that  those  of  another 
country  are  not  likely  to  occupy  your  attention, 
and  a  stranger  can  be  but  a  very  poor  judge  of 
a  new  people  and  their  requisites. 

"  I  think  all  your  family  are  pretty  well,  but  I 
know  you  will  hear  all  the  news  from  your  ap- 
pointed correspondent  Jane,  and,  as  I  said,  I  am 
unable  to  chronicle  any  thing.  Still,  I  am  al- 
ways very  glad  to  hear  how  you  are  going  on, 
and  have  a  sight  of  all  that  I  may  see  of  the  cor- 
respondence. 

"Ever,  my  dear  Frank,  your  affectionate  uncle, 

"M.  FARADAY." 

His  scientific  researches  were  very  numerous. 


72  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

The  Royal  Society  Catalogue  gives  under  the 
name  of  Faraday  a  list  of  158  papers,  published 
in  various  scientific  magazines  or  learned  Trans- 
actions. Many  of  these  communications  are 
doubtless  short,  but  a  short  philosophical  paper 
often  represents  a  large  amount  of  brain-work ; 
a  score  of  them  are  the  substance  of  his  Friday 
evening  discourses;  while  others  are  lengthy 
treatises,  the  records  of  long  and  careful  investi- 
gations; and  the  list  includes  the  thirty  series 
of  his  "  Experimental  Researches  in  Electricity." 
These  extended  over  a  period  of  twenty-seven 
years,  and  were  afterward  reprinted  from  the 
"  Philosophical  Transactions,"  and  form  three 
goodly  volumes,  with  3430  numbered  paragraphs 
— one  of  the  most  marvelous  monuments  of  in- 
tellectual work,  one  of  the  rarest  treasure-houses 
of  newly-discovered  knowledge,  with  which  the 
world  has  ever  been  enriched.  Faraday  never 
published  but  one  book  in  the  common  accepta- 
tion of  the  term — it  was  on  "  Chemical  Manipu- 
lation ;"  but  there  appeared  another  large  vol- 
ume of  reprinted  papers;  and  three  of  his  courses 
of  lectures  were  also  published  as  separate  small 
books,  though  not  by  himself.  It  is  very  tempt- 
ing to  linger  among  these  158  papers;  but  this 
is  not  intended  as  a  scientific  biography,  and 
those  who  wish  to  make  themselves  better  ac- 
quainted with  his  work  will  find  an  admirable 


THE    STORY    OF   HIS   LIFE.  73 

summary  of  it  in  Professor  Tyndall's  "Faraday 
as  a  Man  of  Science."  In  Sections  IV.  and  V., 
however,  I  have  endeavored  to  give  an  idea  of 
his  manner  of  working,  and  of  the  practical  ben- 
efits that  have  flowed  to  mankind  from  some  of 
his  discoveries. 

As  these  papers  appeared  his  fame  grew  wider 
and  wider.  When  a  comparatively  young  man 
he  was  naturally  desirous  of  appending  the  mys- 
tic letters  "  F.R.S."  to  his  name,  and  he  was  bal- 
loted into  the  Royal  Society  in  January,  1824, 
not  without  strong  opposition  from  his  master, 
Sir  Humphry  Davy,  then  president.  He  paid 
the  fees,  and  never  sought  another  distinction 
of  the  kind.  But  they  were  showered  down 
upon  him.  The  Philosophical  Society  of  Cam- 
bridge had  already  acknowledged  his  merits,  and 
the  learned  academies  of  Paris  and  Florence  had 
enrolled  him  among  their  corresponding  mem- 
bers. Heidelberg  and  St.  Petersburg,  Philadel- 
phia and  Boston,  Copenhagen,  Berlin,  and  Pa- 
lermo, quickly  followed ;  and  as  the  fame  of  his 
researches  spread,  very  many  other  learned  so- 
cieties in  Europe  and  America,  as  well  as  at 
home,  brought  to  him  the  tribute  of  their  hono- 
rary membership.*  He  thrice  received  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor,  Oxford  making  him  a  D.C.L., 
Prague  a  Ph.D.,  and  Cambridge  an  LL.D.,  be- 
*  See  Appendix. 


74  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

sides  which  he  was  instituted  a  Chevalier  of  the 
Prussian  Order  of  Merit,  a  Commander  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor,  and  a  Knight  Commander  of 
the  Order  of  St.Maurice  and  St.Lazarus.  Among 
the  medals  which  he  received  were  each  of  those 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Royal  Society — indeed,  the 
Copley  medal  was  given  him  twice — and  the 
Grande  Medaille  d'Honneur  at  the  time  of  the 
French  Exhibition.  Altogether  it  appears  he 
was  decorated  with  ninety-five  titles  and  marks 
of  merit,*  including  the  blue  ribbon  of  science, 
for  in  1844  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  eight  for- 
eign associates  of  the  French  Academy. 

Though  he  had  never  passed  through  a  uni- 
versity career,  he  was  made  a  member  of  the 
Senate  of  the  University  of  London,  which  he  re- 
garded as  one  of  his  chief  honors ;  and  he  showed 
his  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  the  office 
by  a  diligent  attendance  to  its  duties. 

As  the  recognized  prince  of  investigators,  it 
is  no  wonder  that,  on  the  resignation  of  Lord 
Wrottesley,  an  attempt  was  made  to  induce  him 
to  become  President  of  the  Royal  Society.  A 
deputation  waited  on  him  and  urged  the  unani- 
mous wish  of  the  council  and  of  scientific  men. 
Faraday  begged  for  time  to  consider.  Tyndall 

*  No  wonder  the  celebrated  electrician,  P.  Eiess,  of  Berlin, 
once  addressed  a  long  letter  to  him  as  ' '  Professor  Michael 
Faraday,  Member  of  all  Academies  of  Science,  London." 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  75 

gives  us  an  insight  into  the  reasons  that  led 
him  to  decline.  He  tells  us :  "  On  the  following 
morning  I  went  up  to  his  room,  and  said,  on  en- 
tering, that  I  had  come  to  him  with  some  anxi- 
ety of  mind.  He  demanded  its  cause,  and  I  re- 
sponded, '  Lest  you  should  have  decided  against 
the  wishes  of  the  deputation  that  waited  on  you 
yesterday.'  'You  would  not  urge  me  to  under- 
take this  responsibility,'  he  said.  'I  not  only 
urge  you,'  was  my  reply, '  but  I  consider  it  your 
bounden  duty  to  accept  it.'  He  spoke  of  the  la- 
bor that  it  would  involve ;  urged  that  it  was 
not  in  his  nature  to  take  things  easy ;  and  that, 
if  he  became  president,  he  would  surely  have  to 
stir  many  new  questions,  and  agitate  for  some 
changes.  I  said  that  in  such  cases  he  would  find 
himself  supported  by  the  youth  and  strength  of 
the  Royal  Society.  This,  however,  did  not  seem 
to  satisfy  him.  Mrs.  Faraday  came  into  the 
room,  and  he  appealed  to  her.  Her  decision  was 
adverse,  and  I  deprecated  her  decision.  *Tyn- 
dall,'  he  said  at  length, '  I  must  remain  plain  Mi- 
chael Faraday  to  the  last ;  and  let  me  now  tell 
you,  that  if  I  accepted  the  honor  which  the  Roy- 
al Society  desires  to  confer  upon  me,  I  would 
not  answer  for  the  integrity  of  my  intellect  for 
a  single  year.' " 

In  1835  Sir  Robert  Peel  desired  to  confer  pen- 
sions as  honorable  distinctions  on  Faraday  and 


76  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

some  other  eminent  men.  Lord  Melbourne,  who 
succeeded  him  as  prime  minister,  in  making  the 
offer  at  a  private  interview,  gave  utterance  to 
some  hasty  expressions  that  appeared  to  the 
man  of  science  to  reflect  on  the  honor  of  his  pro- 
fession, and  led  to  his  declining  the  money.  The 
king,  William  IV.,  was  struck  with  the  unusual 
nature  of  the  proceeding,  and  kept  repeating  the 
story  of  Faraday's  refusal ;  and  about  a  month 
afterward,  the  premier,  dining  with  Dr.  (now  Sir 
Henry)  Holland,  begged  him  to  convey  a  letter 
to  the  professor,  and  to  press  on  him  the  accept- 
ance of  the  pension.  The  .letter  was  couched  in 
such  honorable  and  conciliatory  terms  that  Far- 
aday's personal  objection  could  no  longer  apply, 
and  he  expressed  his  willingness  to  receive  this 
mark  of  national  approval.  A  version  of  the 
matter  that  found  its  way  into  the  public  prints 
caused  fresh  annoyance,  and  nearly  produced  a 
final  refusal,  but,  through  the  kind  offices  of 
friends  who  had  interested  themselves  through- 
out in  the  matter,  a  friendly  feeling  was  again 
arrived  at,  and  the  pension  of  £300  a  year  was 
granted  and  accepted. 

In  1858  the  queen  offered  him  a  house  at 
Hampton  Court.  It  was  a  pretty  little  place, 
situated  in  the  well-known  green  in  front  of  the 
palace  ;  and  in  that  quiet  retreat  Faraday  spent 
a  large  portion  of  his  remaining  years. 


THE    STOEY    OP   HIS   LIFE.  77 

In  October,  1861,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  man- 
agers of  the  Royal  Institution,  resigning  part  of 
his  duties,  in  which  he  reviewed  his  connection 
with  them.  "I  entered  the  Royal  Institution 
in  March,  1813,  nearly  forty-nine  years  ago,  and, 
with  exception  of  a  comparatively  short  period, 
during  which  I  was  abroad  on  the  Continent 
with  Sir  H.  Davy,  have  been  with  you  ever  since. 
During  that  time  I  have  been  most  happy  in 
your  kindness,  and  in  the  fostering  care  which 
the  Royal  Institution  has  bestowed  upon  me. 
Thank  God,  first,  for  all  his  gifts.  I  have  next 
to  thank  you  and  your  predecessors  for  the  un- 
swerving encouragement  and  support  which  you 
have  given  me  during  that  period.  My  life  has 
been  a  happy  one,  and  all  I  desired.  During  its 
progress  I  have  tried  to  make  a  fitting  return 
for  it  to  the  Royal  Institution,  and  through  it  to 
science.  But  the  progress  of  years  (now  amount- 
ing in  number  to  threescore  and  ten)  having 
brought  forth  first  the  period  of  development, 
and  then  that  of  maturity,  have  ultimately  pro- 
duced for  me  that  of  gentle  decay.  This  has 
taken  place  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  the 
evening  of  life  a  blessing ;  for,  while  increasing 
physical  weakness  occurs,  a  full  share  of  health 
free  from  pain  is  granted  with  it ;  and  while 
memory  and  certain  other  faculties  of  the  mind 
diminish,  my  good  spirits  and  cheerfulness  do 
not  diminish  with  them." 


78  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

When  he  could  no  longer  discharge  effectual- 
ly his  duties  at  the  Trinity  House,  the  Corpora- 
tion quietly  made  their  arrangements  for  trans- 
ferring them,  and,  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  determined  that  his  salary  of 
£200  per  annum  should  continue  as  long  as  he 
lived.  Sir  Frederick  Arrow  called  upon  him  at 
Albemarle  Street,  and  explained  how  the  matter 
stood,  but  he  found  it  hard  to  persuade  the  pro- 
fessor that  there  was  no  injustice  in  his  contin- 
uing to  receive  the  money ;  then,  taking  hold  of 
Sir  Frederick  by  one  hand  and  Dr.  Tyndall  by 
the  other,  Faraday,  with  swimming  eyes,  passed 
over  his  office  to  his  successor. 

Gradually,  but  surely,  the  end  approached. 
The  loss  of  memory  was  followed  by  other  symp- 
toms of  declining  power.  The  fastenings  of  his 
earthly  tabernacle  were  removed  one  by  one, 
and  he  looked  forward  to  "  the  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  This  was 
no  new  anticipation.  Calling  on  the  friend  who 
had  long  directed  with  him  the  affairs  of  the  In- 
stitution, but  who  was  then  half  paralyzed,  he 
had  said,  "  Barlow,  you  and  I  are  waiting ;  that 
is  what  we  have  to  do  now;  and  we  must  try 
to  do  it  patiently."  He  had  written  to  his  niece, 
Mrs.  Deacon  :  "  I  can  not  think  that  death  has  to 
the  Christian  any  thing  in  it  that  should  make 
it  a  rare,  or  other  than  a  constant  thought ;  out 


THE    STORY    OF    HIS    LIFE.  79 

of  the  view  of  death  comes  the  view  of  the  life 
beyond  the  grave,  as  out  of  the  view  of  sin  (that 
true  and  real  view  which  the  Holy  Spirit  alone 

can  give  to  a  man)  comes  the  glorious  hope 

My  worldly  faculties  are  slipping  away  day  by 
day.  Happy  is  it  for  all  of  us  that  the  true  good 
lies  not  in  them.  As  they  ebb,  may  they  leave 
us  as  little  children  trusting  in  the  Father  of 
Mercies,  and  accepting  his  unspeakable  gift." 
And  when  the  dark  shadow  was  creeping  over 
him,  he  wrote  to  the  Comte  de  Paris :  "  I  bow  be- 
fore him  who  is  the  Lord  of  all,  and  hope  to  be 
kept  waiting  patiently  for  his  time  and  mode  of 
releasing  me  according  to  his  divine  Word,  and 
the  great  and  precious  promises  whereby  his  peo- 
ple are  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature." 
His  niece,  Miss  Jane  Barnard,  who  tended  him 
with  most  devoted  care,  thus  wrote  from  Hamp- 
ton Court  on  the  27th  of  June:  "The  kind  feel- 
ings shown  on  every  side  toward  my  dear  uncle, 
and  the  ready  offers  of  help,  are  most  soothing. 
I  am  thankful  to  say  that  we  are  going  on  very 
quietly  ;  he  keeps  his  bed  and  sleeps  much,  and 
we  think  that  the  paralysis  gains  on  him,  but 
between  whiles  he  speaks  most  pleasant  words, 
showing  his  comfort  and  trust  in  the  finished 
work  of  our  Lord.  The  other  day  he  repeated 
some  verses  of  the  46th  Psalm,  and  yesterday  a 
great  part  of  the  23d.  We  can  only  trust  that 


80  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

it  may  be  given  us  to  say  truly,  *  Thy  will  be 
done ;'  indeed,  the  belief  that  all  things  work  to- 
gether for  good  to  them  that  believe  is  an  an- 
chor of  hope  sure  and  steadfast  to  the  soul.  We 
are  surrounded  by  most  kind  and  affectionate 
friends,  and  it  is  indeed  touching  to  see  what 
warm  feelings  my  dear  uncle  has  raised  on  all 
sides." 

When  his  faculties  were  fading  fast,  he  would 
sit  long  at  the  western  window,  watching  the  glo- 
ries of  the  sunset ;  and  one  day,  when  his  wife 
drew  his  attention  to  a  beautiful  rainbow  that 
then  spanned  the  sky,  he  looked  beyond  the  fall- 
ing shower  and  the  many-colored  arch,  and  ob- 
served, "  He  hath  set  his  testimony  in  the  heav- 
ens." On  August  25,1867,  quietly,  almost  im- 
perceptibly, came  the  release.  There  was  a  phi- 
losopher less  on  earth,  and  a  saint  more  in  heaven. 

The  funeral,  at  his  own  request,  was  of  the  sim- 
plest character.  His  remains  were  conveyed  to 
Highgate  Cemetery  by  his  relations,  and  de- 
posited in  the  grave,  according  to  the  practice 
of  his  Church,  in  perfect  silence.  Few  of  his  sci- 
entific friends  were  in  London  that  bright  sum- 
mer-time, but  Professor  Graham  and  one  or  two 
others  came  out  from  the  shrubbery,  and,  joining 
the  group  of  family  mourners,  took  their  last  look 
at  the  coffin. 

But  when  this  sun  had  set  below  our  earthly 


THE    STOEY    OF    HIS   LIFE.  81 

horizon,  there  seemed  to  spring  up  in  the  minds 
of  men  a  great  desire  to  catch  some  of  the  rays 
of  the  fading  brightness  and  reflect  them  to  pos- 
terity. A  "  Faraday  Memorial"  was  soon  talked 
of,  and  the  work  is  now  in  the  sculptor's  hands ; 
the  Chemical  Society  has  founded  a  "Faraday 
Lectureship ;"  one  of  the  new  streets  in  Paris 
has  been  called  "  Rue  Faraday ;"  biographical 
sketches  have  appeared  in  many  of  the  British 
and  Continental  journals ;  successive  books  have 
told  the  story  of  his  life  and  work ;  and  in  a  thou- 
sand hearts  there  is  embalmed  the  memory  of 
this  Christian  gentleman  and  philosopher. 
F 


82  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 


SECTION  II. 

r' 

STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER. 

IN  the  previous  section  we  have  traced  the 
leading  events  of  a  life  which  was  quietly  and 
uniformly  successful.  We  have  watched  the  pas- 
sage of  the  errand-boy  into  the  philosopher,  and 
we  have  seen  how  at  first  he  begged  for  the 
meanest  place  in  a  scientific  workshop,  and  at 
last  declined  the  highest  honor  which  British  sci- 
ence was  capable  of  granting.  His  success  did 
not  lie  in  the  amassing  of  money — he  deliberate- 
ly turned  aside  from  the  path  of  proffered  wealth ; 
nor  did  it  lie  in4the  attainment  of  social  position 
and  titles — he  did  not  care  for  the  weight  of 
these.  But  if  success  consists  in  a  life  full  of 
agreeable  occupation,  with  the  knowledge  that 
its  labors  are  adding  to  the  happiness  and  wealth 
of  the  world,  leading  on  to  an  old  age  full  of  hon- 
or, and  the  prospect  of  a  blissful  immortality, 
then  the  highest  success  crowned  the  life  of  Far- 
aday. 

How  did  he  obtain  it?  Not  by  inheritance, 
and  not  by  the  force  of  circumstances.  The 
wealth  or  the  reputation  of  fathers  is  often  an  in- 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  83 

valuable  starting-point  for  sons ;  a  liberal  educa- 
tion and  the  contact  of  superior  minds  in  early 
youth  is  often  a  mighty  help  to  the  young  as- 
pirant: the  favor  of  powerful  friends  will  often 
place  on  a  vantage  ground  the  struggler  in  the 
battle  of  life.  But  Faraday  had  none  of  these. 
Accidental  circumstances  sometimes  push  a  man 
forward,  or  give  him  a  special  advantage  over 
his  fellows;  but  Faraday  had  to  make  his  cir- 
cumstances, and  to  seize  the  small  favors  that 
fortune  sometimes  threw  in  his  way.  The  secret 
of  his  success  lay  in  the  qualities  of  his  mind. 

It  is  only  fair,  however,  to  remark  that  he 
started  with  no  disadvantages.  There  was  no 
stain  in  the  family  history:  he  had  no  dead 
weight  to  carry,  of  a  disgraced  name,  or  of  bad 
health,  or  deficient  faculties,  or  hereditary  ten- 
dencies to  vice.  It  must  be  acknowledged,  too, 
that  he  was  endowed  with  a  naturally  clear  un- 
derstanding and  an  unusual  power  of  looking 
below  the  surface  of  things. 

The  first  element  of  success  that  we  meet 
with  in  his  biography  is  the  faithfulness  with 
which  he  did  his  work.  This  led  the  bookseller 
to  take  his  poor  errand-boy  as  an  apprentice ; 
and  this  enabled  his  father  to  write,  when  he  was 
18:  "Michael  is  bookbinder  and  stationer,  and 
is  very  active  at  learning  his  business.  He  has 
been  most  part  of  four  years  of  his  time  out  of 


84-  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

seven.  He  has  a  very  good  master  and  mistress, 
and  likes  his  place  well.  He  had  a  hard  time 
for  some  while  at  first  going ;  but,  as  the  old 
saying  goes,  he  has  rather  got  the  head  above 
water,  as  there  is  two  other  boys  under  him." 
This  faithful  industry  marked  also  his  relations 
with  Davy  and  Brande,  and  the  whole  of  his  sub- 
sequent life,  and  at  last,  when  he  found  that  he 
could  no  longer  discharge  his  duties,  it  made  him 
repeatedly  press  his  resignation  on  the  managers 
of  the  Royal  Institution,  and  beg  to  be  relieved 
of  his  eldership  in  the  Church. 

His  love  of  study,  and  hunger  after  knowl- 
edge, led  him  to  the  particular  career  which  he 
pursued,  and  that  power  of  imagination,  which 
reveals  itself  in  his  early  letters,  grew  and  grew, 
till  it  gave  him  such  a  familiarity  with  the  un- 
seen forces  of  nature  as  has  never  been  vouch- 
safed to  any  other  mortal. 

As  a  source  of  success  there  stands  out  also 
his  enthusiasm.  A  new  fact  seemed  to  charge 
him  with  an  energy  that  gleamed  from  his  eyes 
and  quivered  through  his  limbs,  and,  as  by  in- 
duction, charged  for  the  time  those  in  his  pres- 
ence with  the  same  vigor  of  interest.  Plucker, 
of  Bonn,  was  showing  him  one  day  in  the  labor- 
atory at  Albemarle  Street  his  experiments  on 
the  action  of  a  magnet  on  the  electric  discharge 
in  vacuum  tubes.  Faraday  danced  round  them; 


STUDY    OF   HIS   CHAEACTEE.  85 

and  as  he  saw  the  moving  arches  of  light,  he 
cried, "  Oh  !  to  live  always  in  it !"  Mr.  James 
Hey  wood  once  met  him  in  the  thick  of  a  tremen- 
dous storm  at  Eastbourne,  rubbing  his  hands 
with  delight  because  he  had  been  fortunate 
enough  to  see  the  lightning  strike  the  church 
tower. 

This  enthusiasm  led  him  to  throw  all  his  heart 
into  his  work.  Nor  was  the  energy  spasmodic, 
or  wasted  on  unworthy  objects ;  for,  in  the  words 
of  Bence  Jones,  his  was  "  a  lifelong  strife  to  seek 
and  say  that  which  he  thought  was  true,  and  to 
do  that  which  he  thought  was  kind." 

Indeed,  his  perseverance  in  a  noble  strife  was 
another  of  the  grand  elements  in  his  success. 
His  tenacity  of  purpose  showed  itself  equally  in 
little  and  in  great  things.  Arranging  some  ap- 
paratus one  day  with  a  philosophical  instrument 
maker,  he  let  fall  on  the  floor  a  small  piece  of 
glass :  he  made  several  ineffectual  attempts  to 
pick  it  up.  "  Never  mind,"  said  his  companion, 
"  it  is  not  worth  the  trouble."  "  Well,  but,  Mur- 
ray, I  don't  like  to  be  beaten  by  something  that 
I  have  once  tried  to  do." 

The  same  principle  is  apparent  in  that  long 
series  of  electrical  researches,  where  for  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  he  marched  steadily  along  that 
path  of  discovery  into  which  he  had  been  lured 
by  the  genius  of  Davy.  And  so,  whatever 


86  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

course  was  set  before  him,  he  ran  with  patience 
toward  the  goal,  not  diverted  by  the  thousand 
objects  of  interest  which  he  passed  by,  nor  stop- 
ping to  pick  up  the  golden  apples  that  were 
flung  before  his  feet. 

This  tremendous  faculty  of  work  was  relieved 
by  a  wonderful  playfulness.  This  rarely  ap- 
pears in  his  writings,  but  was  very  frequent  in 
his  social  intercourse.  It  was  a  simple-hearted 
joyousness,  the  effervescence  of  a  spirit  at  peace 
with  God  and  man.  It  not  seldom,  however,  as- 
sumed the  form  of  good-natured  banter  or  a  prac- 
tical joke.  Indications  of  this  playfulness  have 
already  been  given,  and  I  have  tried  to  put  upon 
paper  some  instances  that  occur  to  my  own  rec- 
ollection, but  the  fun  depended  so  much  upon 
his  manner  that  it  loses  its  aroma  when  sepa- 
rated from  himself. 

However,  I  will  try  one  story.  I  was  spend- 
ing a  night  at  a  hotel  at  Ramsgate  when  on 
light-house  business.  Early  in  the  morning  there 
came  a  knock  at  the  bedroom  door,  but,  as  I  hap- 
pened to  be  performing  my  ablutions,  I  cried 
"Who's  there?"  "Guess."  I  went  over  the 
names  of  my  brother  commissioners,  but  heard 
only  "  No,  no,"  till,  not  thinking  of  any  other 
friend  likely  to  hunt  me  up  in  that  place,  I  left 
off  guessing ;  and  on  opening  the  door,  I  saw 
Faraday  enjoying  with  a  laugh  my  inability  to 
recognize  his  voice  through  a  deal  board. 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  87 

A  student  of  the  late  Professor  Darnell  teHs 
me  that  he  remembers  Faraday  often  coming 
into  the  lecture-room  at  King's  College  just 
when  the  professor  had  finished  and  was  explain- 
ing matters  more  fully  to  any  of  his  pupils  who 
chose  to  come  down  to  the  table.  On  the  day 
the  subject  discoursed  on  and  illustrated  had 
been  sulphureted  hydrogen,  and  a  little  of  the 
gas  had  escaped  into  the  room,  as  it  perversely 
will  do.  When  Faraday  entered  he  put  on  a 
look  of  astonishment,  as  though  he  hed  never 
smelt  such  a  thing  before,  and  in  a  comical  man- 
ner said, "  Ah  !  a  savory  lecture,  Daniell !"  On 
another  occasion  there  was  a  little  ammonia  left 
in  a  jar  over  mercury.  He  pressed  Daniell  to 
tell  him  what  it  was,  and  when  the  professor 
had  put  his  head  down  to  see  more  clearly,  he 
whiffed  some  of  the  pungent  gas  into  his  face. 

Occasionally  this  humor  was  turned  to  good 
account,  as  when,  on  Friday  evening  before  the 
lecture,  he  told  the  audience  that  he  had  been 
requested  by  the  managers  to  mention  two  cases 
of  infringement  of  rule.  The  first  related  to  the 
red  cord  which  marks  off  the  members'  seats. 
"The  second  case  I  take  to  be  a  hypothetical 
one,  namely,  that  of  a  gentleman  wearing  his  hat 
in  the  drawing-room."  This  produced  a  laugh, 
which  the  professor  joined  in,  bowed,  and  retired. 

This  faithful  discharge  of  duty,  this  almost 


88  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

intuitive  insight  into  natural  phenomena,  and 
this  persevering  enthusiasm  in  the  pursuit  of 
truth,  might  alone  have  secured  a  great  position 
in  the  scientific  world,  but  they  alone  could  nev- 
er have  won- for  him  that  large  inheritance  of  re- 
spect and  love.  His  contemporaries  might  have 
gazed  upon  him  with  an  interest  and  admiration 
akin  to  that  with  which  he  watched  a  thunder- 
storm; but  who  feels  his  affections  drawn  out 
toward  a  mere  intellectual  Jupiter;  we  must 
look  deeper  into  his  character  to  understand  this. 
There  is  a  law  well  recognized  in  the  science  of 
light  and  heat,  that  a  body  can  absorb  only  the 
same  sort  of  rays  which  it  is  capable  of  emit- 
ting. Just  so  is  it  in  the  moral  world.  The  re- 
spect and  love  of  his  generation  were  given  to 
Faraday  because  his  own  nature  was  full  of  love 
and  respect  for  others. 

Each  of  these  qualities — his  respect  for  and 
love  to  others,  or,  more  generally,  his  reverence 
and  kindliness — deserves  careful  examination. 

Throughout  his  life,  Michael  Faraday  appeared 
as  though  standing  in  a  reverential  attitude  to- 
ward Nature,  Man,  and  God. 

Toward  Nature,  for  he  regarded  the  universe 
as  a  vast  congeries  of  facts  which  would  not 
bend  to  human  theories.  Speaking  of  his  own 
early  life,  he  says :  "  I  was  a  very  lively,  imagi- 
native person,  and  could  believe  in  the  '  Arabian 


STUDY    OF   HIS    CHARACTER.  89 

Nights'  as  easily  as  in  the  '  Encyclopaedia ;'  but 
facts  were  important  to  me,  and  saved  me.  I 
could  trust  a  fact,  and  always  cross-examined  an 
assertion."  He  was,  indeed,  a  true  disciple  of 
that  philosophy  which  says,  "  Man,  who  is  the 
servant  and  interpreter  of  Nature,  can  act  and 
understand  no  farther  than  he  has,  either  in  oper- 
ation or  in  contemplation,  observed  of  the  meth- 
od and  order  of  Nature."*  And  verily  Nature 
admitted  her  servant  into  her  secret  chambers, 
and  showed  him  marvels  to  interpret  to  his  fel- 
low-men more  wonderful  and  beautiful  than  the 
phantasmagoria  of  Eastern  romance. 

His  reverence  toward  Man  showed  itself  in  the 
respect  he  uniformly  paid  to  others  and  to  him- 
self. Thoroughly  genuine  and  simple-hearted 
himself,  he  was  wont  to  credit  his  fellow -men 
with  high  motives  and  good  reasons.  This  was 
rather  uncomfortable  when  one  was  conscious  of 
no  such  merit,  and  I  at  least  have  felt  ashamed 
in  his  presence  of  the  poor  commonplace  grounds 
of  my  words  and  actions..  To  be  in  his  company 
was  in  fact  a  moral  tonic.  As  he  had  learned 
the  difficult  art  of  honoring  all  men,  he  was  not 
likely  to  run  after  those  whom  the  world  count- 
ed great.  "We  must  get  Garibaldi  to  come 
some  Friday  evening,"  said  a  member  of  the  In- 
stitution during  the  visit  of  the  Italian  hero  to 
*  Bacon's  "Novum  Organum,"  i.,  1. 


90  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

London.  "  Well,  if  Garibaldi  thinks  he  can  learn 
any  thing  from  us,  we  shall  be  happy  to  see 
him,"  was  Faraday's  reply.  This  nobility  of  re- 
gard not  only  preserved  him  from  envying  the 
success  of  other  explorers  in  the  same  field,'but 
led  him  heartily  to  rejoice  with  them  in  their 
discoveries. 

Dumas  gives  us  a  picture  of  Foucault  showing 
Faraday  some  of  his  admirable  experiments,  and 
of  the  two  men  looking  at  one  another  with  eyes 
moistened,  but  full  of  bright  expression,  as  they 
stood  hand  in  hand,  silently  thankful — the  one 
for  the  pleasure  he  had  experienced,  the  other 
for  the  honor  that  had  been  done  him.  He  also 
tells  how,  on  another  occasion,  he  breakfasted  at 
Albemarle  Street,  and  during  the  meal  Mr.  Far- 
aday made  some  eulogistic  remarks  upon  Davy, 
which  were  coldly  received  by  his  guest.  Aft- 
er breakfast  he  was  taken  down  stairs  to  the 
anteroom  of  the  lecture  theatre,  when  Faraday, 
walking  up  to  the  portrait  of  his  old  master,  ex- 
claimed, "  Wasn't  he  a  great  man !"  then  turn- 
ing round  to  the  window  next  the  entrance  door, 
he  added, "  It  was  there  that  he  spoke  to  me  for 
the  first  time."  The  Frenchman  bowed.  They 
descended  the  stairs  again  to  the  laboratory. 
Faraday  pulled  out  an  old  note-book,  and,  turn- 
ing over  its  pages,  showed  where  Davy  had  en- 
tered the  means  by  which  the  first  globule  of 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  91 

potassium  was  produced,  and  had  drawn  a  line 
round  the  description,  with  the  words  "  Capital 
experiment."  The  French  chemist  owned  him- 
self vanquished,  and  tells  the  tale  in  honor  of 
him  who  remembered  the  greatness  and  forgot 
the  littlenesses  of  his  teacher. 

