MICHAEL FARADAY. 85 



a decided bent towards scientific knowledge ; and 

 he spent all his intervals of leisure, and all his slen- 

 der store of pocket money, in buying books and 

 apparatus necessary for the investigation of natural 

 science. He succeeded in raising money enough 

 to purchase a book upon electricity, and from this 

 learned how to construct an electrical machine. 

 This he did from a common glass vial, using the 

 roughest and crudest materials in the various parts ; 

 but he had the proud satisfaction of obtaining the 

 " spark " upon the first trial. This success made 

 him more ambitious ; and he constructed another, 

 with a proper cylinder, and of considerable power, 

 and presently his humble room began to be embel- 

 lished with quite a variety of apparatus ; and, be- 

 fore his master was aware of what was occurring, 

 his apprentice became the proud possessor of all the 

 knowledge then before the world relative to electri- 

 cal force. 



Boys of this character, in no age of the world, 

 have long remained in obscurity. When once the 

 foot has rested upon the portals of the temple of 

 science, the doors are opened in some mysterious 

 wav, so that the enthusiastic worshipper may enter 

 at his will. A Mr. Dance observed what young 

 Faraday was doing, and obtained permission for him 

 to attend four lectures by Sir Humphry Davy, in 

 the Roval Institution. This was the first great 



