"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, "And from varieties of force and power, "Thunder and light revealed as one same strength- And through the Universe's veinèd 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 Towards 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 "Untired in charity, of cheer serene ; Not caring world's wealth or good word to earn ; "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. The estimate of M. A. de la Rive is from a letter he addressed to Faraday himself: "I am grieved to hear that your brain is weary; this has sometimes happened on former occasions, in consequence of your numerous and persevering labours, 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 having always led a smooth and well-regulated life, free from ambition, and therefore exempt from all the anxieties and drawbacks which are inseparable from it. Honour has sought you in spite of yourself; you have known, without despising 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 misfortunes which crush one's life. You should, therefore, watch the approach of old age without fear and without bitterness, having the comforting feeling that the wonders which you have been able to decipher in the book of nature must contribute to the greater reverence and adoration of their Supreme Author. "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-fulfilled life-course, with all that accumulation of drawbacks and griefs by which mine in particular has been attended, I put you down as very happy, especially as you are worthy of your good fortune. This leads me to reflect on the miserable state of those who are without that religious faith which you possess in so great a degree." In M. Dumas' Eloge at the Académie des Sciences, 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 gladdened 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 approach 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 ardour for the diffusion of truth, an indefatigable 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 amongst the humble flock whose faith he followed. "The simplicity of his heart, his candour, his ardent love of the truth, his fellow-interest in all 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. 66 Fidelity to his religious faith, and the constant 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 goodness which weighs all our sufferings, did not inspire Faraday with his great discoveries, but it gave him the straightforwardness, the self-respect, 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 learnt from the proper study of this illustrious man, whose youth endured poverty with dignity, whose mature age bore honours 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 Georgofili, Florence. Honorary member of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 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 Chemists, 1826. Honorary member of the Westminster Medical Society. 1831. Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. 1832. Honorary member of the College of Pharmacy, Philadelphia. Honorary member of the Chemical and Physical Society, Paris. 1833. Corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Berlin. Honorary member of the Hull Philosophical Society. 1834. Foreign corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Palermo. |