And  the  respect  he  showed  to  others  he  re- 
quired to  be  shown  to  himself.  It  is  difficult  to 
imagine  any  one  taking  liberties  with  him,  and 
it  was  only  in  early  life  that  there  were  small- 
minded  creatures  who  would  treat  him,  not  ac- 
cording to  what  he  was,  but  according  to  the  po- 
sition from  which  he  had  risen.  His  servants 
and  work-people  were  always  attentive  to  the 
smallest  expression  of  his  wish.  Still,  he  did  not 
"go  through  life  with  his  elbows  out."  He  once 
wrote  to  Matteucci :  "  I  see  that  that  moves  you 
which  would  move  me  most,  viz.,  the  imputation 
of  a  want  of  good  faith ;  and  I  cordially  sympa- 
thize with  any  one  who  is  so  charged  unjustly. 
Such  cases  have  seemed  to  me  almost  the  only 
ones  for  which  it  is  worth  while  entering  into 
controversy.  I  have  felt  myself  not  unfrequent- 
ly  misunderstood,  often  misrepresented,  some- 
times passed  by,  as  in  the  cases  of  specific  in- 
ductive capacity,  magneto-electric  currents,  defi- 
nite electrolytic  action,  etc.,  etc. ;  but  it  is  only 
in  the  cases  where  moral  turpitude  has  been  im- 
plied that  I  have  felt  called  upon  to  enter  on  the 


92  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

subject  in  reply."  Yet,  where  he  felt  that  his 
honor  was  impugned,  none  could  be  more  sensi- 
tive or  more  resolute. 

This  desire  to  clear  himself,  combined  with  his 
delicate  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others,  struck 
me  forcibly  in  the  following  incident.  At  Mr. 
Barlow's  one  Friday  evening  after  the  discourse, 
two  or  three  other  chemists  and  myself  were 
commenting  unfavorably  on  a  public  act  of  Far- 
aday, when  suddenly  he  appeared  beside  us.  I 
did  not  hesitate  to  tell  him  my  opinion.  He 
gave  me  a  short  answer,  and  joined  others  of 
the  company.  A  few  days  afterward  he  found 
me  in  the  laboratory  preparing  for  a  lecture,  and, 
without  referring  directly  to  what  I  had  said,  he 
gave  me  a  full  history  of  the  transaction  in  such 
a  way  as  to  show  that  he  could  not  have  acted 
otherwise,  and  at  the  same  time  to  render  any 
apology  on  my  part  unnecessary. 

Intimately  connected  with  his  respect  for  Man 
as  well  as  reverence  for  truth  was  the  flash  of 
his  indignation  against  any  injustice,  and  his  hot 
anger  against  any  whom  he  discovered  to  be  pre- 
tenders. When,  for  instance,  he  had  convinced 
himself  that  the  reputed  facts  of  table-turning 
and  spiritualism  were  false,  his  severe  denuncia- 
tion of  the  whole  thing  followed  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

Thus,  too,  a  story  is  told  of  his  once  taking 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  93 

the  side  of  the  injured  in  a  street  quarrel  by  the 
pump  in  Savile  Row.  One  evening  also  at  my 
house,  a  young  man  who  has  since  acquired  a 
scientific  renown  was  showing  specimens  of  some 
new  compounds  he  had  made.  A  well-known 
chemist  objected  that,  after  all,  they  were  mere 
products  of  the  laboratory ;  but  Faraday  came 
to  the  help  of  the  young  experimenter,  and  con- 
tended that  they  were  chemical  substances  wor- 
thy of  attention,  just  as  much  as  though  they 
occurred  in  nature. 

His  reverence  for  God  was  shown  not  merely 
by  that  homage  which  every  religious  man  must 
pay  to  his  Creator  and  Redeemer,  but  by  the  en- 
folding of  the  words  of  Scripture  and  similar  ex- 
pressions in  such  a  robe  of  sacredness  that 'he 
rarely  allowed  them  to  pass  his  lips  or  flow  from 
his  pen  unless  he  was  convinced  of  the  full  sym- 
pathy of  the  person  with  whom  he  was  holding 
intercourse. 

This  characteristic  reverence  was  united  to 
an  equally  characteristic  kindliness.  This  word 
does  not  exactly  express  the  quality  intended; 
but  unselfishness  is  negative,  goodness  is  too 
general,  love  is  commonly  used  with  special 
applications ;  kindness,  friendship,  geniality,  and 
benevolence  are  only  single  aspects  of  the  qual- 
ity. Let  the  reader  add  these  terms  all  together, 
and  the  resultant  will  be  about  what  is  meant.* 
*  Bence  Jones  has  used  the  Greek  a 


94  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

Faraday's  love  to  children  was  one  way  in 
which  this  kindliness  was  shown.  Having  no 
children  of  his  own,  he  surrounded  himself  usu- 
ally with  his  nieces :  we  have  already  had  a 
glimpse  of  him  heartily  entering  into  their  play, 
and  we  are  told  how  a  word  or  two  from  uncle 
would  clear  away  all  the  trouble  from  a  difficult 
lesson,  that  a  long  sum  in  arithmetic  became  a 
delight  when  he  undertook  to  explain  it,  and 
that  when  the  little  girl  was  naughty  and  rebel- 
lious, he  could  gently  win  her  round,  telling  her 
how  he  used  to  feel  himself  when  he  was  young, 
and  advising  her  to  submit  to  the  reproof  she 
was  fighting  against.  Nor  were  his  own  rela- 
tives the  only  sharers  of  this  kindness.  One 
friend  cherishes  among  his  earliest  recollections 
that  of  Faraday  making  for  him  a  fly-cage  and 
a  paper  purse,  which  had  a  real  bright  half-crown 
in  it.  When  the  present  Mr.  Baden  Powell  was 
a  little  fellow  of  thirteen,  he  used  to  give  short 
lectures  on  chemistry  in  his  father's  house,  and 
the  philosopher  of  Albemarle  Street  liked  to  join 
the  family  audience,  and  would  listen  and  ap- 
plaud the  experiments  heartily.  When  one  day 
my  wife  and  I  called  on  him  with  our  children, 
he  set  them  playing  at  hide-and-seek  in  the  lec- 
ture theatre,  and  afterward  amused  them  up 
stairs  with  tuning-forks  and  resounding  glasses. 
At  a  soiree  at  Mr.  Justice  Grove's,  he  wanted  to 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  95 

see  the  younger  children  of  the  family ;  so  the 
eldest  daughter  brought  down  the  little  ones  in 
their  night-gowns  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and 
Faraday  expressed  his  gratification  with  "  Ah ! 
that's  the  best  thing  you  have  done  to-night." 
And  when  his  faculties  had  nearly  faded,  it  is  re- 
membered how  the  stroking  of  his  hand  by  Mr. 
Vincent's  little  daughter  quickened  him  again 
to  bright  and  loving  interest. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  illustrations  of 
this  kindliness  in  various  relations  of  life. 

Here  is  one  of  his  own  telling,  where  certainly 
the  effect  produced  was  not  owing  to  any  knowl- 
edge of  how  princely  an  intellect  underlay  the 
loving  spirit.  It  is  from  a  journal  of  his  tour  in 
Wales: 

"  Tuesday,  July  2Qth.  After  dinner  I  set  off  on 
a  ramble  to  Melincourt,  a  waterfall  on  the  north 
side  of  the  valley,  and  about  six  miles  from  our 
inn.  Here  I  got  a  little  damsel  for  my  guide 
who  could  not  speak  a  word  of  English.  We, 
however,  talked  together  all  the  way  to  the  fall, 
though  neither  knew  what  the  other  said.  I  was 
delighted  with  her  burst  of  pleasure  as,  on  turn- 
ing a  corner,  she  first  showed  me  the  waterfall. 
While  I  was  admiring  the  scene,  my  little  Welsh 
damsel  was  busy  running  about,  even  under  the 
stream,  gathering  strawberries.  On  returning 
from  the  fall,  I  gave  her  a  shilling  that  I  might 


96  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

enjoy  her  pleasure :  she  courtesied,  and  I  per- 
ceived her  delight.  She  again  ran  before  me 
back  to  the  village,  but  wished  to  step  aside 
every  now  and  then  to  pull  strawberries.  Every 
bramble  she  carefully  moved  out  of  the  way, 
and  ventured  her  bare  feet  to  try  stony  paths, 
that  she  might  find  the  safest  for  mine.  I  ob- 
served her  as  she  ran  before  me,  when  she  met  a 
village  companion,  open  her  hand  to  show  her 
prize,  but  without  any  stoppage,  word,  or  other 
motion.  When  we  returned  to  the  village  I  bade 
her  good-night,  and  she  bade  me  farewell,  both 
by  her  actions,  and,  I  have  no  doubt,  her  lan- 
guage too." 

In  a  letter  which  Mr.  Abel,  the  Director  of  the 
Chemical  Department  of  the  War  Establishment, 
has  sent  me,  occur  the  following  remarks : 

"Early  in  1849 1  was  appointed,  partly  through 
the  kind  recommendation  of  Faraday,  to  instruct 
the  senior  cadets  and  a  class  of  artillery  officers 
in  the  Arsenal  in  practical  chemistry.  On  the 
occasion  of  my  first  attendance  at  Woolwich, 
when,  having  just  reached  manhood,  I  was  about 
to  deliver  my  first  lecture  as  a  recognized  teach- 
er, I  was  naturally  nervous,  and  was  therefore 
dismayed  when,  on  entering  the  class-room,  1 
perceived  Faraday,  who,  having  come  to  Wool- 
wich, as  usual,  to  prepare  for  his  next  morn- 
ing's lecture  at  the  Military  Academy,  had  been 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  97 

prompted  by  his  kindly  feelings  to  lend  me  the 
support  of  his  presence  upon  my  first  appearance 
among  his  old  pupils.  In  a  moment  Faraday 
put  me  completely  at  my  ease;  he  greeted  me 
heartily,  saying,  'Well,  Abel,  I  have  come  to  see 
whether  I  can  assist  you ;'  and,  suiting  action  to 
word,  he  bustled  about,  persisting  in  helping  me 
in  the  arrangement  of  my  lecture-table,  and  at 
the  close  of  my  demonstration  he  followed  me 
from  pupil  to  pupil,  aiding  each  in  his  first  at- 
tempt at  manipulation,  and  evidently  enjoying 
most  heartily  the  self-imposed  duty  of  assistant 
to  his  young  protege" 

Another  scientific  friend,  Mr.  W.  F.  Barrett, 
writes:  "My  first  interview  with  Mr.  Faraday 
ten  years  ago  left  an  impression  upon  me  I  can 
never  forget.  Young  student  as  I  then  was, 
thinking  chiefly  of  present  work  and  little  of 
future  prospects,  and  till  then  unknown  to  Mr. 
Faraday,  judge  of  my  feelings  when,  taking  my 
hand  in  both  of  his,  he  said,  'I  congratulate  you 
upon  choosing  to  be  a  philosopher :  it  is  an  ardu- 
ous life,  but  a  noble  and  a  glorious  one.  Work 
hard,  and  work  carefully,  and  you  will  have  suc- 
cess.' The  sweet  yet  serious  way  he  said  this 
made  the  earnestness  of  work  become  a  very  viv- 
id reality,  and  led  me  to  doubt  whether  I  had 
not  dared  to  undertake  too  lofty  a  pursuit.  Aft- 
er this  Mr.  Faraday  never  forgot  to  remember 
G 


98  MICHAEL   FAB  AD  AY. 

me  in  a  number  of  thoughtful  and  delicate  ways. 
He  would  ask  me  up  stairs  to  his  room  to 
describe  or  show  him  the  results  of  any  little 
investigation  I  might  have  made:  taking  the 
greatest  interest  in  it  all,  his  pleasure  would 
seem  to  equal  and  thus  heighten  mine,  and  then 
he  would  add  words  of  kind  suggestion  and  en- 
couragement. In  the  same  kindly  spirit  he  has 
invited  me  to  his  house  at  Hampton  Court,  or 
would  ask  me  to  join  him  at  supper  after  the 
Friday  evening's  lecture.  His  kindness  is  fur- 
ther shown  by  his  giving  me  a  volume  of  his 
researches  on  Chemistry  and  Physics,  writing 
therein,  'From  his  friend,  Michael  Faraday.' 
Those  who  live  alone  in  London,  unknown  and 
uncared  for  by  any  around  them,  can  best  appre- 
ciate these  marks  of  attention  which  Mr.  Faraday 
invariably  showed,  and  not  only  to  myself,  but 
equally  to  my  fellow-assistant  in  the  chemical 
laboratory." 

The  following  instance  among  many  that 
might  be  quoted  will  illustrate  his  readiness  to 
take  trouble  on  behalf  of  others.  When  Dr. 
Noad  was  writing  his  "  Manual  of  Electricity," 
a  doubt  crossed  his  mind  as  to  whether  Sir  Snow 
Harris's  unit  jar  gave  a  true  measure  of  the  quan- 
tity of  electricity  thrown  into  a  Leyden  jar:  he 
asked  Faraday,  and  his  doubt  was  confirmed. 
Shortly  afterward  he  received  a  letter  beginning 
thus : 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  99 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — While  looking  over  my  pa- 
pers on  induction,  I  was  reminded  of  our  talk 
about  Harris's  unit  jar,  and  recollected  that  I  had 
given  you  a  result  just  the  reverse  of  my  old  con- 
clusions, and,  as  I  believe,  of  the  truth.  I  think 
the  jar  is  a  true  measure,  so  long  as  the  circum- 
stances of  position,  etc.,  are  not  altered;  for  its 
discharge  and  the  quantity  of  electricity  thus 
passed  on  depends  on  the  constant  relation  of  the 
balls  connected  with  the  inner  and  outer  surface 
coating  to  each  other,  and  is  independent  of  their 

joint  relation  to  the  machine,  battery,  etc 

Perhaps  I  have  not  made  my  view  clear,  but  next 
time  we  meet  remind  me  of  the  matter. 

"  Ever  truly  yours,  M.  FARADAY." 

And  just  a  week  afterward  Dr.  Noad  received  a 
second  letter,  surmounted  by  a  neat  drawing, 
and  describing  at  great  length  experiments  that 
the  professor  had  since  made  in  order  to  place 
the  matter  beyond  doubt. 

And  it  was  not  merely  for  friends  and  brother 
savants  that  he  would  take  trouble.  Old  vol- 
umes of  the  Mechanics' Magazine  bear  testimony 
to  the  way  in  which  he  was  asked  questions  by 
people  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  that  he 
was  accustomed  to  give  painstaking  answers  to 
such  letters. 

"  Do  to  others  as  you  would  wish  them  to  do 


100  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

to  you,"  was  a  precept  often  on  his  lips.  But  I 
have  heard  that  he  was  sometimes  charged  with 
transgressing  it  himself,  inasmuch  as  he  took  an 
amount  of  trouble  for  other  people  which  he 
would  have  been  very  distressed  if  they  had 
taken  for  him. 

His  charities  were  very  numerous — not  to  beg- 
gars ;  for  them  he  had  the  Mendicity  Society's 
tickets — but  to  those  whose  need  he  knew.  The 
porter  of  the  Royal  Institution  has  shown  me, 
among  his  treasured  memorials,  a  large  number 
of  forms  for  post-office  orders  for  sums  varying 
from  5s.  to  £5,  which  Faraday  was  in  the  habit 
of  sending  in  that  way  to  different  recipients  of 
his  thoughtful  bounty.  Two  or  three  instances 
have  come  to  my  knowledge  of  his  having  given 
more  considerable  sums  of  money — say  £20 — to 
persons  who  he  thought  would  be  benefited  by 
them.  In  some  instances  the  gift  was  called  a 
loan,  but  he  lent  "  not  expecting  again,"  and  en- 
tered into  the  spirit  of  the  injunction,  "When 
thou  doest  alms,  let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what 
thy  right  hand  doeth." 

This  principle  was  in  fact  stated  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  a  friend :  "  As  a  case  of  distress,  I  shall 
be  very  happy  to  help  you  as  far  as  my  means 
allow  me  in  such  cases ;  but  then  I  never  let  my 
name  go  to  such  acts,  and  very  rarely  even  the 
initials  of  my  name."  His  contributions  to  the 


STUDY    OF  HIS   CHAKACTEB.  101 

general  funds  of  his  Church  were  kept  equally 
secret. 

From  all  these  circumstances,  therefore,  it  is 
impossible  to  gauge  the  amount  of  his  charitable 
gifts ;  but  when  it  is  remembered  that  for  many 
years  his  income  from  different  sources  must  have 
been  £1000  or  £1200,  that  he  and  Mrs.  Faraday 
lived  in  a  simple  manner — comfortably,  it  is  true, 
but  not  luxuriously — and  that  his  whole  income 
was  disposed  of  in  some  way,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  his  gifts  amounted  to  several  hun- 
dred pounds  per  annum. 

But  it  was  not  in  monetary  gifts  alone  that  his 
kindness  to  the  distressed  was  shown.  Time  was 
spent  as  freely  as  money,  and  an  engrossing  sci- 
entific research  would  not  be  allowed  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  his  succoring  the  sorrowful.  Many 
persons  have  told  me  of  his  self-denying  deeds  on 
behalf  of  those  who  were  ill,  and  of  his  encour- 
aging words.  He  had,  indeed,  a  heart  ever  ready 
to  sympathize.  Thus,  meeting  once  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Hampton  Court  an  old  friend  who 
had  retired  there  invalided  and  was  being  drawn 
about  in  a  Bath  chair,  he  is  said  to  have  burst 
into  tears. 

When  eight  years  ago  my  wife  and  my  only 
son  were  taken  away  together,  and  I  lay  ill  of 
the  same  fatal  disease,  he  called  at  my  house, 
and,  in  spite  of  remonstrances,  found  his  way  into 


102  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

the  infected  chamber.  He  would  have  taken  me 
by  the  hand  if  I  had  allowed  him ;  and  then  he 
sat  a  while  by  my  bedside,  consoling  me  with 
his  sympathy  and  cheering  me  with  the  Chris- 
tian hope. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  this  kindliness  took  the 
hearts  of  men  captive ;  and  this  quality  was,  like 
mercy, "twice  blessed ;  it  blesseth  him  that  gives, 
and  him  that  takes."  The  feeling  awakened  in 
the  minds  of  others  by  this  kindliness  was  in- 
deed a  source  of  the  purest  pleasure  to  himself; 
trifling  proofs  of  interest  or  love  could  easily 
move  his  thankfulness;  and  he  richly  enjoyed 
the  appreciation  of  his  scientific  labors.  This 
would  often  break  forth  in  words.  Thus,  in  the 
middle  of  a  letter  to  A.  De  la  Rive,  principally 
on  scientific  matters,  he  writes :  . 

"  Do  you  remember  one  hot  day,  I  can  not  tell 
how  many  years  ago,  when  I  was  hot  and  thirsty 
in  Geneva,  and  you  took  me  to  your  house  in  the 
town  and  gave  me  a  glass  of  water  and  raspberry 
vinegar  ?  That  glass  of  drink  is  refreshing  to  me 
still." 

Again:  "  Tyndall,  the  sweetest  reward  of  my 
work  is  the  sympathy  and  good  will  which  it 
has  caused  to  flow  in  upon  me  from  all  quarters 
of  the  world." 

But  to  estimate  rightly  this  amiability  of  char- 
acter, it  must  be  distinctly  remembered  that  it 


STUDY    OF    HIS   CHARACTER.  103 

was  not  that  superabundance  of  good  nature 
which  renders  some  men  incapable  of  holding 
their  own,  or  rebuking  what  they  know  to  be 
wrong.  In  proof  of  this,  his  letters  to  the  spir- 
itualists might  be  quoted;  but  the  following 
have  not  hitherto  seen  the  light.  They  are  ad- 
dressed to  two  different  parties  whose  inventions 
came  officially  before  him. 

"  You  write  '  private'  on  the  outside  of  your 
official  communication,  and  '  confidential'  within. 
I  will  take  care  to  respect  these  instructions  as 
far  as  falls  within  my  duty ;  but  I  can  have 
nothing  private  or  confidential  as  regards  the 
Trinity  House,  which  is  my  chief.  Whatever 
opinion  I  send  to  them  I  must  accompany  with 
the  papers  you  send  me.  If,  therefore,  you  wish 
any  thing  held  back  from  them,  send  me  another 
official  answer,  and  I  will  return  you  the  one  I 
have,  marked  '  confidential.'  Our  correspond- 
ence is  indeed  likely  to  become  a  little  irregular, 
because  your  papers  have  not  come  to  me 
through  the  Trinity  House.  You  will  feel  that 
I  can  not  communicate  any  opinion  I  may  form 
to  you:  I  am  bound  to  the  Trinity  House,  to 
whom  I  must  communicate  in  confidence.  I 
have  no  objection  to  your  knowing  my  conclu- 
sions ;  but  the  Trinity  House  is  the  fit  judge  of 
the  use  it  may  make  of  them,  or  the  degree  of 
confidence  they  may  think  they  deserve,  or  the 


104  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

parties  to  whom  they  may  choose  to  communi- 
cate them." 

By  a  foot-note  it  appears  that  the  private  and 
confidential  communication  was  returned  to  the 
writer,  by  desire,  four  days  afterward. 

"  SIK, — I  have  received  your  note  and  read 
your  pamphlet.  There  is  nothing  in  either  which 
makes  it  at  all  desirable  to  me  to  see  your  appa- 
ratus, for  I  have  not  time  to  spare  to  look  at  a 
matter  two  or  three  times  over.  In  referring  to 

,  I  suppose  you  refer  also  to  his  application 

to  the  Trinity  House.  In  that  case  I  shall  hear 
from  him  through  the  Trinity  House.  He  has, 
however,  certain  inquiries  (which  I  have  no 
doubt  have  gone  to  him  long  ago  through  the 
Trinity  House)  to  answer  before  I  shall  think  it 
necessary  to  take  any  further  steps  in  the  mat- 
ter. With  these,  however,  I  suppose  you  have 
nothing  to  do. 

"  Are  you  aware  that  many  years  ago  our  In- 
stitution was  lighted  up  for  months,  if  not  for 
years  together,  by  oil  gas  (or,  as  you  call  it,  ole- 
fiant  gas),  compressed  into  cylinders  to  the  ex- 
tent of  thirty  atmospheres,  and  brought  to  us 
from  a  distance  ?  I  have  no  idea  that  the  patent 
referred  to  at  the  bottom  of  page  9  could  stand 
for  an  hour  in  a  court  of  law.  I  think,  too,  you 
are  wrong  in  misaaplying  the  word  olefiant.  It 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  105 

already  belongs  to  a  particular  gas,  and  can  not, 
without  confusion,  be  used  as  you  use  it. 
"  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"M.  FARADAY." 

"SiR, — Thanks  for  your  letter.  At  the  close 
of  it  you  ask  me  privately  and  confidingly  for  the 
encouragement  my  opinion  might  give  you  if 
this  power  gas-light  is  fit  for  light-houses.  I  am 
unable  to  assent  to  your  request,  as  my  position 
at  the  Trinity  House  requires  that  I  should  be 
able  to  take  up  any  subject,  applications,  or  doc- 
uments they  may  bring  before  me  in  a  perfectly 
unbiased  condition  of  mind. 

"  I  am,  sir,  yours  very  truly,  M.  FARADAY." 

The  kindliness  which  shed  its  genial  radiance 
on  every  object  around  glowed  most  warmly  on 
the  domestic  hearth.  Little  expressions  in  his 
writings  often  reveal  it,  as  when  we  read  in  his 
Swiss  journal  about  Interlachen :  "Cloutnail  ma- 
king goes  on  here  rather  considerably,  and  is  a 
neat  and  pretty  operation  to  observe.  I  love  a 
smith's  shop,  and  any  thing  relating  to  smith- 
ery.  My  father  was  a  smith." 

When  he  was  sitting  to  Noble  for  his  bust,  it 
happened  one  day  that  the  sculptor,  in  giving 
the  finishing  touches  to  the  marble,  made  a  clat- 
tering with  his  chisels :  noticing  that  his  sitter 


106  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

appeared  distrait,  he  said  that  he  feared  the  jing. 
ling  of  the  tools  had  annoyed  him,  and  that  he 
was  weary.  "  No,  my  dear  Mr.  Noble,"  said  Far- 
aday, putting  his  hand  on  his  shoulder, "  but 
the  noise  reminded  me  of  my  father's  anvil,  and 
took  me  back  to  my  boyhood." 

This  deep  affection  peeps  out  constantly  in  his 
letters  to  different  members  of  his  family, "  bound 
up  together,"  as  he  wrote  to  his  sister-in-law, "  in 
the  one  hope,  and  in  faith  and  love  which  is  in 
Jesus  Christ."  But  it  was  toward  his  wife  that 
his  love  glowed  most  intensely.  Yet  how  can 
we  properly  speak  of  this  sacred  relationship,  es- 
pecially as  the  mourning  widow  is  still  among 
us  ?  It  may  suffice  to  catch  the  glimpse  that  is 
reflected  in  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Andrew  Crosse  on  the  death 
of  her  husband : 

"  July  12,  1855. 

".  .  .  .  Believe  that  I  sympathize  with  you 
most  deeply,  for  I  enjoy  in  my  life-partner  those 
things  which  you  speak  of  as  making  you  feel 
your  loss  so  heavily. 

"It  is  the  kindly  domestic  affections,  the  wor- 
thiness, the  mutual  aid  in  sorrow,  the  mutual  joy 
in  happiness  that  has  existed,  which  makes  the 
rupture  of  such  a  tie  as  yours  so  heavy  to  bear ; 
and  yet  you  would  not  wish  it  otherwise,  for  the 
remembrance  of  those  things  brings  solace  with 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  107 

the  grief.  I  speak,  thinking  what  my  own  trouble 
would  be  if  I  lost  my  partner ;  and  I  try  to  com- 
fort you  in  the  only  way  in  which  I  think  I  could 
be  comforted.  M.  FARADAY." 

There  was,  as  Tyndall  has  observed,  a  mixture 
of  chivalry  with  this  affection.  In  his  book  of 
diplomas  he  made  the  following  remarkable  en- 
try: 

"25th  January,  1847. 

"Among  these  records  and  events,  I  here  in- 
sert the  date  of  one  which,  as  a  source  of  honor 
and  happiness,  far  exceeds  all  the  rest.  We 
were  married  on  June  12, 1821. 

"M.  FARADAY." 

On  the  character  of  Faraday,  these  two  quali- 
ties of  reverence  and  kindliness  have  appeared 
to  me  singularly  influential.  Among  the  ways 
in  which  they  manifested  themselves  was  that 
beautiful  combination  of  firmness  and  gentleness 
which  has  been  frequently  remarked :  intimate- 
ly associated  with  them  also  were  his  simplicity 
and  truthfulness.  These  points  must  have  made 
themselves  evident  already,  but  they  deserve 
further  illustration. 

In  his  early  days,  "  one  Sabbath  morning,  his 
swift  and  sober  steps  were  carrying  him  along 
the  Holborn  pavement  toward  his  meeting-house, 


108  MICHAEL   FAEApAY. 

when  some  small  missile  struck  him  smartly  on 
the  hat.  He  would  have  thought  it  an  accident 
and  passed  on,  when  a  second  and  a  third  rap 
caused  him  to  turn  and  look  just  in  time  to  per- 
ceive a  face  hastily  withdrawn  from  a  window 
in  the  upper  story  of  a  closed  linen-draper's  es- 
tablishment. Roused  by  the  affront,  he  marched 
up  to  the  door  and  rapped.  The  servant,  open- 
ing it,  said  there  was  no  one  at  home ;  but  Far- 
aday declared  he  knew  better,  and  desired  to  be 
shown  up  stairs.  Opposition  still  being  made, 
he  pushed  on,  made  his  .  way  up  through  the 
house,  opened  the  door  of  an  upper  room,  dis- 
covering a  party  of  young  drapers'  assistants, 
who  at  once  professed  they  knew  nothing  of  the 
motive  of  this  sudden  visit.  But  the  hunter 
had  now  run  his  game  to  earth:  he  taxed  them 
sharply  with  their  annoyance  of  wayfarers  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  said  that  unless  an  apology 
were  made  at  once,  they  should  hear  from  their 
employer  of  something  much  to  their  disadvan- 
tage. An  apology  was  made  forthwith."* 

Long,  long  after  this  event,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Fara- 
day, with  Dr.  Tyndall,  were  returning  one  even- 
ing from  Mr.  Gassiot's,  on  Clapham  Common  :  a 
dense  fog  came  on,  and  they  did  not  know  where 
they  were.  The  two  gentlemen  got  out  of  their 

*  For  this  anecdote,  and  some  others  in  inverted  commas, 
I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Frank  Barnard. 


STUDY    OP    HIS    CHARACTEE.  109 

vehicle,  and  walked  to  a  house  and  knocked.  A 
man  appeared,  first  at  a  window  and  afterward 
at  the  door,  very  angry  indeed  at  the  disturb- 
ance, and  demanding  to  know  their  business. 
Faraday,  in  his  calm,  irresistible  manner,  ex- 
plained the  situation  and  their  object  in  knock- 
ing. The  man  instantly  changed  his  tone,  looked 
foolish,  and  muttered  something  about  being  in 
a  fright  lest  his  house  of  business  was  on  fire. 

As  to  simplicity  of  character :  when,  in  the 
course  of  writing  this  book,  I  have  spoken  to  his 
acquaintances  about  Faraday,  the  most  frequent 
comment  has  been  in  such  words  as,  "  Oh !  he 
was  a  beautiful  character,  and  so  simple-mind- 
ed." I  have  tried  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  this 
simple-mindedness,  and  I  believe  it  was  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  was  meaning  to  do  right  him- 
self, and  the  belief  that  others  whom  he  ad- 
dressed meant  to  do  right  too,  and  so  he  could 
just  let  them  see  every  thing  that  was  passing 
through  his  mind.  And  while  he  knew  no  rea- 
son for  concealment,  there  was  no  trace  of  self- 
conceit  about  him,  nor  any  pretense  at  being 
what  he  was  not.  To  illustrate  this  quality  is 
not  so  easy;  the  indications  of  it,  like  his  humor, 
were  generally  too  delicate  to  be  transferred  to 
paper ;  but  perhaps  the  following  letter  will  do 
as  well  as  any  thing  else,  for  there  are  few  phi- 
losophers who  could  have  written  so  naturally 


110  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

about  the  pleasures  of  a  pantomime  and  then 
about  his  highest  hopes  : 

"KOYAL  INSTITUTION,  LONDON,  W.,  1st  Jan.,  1857. 
"  MY  DEAR  Miss  COUTTS, — You  are  very  kind 
to  think  of  our  pleasure  and  send  us  entrance  to 
your  box  for  to-morrow  night.  We  thank  you 
very  sincerely,  and  I  mean  to  enjoy  it,  for  I  still 
have  a  sympathy  with  children,  and  all  their 
thoughts  and  pleasure.  Permit  me  to  wish  you 
very  sincerely  a  happy  year;  and  also  to  Mrs. 
Brown.  With  some  of  us  our  greatest  happi- 
ness will  be  content  mingled  with  patience ;  but 
there  is  much  happiness  in  that  and  the  expect- 
ed end.  Ever  your  obliged  servant, 

"M.  FAKADAY."* 

As  to  truthfulness :  he  was  not  only  truthful 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  word,  but  he 
did  not  allow,  either  in  himself  or  others,  hasty 
conclusions,  random  assertions,  or  slippery  logic. 
"At  such  times  he  had  a  way  of  repeating  the 
suspicious  statement  very  slowly  and  distinctly, 

*  In  another  letter  that  Lady  Burdett  Coutts  has  kindly 
sent  me,  Faraday  says  :  "We  had  your  box  once  before,  I 
remember,  for  a  pantomime,  which  is  always  interesting  to 
me  because  of  the  immense  concenti-ation  of  means  which  it 
requires."  In  a  third  he  makes  admiring  comments  on 
Fechter. 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  HI 

with  an  air  of  wondering  scrutiny  as  if  it  had 
astonished  him.  His  irony  was  then  irresistible, 
and  always  produced  a  modification  of  the  ob- 
jectionable phrase." 

"An  acquaintance  rather  given  to  inflict  te- 
dious narratives  on  his  friends  was  descanting  to 
Faraday  on  the  iniquity  of  some  coachman  who 
had  set  him  down  the  previous  night  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  dark  and  miry  road — c  in  fact,'  said  the 
irksome  drawler, '  in  a  perfect  morass ;  and  there 
I  was,  as  you  may  imagine,  half  the  night,  plun- 
ging and  struggling  to  get  out  of  this  dreadful 
morass.'  '  More  ass  you  !'  rapped  out  the  philos- 
opher at  the  top  of  his  scale  of  laughter."  This 
was  a  rare  instance,  for  it  was  only  when  much 
provoked  that  he  would  perpetrate  a  pun,  or  de- 
part from  the  kind  courtesy  of  his  habitual  talk. 

That  he  was  quite  ready  to  give  up  a  state- 
ment or  view  when  it  was  proved  by  others  to 
be  incorrect,  is  shown  by  the  Preface  to  the  vol- 
umes in  which  are  reprinted  his  "Experimen- 
tal Researches."  "  In  giving  advice,"  says  Miss 
Reid,  "  he  always  went  back  to  first  principles, 
to  the  true  right  and  wrong  of  questions,  never 
allowing  deviations  from  the  simple  straight- 
forward path  of  duty  to  be  justified  by  custom 
or  precedent ;  and  he  judged  himself  strictly  by 
the  same  rule  which  he  laid  down  for  others." 

These  beauties  of  character  were  not  marred 


112  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

by  serious  defects  or  opposing  faults.  "  He  could 
not  be  too  closely  approached.  There  were  no 
shabby  places  or  ugly  corners  in  his  mind."  Yet 
he  was  very  far  from  being  one  of  those  passion- 
less men  who  resemble  a  cold  statue  rather  than 
throbbing  flesh  and  blood.  He  was  no  "model 
of  all  the  virtues,"  dreadfully  uninteresting,  and 
discouraging  to  those  who  feel  such  calm  per- 
fection out  of  their  reach.  His  inner  life  was  a 
battle,  with  its  wounds  as  well  as  its  victory. 
Proud  by  nature,  and  quick-tempered,  he  must 
have  found  the  curb  often  necessary ;  but,  not- 
withstanding the  rapidity  of  his  actions  and 
thoughts,  he  knew  how  to  keep  a  tight  rein  on 
that  fiery  spirit. 

I  have  listened  attentively  to  every  remark  in 
disparagement  of  Faraday's  character,  but  the 
only  serious  ones  have  appeared  to  me  to  arise 
from  a  misunderstanding  of  the  man — a  misun- 
derstanding the  more  easy  because  his  standard 
of  right  and  wrong  often  differed  from  the  no- 
tions current  around  him.  Still,  it  may  be  true 
that  his  extreme  sensitiveness  led  him  some- 
times to  do  scant  justice  to  those  who  he  imag- 
ined were  treading  too  closely  in  his  own  foot- 
steps ;  as,  for  instance,  when  Nobili  brought  out 
some  beautiful  experiments  on  magnetism,  just 
after  the  short  notice  of  his  own  discoveries  in 
1831  which  Faraday  had  sent  to  M.  Hachette, 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  113 

and  which  was  communicated  to  the  Academie 
des  Sciences.  It  is  true  also  that,  with  his  great 
caution  and  his  repugnance  to  moral  evil,  he  was 
more  disposed  to  turn  away  in  disgust  from  an 
erring  companion  than  to  endeavor  to  reclaim 
him.  It  has  also  been  imputed  to  him  as  a  fault 
that  he  founded  no  school,  and  took  no  young 
man  by  the  hand  as  Davy  had  taken  him.  That 
this  was  rather  his  misfortune  than  his  fault 
would  appear  from  words  he  once  wrote  to  Miss 
Moore :  "  I  have  often  endeavored  to  discover  a 
genius,  but  have  not  been  very  successful,  though 
many  cases  seemed  promising  at  first."  The 
world  would  doubtless  have  been  the  gainer  if 
he  had  stamped  his  own  image  on  the  minds  of 
a  group  of  disciples ;  but  a  man  can  not  do  ev- 
ery thing ;  and  had  Faraday  been  more  of  a 
teacher,  he  would  perhaps  have  been  less  of  an 
investigator. 

It  has  been  previously  remarked  that  Faraday 
took  little  part  in  social  movements,  and  went 
little  into  society,  but  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  he  was  by  any  means  unsocial.  It  seems 
probable  that  his  freedom  in  this  matter  was 
somewhat  hampered  by  the  principles  in  which 
he  had  been  brought  up :  it  is  certain  that  he 
was  restrained  by  the  desire  to  give  all  the  time 
and  energy  he  could  to  scientific  research.  Yet 
pleasant  stories  are  told  of  his  occasional  ap- 
II 


114  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

pearances  at  social  gatherings.  Thus  he  liked 
to  attend  the  Royal  Academy  dinners,  and  in 
earlier  days  he  enjoyed  the  artistic  and  musical 
conversaziones  at  Hullmandel's,  where  Stanfield 
Turner  and  Landseer  met  Garcia  and  Malibran  ; 
and  sometimes  he  joined  this  pleasant  company 
at  supper  and  charades,  at  others  in  their  excur- 
sions up  the  river  in  an  eight-oared  cutter.  Cap- 
tain Close  has  described  to  me  how,  when  the 
French  Light-house  authorities  put  up  the  screw- 
pile  light  on  the  sands  near  Calais,  they  invited 
the  Trinity  House  officers  and  Faraday  to  in- 
spect it.  A  dinner  was  arranged  for  them  after 
the  inspection,  and  M.  Reynaud  proposed  the 
health  of  the  Stranger  celebre.  A  young  engi- 
neer took  exception  to  Faraday  being  called  a 
stranger — since  he  had  been  at  St.  Cyr  he  had 
known  the  great  Englishman  well  by  his  works. 
The  professor  replied  to  the  compliment  in  the 
language  of  his  hosts,  with  a  few  of  his  happy 
and  kindly  remarks.  A  gentleman  high  in  the 
diplomatic  service,  who  was  present,  remarked 
that  Faraday  had  said  many  things  which  were 
not  French,  but  not  a  word  which  ought  not  to 
be  so. 

More  unrestricted  was  Faraday's  sympathy 
with  Nature.  He  felt  the  poetry  of  the  chang- 
ing seasons,  but  there  were  two  aspects  of  Na- 
ture that  especially  seemed  to  claim  communion 


STUDY    OF    HIS   CHAEACTEE.  115 

with  his  spirit :  he  delighted  in  a  thunder-storm, 
and  he  experienced  a  pleasurable  sadness  as  the 
orange  sunset  faded  into  the  evening  twilight. 
There  are  other  minds  to  which  both  these  sen- 
sations are  familiar,  but  they  seem  to  have  been 
felt  with  great  intensity  by  him.  No  doubt  his 
electrical  knowledge  added  much  to  his  interest 
in  the  grand  discharges  from  the  thunder-clouds, 
but  it  will  hardly  account  for  his  standing  long 
at  a  window  watching  the  vivid  flashes,  a  stran- 
ger to  fear,  with  his  mind  full  of  lofty  thoughts, 
or  perhaps  of  high  communings.  Sometimes, 
too,  if  the  storm  was  at  a  little  distance,  he 
would  summon  a  cab,  and,  in  spite  of  the  pelting 
rain,  drive  to  the  scene  of  awful  beauty. 

One  clear  starry  night  Captain  Close  quoted 
to  him  the  words  of  Lorenzo  in  the  "  Merchant 
of  Venice :" 

"  Look,  how  the  floor  of  heaven 

Is  thick  inlaid  with  patines  of  bright  gold  ; 
There's  not  the  smallest  orb,  which  thou  behold'st, 
But  in  his  motion  like  an  angel  sings, 
Still  quiring  to  the  young-eyed  cherubins : 
Such  harmony  is  in  immortal  souls ; 
But,  whilst  this  muddy  vesture  of  decay 
Doth  grossly  close  us  in,  we  can  not  hear  it." 

Faraday,  who  happened  not  to  be  familiar  with 
the  passage,  made  his  friend  repeat  it  over  and 
over  again  as  he  drank  in  the  whole  meaning  of 
the  poetry,  for  there  is  a  true  sense  in  which  no 


116  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

other  mortal  had  ever  opened  his  ears  so  fully  to 
the  harmony  of  the  universe. 

From  the  plains  of  mental  mediocrity  there 
occasionally  rise  the  mountains  of  genius,  and 
from,  the  dead  level  of  selfish  respectability 
there  stand  out  now  and  then  the  peaks  of  mor- 
al greatness.  Neither  kind  of  excellence  is  so 
common  as  we  could  wish  it,  and  it  is  a  rare  co- 
incidence when,  as  in  Socrates,  the  two  meet  in 
the  same  individual.  In  Faraday  we  have  a 
modern  instance.  There  are  persons  now  living 
who  watched  this  man  of  strong  will  and  intense 
feelings  raising  himself  from  the  lower  ranks  of 
society,  yet  without  losing  his  balance ;  rather 
growing  in  simplicity,  disinterestedness,  and  hu- 
mility as  princes  became  his  correspondents,  and 
all  the  learned  bodies  of  the  world  vied  with 
each  other  to  do  him  homage ;  still  finding  his 
greatest  happiness  at  home,  though  reigning  in 
the  affections  of  all  his  fellows;  loving  every  hon- 
est man,  however  divergent  in  opinion,  and  loved 
most  by  those  who  knew  him  best. 

This  is  the  phenomenon.  By  what  theory  is 
it  to  be  accounted  for  ? 

The  secret  did  not  lie  in  the  nature  of  his  pur- 
suits. This  can  not  be  better  shown  than  in  the 
following  incident  furnished  me  by  Mrs. Grosser 
"  One  morning,  a  few  months  after  we  were 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHARACTER.  117 

married,  my  husband  took  me  to  the  Royal  In- 
stitution to  call  on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Faraday.  I  had 
not  seen  the  laboratory  there,  and  the  philoso- 
pher very  kindly  took  us  over  the  Institution, 
explaining  for  my  information  many  objects  of 
interest.  His  great  vivacity  and  cheeriness  of 
manner  surprised  me  in  a  man  who  devoted  his 
life  to  such  abstruse  studies,  but  I  have  since 
learned  to  know  that  the  highest  philosophical 
nature  is  often,  indeed  generally,  united  with  an 
almost  childlike  simplicity. 

"After  viewing  the  ample  appliances  for  ex- 
perimental research,  and  feeling  impressed  by 
the  scientific  atmosphere  of  the  place,  I  turned 
and  said, '  Mr.  Faraday,  you  must  be  very  happy 
in  your  position  and  with  your  pursuits,  which 
elevate  you  entirely  out  of  the  meaner  aspects 
and  lower  aims  of  common  life.' 

"  He  shook  his  head,  and  with  that  wonderful 
mobility  of  countenance  which  was  characteris- 
tic, his  expression  of  joyousness  changed  to  one 
of  profound  sadness,  and  he  replied :  '  When  I 
quitted  business,  and  took  to  science  as  a  career, 
I  thought  I  had  left  behind  me  all  the  petty 
meannesses  and  small  jealousies  which  hinder 
man  in  his  moral  progress ;  but  I  found  myself 
raised  into  another  sphere  only  to  find  poor  hu- 
man nature  just  the  same  every  where — subject 
to  the  same  weaknesses  and  the  same  self-seek- 
ing, however  exalted  the  intellect.' 


118  MICHAEL    FABADAY. 

"  These  were  his  words  as  well  as  I  can  recol- 
lect ;  and,  looking  at  that  good  and  great  man,  I 
thought  I  had  never  seen  a  countenance  which  so 
impressed  me  with  the  characteristic  of  perfect 
unworldliness.  We  know  how  his  life  proved 
that  this  rare  qualification  was  indeed  his." 

"Childlike  simplicity:"  "unworldliness." 
Where  was  the  tree  rooted  that  bore  such  beau- 
tiful blossoms ?  Faraday  had  learned  in  the 
school  of  Christ  to  become  "  a  little  child,"  and 
he  loved  not  the  world  because  the  love  of  the 
Father  was  in  him. 

We  have  a  charming  glimpse  of  this  in  an  ex- 
tract which  Professor  Tyndall  has  given  from 
an  old  paper  in  which  he  wrote  his  impressions 
after  one  of  his  earliest  dinners  with  the  philoso- 
pher: "At  two  o'clock  he  came  down  for  me. 
He,  his  niece,  and  myself  formed  the  party.  '  I 
never  give  dinners,'  he  said  ;  '  I  don't  know  how 
to  give  dinners;  and  I  never  dine  out.  But  I 
should  not  like  my  friends  to  attribute  this  to  a 
wrong  cause.  I  act  thus  for  the  sake  of  secur- 
ing time  for  work,  and  not  through  religious  mo- 
tives, as  some  imagine.'  He  said  grace.  I  am 
almost  ashamed  to  call  his  prayer  a '  saying'  of 
grace.  In  the  language  of  Scripture,  it  might 
be  described  as  the  petition  of  a  son  into  whose 
heart  God  had  sent  the  Spirit  of  his  Son,  and 
who  with  absolute  trust  asked  a  blessing  from 


STUDY    OF    HIS   CHARACTER.  119 

his  father.  We  dined  on  roast  beef,  Yorkshire 
pudding,  and  potatoes,  drank  sherry,  talked  of 
research  and  its  requirements,  and  of  his  habit 
of  keeping  himself  free  from  the  distractions  of 
society.  He  was  bright  and  joyful — boy-like,  in 
fact,  though  he  is  now  sixty-two.  His  work  ex- 
cites admiration,  but  contact  with  him  warms 
and  elevates  the  heart.  Here,  surely,  is  a  strong 
man.  I  love  strength,  but  let  me  not  forget  the 
example  of  its  union  with  modesty,  tenderness, 
and  sweetness,  in  the  character  of  Faraday." 

But  his  religion  deserves  a  closer  attention. 
When  an  errand-boy,  we  find  him  hurrying  the 
delivery  of  his  newspapers  on  a  Sunday  morning 
so  as  to  get  home  in  time  to  make  himself  neat 
to  go  with  his  parents  to  chapel :  his  letters  when 
abroad  indicate  the  same  disposition ;  yet  he  did 
not  make  any  formal  profession  of  his  faith  till 
a  month  after  his  marriage,  when  nearly  thirty 
years  of  age.  Of  his  spiritual  history  up  to  that 
period  little  is  known,  but  there  seem  to  be  good 
grounds  for  believing  that  he  did  not  accept  the 
religion  of  his  fathers  without  a  conscientious 
inquiry  into  its  truth.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
conceive  of  his  acting  otherwise.  But  after  he 
joined  the  Sandemanian  Church,  his  question- 
ings were  probably  confined  to  matters  of  prac- 
tical duty ;  and  to  those  who  knew  him  best 
nothing  could  appear  stronger  than  his  convic- 


120  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

tion  of  the  reality  of  the  things  he  believed.  In 
order  to  understand  the  life  and  character  of 
Faraday,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  not  mere- 
ly that  he  was  a  Christian,  but  that  he  was  a 
Sandemanian.  From  his  earliest  years  that  re- 
ligious system  stamped  its  impress  deeply  on  his 
mind;  it  surrounded  the  blacksmith's  son  with  an 
atmosphere  of  unusual  purity  and  refinement ;  it 
developed  the  unselfishness  of  his  nature,  and  in 
his  after  career  it  fenced  his  life  from  the  world- 
liness  around,  as  well  as  from  much  that  is  es- 
teemed as  good  by  other  Christian  bodies.  To 
this  small  self-contained  sect  he  clung  with  warm 
attachment;  he  was  precluded  from  Christian 
communion  or  work  outside  their  circle,  but  his 
sympathies  at  least  burst  all  narrow  bounds. 
Thus  the  Abbe  Moigno  tells  us  that  at  Faraday's 
request  he  one  day  introduced  him  to  Cardinal 
Wiseman.  The  interview  was  very  cordial,  and 
his  eminence  did  not  hesitate  frankly  and  good- 
naturedly  to  ask  Faraday  if,  in  his  deepest  con- 
viction, he  believed  all  the  Church  of  Christ, 
holy,  catholic,  and  apostolical,  was  shut  up  in  the 
little  sect  in  which  he  bore  rule.  "  Oh  no  !"  was 
the  reply ;  "  but  I  do  believe  from  the  bottom  of 
my  soul  that  Christ  is  with  us."  There  were 
other  points,  too,  in  his  character  which  reflect- 
ed the  coloring  of  the  religious  school  to  which 
he  belonged.  Thus,  while  humility  is  insepara- 


STUDY    OF    HIS    CHAEACTEE.  121 

ble  from  a  Christian  life,  there  is  a  special  phase 
of  that  virtue  bred  of  those  doctrines  which  teach 
that  all  our  righteousness  must  be  the  unmerit- 
ed gift  of  another :  these  doctrines  are  strongly 
insisted  upon  in  the  Sandemanian  Church,  and 
this  humility  was  acquired  in  an  intense  degree 
by  its  minister.  Again,  while  all  Christians  de- 
plore the  terrible  amount  of  folly  and  sin  in  the 
world,  most  recognize  also  a  large  amount  of 
good,  and  believe  in  progressive  improvement ; 
but  small  communities  are  apt  to  take  gloomy 
views,  and  so  did  Faraday,  notwithstanding  his 
personal  happiness,  and  his  firm  conviction  that 
"  there  is  One  above  who  worketh  in  all  things, 
and  who  governs  even  in  the  midst  of  that  mis- 
rule to  which  the  tendencies  and  powers  of  men 
are  so  easily  perverted." 

In  writing  to  Professor  Schonbein  and  a  few 
other  kindred  spirits,  he  would  turn  naturally 
enough  from  scientific  to  religious  thoughts,  and 
back  again  to  natural  philosophy,  but  he  gener- 
ally kept  these  two  departments  of  his  mental 
activity  strangely  distinct,  though  of  course  it 
was  well  known  that  the  professor  at  Albemarle 
Street  was  one  of  that  long  line  of  scientific  men, 
beginning  with  the  savants  of  the  East,  who  have 
brought  to  the  Redeemer  the  gold,  frankincense, 
and  myrrh  of  their  adoration. 

But  the  peculiar  features  of  Faraday's  spiritu- 


122  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

al  life  are  matters  of  minor  importance :  the  gen- 
uineness of  his  religious  character  is  acknowl- 
edged by  all.  We  have  admired  his  faithfulness, 
his  amiability  of  disposition,  and  his  love  of  jus- 
tice and  truth  :  how  far  these  qualities  were  nat- 
ural gifts,  like  his  clearness  of  intellect,  we  can 
not  precisely  tell ;  but  that  he  exercised  constant 
self-control  without  becoming  hard,  ascended  the 
pathway  of  fame  without  ever  losing  his  balance, 
and  shed  around  himself  a  peculiar  halo  of  love 
and  joyousness,  must  be  attributed  in  no  small 
degree  to  a  heart  at  peace  with  God,  and  to  the 
consciousness  of  a  higher  life. 


FRUITS    OP   HIS    EXPEEIENCE.  123 


SECTION  III; 

FRUITS    OF   HIS    EXPERIENCE. 

THOSE  who  loved  Faraday  would  treasure  ev- 
ery word  that  he  wrote,  and  to  them  the  life  and 
letters  which  Bence  Jones  has  given  to  the  world 
will  be  inestimable ;  but  from  the  multitude  who 
knew  him  only  at  a  distance,  we  can  expect  no 
enthusiasm  of  admiration.  Yet  all  will  readily 
believe  that  through  the  writings  of  such  a  ge- 
nius there  must  be  scattered  nuggets  of  intellec- 
tual gold,  even  when  he  is  not  treating  directly 
of  scientific  subjects.  Some  of  these  relate  to 
questions  of  permanent  interest,  and  such  nug- 
gets it  is  my  aim  to  separate  and  lay  before  the 
reader. 

When  quite  a  young  man  he  drew  the  follow- 
ing ideal  portrait :  "  The  philosopher  should  be 
a  man  willing  to  listen  to  every  suggestion,  but 
determined  to  judge  for  himself.  He  should  not 
be  biased  by  appearances,  have  no  favorite  hy- 
pothesis, be  of  no  school,  and  in  doctrine  have 
no  master.  He  should  not  be  a  respecter  of  per- 
sons, but  of  things.  Truth  should  be  his  prima- 
ry object.  If  to  these  qualities  be  added  indus- 
try, he  may  indeed  hope  to  walk  within  the  veil 


124  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

of  the  temple  of  Nature."  This  ideal  he  must 
steadily  have  kept  before  him,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  in  after  days  he  gave  utterance  to  sim- 
ilar thoughts.  Here  are  two  instances,  the  first 
from  a  lecture  thirty  years  afterward,  the  second 
from  a  private  letter :  "  We  may  be  sure  of  facts, 
but  our  interpretation  of  facts  we  should  doubt. 
He  is  the  wisest  philosopher  who  holds  his  the- 
ory with  some  doubt ;  who  is  able  to  proportion 
his  judgment  and  confidence  to  the  value  of  the 
evidence  set  before  him,  taking  a  fact  for  a  fact, 
and  a  supposition  for  a  supposition ;  as  much  as 
possible  keeping  his  mind  free  from  all  source 
of  prejudice,  or,  where  he  can  not  do  this  (as  in 
the  case  of  a  theory),  remembering  that  such  a 
source  is  there."  The  letter  is  to  Mr.  Frederick 
Field,  and  relates  to  a  paper  on  the  existence  of 
silver  in  the  water  of  the  ocean. 

"KOYAL  INSTITUTION,  21s?  October,  1856. 
"My  DEAR  SIR, — Your  paper  looks  so  well, 
that,  though  I  am  of  course  unable  to  become 
security  for  the  facts,  I  have  still  thought  it  my 
duty  to  send  it  to  the  Royal  Society.  Whether 
it  will  appear  there  or  not  I  can  not  say — no  one 
can  say  even  for' his  own  papers ;  but  for  my 
part,  I  think  that,  as  facts  are  the  foundation 
of  science,  however  they  may  be  interpreted,  so 
they  are  most  valuable,  and  often  more  so  than 


FKU1TS    OF    HIS    EXPEKIENCE.  125 

the  interpretations  founded  upon  them.  I  hope 
your  further  researches  will  confirm  those  you 
have  obtained ;  but  I  would  not  be  too  hasty 
with  them — rather  wait  a  while,  and  make  them 
quite  secure. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  obliged  servant, 

"M.  FAKADAY." 

How  pleasant  it  would  have  been  to  peep  into 
his  mind,  and  watch  the  process  by  which  he 
was  transferred  into  the  very  image  of  his  ideal 
philosopher  !  He  has  partially  told  us  the  secret 
in  two  remarkable  lectures,  one  of  which  was 
delivered  before  the  City  Philosophical  Society 
when  he  was  only  twenty-seven  years  of  age, 
while  the  other  formed  part  of  a  series  on  Edu- 
cation at  Albemarle  Street.  Copious  extracts 
from  the  first  are  given  by  Dr.  Bence  Jones ;  the 
second  was  published  at  the  time.  In  the  early 
lecture,  which  is  "On  the  Forms  of  Matter,"  he 
points  out  the  advantages  and  dangers  of  sys- 
tematizing, and  winds  up  his  remarks  with 

"  Nothing  is  more  difficult  and  requires  more 
care  than  philosophical  deduction,  nor  is  there 
any  thing  more  adverse  to  its  accuracy  than  fix- 
idity  of  opinion.  The  man  who  is  certain  he  is 
right  is  almost  sure  to  be  wrong,  and  he  has  the 
additional  misfortune  of  inevitably  remaining  so. 
All  our  theories  are  fixed  upon  uncertain  data, 


126  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

and  all  of  them  want  alteration  and  support. 
Ever  since  the  world  began  opinion  has  changed 
with  the  progress  of  things,  and  it  is  something 
more  than  absurd  to  suppose  that  we  have  a 
sure  claim  to  perfection,  or  that  we  are  in  pos- 
session of  the  highest  stretch  of  intellect  which 
has  or  can  result  from  human  thought.  Why 
our  successors  should  not  displace  us  in  our  opin- 
ions as  well  as  in  our  persons  it  is  difficult  to 
say ;  it  ever  has  been  so,  and  from  analogy  would 
be  supposed  to  continue  so ;  and  yet,  with  all 
this  practical  evidence  of  the  fallibility  of  our 
opinions,  all,  and  none  more  than  philosophers, 
are  ready  to  assert  the  real  truth  of  their  opin- 
ions." 

In  his  discourse  entitled  "Observations  on 
Mental  Education,"  like  a  skillful  physician  he 
first  determines  what  is  the  great  intellectual 
disease  from  which  the  community  suffers — "  de- 
ficiency of  judgment" — and  then  he  lays  down 
rules  by  which  each  man  may  attempt  his  own 
cure.  For  this  self-education,  "  it  is  necessary 
that  a  man  examine  himself,  and  that  not  care- 
lessly. ...  A  first  result  of  this  habit  of  mind 
will  be  an  internal  conviction  of  ignorance  in 
many  things  respecting  which  his  neighbors  are 
taught,  and  that  his  opinions  and  conclusions  on 
such  matters  ought  to  be  advanced  with  reser- 
vation. A  mind  so  disciplined  will  be  open  to 


FRUITS    OF    HIS   EXPERIENCE.  127 

correction  upon  good  grounds  in  all  things,  even 
in  those  it  is  best  acquainted  with,  and  should 
familiarize  itself  with  the  idea  of  such  being  the 

case It  is  right  that  we  should  stand  by 

and  act  on  our  principles,  but  not  right  to  hold 
them  in  obstinate  blindness,  or  retain  them  when 
proved  to  be  erroneous."  And  then  he  gives 
cases  from  his  own  mental  history :  "  I  remem- 
ber the  time  when  I  believed  a  spark  was  pro- 
duced between  voltaic  metals  as  they  approach- 
ed to  contact  (and  the  reasons  why  it  might  be 
possible  yet  remain) ;  but  others  doubted  the 
fact  and  denied  the  proofs,  and  on  re-examina- 
tion I  found  reason  to  admit  their  corrections 
were  well-founded.  Years  ago  I  believed  that 
electrolites  could  conduct  electricity  by  a  con- 
duction proper ;  that  has  also  been  denied  by 
many  through  long  time :  though  I  believed  my- 
self right,  yet  circumstances  have  induced  me  to 
pay  that  respect  to  criticism  as  to  reinvestigate 
the  subject,  and  I  have  the  pleasure  ^of  thinking 
that  nature  confirms  my  original  conclusions. 
So,  though  evidence  may  appear  to  preponder- 
ate extremely  in  favor  of  a  certain  decision,  it 
is  wise  and  proper  to  hear  a  counter-statement. 
You  can  have  no  idea  how  often,  and  how  much, 
under  such  an  impression,  I  have  desired  that 
the  marvelous  descriptions  which  have  reached 
me  might  prove,  in  some  points,  correct ;  and 


128  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

how  frequently  I  have  submitted  myself  to  hot 
fires,  to  friction  with  magnets,  to  the  passes  of 
hands,  etc.,  lest  I  should  be  shutting  out  discov- 
ery— encouraging  the  strong  desire  that  some- 
thing might  be  true,  and  that  I  might  aid  in  the 
development  of  a  new  force  of  nature."  He  turns 
then  to  another  evil,  and  its  cure  :  "  The  tenden- 
cy to  deceive  ourselves  regarding  all  we  wish  for, 
and  the  necessity  of  resistance  to  these  desires. 
....  The  force  of  the  temptation  which  urges 
us  to  seek  for  such  evidence  and  appearances 
as  are  in  favor  of  our  desires,  and  to  disregard 
those  which  oppose  them,  is  wonderfully  great. 
In  this  respect  we  are  all,  more  or  less,  active 
promoters  of  error."  He  winds  up  his  remarks 
upon  this  subject  with  the  italicized  sentence: 
"I  will  simply  express  my  strong  belief  that  that 
point  of  self-education  which  consists  in  teach- 
ing the  mind  to  resist  its  desires  and  inclinations 
until  they  are  proved  to  be  right,  is  the  most 
important  |>f  all,  not  only  in  things  of  natural 
philosophy,  but  in  every  department  of  daily 
life."  He  turns  then  to  the  necessity  of  a  "  hab- 
it of  forming  clear  and  precise  ideas,"  and  of  ex- 
pressing them  in  "  clear  and  definite  language :" 
"When  the  different  data  required  are  in  our 
possession,  and  we  have  succeeded  in  forming  a 
clear  idea  of  each,  the  mind  should  be  instructed 
to  balance  them  one  against  another,  and  not  suf- 


FRUITS    OF    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  129 

fered  carelessly  to  hasten  to  a  conclusion."  "As 
a  result  of  this  wholesome  mental  condition,  we 
should  be  able  to  form  a  proportionate  judg- 
ment;" i.  e.,  one  proportionate  to  the  evidence, 
ranging  through  all  degrees  of  probability  — 
while  he  adds :  "  Frequently  the  exercise  of  the 
judgment  ought  to  end  in  absolute  reservation" 
"  The  education  which  I  advocate,"  says  Fara- 
day, "  will  require  patience  and  labor  of  thought 
in  every  exercise  tending  to  improve  the  judg- 
ment. It  matters  not  on  what  subject  a  per- 
son's mind  is  occupied,  he  should  engage  in  it 
with  the  conviction  that  it  will  require  mental 
labor."  "Because  the  education  is  internal,  it 
is  not  the  less  needful ;  nor  is  it  more  the  duty 
of  a  man  that  he  should  cause  his  child  to  be 
taught,  than  that  he  should  teach  himself.  In- 
dolence may  tempt  him  to  neglect  the  self-ex- 
amination and  experience  which  form  his  school, 
and  weariness  may  induce  the  evasion  of  the 
necessary  practices ;  but  surely  a  thought  of  the 
prize  should  suffice  to  stimulate  him  to  the  req- 
uisite exertion;  and  to  those  who  reflect  upon 
the  many  hours  and  days  devoted  by  a  lover  of 
sweet  sounds  to  gain  a  moderate  facility  upon  a 
mere  mechanical  instrument,  it  ought  to  bring  a 
correcting  blush  of  shame  if  they  feel  convicted 
of  neglecting  the  beautiful  living  instrument 
wherein  play  all  the  powers  of  the  mind." 
I 


130  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  discourse  the 
lecturer  felt  called  upon  to  limit  the  range  of 
his  remarks:  "High  as  man  is  placed  above  the 
creatures  around  him,  there  is  a  higher  and  far 
more  exalted  position  within  his  view ;  and  the 
ways  are  infinite  in  which  he  occupies  his 
thoughts  about  the  fears,  or  hopes,  or  expecta- 
tions of  a  future  life.  I  believe  that  the  truth 
of  that  future  can  not  be  brought  to  his  knowl- 
edge by  any  exertion  of  his  mental  powers,  how- 
ever exalted  they  may  be ;  that  it  is  made  known 
to  him  by  other  teaching  than  his  own,  and  is 
received  through  simple  belief  of  the  testimony 
given.  Let  no  one  suppose  for  a  moment  that 
the  self-education  I  am  about  to  commend  in  re- 
spect of  the  things  of  this  life  extends  to  any 
considerations  of  the  hope  set  before  us,  as  if 
man  by  reasoning  could  find  out  God.  It  would 
be  improper  here  to  enter  upon  this  subject  fur- 
ther than  to  claim  an  absolute  distinction  be- 
tween religious  and  ordinary  belief.  I  shall  be 
reproached  with  the  weakness  of  refusing  to  ap- 
ply those  mental  operations  which  I  think  good 
in  respect  of  high  things  to  the  very  highest. 
I  am  content  to  bear  the  reproach.  Yet,  even 
in  earthly  matters,  I  believe  that  '  the  invisible 
things  of  Him  from  the  creation  of  the  world  are 
clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that 
are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead ;' 


FRUITS    OF    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  131 

and  I  have  never  seen  any  thing  incompatible 
between  those  things  of  man  which  can  be  known 
by  the  spirit  of  man  which  is  within  him,  and 
those  higher  things  concerning  his  future  which 
he  can  not  know  by  that  spirit."  There  is,  of 
course,  a  certain  truth  in  this  passage  ;  spiritual 
discernment  is  a  real  thing  possessed  by  some, 
and  not  by  others ;  yet  is  there  this  absolute  dis- 
tinction between  religious  and  ordinary  belief? 
Surely  there  is  the  same  opportunity  and  the 
same  necessity  for  careful  judgment,  and  for  re- 
sistance to  prejudice  or  preference,  when  we  are 
weighing  the  credentials  of  any  thing  that  may 
come  before  us  purporting  to  be  a  revelation 
from  above;  surely,  too,  if  we  have  satisfied  our- 
selves that  we  possess  such  a  revelation,  we  must 
seek  for  the  same  clearness  of  ideas,  and  must 
exercise  the  same  patience  and  labor  of  thought 
if  we  would  understand  it  aright.  That  mental 
discipline  which  fits  us  to  interpret  the  works  of 
God  can  not  but  be  akin  to  the  intellectual  train- 
ing required  for  interpreting  his  word. 

Since  Faraday  thought  and  wrote,  the  ques- 
tion of  public  education  has  taken  a  far  deeper 
hold  on  the  feelings  and  the  hopes  of  the  nation, 
and  it  is  not  merely  the  extent  of  the  instruction, 
but  its  nature  also,  that  is  discussed.  It  is  held 
to  be  no  longer  right  that'  the  minds  of  our 
youth  should  be  fed  almost  exclusively  on  the 


132  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

dry  husks  of  classic  or  mediaeval  knowledge, 
while  the  rich  banquet  of  modern  discovery  re- 
mains untasted.  Yet  it  is  hard  for  natural  sci- 
ence to  gain  an  honored  place  in  our  venerable 
scholastic  institutions.  Faraday,  however,  had 
long  formed  his  conclusions  on  this  subject.  In 
one  of  his  Friday  evening  discourses  he  says : 
"The  development  of  the  applications  of  physi- 
cal science  in  modern  times  has  become  so  large 
and  so  essential  to  the  well-being  of  men,  that  it 
may  justly  be  used  as  illustrating  the  true  char- 
acter of  pure  science  as  a  department  of  knowl- 
edge, and  the  claims  it  may  have  for  considera- 
tion by  governments,  universities,  and  all  bodies 
to  whom  is  confided  the  fostering  care  and  di- 
rection of  learning.  As  a  branch  of  learning, 
men  are  beginning  to  recognize  the  right  of  sci- 
ence to  its  own  particular  place ;  for,  though 
flowing  in  channels  utterly  different  in  their 
course  and  end  from  those  of  literature,  it  con- 
duces not  less,  as  a  means  of  instruction,  to  the 
discipline  of  the  mind,  while  it  ministers  more 
or  less  to  the  wants,  comforts,  and  proper  pleas- 
ure, both  mental  and  bodily,  of  every  individual 
of  every  class  in  life.  Until  of  late  years,  the 
education  for,  and  recognition  of  it  by  the  bodies 
which  may  be  considered  as  governing  the  gen- 
eral course  of  all  education,  have  been  chiefly 
directed  to  it  only  as  it  could  serve  professional 


FKUITS    OF    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  133 

services,  viz.,  those  which  are  remunerated  by 
society ;  but  now  the  fitness  of  university  de- 
grees in  science  is  under  consideration,  and  many 
are  taking  a  high  view  of  it,  as  distinguished 
from  literature,  and  think  that  it  may  well  be 
studied  for  its  own  sake,  i.  e.,  as  a  proper  exer- 
cise of  the  human  intelligence,  able  to  bring  into 
action  and  development  all  the  powers  of  the 
mind.  As  a  branch  of  learning,  it  has  (without 
reference  to  its  applications)  become  as  exten- 
sive and  varied  as  literature ;  and  it  has  this  priv- 
ilege, that  it  must  ever  go  on  increasing." 

On  the  subject  of  scientific  education  Faraday 
was  examined  by  the  Public  Schools  Commission, 
November  18th,  1862,  and  his  sentiments,  of 
course,  appear  in  their  report.  He  said  to  them, 
"That  the  natural  knowledge  which  has  been 
given  to  the  world  in  such  abundance  during 
the  last  fifty  years  should  remain  untouched, 
and  that  no  sufficient  attempt  should  be  made 
to  convey  it  to  the  young  mind  growing  up  and 
obtaining  its  first  views  of  those  things,  is  to  me 
a  matter  so  strange  that  I  find  it  difficult  to  un- 
derstand. Though  I  think  I  see  the  opposition 
breaking  away,  it  is  yet  a  very  hard  one  to  over- 
come. That  it  ought  to  be  overcome  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  in  the  world."  Lord  Clarendon 
asked  him :  "  You  think  it  is  now  knocking  at 
the  door,  and  there  is  a  prospect  of  the  door  be- 


134  MICHAEL    FAEADAY. 

ing  opened  ?"  "  Yes,"  answered  Faraday,  "  and 
it  will  make  its  way,  or  we  shall  stay  behind 
other  nations  in  our  mode  of  education."  He 
had  been  led  to  the  conviction  that  the  exclusive 
attention  to  literary  studies  created  a  tendency 
to  regard  other  things  as  nonsense,  or  belonging 
only  to  the  artisan,  and  so  the  mind  is  positive- 
ly injured  for  the  reception  of  real  knowledge. 
He  says :  "  It  is  the  highly  educated  man  that 
we  find  coming  to  us  again  and  again,  and  ask- 
ing the  most  simple  question  in  chemistry  or 
mechanics ;  and  when  we  speak  of  such  things 
as  the  conservation  of  force,  the  permanency  of 
matter,  and  the  unchangeability  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  they  are  far  from  comprehending  them, 
though  they  have  relation  to  us  in  every  action 
of  our  lives.  Many  of  these  instructed  persons 
are  as  far  from  having  the  power  of  judging  of 
these  things  as  if  their  minds  had  never  been 
trained." 

He  gives  his  own  opinion  as  to  the  precise 
course  to  be  pursued  with  great  diffidence ;  but 
it  is  evident  that  he  would  begin  the  education 
in  natural  science  at  a  pretty  early  age,  and  in 
all  cases  carry  it  up  to  a  certain  point.  One 
fifth  of  a  t?oy's  time  might  be  devoted  to  this 
purpose  at  present,  though  in  less  than  half  a 
century  he  thinks  science  will  deserve  and  ob- 
tain a  far  larger  share.  Supposing  a  boy  of  elev- 


FRUITS    OP    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  135 

en  years  of  age  and  of  ordinary  intelligence  at 
one  of  our  public  schools :  "  I  would  teach  him," 
he  says, "  all  those  things  that  come  before  clas- 
sics in  the  programme  of  the  London  University 
— mechanics,  hydrostatics,  hydraulics,  pneumat- 
ics, acoustics,  and  optics.  They  are  very  simple 
and  easily  understood  when  they  are  looked  at 
with  attention  by  both  man  and  boy.  With  a 
candle,  a  lamp,  and  a  lens  or  two,  an  intelligent 
instructor  might  teach  optics  in  a  very  short 
time ;  and  so  with  chemistry.  I  should  desire 
all  these."  Much  would  depend  on  the  compe- 
tency and  earnestness  of  the  teacher.  "  Good 
lectures  might  do  a  great  deal.  They  would,  at 
all  events,  remove  the  absolute  ignorance  which 
sometimes  now  appears,  but  would'  give  a  very 
poor  knowledge  of  natural  things." 

Perhaps  these  opinions  of  one  whose  lips  are 
now  silent  will  yet  have  their  weight  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  question  both  in  our  highest  seats 
of  learning  and  in  those  educational  parliaments 
which  have  been  just  called  into  existence  in  al- 
most every  town  and  district  of  our  country. 

From  the  somewhat  disparaging  remarks 
about  lectures  quoted  above,  it  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  this  prince  of  lecturers  depreciated 
his  office.  "  Lectures,"  he  said, "  depend  entire- 
ly for  their  value  upon  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  given.  It  is  not  the  matter,  it  is  not 


136  MICHAEL    FAEADAY. 

the  subject,  so  much  as  the  man  ;  but  if  he  is  not 
competent,  and  does  not  feel  that  there  is  a  need 
of  competency  to  convey  his  ideas  gently,  and 
quietly,  and  simply  to  the  young  mind,  he  sim- 
ply throws  up  obstacles,  and  will  be  found  using 
words  which  they  will  not  comprehend."  These 
were  the  words  of  his  later  days,  but  fortunate- 
ly he  felt  "  the  need  of  competency"  before  his 
own  habits  were  formed,  and  in  four  letters  to 
Abbott  we  find  wonderfully  sagacious  observa- 
tions on  the  matter,  which  it  would  be  well  for 
any  young  lecturer  to  study.  He  describes  the 
proper  arrangement  of  a  lecture-room,  dwelling 
on  the  necessity  of  good  ventilation;  and  then, 
having  considered  the  fittest  subjects  for  popu- 
lar lectures,  he  turns  to  the  character  of  the  au- 
dience, and  shows  how  that  must  be  studied ; 
for  some  expect  to  be  entertained  by  the  man- 
ner of  the  lecturer  as  well  as  his  subject,  while 
others  care  for  something  which  will  instruct. 
He  dwells  on  the  superiority  of  the  eye  over  the 
ear  as  a  channel  of  knowledge,  and  lays  down 
some  rules  for  this  kind  of  instruction,  which  he 
of  all  men  subsequently  carried  out  to  perfec- 
tion. "Apparatus  is  an  essential  part  of  every 
lecture  in  which  it  can  be  introduced.  .  .  .  Dia- 
grams and  tables,  too,  are  necessary,  or  at  least 
add  in  an  eminent  degree  to  the  illustration  and 
perfection  of  a  lecture.  When  an  experimental 


FRUITS    OF    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  137 

lecture  is  to  be  delivered,  and  apparatus  is  to  be 
exhibited,  some  kind  of  order  should  be  observed 
in  the  arrangement  of  them  on  the  lecture  table. 
Every  particular  part  illustrative  of  the  lecture 
should  be  in  view  ;  no  one  thing  should  hide  an- 
other from  the  audience,  nor  should  any  thing 
stand  in  the  way  of  or  obstruct  the  lecturer. 
They  should  be  so  placed,  too,  as  to  produce  a 
kind  of  uniformity  in  appearance.  No  one  part 
should  appear  naked  and  another  crowded,  un- 
less some  particular  reason  exists  and  makes  it 
necessary  to  be  so.  At  the  same  time,  the  whole 
should  be- so  arranged  as  to  keep  one  operation 
from  interfering  with  another."  A  good  deliv- 
ery comes  in  for  its  share  of  praise ;  "for  though, 
to  all  true  philosophers,  science  and  nature  will 
have  charms  innumerable  in  every  dress,  yet  I 
am  sorry  to  say  that  the  generality  of  mankind 
can  not  accompany  us  one  short  hour  unless  the 
path  is  strewed  with  flowers."  Then, "  a  lec- 
turer should  appear  easy  and  collected,  undaunt- 
ed and  unconcerned,  his  thoughts  about  him,  and 
his  mind  free  and  clear  for  the  contemplation 
and  description  of  his  subject.  His  action  should 
not  be  hasty  and  violent,  but  slow,  easy,  and 
natural,  consisting  principally  in  changes  of  the 
posture  of  the  body,  in  order  to  avoid  the  air  of 
stiffness  or  sameness  that  would  otherwise  be 
unavoidable.  His  whole  behavior  should  evince 


138  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

respect  for  his  audience,  and  he  should  in  no  case 
forget  that  he  is  in  their  presence."  He  allows 
a  lecturer  to  prepare  his  discourse  in  writing,  but 
not  to  read  it  before  the  audience,  and  points 
out  how  necessary  it  is  "  to  raise  their  interest 
at  the  commencement  of  the  lecture,  and  by  a 
series  of  imperceptible  gradations,  unnoticed  by 
the  company,  keep  it  alive  as  long  as  the  subject 
demands  it."  This,  of  course,  forbids  breaks  in 
the  argument,  or  digressions  foreign  to  the  main 
purpose,  and  limits  the  length  of  the  lecture  to  a 
period  during  which  the  listeners  can  pay  un- 
wearied attention.  He  castigates  those  speak- 
ers who  descend  so  low  as  "to  angle  for  claps," 
or  who  throw  out  hints  for  commendation,  and 
shows  that  apologies  should  be  made  as  seldom 
as  possible.  Experiments  should  be  to  the  point, 
clear,  and  easily  understood :  "  they  should  rath- 
er approach  to  simplicity,  and  explain  the  estab- 
lished principles  of  the  subject,  than  be  elabo- 
rate, and  apply  to  minute  phenomena  only.  .  .  . 
'Tis  well,  too,  when  the  lecturer  has  the  ready 
wit  and  the  presence  of  mind  to  turn  any  casual 
circumstance  to  an  illustration  of  his  subject." 
But  experiments  should  be  explained  by  a  satis- 
factory theory;  or,  if  the  scientific  world  is  divi- 
ded in  opinion,  both  sides  of  the  question  ought  to 
be  stated  with  the  strongest  arguments  for  each, 
that  justice  may  be  done  and  honor  satisfied. 


FKUITS    OF    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  139 

Often  in  later  days  was  his  experience  in  lec- 
turing made  use  of  for  the  benefit  of  others.  "  If," 
he  once  remarked  to  a  young  lecturer,"  I  said  to 
my  audience, '  This  stone  will  fall  to  the  ground 
if  I  open  my  hand,'  I  should  open  my  hand  and 
let  it  fall.  Take  nothing  for  granted  as  known ; 
inform  the  eye  at  the  same  time  as  you  address 
the  ear."  I  remember  him  once  giving  me  hints 
on  the  laying  of  the  lecture  table  at  the  Institu- 
tion, and  telling  me  that,  where  possible,  he  was 
accustomed  to  arrange  the  apparatus  in  such  a 
way  as  to  suggest  the  order  of  the  experiments. 
An  incident  told  me  by  Dr.  Carpenter  will  illus- 
trate some  of  the  foregoing  points.  The  first 
time  he  heard  Faraday  lecture  at  the  Royal  In- 
stitution, the  Professor  was  explaining  the  re- 
searches of  Melloni  on  radiant  heat.  During  the 
discourse  he  touched  on  the  refraction  and  polar- 
ization of  heat ;  and  to  explain  refraction,  he 
showed  the  simple  experiment  of  fixing  some  col- 
ored wafers  at  the  bottom  of  a  basin,  and  then 
pouring  in  water  so  as  to  make  them  apparent- 
ly rise.  Dr.  Carpenter,  who  had  come  from  Bris- 
tol with  grand  ideas  of  the  lectures  at  Albemarle 
Street,  wondered  greatly  at  the  introduction  of 
so  commonplace  an  experiment.  Of  course  there 
were  many  other  illustrations,  and  beautiful  ones 
too.  He  went  down,  however,  after  the  lecture, 
to  the  table,  and  among  the  crowd  chatting  there 


140  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

was  an  old  gentleman,  who  remarked, "  I  think 
the  best  experiment  to-night  was  that  of  the 
wafers  in  the  basin." 

When  a  young  lecturer,  Faraday  took  lessons 
in  elocution  from  Mr.  Smart,  and  was  at  great 
pains  to  cure  himself  of  any  defect  of  pronunci- 
ation or  manner ;  for  this  purpose  he  would  get  a 
friendly  critic  to  form  part  of  his  audience.  On 
the  fly-leaves  of  many  of  the  notes  of  his  lectures 
are  written  the  reminders, "  Stand  up" — "  Don't 
talk  quick."  Indeed,  in  early  days,  it  was  so 
much  a  matter  of  anxiety  to  him  that  every  thing 
in  his  lectures  should  be  as  perfect  as  possible, 
that  he  not  only  was  accustomed  to  go  over  ev- 
ery thing  again  and  again  in  his  mind,  but  the 
difficulty  of  satisfying  himself  used  to  trouble 
his  dreams.  I  was  told  this,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
by  himself;  and  it  goes  far  to  explain  how  his 
discourses  possessed  such  a  fascination. 

Some  of  his  feelings  in  regard  to  lecturing  may 
be  learned  from  the  following  particulars,  for 
which  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Charles  Tomlinson. 
They  relate  to  a  course  of  lectures  he  delivered 
in  1849  on  Statical  Electricity.  The  first  lecture 
began  thus:  "Time  moves  on,  and  brings  changes 
to  ourselves  as  well  as  to  science.  I  feel  that  I 
must  soon  resign  into  the  hands  of  my  successors 
the  position  which  I  now  occupy  at  this  table. 
Indeed,  I  have  long  felt  how  much  rather  I  would 


FRUITS    OP    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  141 

sit  among  you  and  be  instructed,  than  stand  here 
and  attempt  to  instruct.  I  have  always  felt  my 
position  in  this  Institution  as  a  very  strange  one. 
Coming  after  such  a  man  as  Davy,  arid  associated 
with  such  a  man  as  Brande,  and  having  had  to 
make  a  position  for  myself,  I  have  always  felt 
myself  here  in  a  strange  position.  You  will  won- 
der why  I  make  these  remarks.  It  is  not  from 
any  affectation  of  modesty  that  I  do  so,  but  I  feel 
that  loss  of  memory  may  soon  incapacitate  me 
altogether  for  my  duties.  Without,  however, 
troubling  you  more  about  myself,  let  us  proceed 
to  the  subject  before  us,  and  fall  back  upon  the 
beginnings  of  the  wonderful  science  of  electrici- 
ty. I  shall  have  to  trouble  you  with  very  little 
of  them.  The  facts  are  so  wonderful  that  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  explain  them."  At  the  second 
lecture, "  Faraday  advanced  to  the  table  at  three 
o'clock,  and  began  to  apologize  for  an  obstruc- 
tion of  voice,  which  indeed  was  painfully  evident. 
He  said  that, '  in  an  engagement  where  the  con- 
tracting parties  were  one  and  many,  the  one 
ought  not,  on  any  slight  ground,  to  break  his  part 
of  the  engagement  with  the  many,  and  therefore, 
if  the  audience  would  excuse  his  imperfect  ut- 
terance, he  would  endeavor — '  Murmurs  arose : 
'Put  off  the  lecture.'  Faraday  begged  to  be  al- 
lowed to  go  on.  A  medical  man  then  rose  and 
said  he  had  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  it  would 


142  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

be  dangerous  to  Dr.  Faraday  to  proceed.  Fara- 
day again  urged  his  wish  to  proceed — said  it  was 
giving  so  much  trouble  to  the  ladies,  who  had 
sent  away  their  carriages,  and  perhaps  put  off 
other  engagements.  On  this  the  whole  audience 
rose  as  by  a  single  impulse,  and  a  number  of  per- 
sons surrounded  Faraday,  who  now  yielded  to 
the  general  desire  to  spare  him  the  pain  and  in- 
convenience of  lecturing."  A  fortnight  elapsed 
before  he  could  again  make  his  appearance,  but 
he  continued  his  course  later  than  usual,  in  order 
not  to  deprive  his  audience  of  any  of  the  eight 
lectures  he  had  undertaken  to  give  them.  Prince 
Albert  came  to  one  of  these  extra  lectures. 

Faraday's  opinion  as  to  the  honors  due  to  sci- 
entific men  from  society  or  from  government- 
may  be  gathered  from  the  following  extract  from 
a  letter  written  me  by  his  private  friend  Mr. 
Blaikley :  "  On  one  occasion,  when  making  some 
remark  in  reference  to  a  movement  on  behalf  of 
science,!  inadvertently  spoke  of  the  proper  hon- 
or due  to  science.  He  at  once  remarked, '  I  am 
not  one  who  considers  that  science  can  be  hon- 
ored.' I  at  once  saw  the  point.  His  views  of 
the  grandeur  of  truth,  when  once  apprehended, 
raised  it  far  beyond  any  honor  that  man  could 
give  it ;  but  man  might  honor  himself  by  respect- 
ing and  acknowledging  it." 

Professor  George  Wilson,  of  Edinburg,  has 


FRUITS    OF   HIS   EXPEEIENCE.  143 

thus  described  his  first  visit  to  the  philosopher : 
"  Faraday  was  very  kind,  showed  me  his  whole 
laboratory  with  labors  going  on,  and  talked 
frankly  and  kindly;  but  to  the  usual  question 
of  something  to  do,  gave  the  usual  round  O  an- 
swer, and  treated  me  to  a  just,  but  not  very 
cheering  animadversion  on  the  government  of 
this  country,  which,  unlike  that  of  every  other 
civilized  country,  will  give  no  help  to  scientific 
inquiry,  and  will  afford  no  aid  or  means  of  study 
for  young  chemists." 

"  Take  care  of  your  money,"  was  his  advice  to 
Mr.  Joule,  then  another  young  aspirant  to  scien- 
tific honors,  but  who  has  since  rendered  the  high- 
est service  to  science,  without  leaning  on  any 
hopes  of  government  help  or  public  support. 

But  the  impressions  given  in  conversation  may 
not  be  always  correct.  Happily  there  exist  his 
written  opinions  on  this  subject.  In  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  Professor  Andrews,  of  Belfast,  and 
dated  2d  February,  1843,  there  occurs  this  pas- 
sage :  "  As  to  the  particular  point  of  your  letter 
about  which  you  honor  me  by  asking  my  advice, 
I  have  no  advice  to  give ;  but  I  have  a  strong 
feeling  in  the  matter,  and  will  tell  you  what  I 
should  do.  I  have  always  felt  that  there  is  some- 
thing degrading  in  offering  rewards  for  intellec- 
tual exertion,  and  that  societies  or  academies,  or 
even  kings  and  emperors,  should  mingle  in  the 


144  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

matter  does  not  remove  the  degradation,  for  the 
feeling  which  is  hurt  is  a  point  above  their  con- 
dition, and  belongs  to  the  respect  which  a  man 
owes  to  himself.  With  this  feeling,  I  have  nev- 
er, since  I  was  a  boy,  aimed  at  any  such  prize ; 
or  even  if,  as  in  your  case,  they  came  near  me, 
have  allowed  them  to  move  me  from  my  course ; 
and  I  have  always  contended  that  such  rewards 
will  never  move  the  men  who  are  most  worthy 
of  reward.  Still,  I  think  rewards  and  honors 
good  if  properly  distributed,  but  they  should  be 
given  for  what  a  man  has  done,  and  not  offered 
for  what  he  is  to  do,  or  else  talent  must  be  con- 
sidered as  a  thing  marketable  and  to  be  bought 
and  sold,  and  then  down  falls  that  high  tone  of 
mind  which  is  the  best  excitement  to  a  man  of 
power,  and  will  make  him  do  more  than  any 
commonplace  reward.  When  a  man  is  reward- 
ed for  his  deserts,  he  honors  those  who  grant 
the  reward,  and  they  give  it  not  as  a  moving  im- 
pulse to  him,  but  to  all  those  by  the  reward  are 
led  to  look  to  that  man  for  an  example." 

Eleven  years  afterward  Faraday  expressed 
similar  views,  but  more  fully,  in  a  letter  to  the 
late  Lord  Wrottesley,  as  chairman  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary Committee  of  the  British  Association  : 

"  ROYAL  INSTITUTION,  March  Wth,  1854. 
"  MY  LORD, — I  feel  unfit  to  give  a  deliberate 


FRUITS    OP    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  145 

opinion  on  the  course  it  might  be  advisable  for 
the  government  to  pursue  if  it  were  anxious  to 
improve  the  position  of  science  and  its  cultiva- 
tors in  our  country.  My  course  of  life,  and  the 
circumstances  which  make  it  a  happy  one  for 
me,  are  not  those  of  persons  who  conform  to  the 
usages  and  habits  of  society.  Through  the  kind- 
ness of  all,  from  my  sovereign  down  ward, I  have 
that  which  supplies  all  my  need ;  and  in  respect 
of  honors,  I  have,  as  a  scientific  man,  received 
from  foreign  countries  and  sovereigns  those 
which,  belonging  to  very  limited  and  select  class- 
es, surpass  in  my  opinion  any  thing  that  it  is  in 
the  power  of  my  own  to  bestow. 

"  I  can  not  say  that  I  have  not  valued  such  dis- 
tinctions ;  on  the  contrary,  I  esteem  them  very 
highly,  but  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever  worked 
for  or  sought  after  them.  Even  were  such  to  be 
now  created  here,  the  time  is  past  when  these 
would  possess  any  attraction  for  me;  and  you 
will  see,  therefore,  how  unfit  I  am,  upon  the 
strength  of  any  personal  motive  or  feeling,  to 
judge  of  what  might  be  influential  upon  the 
minds  of  others.  Nevertheless,  I  will  make  one 
or  two  remarks  which  have  often  occurred  to  my 
mind. 

"  Without  thinking  of  the  effect  it  might  have 
upon  distinguished  men  of  science,  or  upon  the 
minds  of  those  who,  stimulated  to  exertion,  might 
K 


146    .  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

become  distinguished,  I  do  think  that  a  govern- 
ment should  for  its  own  sake  honor  the  men  who 
do  honor  and  service  to  the  country.  I  refer 
now  to  honors  only,  not  to  beneficial  rewards; 
of  such  honors  I  think  there  are  none.  Knight- 
hoods and  baronetcies  are  sometimes  conferred 
with  such  intentions,  but  I  think  them  utterly 
unfit  for  that  purpose.  Instead  of  conferring  dis- 
tinction, they  confound  the  man  who  is  one  of 
twenty,  or  perhaps  fifty,  with  hundreds  of  oth- 
ers. They  depress  rather  than  exalt  him,  for 
they  tend  to  lower  the  especial  distinction  of 
mind  to  the  commonplaces  of  society.  An  intel- 
ligent country  ought  to  recognize  the  scientific 
men  among  its  people  as  a  class.  If  honors  are 
conferred  upon  eminence  in  any  class,  as  that  of 
the  law  or  the  army,  they  should  be  in  this  also. 
The  aristocracy  of  the  class  should  have  other 
distinctions  than  those  of  lowly  and  highborn, 
rich  and  poor,  yet  they  should  be  such  as  to  be 
worthy  of  those  whom  the  sovereign  and  the 
country  should  delight  to  honor,  and,  being  ren- 
dered very  desirable  and  even  enviable  in  the 
eyes  of  the  aristocracy  by  birth,  should  be  unat- 
tainable except  to  that  of  science.  Thus  much 
I  think  the  government  and  the  country  ought 
to  do,  for  their  own  sake  and  the  good  of  science, 
more  than  for  the  sake  of  the  men  who  might  be 
thought  worthy  of  such  distinction.  The  latter 


FRUITS    OF    HIS    EXPEEIENCE.  147 

have  attained  to  their  fit  place,  whether  the  com- 
munity at  large  recognize  it  or  not. 

"  But  besides  that,  and  as  a  matter  of  reward 
and  encouragement  to  those  who  have  not  yet 
risen  to  great  distinction,  I  think  the  govern- 
ment should,  in  the  very  many  cases  which  come 
before  it  having  a  relation  to  scientific  knowl- 
edge, employ  men  who  pursue  science,  provided 
they  are  also  men  of  business.  This  is  perhaps 
now  done  to  some  extent,  but  to  nothing  like 
the  degree  which  is  practicable  with  advantage 
to  all  parties.  The  right  means  can  not  have 
occurred  to  a  government  which  has  not  yet 
learned  to  approach  and  distinguish  the  class  as 
a  whole. 

"At  the  same  time, I  am  free  to  confess  that 
I  am  unable  to  advise  how  that  which  I  think 
should  be  may  come  to  pass.  I  believe  I  have 
written  the  expression  of  feelings  rather  than  the 
conclusions  of  judgment,  and  I  would  wish  your 
lordship  to  consider  this  letter  as  private  rather 
than  as  one  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  a  com- 
mittee. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  lord,  your  very 
faithful  servant,  M.  FAKADAY." 

In  this  day,  when  so  many  allow  their  names 
to  be  used  for  offices  of  which  they  never  intend- 
ed to  discharge  the  duties,  the  following  letter 
may  convey  an  appropriate  lesson : 


148  MICHAEL   FARADAY, 

"KOYAL  INSTITUTION,  Oct.  17th,  1849. 
"  MY  DEAR  PERCY, — I  can  not  be  on  the  com- 
mittee ;  I  avoid  every  thing  of  that  kind,  that  I 
may  keep  my  stupid  mind  a  little  clear.  As  to 
being  on  a  committee  and  not  working,  that  is 
worse  still.  *  *  *  Ever  yours  and  Mrs.  Percy's, 

"M.  FARADAY." 

It  is  well  known  that  he  waged  implacable 
war  with  the  Spiritualists.  Eighteen  years  ago 
tables  took  to  spinning  mysteriously  under  the 
fingers  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  sat  or  stood 
around  the  animated  furniture ;  much  was  said 
about  a  new  force,  much  too  about  strange  rev- 
elations from  another  sphere,  but  Faraday  made 
a  simple  apparatus  which  convinced  him  and 
most  others  that  the  tables  moved  through  the 
unconscious  pressure  of  the  hands  that  touched 
them.  The  account  of  this  will  be  found  in  the 
Atheno?um  of  July  2, 1853.  Three  weeks  after- 
ward he  wrote  to  his  friend  Schonbein  :  "  I  have 
not  been  at  work  except  in  turning  the  tables 
upon  the  table-turners,  nor  should  I  have  done 
that  but  that  so  many  inquiries  poured  in  upon 
me  that  I  thought  it  better  to  stop  the  inpour- 
ing  flood  by  letting  all  know  at  once  what  my 
views  and  thoughts  were.  What  a  weak,  credu- 
lous, incredulous,  unbelieving,  superstitious,  bold, 
frightened — what  a  ridiculous  world  ours  is,  as 


FRUITS    OF   HIS   EXPERIENCE.  149 

far  as  concerns  the  mind  of  man.  How  full  of 
inconsistencies,  contradictions,  and  absurdities  it 
is !"  But  the  believers  in  these  occult  phenom- 
ena, some  of  them  holding  high  positions  about 
the  court,  would  not  let  him  alone,  and  there  are 
many  indications  of  the  annoyance  and  irritation 
they  caused  him.  He  declined  to  meet  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  mysterious  art,  and  the  following 
letter  will  serve  to  show  the  way  in  which  he 
regarded  them : 

"  KOTAL  INSTITUTION,  Nov.  1, 1864. 

"  SIR, — I  beg  to  thank  you  for  your  papers, 
but  have  wasted  more  thought  and  time  on  so- 
called  spiritual  manifestation  than  it  has  de- 
served. Unless  the  spirits  are  utterly  contempt- 
ible, they  will  find  means  to  draw  my  atten- 
tion. 

"  How  is  it  that  your  name  is  not  signed  to 
the  testimony  that  you  give  ?  Are  you  doubt- 
ful even  while  you  publish  ?  I've  no  evidence 
that  any  natural  or  unnatural  power  is  concern- 
ed in  the  phenomena  that  requires  investigation 
or  deserves  it.  If  I  could  consult  the  spirits,  or 
move  them  to  make  themselves  honestly  mani- 
fest, I  would  do  it.  But  I  can  not,  and  am  wea- 
ry of  them. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  M.  FARADAY." 


150  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

There  was  once  a  strange  statement  put  forth 
to  the  effect  that  Faraday  said  electricity  was 
life.*  He  himself  denied  it  indignantly ;  but  as 
most  falsehoods  are  perversions  of  some  truth, 
this  one  probably  originated  in  his  experiments 
on  the  Gymnotus.  He  felt  an  intense  interest 
in  those  marine  animals  that  give  shocks,  and 
sought  "  to  identify  the  living  power  which  they 
possess  with  that  which  man  can  call  into  action 
from  inert  matter,  and  by  him  named  electrici- 
ty."! The  most  powerful  of  these  is  the  Gym- 
notus, or  electrical  eel,  and  a  live  specimen  of 
this  creature,  forty  inches  long,  was  secured  by 
the  Adelaide  Gallery — a  predecessor  of  the  Poly- 
technic— in  the  summer  of  1838.  Four  days  aft- 
er its  arrival  the  poor  creature  lost  an  eye ;  for 
two  months  it  could  not  be  coaxed  to  eat  either 
meat  or  fish,  worms  or  frogs ;  but  at  last  one  day 
it  killed  and  devoured  four  small  fishes,  and  aft- 
erward swallowed  about  a  fish  per  diem.  It  was 
accustomed  to  swim  round  and  round  the  tank 
till  a  live  fish  was  dropped  in,  when,  in  some 
cases  bending  round  its  victim,  it  would  dis- 
charge a  shock  that  made  the  fish  float  on  its 
back  stunned  and  ready  to  be  sucked  into  the 
jaws  of  its  assailant. 

*  I  myself  once  heard  this  advanced  by  an  infidel  lecturer 
on  Paddington  Green, 
t  "  Electrical  Researches,"  Series  XV. 


FRUITS    OP    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  151 

Faraday  examined  this  eel  and  the  water 
around  it,  both  with  his  hands  and  with  special 
collectors  of  electricity,  and  satisfied  himself  not 
merely  of  the  shock,  which  was  easy  enough,  but 
of  its  power  to  deflect  a  galvanometer,  to  make 
a  magnet,  to  effect  chemical  decomposition,  and 
to  give  a  spark.  His  account  of  the  experiments 
terminates  with  some  speculations  on  the  con- 
nections of  this  animal  electricity  with  nervous 
power;  but  there  the  matter  rested.  His  own 
views  were  thus  expressed  to  his  friend  Dumas : 
"  As  living  creatures  produce  heat,  and  a  heat 
certainly  identical  with  that  of  our  hearths,  why 
should  they  not  produce  ^electricity  also,  and  an 
electricity  in  like  manner  identical  with  that  of 
our  machines  ?  But  if  the  heat  produced  during 
life,  and  necessary  to  life,  is  not  life  after  all,  why 
should  electricity  itself  be  life  ?  Like  heat,  like 
chemical  action,  electricity  is  an  implement  of 
life,  and  nothing  more." 

Whether  the  belief  that  electricity  is  life 
would  be  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  faith 
or  not,  it  is  clear  that  when  an  infidel  preacher 
asserts  that  Faraday  held  such  an  opinion,  his 
assertion  will  influence  few  who  are  not  already 
disposed  to  materialism.  Far  more  damaging 
is  it  to  the  cause  of  religion  when  her  ministers 
repeat  the  assumption  of  the  infidel  that  those 
who  study  the  truths  of  nature  are  particularly 


152  MICHAEL    FAEADAY. 

prone  to  disbelive.  Yet  such  statements  have 
been  made,  even  with  reference  to  Faraday.  I 
have  it  on  the  best  authority  that  one  of  the 
leading  clergymen  of  the  day,  preaching  on  a 
special  occasion  from  Peter's  words, "  The  ele- 
ments shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth 
also  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burn- 
ed up,"  spoke  in  antagonism  to  scientific  men, 
alluding  to  Faraday  by  name,  and  to  his  compu- 
tation of  the  tremendous  electrical  forces  that 
would  be  produced  by  sundering  the  elements  of 
one  drop  of  water.  "  They  shall  be  confuted  by 
their  own  element — fire,"  added  the  preacher, 
careless  of  the  conclusion  which  his  audience 
might  legitimately  draw  from  such  a  two-edged 
argument..  The  accuser  of  the  men  of  science 
was  much  astonished  when  told  after  his  sermon 
by  a  brother  clergyman  that  Faraday  and  other 
eminent  physicists  of  the  day  were  believers  in 
a  divine  revelation. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  Faraday  ever  tried 
to  form  a  definite  idea  of  the  relation  in  which 
the  physical  forces  stand  to  the  Supreme  Intelli- 
gence, as  Newton  did,  or  his  own  friend  Sir  John 
Herschel,  nor  did  he  consider  it  part  of  his  duty 
as  a  lecturer  to  look  beyond  the  natural  laws  he 
was  describing.  His  practice  in  this  respect  has 
been  well  described  by  the  Rev.  Professor  Pritch- 
ard  :*  "  This  great  and  good  man  never  obtruded 
*  "Analogies  in  the  Progress  of  Nature  and  Grace,"  p.  121 . 


FKUITS    OF   HIS    EXPERIENCE.  153 

the  strength  of  his  faith  upon  those  whom  he 
publicly  addressed ;  upon  principle,  he  was  ha- 
bitually reticent  on  such  topics,  because  he  be- 
lieved they  were  ill  suited  for  the  ordinary  as- 
semblages of  men.  Yet  on  more  than  one  occa- 
sion when  he  had  been  discoursing  on  some  of 
the  magnificent  prearrangements  of  divine  Prov- 
idence so  lavishly  scattered  in  nature,  I  have 
seen  him  struggle  to  repress  the  emotion  which 
was  visibly  striving  for  utterance ;  and  then,  at 
the  last,  with  one  single  far-reaching  word,  he 
would  just  hint  at  his  meaning  rather  than  ex- 
press it.  On  such  occasions  he  only  who  had 
ears  to  hear  could  hear." 

In  his  more  familiar  lectures  to  the  cadets  at 
Woolwich,  however,  he  more  than  hinted  at  such 
elevated  thoughts.  In  conversation,  too,  Fara- 
day has  been  known  to  express  his  wonder  that 
any  one  should  fail  to  recognize  the  constant 
traces  of  design ;  and  in  his  writings  there  some- 
times occur  such  passages  as  the  following: 
"When  I  consider  the  multitude  of  associated 
forces  which  are  diffused  through  nature — when 
I  think  of  that  calm  and  tranquil  balancing 
of  their  energies  which  enables  elements  most 
powerful  in  themselves,  most  destructive  to  the 
world's  creatures  and  economy,  to  dwell  associ- 
ated together  and  be  made  subservient  to  the 
wants  of  creation,  I  rise  from  the  contemplation 


154  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

more  than  ever  impressed  with  the  wisdom,  the 
beneficence,  and  grandeur  beyond  our  language 
to  express,  of  the  Great  Disposer  of  all !" 

Faraday's  journals  abound  with  descriptions 
of"  nature  and  human  nature."  He  had  evident- 
ly a  keen  eye  for  the  beauties  of  scenery,  and 
occasionally  the  objects  around  him  suggested 
higher  thoughts.  Here  are  two  instances  taken 
from  his  notes  of  a  Swiss  tour  in  1841 : 

" Monday ,19th.  Very  fine  day;  walk  with  dear 
Sarah  on  the  lake  side  to  Oberhofen,  through  the 
beautiful  vineyards ;  very  busy  were  the  women 
and  men  in  trimming  the  vines,  stripping  off 
leaves  and  tendrils  from  the  fruit-bearing  branch- 
es. The  church-yard  was  beautiful,  and  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  little  remembrance-posts  set  upon 
the  graves  very  pleasant.  One  who  had  been 
too  poor  to  put  up  an  engraved  brass  plate,  or 
even  a  painted  board,  had  written  with  ink  on 
paper  the  birth  and  death  of  the  being  whose 
remains  were  below,  and  this  had  been  fastened 
to  a  board,  and  mounted  on  the  top  of  a  stick  at 
the  head  of  the  grave,  the  paper  being  protected 
by  a  little  edge  and  roof.  Such  was  the  simple 
remembrance ;  but  Nature  had  added  her  pathos, 
for  under  the  shelter  by  the  writing  a  caterpil- 
lar had  fastened  itself,  and  passed  into  its  death- 
like state  of  chrysalis,  and,  having  ultimately  as- 
sumed its  final  state,  it  had  winged  its  way  from 


FRUITS    OF    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  155 

the  spot,  and  had  left  the  corpse-like  relic  behind. 
How  old  and  how  beautiful  is  this  figure  of  the 
resurrection  !  Surely  it  can  never  appear  before 
our  eyes  without  touching  the  thoughts." 

"August  12th,  Brienz  Lake.  George  and  I 
crossed  the  lake  in  a  boat  to  the  Giessbach — he 
to  draw,  and  I  to  saunter.  .  .  .  This  most  beau- 
tiful fall  consists  of  a  fine  river,  which  passes  by 
successive  steps  down  a  very  deep  precipice  into 
the  lake.  In  some  of  these  steps  there  is  a  clear 
leap  of  water  of  100  feet  or  more,  in  others  most 
beautiful  combinations  of  leap,  cataract,  and  rap- 
id, the  finest  rocks  occurring  at  the  sides  and 
bed  of  the  torrent.  In  one  part  a  bridge  passes 
over  it.  In  another  a  cavern  and  a  path  occur 
under  it.  To-day  every  fall  was  foaming  from 
the  abundance  of  water,  and  the  current  of  wind 
brought  down  by  it  was  in  .some  parts  almost 
too  strong  to  stand  against.  The  sun  shone 
brightly,  and  the  rainbows  seen  from  various 
points  were  very  beautiful.  One  at  the  bottom 
of  a  fine  but  furious  fall  was  very  pleasant. 
There  it  remained  motionless,  while  the  gusts 
and  clouds  of  spray  swept  furiously  across  its 
place,  and  were  dashed  against  the  rock.  It 
looked  like  a  spirit  strong  in  faith  and  steadfast 
in  the  midst  of  the  storm  of  passions  sweeping 
across  it ;  and  though  it  might  fade  and  revive, 
still  it  held  on  to  the  rock  as  in  hope  and  giving 


156  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

hope ;  and  the  very  drops,  which  in  the  whirl- 
wind of  their  fury  seemed  as  if  they  would  carry 
all  away,  were  made  to  revive  it  and  give  it 
greater  beauty. 

"How  often  are  the  things  we  fear  and  esteem 
as  troubles  made  to  become  blessings  to  those 
who  are  led  to  receive  them  with  humility  and 
patience." 

In  concluding  this  section,  it  may  be  well  to 
string  together  a  few  gems  from  Faraday's  lec- 
tures or  correspondence,  though  they  are  greatly 
damaged  by  being  torn  away  from  their  original 
setting  : 

"After  all,  though  your  science  is  much  to 
me,  we  are  not  friends  for  science  sake  only,  but 
for  something  better  in  a  man,  something  more 
important  in  his  nature,  affection,  kindness,  good 
feeling,  moral  worth ;  and  so,  in  remembrance  of 
these,  I  now  write  to  place  myself  in  your  pres- 
ence, and  in  thought  shake  hands,  tongues,  and 
hearts  together."  This  was  addressed  to  Schon- 
bein. 

"I  should  be  glad  to  think  that  high  mental 
powers  insured  something  like  a  high  moral 
sense,  but  have  often  been  grieved  to  see  the 
contrary ;  as  also,  on  the  other  hand,  my  spirit 
has  been  cheered  by  observing  in  some  lowly 
and  uninstructed  creature  such  a  healthful,  and 


FRUITS    OF    HIS    EXPERIENCE.  157 

honorable,  and  dignified  mind  as  made  one  in 
love  with  human  nature.  When  that  which  is 
good  mentally  and  morally  meet  in  one  being, 
that  that  being  is  more  fitted  to  work  out  and 
manifest  the  glory  of  God  in  the  creation  I  fully 
admit." 

''Let  me,  as  an  old  man  who  ought  by  this 
time  to  have  profited  by  experience,  say,  that 
when  I  was  younger  I  found  I  often  misinter- 
preted the  intentions  of  people,  and  found  they 
did  not  mean  what  at  the  time  I  supposed  they 
meant;  and  further,  that,  as  a  general  rule,  it 
was  better  to  be  a  little  dull  of  apprehension 
when  phrases  seemed  to  imply  pique,  and  quick 
in  perception  when,  on  the  contrary,  they  seem- 
ed to  imply  kindly  feeling.  The  real  truth  never 
fails  ultimately  to  appear ;  and  opposing  parties, 
if  wrong,  are  sooner  convinced  when  replied  to 
forbearingly  than  when  overwhelmed." 

"Man  is  an  improving  animal.  Unlike  the  an- 
imated world  around  him,  which  remains  in  the 
same  constant  state,  he  is  continually  varying ; 
and  it  is  one  of  the  noblest  prerogatives  of  his 
nature  that  in  the  highest  of  earthly  distinctions 
he  has  the  power  of  raising  and  exalting  Kim- 
self  continually.  The  transitory  state  of  man 
has  been  held  up  to  him  as  a  memento  of  his 
weakness:  to  man  degraded  it  may  be  so  with 
justice;  to  man  as  he  ought  to  be  it  is  no  re- 


158  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

proach ;  and  in  knowledge,  that  man  only  is  to 
be  contemned  and  despised  who  is  not  in  a  state 
of  transition." 

"  It  is  not  the  duty  or  place  of  a  philosopher 
to  dictate  belief,  and  all  hypothesis  is  more  or 
less  matter  of  belief;  he  has  but  to  give  his  facts 
and  his  conclusions,  and  so  much  of  the  logic 
which  connects  the  former  with  the  latter  as  he 
may  think  necessary,  and  then  to  commit  the 
whole  to  the  scientific  world  for  present,  and,  as 
he  may  sometimes  without  presumption  believe, 
for  future  judgment." 


HIS   METHOD    OF   WOBKING.  159 


SECTION  IV. 

HIS   METHOD    OF    WOEKING. 

IT  is  on  record  that  when  a  young  aspirant 
asked  Faraday  the  secret  of  his  success  as  a  sci- 
entific investigator,  he  replied,  "The  secret  is 
comprised  in  three  words — Work,  Finish,  Pub- 
lish." 

Each  of  these  words,  we  may  be  sure,  is  full 
of  meaning,  and  will  guide  us  in  a  useful  inquiry. 

Already  in  the  "  Story  of  his  Life"  we  have 
caught  some  glimpses  of  the  philosopher  at  work 
in  his  laboratory ;  but,  before  looking  at  him 
more  closely,  let  us  learn  from  a  foreigner  with 
what  feelings  to  enter  a  place  that  is  hallowed 
by  so  many  memories  sacred  in  the  history  of 
science.  Professor  Schonbein,  of  Basle,  who  vis- 
ited England  in  1840,  says, "  During  my  stay  in 
London,  I  once  worked  with  Faraday  for  a  whole 
day  long  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Royal  Institu- 
tion, and  I  can  not  forbear  to  say  that  this  was 
one  of  the  most  enjoyable  days  that  I  ever  spent 
in  the  British  capital.  We  commenced  our  day's 
work  with  breakfast ;  and  when  that  was  over  I 
was  supplied  with  one  of  the  laboratory  dresses 


160  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

of  ray  friend,  which,  when  I  was  presented  in  it 
to  the  ladies,  gave  occasion  to  no  little  amuse- 
ment, as  the  dimensions  of  Faraday  are  different 
from  those  of  my  precious  body. 

"  To  work  with  a  man  like  Faraday  was  in  it- 
self a  great  pleasure ;  but  this  pleasure  was  not 
a  little  heightened  in  doing  so  in  a  place  where 
such  grand  secrets  of  nature  had  been  unfolded, 
the  most  brilliant  discoveries  of  the  century  had 
been  made,  and  entirely  new  branches  of  knowl- 
edge had  been  brought  forth.  For  the  empty 
intellect  circumstances  of  this  nature  are  indeed 
of  little  special  value ;  but  they  stand  in  quite 
another  relation  to  our  power  of  imagination  and 
inner  nature. 

"I  do  not  deny  that  my  surroundings  pro- 
duced in  me  a  very  peculiar  feeling ;  and  while  I 
trod  the  floor  upon  which  Davy  had  once  walk- 
ed— while  I  availed  myself  of  some  instrument 
which  this  great  discoverer  had  himself  handled 
— while  I -stood  working  at  the  very  table  at 
which  the  ever-memorable  man  sought  to  solve 
the  most  difficult  problems  of  science,  at  which 
Faraday  enticed  the  first  sparks  out  of  the  mag- 
net, and  discovered  the  most  beautiful  laws  of 
the  chemical  action  of  current  electricity,  I  felt 
myself  inwardly  elevated,  and  believed  that  I 
myself  experienced  something  of  the  inbreath- 
ing of  the  scientific  spirit  which  formerly  ruled 


HIS   METHOD    OF    WORKING.  161 

there  with  such  creative  power,  and  which  still 
works  on."* 

The  habit  of  Faraday  was  to  think  out  care- 
fully beforehand  the  subject  on  which  he  was 
working,  and  to  plan  his  mode  of  attack.  Then, 
if  he  saw  that  some  new  piece  of  apparatus  was 
needed,  he  would  describe  it  fully  to  the  instru- 
ment maker  with  a  drawing,  and  it  rarely  hap- 
pened that  there  was  any  need  of  alteration  in 
executing  the  order.  If,  however,  the  means  of 
experiment  existed  already,  he  would  give  An- 
derson a  written  list  of  the  things  he  would  re- 
quire at  least  a  day  before — for  Anderson  was 
not  to  be  hurried.  When  all  was  ready,  he 
would  descend  into  the  laboratory,  give  a  quick 
glance  round  to  see  that  all  was  right,  take  his 
apron  from  the  drawer,  and  rub  his  hands  to- 
gether as  he  looked  at  the  preparations  made  for 
his  work.  There  must  be  no  tool  on  the  table 
but  such  as  he  required.  As  he  began,  his  face 
would  be  exceedingly  grave,  and  during  the  prog- 
ress of  an  experiment  all  must  be  perfectly  qui- 
et ;  but  if  it  was  proceeding  according  to  his 
wish,  he  would  commence  to  hum  a  tune,  and 
sometimes  to  rock  himself  sideways,  balancing 
alternately  on  either  foot.  Then,  too,  he  would 
often  talk  to  his  assistant  about  the  result  he 

» 

*  "  Mittheilungen  aus  dem  Reisetagebuche  eines  deutschen 
Naturforschers,"  p.  275. 

L 


162  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

was  expecting.  He  would  put  away  each  tool 
in  its  own  place  as  soon  as  done  with,  or,  at 
any  rate,  when  the  day's  work  was  over,  and  he 
would  not  unnecessarily  take  a  thing  away  from 
its  place ;  thus,  if  he  wanted  a  perforated  cork, 
he  would  go  to  the  drawer  which  contained  the 
corks  and  cork-borers,  make  there  what  he  want- 
ed, replace  the  borers,  and  shut  the  drawer.  No 
bottle  was  allowed  to  remain  without  its  stop- 
per ;  no  open  glass  might  stand  for  a  night  with- 
out a  paper  cover ;  no  rubbish  was  to  be  left  on 
the  floor;  bad  smells  were  to  be  avoided  if  pos- 
sible ;  and  machinery  in  motion  was  not  permit- 
ted to  grate.  In  working,  also,  he  was  very  care- 
ful not  to  employ  more  force  than  was  wanted  to 
produce  the  effect.  When  his  experiments  were 
finished  and  put  away,  he  would  leave  the  labor- 
atory, and  think  further  about  them  up  stairs. 

This  orderliness  and  this  economy  of  means 
he  not  only  practiced  himself,  but  he  expected 
them  also  to  be  followed  by  any  who  worked 
with  him ;  and  it  is  from  conversation  with  these 
that  I  have  been  enabled  to  give  this  sketch  of 
his  manner  of  working. 

This  exactness  was  also  apparent  in  the  ac- 
counts he  kept  with  the  Royal  Institution  and 
Trinity  House,  in  which  he  entered  every  little 
item  of  expenditure  with  the  greatest  minuteness 
of  detail. 


HIS    METHOD    OF   WOKKING.  163 

It  was  through  this  lifelong  series  of  experi- 
ments that  Faraday  won  his  knowledge  and  mas- 
tered the  forces  of  nature.  The  rare  ingenuity 
of  his  mind  was  ably  seconded  by  his  manipu- 
lative skill,  while  the  quickness  of  his  perceptions 
was  equaled  by  the  calm  rapidity  of  his  move- 
ments. 

He  had,  indeed,  a  passion  for  experimenting. 
I  recollect  his  meeting  me  at  the  entrance  to  the 
lecture  theatre  at  Jermyn  Street  when  Lyon 
Playfair  was  to  give  the  first,  or  one  of  the  first 
lectures  ever  delivered  in  the  building.  "Let 
us  go  up  here,"  said  he,  leading  me  far  away  from 
the  central  table.  I  asked  him  why  he  chose 
such  an  out-of-the-way  place.  "  Oh,"  he  replied, 
"  we  shall  be  able  here  to  find  out  what  are  the 
acoustic  qualities  of  the  room." 

The  simplicity  of  the  means  with  which  he 
made  his  experiments  wras  often  astonishing,  and 
was,  indeed,  one  of  the  manifestations  of  his  ge- 
nius. 

A  good  instance  is  thus  narrated  by  Sir  Fred- 
erick Arrow.  "  When  the  electric  light  was  first 
exhibited  permanently  at  Dungeness,  on  the  6th 
of  June,  1862,  a  committee  of  the  Elder  Breth- 
ren, of  which  I  was  one,  accompanied  Faraday 
to  observe  it.  We  dined,  I  think,  at  Dover,  and 
embarked  in  the  yacht  from  there,  and  were  out 
for  some  hours  watching  it,  to  Faraday's  great 


164  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

delight — (a  very  fine  night) — and  especially  we 
did  so  from  the  Varne  light-ship,  about  equidis- 
tant between  it  and  the  French  light  of  Grisnez, 
using  all  our  best  glasses  and  photometers  to  as- 
certain the  relative  value  of  the  lights  ;  and  this 
brings  me  to  my  story.  Before  we  left  Dover, 
Faraday,  with  his  usual  bright  smile,  in  great 
glee  showed  me  a  little  common  paper  box,  and 
said, '  I  must  take  care  of  this ;  it's  my  special 
photometer ;'  and  then,  opening  it,  produced  a 
lady's  ordinary  black  shawl-pin — jet,  or  imita- 
tion perhaps — and  then  holding  it  a  little  way 
off  the  candle,  showed  me  the  image  very  dis- 
tinct ;  and  then,  putting  it  a  little  further  off, 
placed  another  candle  near  it,  and  the  relative 
distance  was  shown  by  the  size  of  the  image. 
He  lent  me  this  afterward  when  we  were  at  the 
Varne  light-ship,  and  it  acted  admirably;  and 
ever  since  I  have  used  one  as  a  very  convenient 
mode  of  observing,  and  I  never  do  so  but  I  think 
of  that  night  and  dear  good  Faraday,  and  his  ge- 
nial, happy  way  of  showing  how  even  common 
things  may  be  made  useful."  After  this  Fara- 
day modified  his  glass-bead  photometer,  and  he 
might  be  seen  comparing  the  relative  intensity 
of  two  lights  by  watching  their  luminous  images 
on  a  bead  of  black  glass,  which  he  had  threaded 
on  a  string,  and  was  twirling  'round  so  as  to  re- 
solve the  brilliant  points  into  circles  of  fainter 


HIS   METHOD    OF   WOEKING.  165 

light ;  or  he  fixed  the  black  glass  balls  on  pieces 
of  cork,  and,  attaching  them  to  a  little  wheel,  set 
them  spinning  for  the  same  purpose.  Some  of 
these  beads  are  preserved  by  the  Trinity  House, 
with  other  treasures  of  a  like  kind,  including  a 
flat  piece  of  solder  of  an  irregular  oval  form, 
turned  up  at  one  side  so  as  to  form  a  thumb-rest, 
and  which  served  the  philosopher  as  a  candle- 
stick to  support  the  wax-light  that  he  used  as  a 
standard.  The  museum  of  the  Royal  Institution 
contains  a  most  instructive  collection  of  his  ex- 
perimental apparatus,  including  the  common  elec- 
trical machine  which  he  made  while  still  an  ap- 
prentice at  Riebau's,  and  the  ring  of  soft  iron, 
with  its  twisted  coils  of  wire  isolated  by  calico 
and  tied  with  common  string,  by  means  of  which 
he  first  obtained  electrical  effects  from  a  magnet. 

A  lady,  calling  on  his  wife,  happened  to  men- 
tion that  a  needle  had  been  once  broken  into  her 
foot,  and  she  did  not  know  whether  it  had  been 
all  extracted  or  not.  "  Oh  !"  said  Faraday,  "  I 
will  soon  tell  you  that ;"  and,  taking  a  finely  sus- 
pended magnetic  needle,  he  held  it  close  to  her 
foot,  and  it  dipped  to  the  concealed  iron. 

"An  artist  was  once  maintaining  that  in  natu- 
ral appearances  and  in  pictures,  up  and  down, 
and  high  and  low,  were  fixed  indubitable  reali- 
ties ;  but  Faraday  told  him  that  they  were  mere- 
ly conventional  acceptations,  based  on  standards 


166  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

often  arbitrary.  The  disputant  could  not  be 
convinced  that  ideas  which  he  had  hitherto  never 
doubted  had  such  shifting  foundations.  'Well,' 
said  Faraday, 'hold  a  walking-stick  between  your 
chin  and  your  great  toe ;  look  along  it  and  say 
which  is  the  upper  end.'  The  experiment  was 
tried,  and  the  artist  found  his  idea  of  perspective 
at  complete  variance  with  his  sense  of  reality ; 
either  end  of  the  stick  might  be  called  '  upper' 
— pictorially  it  was  one,  physically  it  was  the 
other." 

On  this  subject  Schonbein  has  also  some  good 
remarks.  "  The  laboratory  of  the  Institution  is 
indeed  efficiently  arranged,  though  any  thing  but 
large  and  elaborately  furnished.  And  yet  some- 
thing extraordinary  has  happened  in  this  room 
for  the  extension  of  the  limits  of  knowledge,  and 
already  more  has  been  done  in.it  than  in  many 
other  institutions  where  the  greatest  luxury  in 
the  supply  of  apparatus  prevails,  and  where  there 
is  the  greatest  command  of  money.  But  when 
men  work  with  the  creative  genius  of  a  Davy, 
and  the  intuitive  spirit  of  investigation  and  the 
wealth  of  ideas  of  a  Faraday,  important  and 
great  things  must  come  to  pass,  even  though 
the  appliances  at  command  should  be  of  so  lim- 
ited a  character.  For  the  experimental  investi- 
gator of  nature,  it  is  especially  desirable  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  kind  of  his  researches,  he  should 


HIS   METHOD   OP   WORKING.  167 

have  at  command  such  and  such  appliances;  that 
he  should  possess  a '  philosophical  apparatus,'  a 
laboratory,  etc. ;  but  for  the  purpose  of  produc- 
ing something  important,  of  greatly  widening  the 
sphere  of  knowledge,  it  in  no  way  follows  that 
a  superfluity  of  such  things  is  necessary  to  him. 
.  .  .  .  He  who  understands  how  to  put  appro- 
priate questions  to  Nature  generally  knows  how 
to  extract  the  answers  by  simple  means ;  and  he 
who  wants  this  capacity  will,  I  fear,  obtain  no 
profitable  result,  even  though  all  conceivable 
tools  and  apparatus  may  be  ready  to  his  hand." 
Nor  did  Faraday  require  elaborate  apparatus  to 
illustrate  his  meaning.  Steaming  up  the  Thames 
one  July  day  in  a  penny  boat,  he  was  struck  with 
the  offensiveness  of  the  water.  He  tor*e  some 
white  cards  into  pieces,  wetted  them  so  as  to 
make  them  sink  easily,  and  dropped  them  into 
the  river  at  each  pier  they  came  to.  Their  sud- 
den disappearance  from  sight,  though  the  sun 
was  shining  brightly,  was  proof  enough  of  the 
impurity  of  the  stream ;  and  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  Times  describing  his  observations,  and 
calling  public  attention  to  the  dangerous  state 
of  the  river.*  At  a  meeting  of  the  British  As- 
sociation he  wished  to  explain  the  manner  in 

*  Punch's  cartoon  next  week  represented  Professor  Fara- 
day holding  his  nose,  and  presenting  his  card  to  Father  Thames, 
who  rises  out  of  the  unsavory  ooze. 


168  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

which  certain  crystallized  bodies  place  them- 
selves between  the  poles  of  an  electro-magnet : 
two  or  three  raw  potatoes  furnished  the  mate- 
rial out  of  which  he  cut  admirable  models  of  the 
crystals. 

Faraday's  manner  of  experimenting  may  be 
further  illustrated  by  the  recollections  of  other 
friends  who  have  had  the  opportunity  of  watch- 
ing him  at  work. 

Mr.  James  Young,  who  was  in  the  laboratory 
of  University  College  in  1838,  thus  writes: 
"About  that  time  Professor  Graham  had  got 
from  Paris  Thilorier's  apparatus  for  producing 
liquid  and  solid  carbonic  acid ;  hearing  of  this, 
Mr.  Faraday  came  to  Graham's  laboratory,  and, 
as  one  might  expect,  showed  great  interest  in 
this  apparatus,  and  asked  Graham  for  the  loan 
of  it  for  a  Friday  evening  lecture  at  the  Royal 
Institution,  which  of  course  Graham  readily 
granted,  and  Faraday  asked  me  to  come  down 
to  the  Institution  and  give  him  the  benefit  of 
my  experience  in  charging  and  working  the  ap- 
paratus ;  so  I  spent  a  long  evening  at  the  Royal 
Institution  laboratory.  There  was  no  one  pres- 
ent but  Faraday,  Anderson,  and  myself.  The 
principal  thing  we  did  was  to  charge  the  appa- 
ratus and  work  with  the  solid  carbonic  acid,  Mr. 
Faraday  working  with  great  activity :  his  mo- 
tions were  wonderfully  rapid;  and  if  he  had  to 


HIS   METHOD    OF    WORKING.  169 

cross  the  laboratory  for  any  thing,  he  did  not 
walk  at  an  ordinary  step,  but  ran  for  it,  and 
when  he  wanted  any  thing  he  spoke  quickly. 
Faraday  had  a  theory  at  that  time  that  all  met- 
als would  become  magnetic  if  their  temperature 
were  low  enough;  and  he  tried  that  evening 
some  experiments  with  cobalt  and  manganese, 
which  he  cooled  in  a  mixture  of  carbonic  acid 
and  ether,  but  the  results  were  negative." 

Among  the  deep  mines  of  the  Durham  coal- 
field is  one  called  the  Haswell  Colliery.  One 
Saturday  afternoon,  while  the  men  were  at  work 
in  it  as  usual,  a  terrible  explosion  occurred :  it 
proceeded  from  the  fire-damp  that  collects  in  the 
vaulted  space  that  is  formed  in  old  workings 
when  the  supporting  pillars  of  coal  are  removed 
and  the  roof  falls  in:  the  suffocating  gases  rushed 
along  the  narrow  passages,  and  overwhelmed 
ninety-five  poor  fellows  with  destruction.  Of 
course  there  was  an  inquiry,  and  the  government 
sent  down  to  the  spot  as  their  commissioners 
Professor  Faraday  and  Sir  Charles  Lyell.  The 
two  gentlemen  attended  at  the  coroner's  inquest, 
where  they  took  part  in  the  examination  of  the 
witnesses ;  they  inspected  the  shattered  safety- 
lamps  ;  they  descended  into  the  mine,  spending 
the  best  part  of  a  day  in  the  damaged  and  there- 
fore dangerous  galleries  where  the  catastrophe 
had  occurred,  and  they  did  not  leave  without 


1VO  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

showing  in  a  practical  form  their  sympathy  with 
the  sufferers.  When  down  in  the  pit,  an  inspect- 
or showed  them  the  way  in  which  the  workmen 
estimated  the  rapidity  of  the  ventilation  draught 
by  throwing  a  pinch  of  gunpowder  through  the 
flame  of  a  candle,  and  timing  the  movement  of 
the  little  puff  of  smoke.  Faraday,  not  admiring 
the  free  and  easy  way  in  which  they  handled 
their  powder,  asked  where  they  kept  their  store 
of  it,  and  learned  that  it  was  in  a  large  black  bag 
which  had  been  assigned  to  him  as  the  most  com- 
fortable seat  they  could  offer.  We  may  imagine 
the  liveliness  with  which  he  sprang  to  his  feet, 
and  expostulated  with  them  on  their  culpable 
carelessness. 

My  own  opportunities  of  observing  Faraday 
at  work  were  nearly  confined  to  a  series  of  ex- 
periments, which  are  the  better  worth  describ- 
ing here  as  they  have  escaped  the  notice  of  pre- 
vious biographers.  The  Royal  Commission  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  our  whole  system  of 
Lights,  Buoys,  and  Beacons  perceived  a  great 
defect  that  rendered  many  of  our  finest  shore  or 
harbor  lights  comparatively  ineffective.  The 
great  central  lamp  in  a  light-house  is  surround- 
ed by  a  complicated  arrangement  of  lenses  and 
prisms,  with  the  object  of  gathering  up  as  many 
of  the  rays  as  possible,  and  sending  them  over 
the  surface  of  the  sea  toward  the  horizon.  Now 


HIS   METHOD    OF   WORKING.  171 

it  is  evident  that  if  this  apparatus  be  adjusted 
so  as  to  send  the  beam  two  or  three  degrees  up- 
ward, the  light  will  be  lost  to  the  shipping  and 
wasted  on  the  clouds ;  and  if  two  or  three  de- 
grees downward,  it  will  only  illumine  the  water 
in  the  neighborhood :  in  either  case  the  beauti- 
ful and  expensive  apparatus  would  be  worse 
than  useless.  It  is  evident,  also,  that  if  the  eye 
be  placed  just  above  the  wick  of  the  lamp,  it 
will  see  through  any  particular  piece  of  glass 
that  very  portion  of  the  landscape  which  will  be 
illuminated  by  a  ray  starting  from  the  same  spot; 
or  the  photographic  image  formed  in  the  place 
of  the  flame  by  any  one  of  the  lenses  will  tell  us 
the  direction  in  which  that  lens  will  throw  the 
luminous  rays.  This  simple  principle  was  ap- 
plied by  the  commissioners  for  testing  the  ad- 
justment of  the  apparatus  in  the  different  lights, 
and  it  was  found  that  few  were  rightly  placed, 
or  rather  that  no  method  of  adjustment  was  in 
use  better  than  the  mason's  plumb-line.  The 
Royal  Commissioners  therefore,  in  1860,  drew 
the  attention  of  all  the  light-house  authorities  to 
this  fact,  and  asked  the  Elder  Brethren  of  the 
Trinity  House,  with  Faraday  and  other  parties, 
to  meet  them  at  the  lights  recently  erected  at 
the  North  Foreland  and  Whitby.  I,  as  the  sci- 
entific member  of  the  commission,  had  drawn 
out  in  detail  the  course  of  rays  from  different 


172  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

parts  of  the  flame,  through  different  parts  of  the 
apparatus,  and  I  was  struck  with  the  readiness 
with  which  Faraday,  who  had  never  before  con- 
sidered the  matter,*  took  up  the  idea,  and  recog- 
nized its  importance  and  its  practical  application. 
With  his  characteristic  ingenuity,  too,  he  de- 
vised a  littl'e  piece  of  apparatus  for  the  more  ex- 
act observation  of  the  matter  inside  the  light- 
house. He  took  to  Mr.  Ladd,  the  optical  instru- 
ment maker,  a  drawing,  very  neatly  executed, 
with  written  directions,  and  a  cork  cut  into 
proper  shape,  with  two  lucifer  matches  stuck 
through  it,  to  serve  as  a  further  explanation  of 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  come  across  a  letter  writ- 
ten by  Faraday  in  answer  to  one  by  Captain  Weller  as  far 
back  as  13th  Sept.,  1839,  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  malad- 
justment of  the  dioptric  apparatus  at  Orfordness.  In  July 
of  the  following  year  he  made  lengthy  suggestions  to  the 
Trinity  House,  in  which  he  proposed  using  a  flat  white  cir- 
cle or  square,  half  an  inch  across,  on  a  piece  of  black  paper  or 
card,  as  a  "focal  object."  This  was  to  be  looked  at  from 
outside,  in  order  to  test  the  regularity  of  the  glass  apparatus. 
He  also  suggested  observations  on  the  divergence  by  looking 
at  this  white  circle  at  a  distance  of  twenty  feet  at  most.  An- 
other plan  he  proposed  was  that  of  lighting  the  lamp  and  put- 
ting up  a  white  screen  outside.  These  methods  of  examin- 
ing he  carried  out  very  shortly  afterward  at  Blackwall,  on 
French  and  English  refractors,  but  it  seems  never  to  have  oc- 
curred to  him  to  place  his  eye  in  the  focus,  or  in  any  other 
manner  to  observe  the  course  of  the  rays  from  inside  the  ap- 
paratus. 


HIS    METHOD    OF   WORKING.  173 

his  meaning,  and  from  this  the  "  focimeter,"  as 
he  called  it,  was  made.  The  position  of  the  glass 
panels  at  Whitby  was  corrected  by  means  of  this 
little  instrument,  and  there  were  many  journeys 
down  to  Chance's  glass-works  near  Birmingham, 
where,  declining  the  hospitality  of  the  proprietor 
in  order  to  be  absolutely  independent,  he  put  up 
at  a  small  hotel  while  he  made  his  experiments, 
and  jotted  down  his  observations  on  the  cards  he 
habitually  carried  in  his  pocket.  At  length  we 
were  invited  down  to  see  the  result.  Faraday 
explained  carefully  all  that  had  been  done,  and 
at  the  risk  of  sea-sickness  (no  trifling  matter  in 
his  case)  accompanied  us  out  to  sea  to  observe 
the  effect  from  various  directions  and  at  various 
distances.  The  experience  acquired  at  Whitby 
was  applied  elsewhere,  and  in  May,  1801,  the 
Trinity  House  appointed  a  Visiting  Committee, 
"to  examine  all  dioptric  light  establishments, 
with  the  view  of  remedying  any  inaccuracies  of 
arrangement  that  may  be  found  to  exist."  Far- 
aday had  instructed  and  practiced  Captain  Nis- 
bet  and  some  others  of  the  Elder  Brethren  in  the 
use  of  the  focimeter,  and  now  wrote  a  careful 
letter  of  suggestions  on  the  question  of  adjust- 
ment between  the  lamp,  and  the  lenses,  and 
prisms ;  so  thoughtfully  did  he  work  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  "  go  down  to  the  sea  in 
ships,  that  do  business  in  great  waters." 


174  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

As  to  the  mental  process  that  devised,  direct- 
ed, and  interpreted  his  experiments,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  Faraday  was  no  mathema- 
tician; his  power  of  appreciating  an  d  priori 
reason  often  appeared  comparatively  weak.  "It 
has  been  stated  on  good  authority  that  Faraday 
boasted  on  a  certain  occasion  of  having  only 
once  in  the  course  of  his  life  performed  a  mathe- 
matical calculation  :  that  once  was  when  he 
turned  the  handle  of  Babbage's  calculating  ma- 
chine."* Though  there  was  more  pleasantry 
than  truth  in  this  professed  innocence  of  num- 
bers, probably  no  one  acquainted  with  his  elec- 
trical researches  will  doubt  that,  had  he  possess- 
ed: more  mathematical  ability,  he  would  have 
been  saved  much  trouble,  and  would  sometimes 
have  expressed  his  conclusions  with  greater  ease 
and  precision.  Yet,  as  Sir  William  Thomson  has 
remarked  with  reference  to  certain  magnetic 
phenomena,  "  Faraday,  without  mathematics,  di- 
vined the  result  of  the  mathematical  investiga- 
tion ;  and,  what  has  proved  of  infinite  value  to 
the  mathematicians  themselves,  he  has  given 
them  an  articulate  language  in  which  to  express 
their  results.  Indeed,  the  whole  language  of  the 
magnetic  field  and  '  lines  of  force'  is  Faraday's. 
It  must  be  said  for  the  mathematicians  that  they 
greedily  accepted  it,  and  have  ever  since  been 
*  Dr.  Scoffern,  Belgravia,  October,  1867. 


HIS   METHOD    OF   WORKING.  175 

most   zealous   in   using  it  to   the  best   advan- 
tage." 

The  peculiarity  of  his  mind  was  indeed  well 
known  to  himself.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Becker  he 
says :  "  I  was  never  able  to  make  a  fact  my  own 
without  seeing  it ;  and  the  descriptions  of  the 
best  works  altogether  failed  to  convey  to  my 
mind  such  a  knowledge  of  things  as  to  allow  my- 
self to  form  a  judgment  upon  them.  It  was  so 
with  new  things.  If  Grove,  or  Wheatstone,  or 
Gassiot,  or  any  other  told  me  a  new  fact,  and 
wanted  my  opinion  either  of  its  value,  or  the 
cause,  or  the  evidence  it  could  give  on  any  sub- 
ject, I  never  could  say  any  thing  until  I  had  seen 
the  fact.  For  the  same  reason,  I  never  could 
work,  as  some  professors  do  most  extensively, 
by  students  or  pupils.  All  the  work  had  to  be 
my  own." 

The  following  story  by  Mr.  Robert  Mallet  serves 
as  an  illustration:  "It  must  be  now  eighteen 
years  ago  when  I  paid  him  a  visit,  and  brought 
some  slips  of  flexible  and  tough  Muntz's  yellow 
metal  to  show  him  the  instantaneous  change  to 
complete  brittleness  with  rigidity  produced  by 
dipping  into  pernitrate  of  mercury  solution.  He 
got  the  solution,  and  I  showedhim  the  facts ;  he 
obviously  did  not  doubt  what  he  saw  me  do  be- 
fore and  close  to  him;  but  a  sort  of  experimental 
instinct  seemed  to  require  he  should  try  it  him- 


176  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

self.  So  he  took  one  of  the  slips,  bent  it  forward 
and  backward,  dipped  it,  and  broke  it  up  into 
short  bits  between  his  own  fingers.  He  had  not 
before  spoken.  Then  he  said, '  Yes,  it  is  pliable, 
and  it  does  become  instantly  brittle.'  And  after 
a  few  moments'  pause  he  added,  *  Well,  now  have 
you  any  more  facts  of  the  sort  ?'  and  seemed  a 
little  disappointed  when  I  said  '  No ;  none  that 
are  new.'  It  has  often  since  occurred  to  me 
how  his  mind  needed  absolute  satisfaction  that 
he  had  grasped  a,  fact,  and  then  instantly  rushed 
to  colligate  it  with  another,  if  possible." 

But  as  the  professor  watched  these  new  facts, 
new  thoughts  would  shape  themselves  in  his 
mind,  and  this  would  lead  to  fresh  experiments 
in  order  to  test  their  truth.  The  answers  so  ob- 
tained would  lead  to  further  questions.  Thus 
his  work  often  consisted  in  the  defeat  of  one  hy- 
pothesis after  another,  till  the  true  conditions  of 
the  phenomena  came  forth,  and  claimed  the  as- 
sent of  the  experimenter  and  ultimately  of  the 
scientific  world. 

A.  de  la  Rive  has  some  acute  observations  on 
this  subject.  He  explains  how  Faraday  did  not 
place  himself  before  his  apparatus,  setting  it  to 
work,  without  a  preconceived  idea;  neither  did 
he  take  up  known  phenomena,  as  some  scientific 
men  do,  and  determine  their  numerical  data,  or 
study  with  great  precision  the  laws  which  regu- 


HIS   METHOD   OF  WOKKING.  177 

late  them.  "A  third  method,  very  different  from 
the  preceding,  is  that  which,  quitting  the  beaten 
track,  leads,  as  if  by  inspiration,  to  those  great 
discoveries  which  open  new  horizons  to  science. 
This  method,  in  order  to  be  fertile,  requires  one 
condition — a  condition,  it  is  true,  which  is  but 
rarely  met  with  —  namely,  genius.  Now  this 
condition  existed  in  Faraday.  Endowed,  as  he 
himself  perceived,  with  much  imagination,  he 
dared  to  advance  where  others  would  have  re- 
coiled :  his  sagacity,  joined  to  an  exquisite  sci- 
entific tact,  by  furnishing  him  with  a  presenti- 
ment of  the  possible,  prevented  him  from  wan- 
dering into  the  fantastic;  while,  always  wishing 
only  for  facts,  and  accepting  theories  only  with 
difficulty,  he  was  nevertheless  more  or  less  di- 
rected by  preconceived  ideas,  which,  whether 
true  or  false,  led  him  into  new  roads,  where  most 
frequently  he  found  what  he  sought,  and  some- 
times also  what  he  did  not  seek,  but  where  he 
constantly  met  with  some  important  discov- 
ery. 

"  Such  a  method,  if  indeed  it  can  be  called  one, 
although  barren  and  even  dangerous  with  medi- 
ocre minds,  produced  great  things  in  Faraday's 
hands ;  thanks,  as  we  have  said,  to  his  genius, 
but  thanks  also  to  that  love  of  truth  which  char- 
acterized him,  and  which  preserved  him  from  the 
temptation  so  often  experienced  by  every  dis- 
M 


178  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

coverer,  of  seeing  what  he  wishes  to  see,  and  not 
seeing  what  he  dreads." 

This  love  of  truth  deserves  a  moment's  pause. 
It  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  most  es- 
sential of  his  characteristics ;  it  taught  him  to  be 
extremely  cautious  in  receiving  the  statements 
of  others  or  in  drawing  his  own  conclusions,* 

*  A  good  instance  of  his  caution  in  drawing  conclusions  is 
contained  in  one  of  his  letters  to  me  : 

"ROYAL  INSTITUTION  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN,) 
2d  July,  1859.  f 

"Mr  DEAB  GLADSTONE,— Although  I  have  frequently  observed 
lights  from  the  sea,  the  only  thing  I  have  learned  in  relation  to  their 
relative  brilliancy  is  that  the  average  of  a  very  great  number  of  ob- 
servations would  be  required  for  the  attainment  of  a  moderate  ap- 
proximation to  truth.  One  has  to  be  some  miles  off  at  sea,  or  else 
the  observation  is  not,  made  in  the  chief  ray,  and  then  one  does  not 
know  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  about  a  given  light-house.  Strong 
lights  like  that  of  Cape  Grisnez  have  been  invisible  when  they 
should  have  been  strong ;  feeble  lights  by  comparison  have  risen  up 
in  force  when  one  might  have  expected  them  to  be  relatively  weak ; 
and  after  inquiry  has  not  shown  a  state  of  the  air  at  the  light-house 
explaining  such  differences.  It  is  probable  that  the  cause  of  differ- 
ence often  exists  at  sea. 

"Besides  these  difficulties  there  is  that  other  great  one  of  not  see- 
ing the  two  lights  to  be  compared  in  the  field  of  view  at  the  same 
time  and  same  distance.  If  the  eye  has  to  turn  90°  from  one  to  the 
other,  I  have  no  confidence  in  the  comparison ;  and  if  both  be  in 
the  field  of  sight  at  once,  still  unexpected  and  unexplained  causes 
of  difference  occur.  The  two  lights  at  the  South  Foreland  are  beau- 
tifully situated  for  comparison,  and  yet  sometimes  the  upper  did  not 
equal  the  lower  when  it  ought  to  have  surpassed  it.  This  I  referred 
at  the  time  to  an  upper  stratum  of  haze ;  bnt  on  shore  they  knew 
nothing  of  the  kind,  nor  had  any  such  or  other  reason  to  expect  par- 
ticular effects.  Ever  truly  yours,  M.  FARADAY." 

As  an  instance  of  his  unwillingness  to  commit  himself  to 
an  opinion  unless  he  was  sure  about  it,  may  be  cited  a  letter 


HIS   METHOD    OF   WORKING.  179 

and  it  led  him,  if  his  skepticism  was  overcome, 
to  adopt  at  once  the  new  view,  and  to  maintain 
it,  if  need  be,  against  the  world. 

"The  thing  I  am  proudest  of,  Pearsall,  is  that 
I  have  never  been  found  to  be  wrong,"  he  could 
say  in  the  early  part  of  his  scientific  history  with- 
out fear  of  contradiction.  After  his  death  A.  de 
la  Rive  wrote,  "I  do  not  think  that  Faraday  has 
once  been  caught  in  a  mistake,  so  precise  and 
conscientious  was  his  mode  of  experimenting 
and  observing."  This  is  not  absolutely  true ; 
but  the  extreme  rarity  of  his  mistakes,  notwith- 
standing the  immense  amount  of  his  published 
researches,  is.  one  of  those  marvels  which  can  be 
appreciated  only  by  those  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  describing  what  they  have  seen  in  the  mist 
land  that  lies  beyond  the  boundaries  of  previous 
knowledge. 

Into  this  unknown  region  his  mental  vision 

he  wrote  to  Mr.  Airy,  the  Astronomer  Royal,  who  asked  for 
his  advice  in  regard  to  the  material  of  which  the  national 
standard  of  length  should  be  made  :•  "  I  do  not  see  any  reason 
why  a  pure  metal  should  be  particularly  free  from  internal 
change  of  its  particles,  and,  on  the  whole,  should  rather  in- 
cline to  the  hard  alloy  than  to  soft  copper,  and  yet  I  hardly 
know  why.  I  suppose  the  labor  would  be  too  great  to  lay 
down  the  standard  on  different  metals  and  substances ;  and 
yet  the  comparison  of  them  might  be  very  important  here- 
after, for  twenty  years  seem  to  do  or  tell  a  great  deal  in  re- 
lation to  standard  measures. "  Bronze  was  finally  chosen. 


180  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

was  ever  stretched.  "  I  well  remember  one  day," 
writes  Mr.  Barrett,  a  former  assistant  at  the  Roy- 
al Institution,  "when  Mr.  Faraday  was  by  my 
side,  I  happened  to  be  steadying,  by  means  of 
a  magnet,  the  motion  of  a  magnetic  needle  un- 
der a  glass  shade.  Mr.  Faraday  suddenly  look- 
ed most  impressively  and  earnestly  as  he  said, 
'How  wonderful  and  mysterious  is  that  power 
you  have  there !  the  more  I  think  over  it  the 
less  I  seem  to  know ;'  and  yet  he  who  said  this 
knew  more  of  it  than  any  living  man." 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  with  what  wonder  he 
would  stand  before  the  apples,  or  leaves,  or  pieces 
of  meat  that  swung  round  into  a  transverse  po- 
sition between  the  poles  of  his  gigantic  magnet, 
or  the  sand  that  danced  and  eddied  into  regular 
figures  on  plates  of  glass  touched  by  the  fiddle- 
bow,  or  gold  so  finely  divided  that  it  appeared 
purple,  and  when  diffused  in  water  took  a  twelve- 
month to  settle.  It  is  easy,  too,  to  imagine  how 
he  would  long  to  gain  a  clear  idea  of  what  was 
taking  place  behind  the  phenomena.  But  it  is 
far  from  easy  to  grasp  the  conceptions  of  his 
brain :  language  is  a  clumsy  vehicle  for  such 
thoughts.  He  strove  to  get  rid  of  such  figura- 
tive terms  as  "currents"  and  "poles;"  in  discuss- 
ing the  mode  of  propagation  of  light  and  radi- 
.ant  heat  he  endeavored  "  to  dismiss  the  ether, 
but  not  the  vibrations;"  and  in  conceiving  of 


HIS    METHOD    OP    WORKING.  181 

atoms,  he  says  :  "  As  to  the  little  solid  particles 
...  I  can  not  form  any  idea  of  them  apart  from 
the  forces,  so  I  neither  admit  nor  deny  them. 
They  do  not  afford  me  the  least  help  in  my  en- 
deavor to  form  an  idea  of  a  particle  of  matter. 
On  the  contrary,  they  greatly  embarrass  me." 
Yet  he  could  not  himself  escape  from  the  tyran- 
ny of  words  or  the  deceitfulness  of  metaphors, 
and  it  is  hard  for  his  readers  to  comprehend 
what  was  his  precise  idea  of  those  centres  of 
forces  that  occupy  no  space,  or  of  those  lines  of 
force  which  he  behold  with  his  mental  eye,  curv- 
ing alike  round  his  magnetic  needle,  and  that 
mightiest  of  all  magnets — the  earth. 

As  he  was  jealous  of  his  own  fame,  and  had 
learned  by  experience  that  discoveries  could  be 
stolen,  he  talked  little  about  them  till  they  were 
ready  for  the  public ;  indeed,  he  has  been  known 
to  twit  a  brother  electrician  for  telling  his  discov- 
eries before  printing  them,  adding  with  a  know- 
ing laugh,  "I  never  do  that."  He  was  obliged, 
however,  to  explain  his  results  to  Professor  Whe- 
well,  or  some  other  learned  friend,  if  he  wished 
to  christen  some  new  idea  with  a  Greek  name. 
One  of  Whewell's  letters  on  such  an  occasion, 
dated  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  October  14, 
1837,  begins  thus: 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  always  glad  to  hear  of 


182  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

the  progress  of  your  researches,  and  never  the 
less  so  because  they  require  the  fabrication  of  a 
new  word  or  two.  Such  a  coinage  has  always 
taken  place  at  the  great  epochs  of  discovery,  like 
the  medals  that  are  struck  at  the  beginning  of  a 
new  reign,  or  rather  like  the  change  of  currency 
produced  by  the  accession  of  a  new  sovereign, 
for  their  value  and  influence  consists  in  their 

coming  into  common  circulation." 

****** 

During  the  whole  time  of  an  investigation 
Faraday  had  kept  ample  notes,  and  when  all  was 
completed  he  had  little,  to  do  but  to  copy  these 
notes,  condensing  or  rearranging  some  parts,  and 
omitting  what  was  useless.  The  paper  then 
usually  consisted  of  a  series  of  numbered  para- 
graphs, containing  first  a  statement  of  the  sub- 
ject of  inquiry,  then  a  series  of  experiments  giv- 
ing negative  results,  and  afterward  the  positive 
discoveries.  In  this  form  it  was  sent  to  the  Roy- 
al Society  or  some  other  learned  body.  Yet  this 
often  involved  considerable  labor,  as  the  follow- 
ing words  written  to  Miss  Moore  in  1850  from 
a  summer  retreat  in  Upper  Norwood  will  show : 
"I  write,  and  write,  and  write,  until  nearly  three 
papers  for  the  Royal  Society  are  nearly  com- 
pleted, and  I  hope  that  two  of  them  will  be  good 
if  they  do  justify  my  hopes,  for  I  have  to  criticise 
them  again  and  again  before  I  let  them  loose. 


HIS   METHOD    OF    WORKING.  183 

You  shall  hear  of  them  at  some  of  the  next  Fri- 
day evenings." 

This  criticism  did  not  cease  with  their  publi- 
cation, for  he  endeavored  always  to  improve  on 
his  previous  work.  Thus,  in  1832,  he  bound  his 
papers  together  in  one  volume,  and  the  introduc- 
tion on  the  fly-leaf  shows  the  object  with  which 
it  was  done : 

"  Papers  of  mine,  published  in  octavo,  in  the 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Science  and  elsewhere,  since 
the  time  that  Sir  H.  Davy  encouraged  me  to  write 
the  analysis  of  caustic  lime. 

"  Some,  I  think  (at  this  date),  are  good,  others 
moderate,  and  some  bad.  But  I  have  put  all 
into  the  volume,  because  of  the  utility  they  have 
been  of  to  me — and  none  more  than  the  bad — 
in  pointing  out  to  me  in  future,  or  rather  after 
times,  the  faults  it  became  me  to  watch  and  to 
avoid. 

"  As  I  never  looked  over  one  of  my  papers  a 
year  after  it  was  written  without  believing,  both 
in  philosophy  and  manner,  it  could  have  been 
much  better  done,  I  still  hope  the  collection  may 
be  of  great  use  to  me.  M.  FARADAY. 

"August  18,  1832." 

This  section  may  be  summed  up  in  the  words 
of  Dumas  when  he  gave  the  first  "  Faraday  Lec- 
ture" of  the  Chemical  Society :  "  Faraday  is  the 


184  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

type  of  the  most  fortunate  and  the  most  accom- 
plished of  the  learned  men  of  our  age.  His  hand 
in  the  execution  of  his  conceptions  kept  pace 
with  his  mind  in  designing  them ;  he  never  want- 
ed boldness  when  he  undertook  an  experiment, 
never  lacked  resources  to  insure  success,  and  was 
full  of  discretion  in  interpreting  results.  His 
hardihood,  which  never  halted  when  once  he  had 
undertaken  a  task,  and  his  wariness,  which  felt 
its  way  carefully  in  adopting  a  received  conclu- 
sion, will  ever  serve  as  models  for  the  experi- 
mentalist." 


THE   VALUE    OF   HIS   DISCOVERIES.  185 


SECTION  V. 

THE    VALUE    OF    HIS   DISCOVERIES. 

SCIENCE  is  pursued  by  different  men  from  dif- 
ferent motives. 

' '  To  some  she  is  the  goddess  great ; 

To  some  the  milch-cow  of  the  field  : 
Their  business  is  to  calculate 
The  butter  she  will  yield." 

Now  Faraday  had  been  warned  by  Davy  before 
he  entered  his  service  that  Science  was  a  mis- 
tress who  paid  badly ;  and  in  1833  we  have  seen 
him  deliberately  make  his  calculation,  give  up 
the  butter,  and  worship  the  goddess. 

For  the  same  reason,  also,  he  declined  most  of 
the  positions  of  honor  which  he  was  invited  to 
fill,  believing  that  they  would  encroach  too  much 
on  his  time,  though  he  willingly  accepted  the 
honorary  degrees  and  scientific  distinctions  that 
were  showered  upon  him.* 

*  De  la  Rive  points  this  out  in  his  brief  notice  of  Faraday 
immediately  on  receiving  the  news  of  his  death:  "Je  n'ai 
parle  que  du  savant,  je  tiens  aussi  a  dire  un  mot  de  I'homme. 
Alliant  a  une  modestie  vraie,  parcequ'elle  provenait  de  1'ele- 
vation  de  son  ame,  une  droiture  a  toute  epreuve  et  une  oan- 
deur  admirable,  Faraday  n'aimait  la  science  que  pour  elle- 
meme.  Aussi  jouissait-il  des  succes  des  autres  au  moins 


186  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

And  among  those  who  follow  science  loving- 
ly there  are  two  very  distinct  bands :  there  are 
the  philosophers,  the  discoverers,  men  who  per- 
sistently ask  questions  of  Nature ;  arid  there  are 
the  practical  men,  who  apply  her  answers  to  the 
various  purposes  of  human  life.  Many  noble 
names  are  inscribed  in  either  bead-roll,  but  few 
are  able  to  take  rank  in  both  services;  indeed, 
the  question  of  practical  utility  would  terribly 
cramp  the  investigator,  while  the  enjoyment  of 
patient  research  in  unexplored  regions  of  knowl- 
edge is  usually  too  ethereal  for  those  who  seek 
their  pleasure  in  useful  inventions.  The  mental 
configuration  is  diiferent  in  the  two  cases ;  each 
may  claim  and  receive  his  due  award  of  honor. 

Faraday  was  pre-eminently  a  discoverer;  he 
liked  the  name  of  "  philosopher."  His  favorite 
paths  of  study  seem  to  wander  far  enough  from 
the  common  abodes  of  human  thought  or  the  re- 
quirements of  ordinary  life.  He  became  famil- 
iar, as  no  other  man  ever  was,  with  the  varied 

autant  que  des  siens  propres ;  et  quant  a  lui,  s'il  a  accepte, 
avec  une  sincere  satisfaction,  les  honneurs  scientifiques  qui 
lui  ont  etc  prodigues  a  si  juste  titre,  il  a  constamment  refuse 
toutes  les  autres  distinctions  et  les  recompenses  qu'on  eut 
voulu  lui  decerner.  II  s'est  contente  toute  sa  vie  de  la  posi- 
tion relativement  modeste  qu'il  occupait  a  ITnstitution  Roy- 
ale  de  Londres  ;  avoir  son  laboratoire  et  strictement  de  quoi 
vivre,  c'est  tout  ce  qu'il  lui  fallait. — Presinge,  le  29  aout,1867. 

— A.  DE    LA   ElVE." 


THE    VALUE    OF    HIS    DISCOVERIES.  187 

forces  of  magnetism  and  electricity,  heat  and 
light,  gravitation  and  galvanism,  chemical  affin- 
ity and  mechanical  motion  ;  but  he  did  not  seek 
to  "harness  the  lightnings,"  or  to  chain  those 
giants  and  make  them  grind  like  Samson  in  the 
prison-house.  His  way  of  treating  them  reminds 
us  rather  of  the  old  fable  of  Proteus,  who  would 
transform  himself  into  a  whirlwind  or  a  dragon, 
a  flame  of  fire  or  a  rushing  stream,  in  order  to 
elude  his  pursuer ;  but  if  the  wary  inquirer  could 
catch  him  asleep  in  his  cave,  he  might  be  con- 
strained to  utter  all  his  secret  knowledge;  for 
the  favorite  thought  of  Faraday  seems  to  have 
been  that  these  various  forces  were  the  changing 
forms  of  a  Proteus,  and  his  great  desire  seems 
to  have  been  to  learn  the  secret  of  their  origin 
and  their  transformations.  Thus  he  loved  to 
break  down  the  walls  of  separation  between  dif- 
ferent classes  of  phenomena,  and  his  eye  doubt- 
less sparkled  with  delight  when  he  saw  what  had 
always  been  looked  upon  as  permanent  gases 
liquefy  like  common  vapors  under  the  constraint 
of  pressure  and  cold — when  the  wires  that  coiled 
round  his  magnets  gave  signs  of  an  electric  wave, 
or  coruscated  with  sparks — when  the  electrici- 
ties derived  from  the  friction  machine  and  from 
the  voltaic  pile  yielded  him  the  same  series  of 
phenomena — when  he  recognized  the  cumulative 
proof  that  the  quantity  of  electricity  in  a  gal  van- 


188  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

ic  battery  is  exactly  proportional  to  the  chemic- 
al action — when  his  electro-static  theory  seemed 
to  break  down  the  barrier  between  conductors 
and  insulators,  and  many  other  barriers  besides 
— when  he  sent  a  ray  of  polarized  light  through 
a  piece  of  heavy  glass  between  the  poles  of  an 
electro-magnet,  and  on  making  contact  saw  that 
the  plane  of  polarization  was  rotated,  or,  as  he 
said,  the  light  was  magnetized  —  and  when  he 
watched  pieces  of  bismuth,  or  crystals  of  Iceland 
spar,  or  bubbles  of  oxygen,  ranging  themselves 
in  a  definite  position  in  the  magnetic  field. 

"  I  delight  in  hearing  of  exact  numbers,  and 
the  determinations  of  the  equivalents  of  force 
when  different  forms  of  force  are  compared  one 
with  another,"  he  wrote  to  Joule  in  1845;  and 
no  wonder,  for  these  quantitative  comparisons 
have  proved  many  of  his  speculations  to  be  true, 
and  have  made  them  the  creed  of  the  scientific 
world.  When  he  began  to  investigate  the  dif- 
ferent sciences,  they  might  be  compared  to  so 
many  separate  countries  with  impassable  front- 
iers, different  languages  and  laws,  and  various 
weights  and  measures ;  but  when  he  ceased  they 
resembled  rather  a  brotherhood  of  states,  linked 
together  by  a  community  of  interests  and  of 
speech,  and  a  federal  code;  and  in  bringing 
about  this  unification  no  one  had  so  great  a  share 
as  himself. 


THE    VALUE    OF    HIS    DISCOVERIES.  189 

He  loved  to  speculate,  too,  on  Matter  and 
Force,  on  the  nature  of  atoms  and  of  imponder- 
able agents.  "  It  is  these  things,"  says  the  great 
German  physicist,  Professor  Helmholz,"  that  Far- 
aday in  his  mature  works  ever  seeks  to  purify 
more  and  more  from  every  thing  that  is  theoret- 
ical, and  is  not  the  direct  and  simple  expression 
of  the  fact.  For  instance,  he  contended  against 
the  action  of  forces  at  a  distance,  and  the  adop- 
tion of  two  electrical  and  two  magnetic  fluids, 
as  well  as  all  hypotheses  contrary  to  the  law  of 
the  conservation  of  force,  which  he  early  fore- 
saw, though  he  misunderstood  it  in  its  scientific 
expression.  And  it  is  just  in  this  direction  that 
he  exercised  the  most  unmistakable  influence  first 
of  all  on  the  English  physicists."* 

While,  however,  Faraday  was  pre-eminently 
an  experimental  philosopher,  he  was  far  from  be- 
ing indifferent  to  the  useful  applications  of  sci- 
ence. His  own  connection  with  the  practical 
side  of  the  question  was  threefold  :  he  undertook 
some  laborious  investigations  of  this  nature  him- 
self; he  was  frequently  called  upon,  especially 
by  the  Trinity  House,  to  give  his  opinions  on  the 
inventions  of  others;  and  he  was  fond  of  bring- 
ing useful  inventions  before  the  members  of  the 
Royal  Institution  in  his  Friday  evening  dis- 
courses. The  first  of  these,  on  February  3, 1826, 
*  Preface  to  "Faraday  und  seine  Entdeckungen." 


190  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

was  on  India-rubber,  and  was  illustrated  by  an 
abundance  of  specimens  both  in  the  raw  and 
manufactured  states.  In  this  way,  also,  he  con- 
tinued to  throw  the  magic  of  his  genius  around 
Morden's  machinery  for  manufacturing  Bramah's 
locks,  Ericsson's  caloric  engine,  Brunei's  block 
machinery  at  Portsmouth,  Petitj can's  process  for 
silvering  mirrors,  the  prevention  of  dry-rot  in 
timber,  De  la  Rue's  envelope  machinery,  artifi- 
cial rubies,  Bonelli's  electric  silk -loom,  Barry's 
mode  of  ventilating  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
many  kindred  subjects. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  describe  the  last  of  his 
Friday  evenings,  in  which  he  brought  before  the 
public  Mr.  C.  W.  Siemens's  Regenerative  Gas 
Furnace.  The  following  letter  to  the  inventor 
will  tell  the  first  steps : 

"  ROYAL  INSTITUTION,  March  22,  1862. 

"MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  just  returned  from 
Birmingham,  and  there  saw  at  Chance's  works 
the  application  of  your  furnaces  to  glass-making. 
I  was  very  much  struck  with  the  whole  matter. 

"As  our  managers  want  me  to  end  the  F.  even- 
ings here  after  Easter,  I  have  looked  about  for  a 
thought,  for  I  have  none  in  myself.  I  think  I 
should  like  to  speak  of  the  effects  I  saw  at 
Chance's,  if  you  do  not  object.  If  you  assent, 
can  you  help  me  with  any  drawings  or  models, 


THE    VALUE    OF   HIS    DISCOVERIES.  <         191 

or  illustrations  either  in  the  way  of  thoughts  or 
experiments  ?  Do  not  say  much  about  it  out  of 
doors  as  yet,  for  my  mind  is  not  settled  in  what 
way  (if  you  assent)  I  shall  present  the  subject. 

"  Ever  truly  yours,          M.  FAKADAY. 
"C.W.  SIEMENS,  ESQ." 

Of  course  the  permission  was  gladly  given,  and 
Mr.  Siemens  met  him  at  Birmingham,  and  for 
two  days  conducted  him  about  works  for  flint 
and  crown  glass,  or  for  enamel,  as  well  as  about 
iron-works,  in  which  his  principle  was  adopted, 
wondering  at  the  professor's  simplicity  of  char- 
acter as  well  as  at  his  ready  power  of  grasping 
the  whole  idea.  Then  came  the  Friday  even- 
ing, 20th  of  June,  1862,  in  which'he  explained 
the  great  saving  of  heat  effected,  and  pictured 
the  world  of  flame  into  which  he  had  gazed  in 
some  of  those  furnaces.  But  his  powers  of  lec- 
turing were  enfeebled,  and  during  the  course  of 
the  hour  he  burnt  his  notes  by  accident,  and  at 
the  conclusion  he  very  pathetically  bade  his  au- 
dience farewell,  telling  them  that  he  felt  he  had 
been  before  them  too  long,  and  that  the  experi- 
ence of  that  evening  showed  he  was  now  useless 
as  their  public  servant,  but  he  would  still  en- 
deavor to  do  what  he  could  privately  for  the  In- 
stitution. The  usual  abstract  of  the  lecture  ap- 
peared, but  not  from  his  unaided  pen. 


192         ^  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

Inventors,  and  promoters  of  useful  inventions, 
frequently  benefited  by  the  advice  of  Faraday, 
or  by  his  generous  help.  A  remarkable  instance 
of  this  was  told  me  by  Cyrus  Field.  Near  the 
commencement  of  his  great  enterprise,  when  he 
wished  to  unite  the  Old  and  the  New  Worlds  by 
the  telegraphic  cable,  he  sought  the  advice  of  the 
great  electrician,  and  Faraday  told  him  that  he 
doubted  the  possibility  of  getting  a  message 
across  the  Atlantic.  Mr.  Field  saw  that  this  fa- 
tal objection  must  be  settled  at  once,  and  begged 
Faraday  to  make  the  necessary  experiments,  of- 
fering to  pay  him  properly  for  his  services.  The 
philosopher,  however,  declined  all  remuneration, 
but  worked  away  at  the  question,  and  presently 
reported  to  Mr.  Field :  "  It  can  be  done,  but  you 
will  not  get  an  instantaneous  message."  "  How 
long  will  it  take?"  was  the  next  inquiry.  "Oh, 
perhaps  a  second."  "Well,  that's  quick  enough 
for  me,"  was  the  conclusion  of  the  American ; 
and  the  enterprise  was  proceeded  with. 

As  to  the  electric  telegraph  itself,  Faraday 
does  not  appear  among  those  who  claim  its  par- 
entage, but  he  was  constantly  associated  with 
those  who  do ;  his  criticisms  led  Ritchie  to  de- 
velop more  fully  his  early  conception,  and  he  was 
constantly  engaged  with  batteries,  and  wires, 
and  magnets,  while  the  telegraph  was  being  per- 
fected by  others,  and  especially  by  his  friend 


THE    VALUE    OF    HIS   DISCOVERIES.  193 

Wheatstone,  whose  name  will  always  be  asso- 
ciated with  what  is  perhaps  the  most  wonderful 
invention  of  modern  times. 

As  to  Faraday's  own  work  in  applied  science, 
his  attempts  to  improve  the  manufacture  of 
steel,  and  afterward  of  glass  for  optical  purposes, 
were  among  the  least  satisfactory  of  his  research- 
es. He  was  more  successful  in  the  matter  of 
ventilation  of  lamp-burners.  The  windows  of 
light -houses  were  frequently  found  streaming 
with  water  that  arose  from  the  combustion  of 
the  oil,  and  in  winter  this  was  often  converted 
into  thick  ice.  He  devised  a  plan  by  which 
this  water  was  effectually  carried  away,  and  the 
room  was  also  made  more  healthy  for  the  keep- 
ers. At  the  AthenaBum  Club  serious  complaints 
were  made  that  the  brilliantly-lighted  drawing- 
room  became  excessively  hot,  and  that  headaches 
were  very  common,  while  the  bindings  of  the 
books  were  greatly  injured  by  the  sulphuric  acid 
that  arose  from  the  burnt  coal-gas.  Faraday 
cured  this  by  an  arrangement  of  glass  cylinders 
over  the  ordinary  lamp  chimneys,  and  descend- 
ing tubes  which  carried  off  the  whole  products 
of  combustion  without  their  ever  mixing  with 
the  air  of  the  room.  This  principle  could  of 
course  be  applied  to  brackets  or  chandeliers  else- 
where, but  the  professor  made  over  any  pecun- 
iary benefit  that  might  accrue  from  it  to  his 
N 


194  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

brother,  who  was  a  lamp  manufacturer,  and  had 
aided  him  in  the  invention. 

The  achievements  of  Faraday  are  certainly 
not  to  be  tested  by  a  money  standard,  nor  by 
their  immediate  adaptation  to  the  necessities  or 
conveniences  of  life.  "  Practical  men"  might  be 
disposed  to  think  slightly  of  the  grand  discov- 
eries of  the  philosopher.  Their  ideas  of  "utility" 
will  probably  be  different.  One  man  may  take 
his  wheat -corn  and  convert  it  into  loaves  of 
bread,  while  his  neighbor  appears  to  lose  his  la- 
bor by  throwing  the  precious  grain  into  the 
earth ;  but  which  is,  after  all,  most  productive  ? 
The  loaves  will  at  once  feed  the  hungry,  but  the 
sower's  toil  will  be  crowned  in  process  of  time 
by  waving  harvests. 

Yet  some  of  Faraday's  most  recondite  inqui- 
ries did  bear  practical  fruit  even  during  his  own 
lifetime.  In  proof  of  this,  I  will  take  one  of  his 
chemical  and  two  of  his  electrical  discoveries. 

Long  ago  there  was  a  Portable  Gas  Company, 
which  made  oil  gas  and  condensed  it  into  a  liq- 
uid. This  liquid  Faraday  examined  in  1824,  and 
he  found  the  most  important  constituent  of  it  to 
be  a  light  volatile  oil,  which  he  called  bicarbu- 
ret  of  hydrogen.  The  gas  company,  I  presume, 
came  to  an  end ;  but  what  of  the  volatile  liquid? 
Obtained  from  coal-tar,  and  renamed  Benzine  or 
Benzol,  it  is  now  prepared  on  a  large  scale,  and 


THE    VALUE    OF    HIS    DISCOVERIES.  195 

used  as  a  solvent  in  some  of  our  industrial  arts. 
But  other  chemists  have  worked  upon  it,  and, 
torturing  it  with  nitric  acid,  they  have  produced 
mtro-benzol — a  gift  to  the  confectioner  and  the 
perfumer.  And  by  attacking  this  with  reducing 
agents  there  was  called  into  existence  the  won- 
drous base  aniline — wondrous  indeed  when  we 
consider  the  transformations  it  underwent  in  the 
hands  of  Hofmann,  and  the  light  it  was  made  to 
throw  on  the  internal  structure  of  organic  com- 
pounds. Faraday  used  sometimes  to  pay  a  visit 
to  the  Royal  College  of  Chemistry,  and  revel  in 
watching  these  marvelous  reactions.  But  aniline 
was  of  use  to  others  besides  the  theoretical  chem- 
ist. Tortured  by  fresh  appliances,  this  base  gave 
highly-colored  bodies,  which  it  was  found  possi- 
ble to  fix  on  cotton  as  well  as  woolen  and  silken 
fabrics,  and  thence  sprang  up  a  large  and  novel 
branch  of  industry,  while  our  eyes  were  delight- 
ed with  the  rich  hues  of  mauve  and  magenta,  the 
Bleu  de  Paris,  and  various  other  "  aniline  dyes." 
Every  one  who  is  at  all  acquainted  with  the 
habits  of  electricity  knows  that  the  most  impas- 
sable of  obstacles  is  the  air,  while  iron  bolts  and 
bars  only  help  it  in  its  flight ;  yet,  if  an  electri- 
fied body  be  brought  near  another  body,  with 
this  invisible  barrier  between  them,  the  electric- 
al state  of  the  second  body  is  disturbed.  Fara- 
day thought  much  over  this  question  of  "indue- 


196  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

tion,"  as  it  is  called,  and  found  himself  greatly 
puzzled  to  comprehend  how  a  body  should  act 
where  it  is  not.  At  length  he  satisfied  himself 
by  experiment  that  the  interposed  obstacle  is  it- 
self affected  by  the  electricity,  and  acquires  an 
electro-polar  state  by  which  it  modifies  electric 
action  in  its  neighborhood.  The  amount  varies 
with  the  nature  of  the  substance,  and  Faraday  es- 
timated it  for  such  dielectrics  as  sulphur,  shellac, 
or  spermaceti,  compared  with  air.  He  termed 
this  new  property  of  matter  "  specific  inductive 
capacity,"  and  figured  in  his  own  mind  the  play 
of  the  molecules  as  they  propagated  and  for  a 
while  retained  the  force.  Now  these  very  rec- 
ondite observations  were  opposed  to  the  philoso- 
phy of  the  day,  and  they  were  not  received  by 
some  of  the  leading  electricians,  especially  of 
the  Continent,  while  those  who  first  tried  to  ex- 
tend his  experiments  blundered  over  the  mat- 
ter. However,  the  present  Professor  Sir  William 
Thomson,  then  a  student  at  Cambridge,  showed 
that  while  Faraday's  views  were  rigorously  de- 
ducible  from  Coulomb's  theory,  this  discovery 
was  a  great  advance  in  the  philosophy  of  the 
subject.  When  submarine  telegraph  wires  had 
to  be  manufactured,  Thomson  took  "  specific  in- 
ductive capacity"  into  account  in  determining 
the  dimensions  of  the  cable :  for  we  have  there 
all  the  necessary  conditions — the  copper  wire  is 


THE    VALUE    OF    HIS    DISCOVERIES.  19*7 

charged  with  electricity,  the  covering  of  gutta- 
percha  is  a  "  dielectric,"  and  the  water  outside 
is  ready  to  have  an  opposite  electric  condition 
induced  in  it.  The  result  is  that,  as  Faraday 
himself  predicted,  the  message  is  somewhat  re- 
tarded ;  and  of  course  it  becomes  a  thing  of  im- 
portance so  to  arrange  matters  that  this  retard- 
ation may  be  as  small  as  possible,  and  the  sig- 
nals may  follow  one  another  speedily.  Now 
this  must  depend  not  only  on  the  thickness  of 
the  covering,  but  also  on  the  nature  of  the  sub- 
stance employed,  and  it  was  likely,  enough  that 
gutta-percha  was  not  the  best  possible  substance. 
In  fact,  when  Professor  Fleeming  Jenkin  came 
to  try  the  inductive  capacity  of  gutta-percha  by 
means  of  the  Red  Sea  cable,  he  found  it  to  be  al- 
most double  that  of  shellac,  which  was  the  high- 
est that  Faraday  had  determined,  and  attempts 
have  been  made  since  to  obtain  some  substance 
which  should  have  less  of  this  objectionable  qual- 
ity, and  be  as  well  adapted  otherwise  for  coating 
a  wire.  There  is  Hooper's  material,  the  great 
merit  of  which  is  its  low  specific  inductive  ca- 
pacity, so  that  it  permits  of  the  sending  of  four 
signals  while  gutta-percha  will  only  allow  three 
to  pass  along ;  and  Mr.  Willoughby  Smith  has 
made  an  improved  kind  of  gutta-percha  with  re- 
duced capacity.  Of  course  no  opinion  is  ex- 
pressed here  on  the  value  of  these  inventions,  as 


198  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

many  other  circumstances  must  be  taken  into  ac- 
count, such  as  their  durability  and  their  power 
of  insulation — that  is,  preventing  the  leakage  of 
the  galvanic  charge ;  but  at  least  they  show  that 
one  of  the  most  abstruse  discoveries  of  Faraday 
has  penetrated  already  into  our  patent  offices 
and  manufactories.  Two  students  in  the  Phys- 
ical Laboratory  at  Glasgow  have  lately  deter- 
mined with  great  care  the  inductive  capacity  of 
paraffin,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
speculations  of  the  philosopher  as  to  the  condi- 
tion of  a  dielectric  will  result  in  rendering  it 
still  more  easy  than  at  present  to  send  words  of 
information  or  of  friendly  greeting  to  our  cous- 
ins across  the  Atlantic  or  the  Indian  Ocean. 

The  history  of  the  magneto-electric  light  af- 
fords another  remarkable  instance  of  the  way  in 
which  one  of  Faraday's  most  recondite,  discov- 
eries bore  fruit  in  his  own  lifetime ;  and  it  is  the 
more  interesting,  as  it  fell  to  his  own  lot  to  as- 
sist in  bringing  the  fruit  to  maturity. 

"BRIGHTON,  November  29,  1831. 
"DEAR  PHILLIPS, — For  once  in  my  life  I  am 
able  to  sit  down  and  write  to  you  without  feel- 
ing that  my  time  is  so  little  that  my  letter  must 
of  necessity  be  a  short  one,  and  accordingly  I 
have  taken  an  extra  large  sheet  of  paper,  intend- 
ing to  fill  it  with  news. 


THE    VALUE    OF    HIS   DISCOVERIES.  199 

"  But  how  are  you  getting  on  ?  Are  you  com- 
fortable ?  And  how  does  Mrs.  Phillips  do — and 
the  girls  ?  Bad  correspondent  as  I  am,  I  think 
you  owe  me  a  letter;  and  as  in  the  course  of 
half  an  hour  you  will  be  doubly  in  my  debt,  pray 
write  us,  and  let  us  know  all  about  you.  Mrs. 
Faraday  wishes  me  not  to  forget  to  put  her  kind 
remembrances  to  you  and  Mrs.  Phillips  in  my 
letter 

"  We  are  here  to  refresh.  I  have  been  work- 
ing and  writing  a  paper  that  always  knocks  me 
up  in  health ;  but  now  I  feel  well  again,  and  able 
to  pursue  my  subject ;  and  now  I  will  tell  you 
what  it  is  about.  The  title  will  be,  I  think, 'Ex- 
perimental Researches  in  Electricity :'  I.  On  the 
Induction  of  Electric  Currents ;  II.  On  the  Evo- 
lution of  Electricity  from  Magnetism ;  III.  On  a 
new  Electrical  Condition  of  Matter;  IV.  On  Ara- 
go's  Magnetic  Phenomena.  There  is  a  bill  of 
fare  for  you ;  and,  what  is  more,  I  hope  it  will 
not  disappoint  you.  Now  the  pith  of  all  this  I 
must  give  you  very  briefly ;  the  demonstrations 
you  shall  have  in  the  paper  when  printed " 

So  wrote  Faraday  to  his  intimate  friend  Rich- 
ard Phillips,  on  November  29th,  1831,  and  the 
letter  goes  on  to  describe  the  great  harvest  of 
results  which  he  had  gathered  since  the  29th  of 
August,  when  he  first  obtained  evidence  of  an 


200  MICHAEL    FARADAY. 

electric  current  from  a  magnet.  A  few  days 
afterward  he  was  at  work  again  on  these  curious 
relations  of  magnetism  and  electricity  in  his  la- 
boratory, and  at  the  Round  Pond  in  Kensington 
Gardens,  and  with  Father  Thames  at  Waterloo 
Bridge.  On  the  8th  of  February  he  entered  in 
his  note-book :  "  This  evening,  at  Woolwich,  ex- 
perimented with  magnet,  and  for  the  first  time 
got  the  magnetic  spark  myself.  Connected  ends 
of  a  helix  into  two  general  ends,  and  then  cross- 
ed the  wires  in  such  a  way  that  a  blow  at  a  b 
would  open  them  a  little.  Then  bringing  a  b 
against  the  poles  of  a  magnet,  the  ends  were  dis- 
joined, and  bright  sparks  resulted." 

Next  day  he  repeated  this  experiment  at  home 
with  Mr.  DanielPs  magnet,  and  then  invited  some 
of  his  best  friends  to  come  and  see  the  tiny  speck 
of  light.* 

But  what  was  the  use  of  this  little  spark  be- 
tween the  shaken  wires  ?  "  What  is  the  use  of 
an  infant?"  asked  Franklin  once,  when  some 
such  question  was  proposed  to  him.  Faraday 

*  I  am  indebted  to  Sir  Charles  Wheatstone  for  the  follow- 
ing impromptu  by  Herbert  Mayo ; 

"Around  the  magnet  Faraday 
Was  sure  that  Volta's  lightnings  play : 

But  how  to  draw  them  from  the  wire  ? 
He  drew  a  lesson  from  the  heart : 
'Tis  when  we  meet,  'tis  when  we  part, 
Breaks  forth  the  electric  fire." 


THE    VALUE    OF    HIS   DISCOVERIES.  201 

said  that  the  experimentalist's  answer  was,  "En- 
deavor to  make  it  useful."  But  he  passed  to 
other  researches  in  the  same  field. 

"  I  have  rather  been  desirous,"  he  says, "  of 
discovering  new  facts  and  new  relations  de- 
pendent on  magneto-electric  induction  than  of 
exalting  the  force  of  those  already  obtained,  be- 
ing assured  that  the  latter  would  find  their  full 
development  hereafter."  And  in  this  assurance 
he  was  not  mistaken.  Electro-magnetism  has 
been  taken  advantage  of  on  a  large  scale  by  the 
metallurgist  and  the  telegrapher ;  and  even  the 
photographer  and  sugar-refiner  have  attempted 
to  make  it  their  servant;  but  it  is  its  applica- 
tion as  a  source  of  light  that  is  most  interesting 
to  us  in  connection  with  its  discoverer. 

Many  "electric  lights"  were  invented  by  "  prac- 
tical men,"  the  power  being  generally  derived 
from  a  galvanic  battery  ;  and  it  was  discovered 
that  by  making  the  terminals  of  the  wires  of 
charcoal,  the  brilliancy  of  the  spark  could  be 
enormously  increased.  Some  of  these  inventions 
were  proposed  for  light-houses,  and  so  came  offi- 
cially under  the  notice  of  Faraday  as  scientific 
adviser  to  the  Trinity  House.  Thus  he  was  en- 
gaged in  1853  and  1854  with  the  beautiful  elec- 
tric light  of  Dr.  Watson,  which  he  examined  most 
carefully,  evidently  hoping  it  might  be  of  serv- 
ice, and  at  length  he  wrote  an  elaborate  report 


202  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

pointing  out  its  advantages,  but  at  the  same  time 
the.  difficulties  in  the  way  of  its  practical  adop- 
tion. The  Trinity  Corporation  passed  a  special 
vote  of  thanks  for  his  report,  and  hesitated  to 
proceed  further  in  the  matter. 

But  Faraday's  own  spark  was  destined  to  be 
more  successful.  In  1853  some  large  magneto- 
electric  machines  were  set  up  in  Paris  for  pro- 
ducing combustible  gas  by  the  decomposition 
of  water.  The  scheme  failed,  but  a  Mr.  F.  H. 
Holmes  suggested  that  these  expensive  toys 
might  be  turned  to  account  for  the  production 
of  light.  "My  propositions,"  he  told  the  Royal 
Commissioners  of  Light-houses,  "  were  entirely 
ridiculed,  and  the  consequence  was,  that  instead 
of  saying  that  I  thought  I  could  do  it,  I  promised 
to  do  it  by  a  certain  day.  On  that  day,  with 
one  of  Duboscq's  regulators  or  lamps,  I  produced 
the  magneto-electric  light  for  the  first  time ;  but 
as  the  machines  were  ill  constructed  for  the 
purpose,  and  as  I  had  considerable  difficulty  to 
make  even  a  temporary  adjustment  to  produce 
a  fitting  current,  the  light  could  only  be  exhib- 
ited for  a  few  minutes  at  a  time."  He  turned 
his  attention  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  ma- 
chines, and  after  carrying  on  his  experiments  in 
Belgium,  he  applied  to  the  Trinity  Board  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1857.  Here  was  the  tiny  spark,  which 
Faraday  had  produced  just  twenty-five  years 


THE    VALUE    OP   HIS   DISCOVEEIES.  203 

before,  exalted  into  a  magnificent  star,  and  for 
Faraday  it  was  reserved  to  decide  whether  this 
star  should  shed  its  brilliance  from  the  cliffs  of 
Albion.  A  good  piece  of  optical  apparatus,  in- 
tended for  the  Bishop  Rock  in  the  Scillies,  hap- 
pened to  be  at  the  experimental  station  at  Black- 
wall,  and  with  this  comparative  experiments  were 
made.  We  can  imagine  something  of  the  inter- 
est with  which  Faraday  watched  the  light  from 
Woolwich,  and  asked  questions  of  the  inventor 
about  all  the  details  of  its  working  and  expense; 
and  we  can  picture  the  alternations  of  hope  and 
caution  as  he  wrote  in  his  report,  "The  light  is 
so  intense,  so  abundant,  so  concentrated  and  fo- 
cal, so  free  from  under-shadows  (caused  in  the 
common  lamp  by  the  burner),  so  free  from  flick- 
ering, that  one  can  not  but  desire  it  should  suc- 
ceed. But,"  he  adds,  "  it  would  require  very 
careful  and  progressive  introduction — men  with 
peculiar  knowledge  and  skill  to  attend  it ;  and 
the  means  of  instantty  substituting  one  lamp  for 
another  in  case  of  accident.  The  common  lamp 
is  so  simple,  both  in  principle  and  practice,  that 
its  liability  to  failure  is  very  small.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  magneto-electric  lamp  involves 
a  great  number  of  circumstances  tending  to 
make  its  application  more  refined  and  delicate ; 
but  I  would  fain  hope  that  none  of  these  will 
prove  a  barrier  to  its  introduction.  Neverthe- 


204  MICHAEL   FAEADAY. 

less,  it  must  pass  into  practice  only  through  the 
ordeal  of  a  full,  searching,  and  prolonged  trial." 
This  trial  was  made  in  the  upper  of  the  two  light 
towers  at  the  South  Foreland  ;  but  it  was  not 
till  the  8th  of  December,  1858,  that  the  experi- 
ment was  commenced.  Faraday  made  observa- 
tions on  it  for  the  first  two  days,  but  it  did  not 
act  well,  and  was  discontinued  till  March  28, 
1859,  when  it  again  shot  forth  its  powerful  rays 
across  the  Channel. 

It  was  soon  inspected  by  Faraday  inside  and 
outside,  by  land  and  by  sea.  His  notes  termi- 
nate in  this  way :  "Went  to  the  hills  round,  about 
a  mile  off,  or  perhaps  more,  so  as  to  see  both 
upper  and  lower  light  at  once.  The  effect  was 
very  fine.  The  lower  light  does  not  come  near 
the  upper  in  its  power,  and  as  to  color,  looks  red, 
while  the  upper  is  white.  The  visible  rays  pro- 
ceed from  both  horizontally,  but  those  from  the 
low  light  are  not  half  so  long  as  those  from  the 
electric  light.  The  radiation  from  the  upper 
light  was  beautifully  horizontal,  going  out  right 
and  left  with  intenseness  like  a  horizontal  flood 
of  light,  with  blackness  above  and  blackness  be- 
low, yet  the  sky  was  clear  and  the  stars  shining 
brightly.  It  seemed  as  if  the  lantern*  only  were 
above  the  earth,  so  dark  was  the  part  immediate- 

*  The  room  with  glass  sides,  from  which  the  light  is  exhib- 
ited at  the  top  of  a  light-house,  is  called  by  this  name. 


THE   VALUE    OF   HIS    DISCOVERIES.  205 

ly  below  the  lantern,  yet  the  whole  tower  was 
visible  from  the  place.  As  to  the  shadows  of 
the  uprights,  one  could  walk  into  one  and  across, 
and  see  the  diminution  of  the  light,  and  could 
easily  see  when  the  edge  of  the  shadow  was 
passed.  They  varied  in  width  according  to  the 
distance  from  the  lantern.  With  upright  bars 
their  effect  is  considerable  at  a  distance,  as  seen 
last  night ;  but  inclining  these  bars  would  help 
in  the  distance,  though  not  so  much  as  with  a 
light  having  considerable  upright  dimension,  as 
is  the  case  with  an  oil  lamp. 

"The  shadows  on  a  white  card  were  very  clear 
on  the  edge — a  watch  very  distinct  and  legible. 
On  lowering  the  head  near  certain  valleys,  the 
feeble  shadow  of  the  distant  grass  and  leaves  was 
evident.  The  light  was  beautifully  steady  and 
bright,  with  no  signs  of  variation — the  appear- 
ance was  such  as  to  give  confidence  to  the  mind 
— no  doubt  about  its  continuance. 

"As  a  light  it  is  unexceptionable — as  a  mag- 
neto-electric light  wonderful — and  seems  to  have 
all  the  adjustments  of  quality,  and  more  than 
can  be  applied  to  a  voltaic  electric  light  or  a 
Ruhmkorff  coil." 

The  Royal  Commissioners  and  others  saw  with 
gratification  this  beautiful  light,  and  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  getting  systematic  obser- 
vations of  it  by  the  keepers  of  all  the  light-houses 


206  MICHAEL    FABADAY 

within  view,  the  masters  of  the  light-vessels  that 
guard  the  Goodwin  Sands,  and  the  crews  of  pi- 
lot cutters;  after  which  Faraday  wrote  a  very 
favorable  report,  saying,  among  other  things, "  I 
beg  to  state  that  in  my  opinion  Professor  Holmes 
has  practically  established  the  fitness  and  suffi- 
ciency of  the  magneto -electric  light  for  light- 
house purposes,  so  far  as  its  nature  and  manage- 
ment are  concerned.  The  light  produced  is  pow- 
erful beyond  any  other  that  I  have  yet  seen  so 
applied,  and  in  principle  may  be  accumulated  to 
any  degree ;  its  regularity  in  the  lantern  is  great, 
its  management  easy,  and  its  care  there  may  be 
confided  to  attentive  keepers  of  the  ordinary  de- 
gree of  intellect  and  knowledge."* 

The  Elder  Brethren  then  wished  a  further  trial 
of  six  months,  during  which  time  the  light  was 
to  be  entirely  under  their  own  control.  It  was 
therefore  again  kindled  on  August  22,  and  the 
experiment  happened  soon  to  be  exposed  to  a 
severe  test,  as  one  of  the  light-keepers,  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  the  arrangement  of  the  lamps 
in  the  lantern,  was  suddenly  removed,  and  anoth- 
er took  his  place  without  any  previous  instruc- 

*  One  night  there  was  a  beautiful  aurora.  Mr.  Holmes 
remarked  that  his  poor  electric  light  could  not  compare  with 
that  for  beauty;  but  Faraday  rejoined,  "Don't  abuse  your 
light.  The  aurora  is  very  beautiful,  and  so  is  a  wild  horse, 
but  you  have  tamed  it  and  made  it  valuable." 


THE    VALUE  «OF    HIS   DISCOVERIES.  207 

tion.  This  man  thought  the  light  sufficiently 
strong  if  he  allowed  the  carbon  points  to  touch, 
as  the  lamp  then  required  no  attendance  what- 
ever, and  he  could  leave  it  in  that  way  for  hours 
together.  On  being  remonstrated  with,  he  said, 
"It  is  quite  good  enough."  Notwithstanding 
such  difficulties  as  these,  the  experiment  was  con- 
sidered satisfactory,  but  it  was  discontinued  at 
the  South  Foreland,  for  the  cliffs  there  are  mark- 
ed by  a  double  light,  and  the  electric  spark  was 
£o  much  brighter  than  the  oil  flames  in  the  oth- 
er house,  that  there  was  no  small  danger  of  its 
being  seen  alone  in  thick  weather,  and  thus  fatal- 
ly misleading  some  unfortunate  vessel. 

After  this  Faraday  made  further  observations, 
estimates  of  the  expense,  and  experiments  on 
the  divergence  of  the  beam,  while  Mr.  Holmes 
worked  away  at  Northfleet  perfecting  his  ap- 
paratus, and  the  authorities  debated  whether  it 
was  to  be  exhibited  again  at  the  Start,  which  is  a 
revolving  light,  or  at  Dungeness,  which  is  fixed. 
The  scientific  adviser  was  in  favor  of  the  Start ; 
but,  after  an  interview  with  Mr.  Milner  Gibson, 
then  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Dungeness 
was  determined  on ;  a  beautiful  small  combina- 
tion of  lenses  and  prisms  was  made  expressly 
for  it  by  Messrs.  Chance,  and  at  last,  after  two 
years'  delay,  the  light  again  shone  on  our  south- 
ern coast. 


208  MICHAEL   FAKftJDAY. 

It  may  be  well  to  describe  the  apparatus. 
There  are  120  permanent  magnets,  weighing 
about  50  Ibs.  each,  ranged  on  the  periphery  of 
two  large  wheels.  A  steam-engine  of  about 
three-horse  power  causes  a  series  of  180  soft  iron 
cores,  surrounded  by  coils  of  wire,  to  rotate  past 
the  magnets.  This  calls  the  power  into  action, 
and  the  small  streams  of  electricity  are  all  col- 
lected together,  and  by  what  is  called  a  "  com- 
mutator" the  alternate  positive  and  negative 
currents  are  brought  into  one  direction.  The 
whole  power  is  then  conveyed  by  a  thick  wire 
from  the  engine-house  to  the  light-house  tower, 
and  up  into  the  centre  of  the  glass  apparatus. 
There  it  passes  between  two  charcoal  points, 
and  produces  an  intensely  brilliant  continuous 
spark.  At  sunset  the  machine  is  started,  making 
about  100  revolutions  per  minute;  and  the  at- 
tendant has  only  to  draw  two  bolts  in  the  lamp, 
when  the  power  thus  spun  in  the  engine-room 
bursts  into  light  of  full  intensity.  The  "  lamp" 
regulates  itself,  so  as  to  keep  the  points  always 
at  a  proper  distance  apart,  and  continues  to 
burn,  needing  little  or  no  attention  for  three 
hours  and  a  half,  when,  the  charcoals  being  con- 
sumed, the  lamp  must  be  changed,  but  this  is 
done  without  extinguishing  the  light. 

Again  there  were  inspections,  and  reports 
from  pilots  and  other  observers,  and  Faraday 


THE    VALUE    OF    HIS    DISCOVERIES.  209 

propounded  lists  of  questions  to  the  engineer 
about  bolts,  and  screws,  and  donkey-engines, 
while  he  estimated  that  at  the  Varne  light-ship, 
about  equidistant  from  Cape  Grisnez  and  Dun- 
geness,  the  maximum  effect  of  the  revolving 
French  light  was  equaled  by  the  constant  gleam 
from  the  English  tower.  But  delays  again  en- 
sued till  intelligent  keepers  could  be  found  and 
properly  instructed;  but  on  the  6th  of  June,  1862, 
Faraday's  own  light,  the  baby  grown  into  a  gi- 
ant, shone  permanently  on  the  coast  of  Britain. 

France,  too,  was  alert.  Berlioz's  machine, 
which  was  displayed  at  the  International  Exhi- 
bition in  London,  and  which  was  also  examined 
by  Faraday,  was  approved  by  the  French  gov- 
ernment, and  was  soon  illuminating  the  double 
light-house  near  Havre.  These  magneto-electric 
lights  on  either  side  of  the  Channel  have  stood 
the  test  of  years  ;  and  for  the  last  twelvemonth 
there  has  shone  another  still  more  beautiful  one 
at  Souter  Point,  near  Tynemouth  ;  while  the  nar- 
row strait  between  England  and  France  is  now 
guarded  by  these  "sentinels  of  peaceful  prog- 
ress," for  the  revolving  light  at  Grisnez  has  been 
lately  illuminated  on  this  principle,  and  on  the 
1st  of  January  of  this  year  the  two  lights  of  the 
South  Foreland  flashed  forth  with  the,  electric 
flame.* 

*  The  illuminating  apparatus  at  Dungeness  is  one  of  what 

o 


210  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

In  describing  thus  the  valuable  applications 
of  Faraday's  discoveries  of  benzol,  of  specific  in- 
ductive capacity,  and  of  magneto-electricity,  it 
is  not  intended  to  exalt  these  above  other  dis- 
coveries which  as  yet  have  paid  no  tribute  to 
the  material  wants  of  man.  The  good  fruit  borne 
by  other  researches  may  not  be  sufficiently  ma- 
ture, but  it  doubtless  contains  the  seeds  of  many 
useful  inventions.  Yet,  after  all,  we  must  not 
measure  the  worth  of  Faraday's  discoveries  by 
any  standard  of  practical  utility  in  the  present 
or  in  the  future.  His  chief  merit  is  that  he  en- 
larged so  much  the  boundaries  of  our  knowledge 
of  the  physical  forces,  opened  up  so  many  new 
realms  of  thought,  and  won  so  many  heights 
which  have  become  -the  starting-points  for  other 
explorers. 

is  termed  the  sixth  order,  300  millimetres  (about  12  inches) 
in  diameter.  Mr.  Chance  constructed  one  for  Souter  Point 
of  the  third  order,  one  metre  (nearly  40  inches)  in  diameter, 
with  special  arrangements  for  giving  artificial  divergence  to 
the  beam  in  a  vertical  direction,  in  order  to  obviate  the  dan- 
ger arising  from  the  luminous  point  not  being  always  precise- 
ly in  the  same  spot.  It  has  also  additional  contrivances  for 
utilizing  the  back  light.  Similar  arrangements  have  been 
made  for  the  South  Foreland  lights,  which  are  also  of  the 
third  order ;  and  every  portion  of  the  machinery  and  appara- 
tus is  in  duplicate  in  case  of  accident,  and  the  double  force 
can  be  employed  in  times  of  fog. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PORTRAITS. 


IT  has  been  said  that  there  is  no  photograph 
or  painting  of  Faraday  which  is  a  satisfactory 
likeness ;  not  because  good  portraits  have  never 
been  published,  but  because  they  can  not  give 
the  varied  and  ever -shifting  expression  of  his 
features.  Similarly  I  fear  that  the  mental  por- 
traiture which  I  have  attempted  will  fail  to  sat- 
isfy his  intimate  acquaintance.  Yet,  as  one  who 
never  saw  him  in  the  flesh  may  gain  a  good  idea 
of  his  personal  appearance  by  comparing  several 
pictures,  so  the  reader  may  learn  more  of  his  in- 
tellectual and  moral  features  by  combining  the 
several  estimates  which  have  been  made  by  dif- 
ferent minds.  Earlier  biographies  have  been  al- 
ready referred  to,  but  my  sketch  may  well  be 
supplemented  by  an  anonymous  poem  that  ap- 
peared immediately  after  his  death,  and  by  the 
words  of  two  of  the  most  distinguished  foreign 
philosophers — Messrs.  De  la  Rive  and  Dumas. 

"Statesmen  and  soldiers,  authors,  artists — still 

The  topmost  leaves  fall  off  our  English  oak : 

Some  in  green  summer's  prime,  some  in  the  chill 

Of  autumn-tide,  some  by  late  winter's  stroke. 


212  MICHAEL    FAKADAY. 

"Another  leaf  has  dropped  on  that  sere  heap — 

One  that  hung  highest ;  earliest  to  invite 
The  golden  kiss  of  morn,  and  last  to  keep 
The  fire  of  eve — but  still  turned  to  the  light. 

"No  soldier's,  statesman's,  poet's,  painter's  name 

Was  this,  through  which  is  drawn  Death's  last  black  line ; 
But  one  of  rarer,  if  not  loftier  fame— 

A  priest  of  Truth,  who  lived  within  her  shrine. 

"A  priest  of  Truth  :  his  office  to  expound 

Earth's  mysteries  to  all  who  willed  to  hear — 
Who  in  the  book  of  science  sought  and  found, 
With  love,  that  knew  all  reverence,  but  no  fear. 

"  A  priest  who  prayed  as  well  as  ministered : 

Who  grasped  the  faith  he  preached,  and  held  it  fast : 
Knowing  the  light  he  followed  never  stirred, 
Howe'er  might  drive  the  clouds  through  which  it  passed. 

"And  if  Truth's  priest,  servant  of  Science  too, 

Whose  work  was  wrought  for  love  and  not  for  gain  : 
Not  one  of  those  who  serve  but  to  ensue 
Their  private  profit :  lordship  to  attain 

"Over  their  lord,  and  bind  him  in  green  withes, 

For  grinding  at  the  mill  'neath  rod  and  cord ; 
Of  the  large  grist  that  they  may  take  their  tithes — 
So  some  serve  Science  that  call  Science  lord. 

' '  One  rule  his  life  was  fashioned  to  fulfill : 

That  he  who  tends  Truth's  shrine,  and  does  the  best 
Of  Science,  with  a  humble,  faithful  will, 
The  God  of  Truth  and  Knowledge  serveth  best. 

"And  from  his  humbleness  what  heights  he  won ! 

By  slow  march  of  induction,  pace  on  pace, 
Scaling  the  peaks  that  seemed  to  strike  the  sun, 
Whence  few  can  look,  unblinded,  in  his  face, 


SUPPLEMENTARY   PORTRAITS.  213 

"  Until  he  reached  the  stand  which  they  that  win 

A  bird's-eye  glance  o'er  Nature's  realm  may  throw  ; 
"Whence  the  mind's  ken  by  larger  sweeps  takes  in 
What  seems  confusion,  looked  at  from  below. 

' '  Till  out  of  seeming  chaos  order  grows, 

In  ever-widening  orbs  of  Law  restrained, 
And  the  Creation's  mighty  music  flows 
In  perfect  harmony,  serene,  sustained ; 

"  And  from  varieties  offeree  and  power, 

A  larger  unity,  and  larger  still, 
Broadens  to  view,  till  in  some  breathless  hour 
All  force  is  known,  grasped  in  a  central  Will, 

"Thunder  and  light  revealed  as  one  same  strength — 
Modes  of  the  force  that  works  at  Nature's  heart — 
And  through  the  Universe's  veined  length 
Bids,  wave  on  wave,  mysterious  pulses  dart. 

"  That  cosmic  heart-beat  it  was  his  to  list, 

To  trace  those  pulses  in  their  ebb  and  flow 

Toward  the  fountain-head,  where  they  subsist 

In  form  as  yet  not  given  e'en  him  to  know. 

"Yet,  living  face  to  face  with  these  great  laws, 

Great  truths,  great  myst'ries,  all  who  saw  him  near 
Knew  him  for  childlike,  simple,  free  from  flaws 
Of  temper,  full  of  love  that  casts  out  fear  : 

"  Untired  in  charity,  of  cheer  serene ; 

Not  caring  world's  wealth  or  good  word  to  earn 
Childhood's  or  manhood's  ear  content  to  win  ; 
And  still  as  glad  to  teach  as  meek  to  learn. 
"  Such  lives  are  precious  :  not  so  much  for  all 

Of  wider  insight  won  where  they  have  striven, 
As  for  the  still  small  voice  .with  which  they  call 
Along  the  beamy  way  from  earth  to  heaven." 

Punch,  September  7, 1867. 


214  MICHAEL   FARADAY. 

The  estimate  of  M.  A.  de  la  Rive  is  from  a  let- 
ter he  addressed  to  Faraday  himself: 

"  I  am  grieved  to  hear  that  your  brain  is  wea- 
ry; this  has  sometimes  happened  on  former  oc- 
casions, in  consequence  of  your  numerous  and 
persevering  labors,  and  you  will  bear  in  mind 
that  a  little  rest  is  necessary  to  restore  you. 
You  possess  that  which  best  contributes  to  peace 
of  mind  and  serenity  of  spirit — a  full  and  perfect 
faith,  a  pure  and  tranquil  conscience,  filling  your 
heart  with  the  glorious  hopes  which  the  Gospel 
imparts.  You  have  also  the  advantage  of  hav- 
ing always  led  a  smooth  and  well-regulated  life, 
free  from  ambition,  and  therefore  exempt  from 
all  the  anxieties  and  drawbacks  which  are  in- 
separable from  it.  Honor  has  sought  you  in 
spite  of  yourself;  you  have  known,  without  de- 
spising it,  how  to  value  it  at  its  true  worth. 
You  have  known  how  to  gain  the  high  esteem, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  affection,  of  all  those 
acquainted  with  you. 

"  Moreover,  thanks  to  the  goodness  of  God, 
you  have  not  suffered  any  of  those  family  mis- 
fortunes which  crush  one's  life.  You  should, 
therefore,  watch  the  approach  of  old  age  with- 
out fear  and  without  bitterness,  having  the  com- 
forting feeling  that  the  wonders  which  you  have 
been  able  to  decipher  in  the  book  of  nature  must 
contribute  to  the  greater  reverence  and  adora- 
tion of  their  Supreme  Author. 


SUPPLEMENTARY    PORTRAITS.  215 

"  Such,  my  dear  friend,  is  the  impression  that 
your  beautiful  life  always  leaves  upon  me ;  and 
when  I  compare  it  with  our  troubled  and  ill-ful- 
filled life-course,  with  all  that  accumulation  of 
drawbacks  and  griefs  by  which  mine  in  particular 
has  been  attended,  I  put  you  down  as  very  hap- 
py, especially  as  you  are  worthy  of  your  good 
fortune.  This  leads  me  to  reflect  on  the  misera- 
ble state  of  those  who  are  without  that  religious 
faith  which  you  possess  in  so  great  a  degree." 

In  M.  Dumas's  Eloge  at  the  Academic  des  Sci- 
ences occur  the  following  sentences : 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  there  is  a  savant  who 
would  not  feel  happy  in  leaving  behind  him  such 
works  as  those  with  which  Faraday  has  glad- 
dened his  contemporaries,  and  which  he  has  left ' 
as  a  legacy  to  posterity ;  but  I  am  certain  that 
all  those  who  have  known  him  would  wish  to  ap- 
proach that  moral  perfection  which  he  attained 
to  without  effort.  In  him  it  appeared  to  be  a 
natural  grace,  which  made  him  a  professor  full 
of  ardor  for  the  diffusion  of  truth,  an  indefatiga- 
ble worker,  full  of  enthusiasm  and  sprightliness 
in  his  laboratory,  the  best  and  most  amiable  of 
men  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  and  the  most 
enlightened  preacher  among  the  humble  flock 
whose  faith  he  followed. 

"  The  simplicity  of  his  heart,  his  candor,  his 
ardent  love  of  the  truth,  his  fellow-interest  in  all 


216  MICHAEL   FAKADAY. 

the  successes,  and  ingenuous  admiration  of  all 
the  discoveries  of  others,  his  natural  modesty  in 
regard  to  what  he  himself  discovered,  his  noble 
soul — independent  and  bold — all  these  combined 
gave  an  incomparable  charm  to  the  features  of 
the  illustrious  physicist. 

"  I  have  never  known  a  man  more  worthy  of 
being  loved,  of  being  admired,  of  being  mourned. 

"Fidelity  to  his  religious  faith,  and  the  con- 
stant observance  of  the  moral  law,  constitute 
the  ruling  characteristics  of  his  life.  Doubtless 
his  firm  belief  in  that  justice  on  high  which 
weighs  all  our  merits,  in  that  sovereign  good- 
ness which  weighs  all  our  sufferings,  did  not 
inspire  Faraday  with  his  great  discoveries,  but 
it  gave  him  the  straightforwardness,  the  self-re- 
spect, the  self-control,  and  the  spirit  of  justice 
which  enabled  him  to  combat  evil  fortune  with 
boldness,  and  to  accept  prosperity  without  being 
puffed  up 

"There  was  nothing  dramatic  in  the  life  of 
Faraday.  It  should  be  presented  under  that 
simplicity  of  aspect  which  is  the  grandeur  of  it. 
There  is,  however,  more  than  one  useful  lesson 
to  be  learned  from  the  proper  study  of  this  il- 
lustrious man,  whose  youth  endured  poverty 
with  dignity,  whose  mature  age  bore  honors 
with  moderation,  and  whose  last  years  have 
just  passed  gently  away  surrounded  by  marks 
of  respect  and  tender  affection." 


APPENDIX. 


LIST  OF  LEARNED  SOCIETIES  TO  WHICH  MICHAEL 
FARADAY  BELONGED. 

ANNO 

1823.  Corresponding  member  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences, 

Paris. 
Corresponding  member  of  the  Accademia  dei  Georgo- 

fili,  Florence. 
Honorary  member    of  the   Cambridge  Philosophical 

Society. 
Honorary  member  of  the  British  Institution. 

1824.  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Cambrian  Society,  Swansea. 
Fellow  of  the  Geological  Society. 

1825.  Member  of  the  Royal  Institution. 
Corresponding  member  of  the  Society  of  Medical  Chem- 
ists, Paris. 

1826.  Honorary  member  of  the  Westminster  Medical  Society. 

1827.  Correspondent  of  the  Societe  Philomathique,  Paris. 

1828.  Fellow  of  the  Natural  Society  of  Science,  Heidelberg. 

1829.  Honorary  member  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  Scotland. 
1831.  Honorary  member  of  the  Imperial  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, St.  Petersburg. 

]  832.  Honorary  member  of  the  College  of  Pharmacy,  Phila- 
delphia. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Chemical  and  Physical  So- 
ciety, Paris. 

Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
Boston. 


218  APPENDIX. 

ANNO 

1 832.  Member  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Science,  Copenhagen. 

1833.  Corresponding  member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sci- 

ences, Berlin. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Hull  Philosophical  Society. 
1834:.  Foreign  corresponding  member  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  and  Literature,  Palermo. 

1835.  Corresponding  member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Med- 

icine, Paris. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  Edinburg. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Institution  of  British  Archi- 
tects. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Physical  Society,  Frankfort. 

Honorary  Fellow  of  the  Medico -Chirurgical  Society, 
London. 

1 836.  Senator  of  the  University  of  London. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Society  of  Pharmacy,  Lisbon. 
Honorary  member  of  the  Sussex  Royal  Institution. 
Foreign  member  of  the  Society  of  Sciences,  Modena. 
Foreign  member  of  the  Natural  History  Society,  Basle. 

1837.  Honorary  member  of  the  Literary  and  Scientific  In- 

stitution, Liverpool. 

1838.  Honorary  member  of  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers. 
Foreign  member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences, 

Stockholm. 

1840.  Member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  Phila- 
delphia. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Hunterian  Medical  Society, 
Edinburg. 

1842.  Foreign  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences, 

Berlin. 

1843.  Honorary  member  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical 

Society,  Manchester. 

Honoraiy  member  of  the  Useful  Knowledge  Society, 
Aix-la-Chapelle. 


APPENDIX.  219 

ANNO 

1844.  Foreign  Associate  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  Paris. 
Honorary  member  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  Society. 

1 845.  Corresponding  member  of  the  National  Institute,  Wash- 

ington. 

Corresponding  member  of  the  Societe  d'Encourage- 
ment,  Paris. 

1846.  Honorary  member  of  the  Society  of  Sciences,  Vaud. 

1847.  Member  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  Bologna. 
Foreign  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences 

of  Belgium. 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Bavarian  Academy  of  Sciences, 

Munich. 
Correspondent  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 

Philadelphia. 

1 848.  Foreign  honorary  member  of  the  Imperial  Academy 

of  Sciences,  Vienna. 

1849.  Honorary  member,  first  class,  of  the  Institut  Royal  des 

Pays-Bas. 
Foreign  correspondent  of  the  Institute,  Madrid. 

1850.  Corresponding  Associate  of  the  Accademia  Pontificia, 

Rome. 
Foreign  Associate  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  Haarlem. 

1 851 .  Member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences,The  Hague. 
Corresponding  member  of  the  Batavian  Society  of  Ex- 
perimental Philosophy,  Rotterdam. 

Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Sciences,  Upsala. 

1853.  Foreign  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences, 

Turin. 

Honorary  member  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  Mauritius. 

1854.  Corresponding  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 

Sciences,  Naples. 

1855.  Honorary  member  of  the  Imperial  Society  of  Natural- 

ists, Moscow. 


220  APPENDIX. 

ANNO 

1855.  Corresponding  Associate  of  the  Imperial  Institute  of 

Sciences  of  Lombardy. 

1 856.  Corresponding  member  of  the  Netherlands'  Society  of 

Sciences,  Batavia. 
Member  of  the  Imperial  Royal  Institute,  Padua. 

1857.  Member  of  the  Institute  of  Breslau. 
Corresponding  Associate  of  the  Institute  of  Sciences, 

Venice. 
Member  of  the  Imperial  Academy,  Breslau. 

1858.  Corresponding  member  of  the  Hungarian  Academy  of 

Sciences,  Pesth. 

1860.  Foreign  Associate  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  Pesth. 
Honorary  member  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  Glas- 
gow. 

1861.  Honorary  member  of  the  Medical  Society,  Edinburg. 

1863.  Foreign  Associate  of  the  Imperial  Academy  of  Medi- 

cine, Paris. 

1864.  Foreign  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences, 

Naples. 


INDEX. 


ABBOTT,  Benjamin,  page  12. 
Abel,  F.  A.,  reminiscences  by,  45, 

96. 

Anderson,  Sergeant,  47. 
Apparatus,  simplicity  of,  163, 167. 
Arrow,  Sir  Frederick,  anecdote 

by,  163. 
Astley's  Theatre,  adventure  at, 

33. 

Athensenm  Club,  34, 193. 
Atoms,  or  centres  of  force  ?  181. 

B. 

Barlow,  Rev.  John,  78  ;  incident 

at  his  house,  92. 
Barnard,  F.,  anecdotes  by,  108, 

111,  165, 166. 
Barnard,  Miss  Jane,  79. 
Barrett, W.  F.,  reminiscences  by, 

97, 180. 

Blacksmith's  shop,  58, 105. 
Bollaert,  William,  31. 
Bores.  62. 
British  Association,  58. 

C. 

Character  of  Faraday,  82. 
Charitable  gifts,  101. 
Chemical  Society,  81. 
Children  and  Faraday,  47,  48,  51, 

94. 

Church-yard  at  Oberhofen,  154. 
City  Philosophical  Society,  21, 29. 
Close,  Captain,  anecdotes  by,  114. 
Colliery  explosion  at  Haswell, 

169. 

Continent,  visits  to  the,  23, 55, 56. 
Correspondence,  66, 67. 
Crosse,  Mrs.  A.,  visit  of,  116, 117. 

D. 

Daniell,  Professor,  87. 
Davy,  Sir  Humphry,  16, 17, 18, 26, 
29, 90 ;  his  safety-lamp,  28. 


De  la  Rive,  A.,  102 ;  sketches  by, 

176, 185, 214. 

Discoveries,  value  of,  185, 210. 
Domestic  affection,  105. 
Dumas,  sketches  by,  90, 183, 184, 

215'  E. 

Education>  views  on,  131. 
Enthusiasm,  84,  85. 
Experiment,  love  of,  163, 175. 
Explosions,  20, 21. 

F. 

Faithfulness,  83, 84. 

Faraday,  Michael,  his  birth,  9  ; 
apprenticed  to  a  bookseller,  10, 
83,  84 ;  begins  to  experiment, 
11,  12 ;  attends  Tatum's  lect- 
ures, 11,12;  Davy's,  16;  becomes 
a  journeyman  bookbinder,  17  ; 
engaged  by  Davy,  17, 19;  his  at- 
tempts at  self-improvement,  22, 
33;  travels  on  the  Continent, 
23  ;  gives  his  first  lecture,  29  ; 
writes  his  first  paper,  29 ;  as- 
sists Professor  Brande,  31 ;  his 
amusements,  33, 57, 61;  marries, 
38 ;  gives  courses  of  lectures, 
40,41 ;  appointed  Fullerian  Pro- 
fessor, 42 ;  his  income,  42, 101 ; 
accepts  lectureship  at  Wool- 
wich^; becomes  scientific  ad- 
viser to  Trinity  House,  45 ;  his 
usual  day's  work,  47 ;  his  Friday 
evenings,  49,  50 ;  his  juvenile 
lectures,  51 ;  his  Sunday  engage- 
ments, 52;  his  Wednesday  meet- 
ings, 54 ;  his  visits  to  the  coun- 
try, 55 ;  his  correspondence,  66 ; 
his  publications,  71 ;  his  honors, 
74, 217 ;  declines  presidentship 
of  Royal  Society,  75  ;  refuses 
and  accepts  pension,76 ;  resigns 
his  appointments,  77,  78 ;  his 
last  illness,  78, 79 ;  his  death,  80. 


222 


INDEX. 


Faraday's  father,  9, 39, 58, 105, 106. 
"  mother,  9, 39. 

Field,  Cyrus,  192. 

Firmness  with  gentleness.  107, 
108. 

Force,  a  Proteus,  187. 

Foucault,  visit  to,  90. 

Friday  evenings  at  the  Royal  In- 
stitution, 40, 50, 190. 

Fuller,  John,  42. 

Funeral,  80. 

G. 

Giessbach  Falls,  155. 
Graham,  Professor,  80, 168. 
Gymuotus,  150. 

H. 

Hampton  Court,  house  at,  76. 
Helmholz,  Professor,  quotation 

from,  189. 

Holland,  Sir  Henry,  66. 
Holmes,  F.  H.,  203,  206. 
Home  life,  39, 47, 56, 105. 
Honors,  scientific,  views  on,  142. 
Humility,  120, 121. 
Humor,  87. 

Indignation  against  wrong,  92. 
Infidelity,  accusation  of,  151. 
Inner  conflicts,  112. 

J. 

Jermyn  Street,  incident  at,  163. 
Jones,  Dr.  H.  Bence,  85, 123. 
Journals,  26, 154, 155. 
Juvenile  lectures  at  Royal  Insti- 
tution, 41, 51. 

K. 

Kindliness,  93, 101, 107. 


Lectures  at  Royal  Institution,  40. 
140, 141. 

Lecturing,  views  on,  135, 136. 

Letters  to  Faraday,  from  Bona- 
parte,LouisNapoleon,67;  Davy, 
Sir  Humphry,  30  ;  De  la  Rive, 
A.,  214;  Whewell,  Dr.,  181, 182. 

Letters  from  Faraday  to  Abbott, 
B.,  23 ;  Abel,  F.  A.,  46 ;  Airy,  G. 
B. (Astronomer  Royal),179;  An- 
drews, Prof.,  143,144;  Auckland, 
Lord,  43 ;  Barnard,  F.,  70,  71  ; 
Barnard,  Miss  Sarah,  37,  38 ; 


Becker,  Dr.,  175  ;  Coutts,  Lady 
Burdett,  66,  110  ;  Crosse,  Mrs. 
Andrew,  106 ;  Deacon,  Mrs.,  78, 
79;  Faraday,  Mrs.  (his  mother), 
24;  Faraday,  Mrs.  (his  wife).  39; 
Field,  F.,  124;  Gladstone,  J.H., 
178 ;  Inventors,  103  ;  Joule,  J. 
P., 69,188;  Matteucci,91 ;  Moore, 
Miss,  69,  70, 182 ;  Noad,  Dr.,  99 ; 
Paris,  Comte  de,79;  Paris,  Dr., 
18, 68 ;  Percy,  Dr.,  148 ;  Phillips, 
R.,  198,  199;  Riebau,  G.,  13; 
Schonbein,  148,  156  ;  Siemens, 
C.  W.,  190, 191 ;  Spiritualist,  149 ; 
Wheatstone,  Sir  Charles,  65; 
Wrottesley,  Lord,  144, 145. 

Light-houses,  adjustment  of  ap- 
paratus in,  170 ;  illuminated  by 
electricity,  201. 

Love  of  study,  84. 

Love  to  children,  94. 

M. 

Magnetism,  wonder  at,  180. 

Magneto-electric  light,  202. 

Magrath,  Mr.,  22, 34. 

Mallet,  Robert,  reminiscences  by, 
64, 175. 

Masquerier,  M.,  14, 61. 

Mathematics,  want  of,  174. 

Mayo,  Herbert,  impromptu  by, 
200. 

Melbourne,  Lord,  76. 

Mental  education,  views  on,  126. 

Mental  and  moral  greatness  con- 
joined, 116, 156, 157. 

N. 

Napoleon  III.,  67. 
Natural  theology,  views  on,  152. 
Noad,  Dr.,  98. 

Noble,  Mr.  (the  sculptor),  105, 106. 
Note-books,  12, 13, 17, 41. 

O. 

Orderliness,  161, 162. 

P. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  75. 
Philosopher  portrayed,  123, 158. 
Philosophers  and  practical  men, 

185, 194. 

Photometer,  special,  164. 
Playfulness,  58, 59, 86. 
Poetry  of  nature,  114, 115, 154 
Politics,  indifference  to,  60. 


INDEX. 


223 


Pollock,  Lady,  description  of  Fri- 
day evening  discourse,  50. 

Potato  models,  168. 

Power  of  imagination,  84. 

Practical  applications  of  science, 
189. 

Preaching,  style  of,  53. 

Prince  Consort,  52,  66. 

Pritchard,  Rev.  C.,  quotation 
from,  152, 153. 

Publications,  scientific,  72, 183. 

Public  Schools  Commission,  evi- 
dence before,  133. 

Punch,  verses  in,  211. 

Q. 

Queen  Victoria,  66, 76. 

R. 

Reid,  Miss,  reminiscences  by,  55, 
111. 

Religious  belief,  views  on,  130. 

Religious  character,  119. 

Researches,  early,  32 ;  on  electric- 
ity and  magnetism,  32, 72, 195, 
199  ;  electrical  eel,  150  •  tele- 
graphy, 192  ;  ventilation,  193  ; 
benzol,  194. 

Reverence,  88, 89, 93, 107. 

Roman  Carnival,  27. 

Royal  Institution,  14, 39,40,77,159, 
166 ;  Faraday  laboratory  assist- 
ant at,  19,  28  ;  superintendent 
of  house  at,  39 ;  Fullerian  Pro- 
fessorship, 42;  relics  at,  11, 165. 

Royal  Society,  fellowship,  73 ; 
presiden tship  declined,  75; 
communications  to,  72, 182. 

S. 
Sandemanians,34,120;  Faraday's 

eldership  among,  52. 
Schonbein,   Professor,   remarks 

of,  159, 166. 


Science  a  branch  of  education, 

132. 

Sensitiveness,  92, 112. 
Sermons,  Faraday's,  53-55. 
Simple-minded  joyousness,  86, 

Simplicity  of  character,  109. 
Sirium  alias  Vestium,  30, 31. 
Social  character,  112, 118. 
Society  of  Arts,  33. 
Spiritualists,  opinion  of,  148. 
Submarine  cables,  196. 

T. 

Table-turning  explained,  148, 149. 
Tenacity  of  purpose,  85. 
Thames  impure,  167. 
Thomson,  Sir  William,  174, 196. 
Thunder-storms  enjoyed,  85, 115. 
Trinity  House,  44, 45, 78, 103, 171, 

201. 

Truthfulness,  110, 178. 
Tyndall,Professor,reminiscences 

by,  75, 108, 109, 118. 

U. 

Unworldliness,  118. 

V. 

Velocipede  riding,  33. 
Visitors,  attention  to,  48, 63. 
Visits  to  the  sick,  101, 102. 

W. 

Walmer,  visit  to,  55,  56. 

Welsh  damsel  at  waterfall,  95, 96. 

William  IV.,  76. 

Wiseman,  Cardinal,  visit  of,  120. 

Woolwich  Academy,  44, 45, 46. 

Working,  method  of,  47, 159. 

Y. 

Young,  James,  reminiscence  by, 
168. 


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