FARADAY. 403 



halted at Geneva. De la Rive, the elder, had known 

 Davy in 1799, and, by his writings in the ' Bibliotheque 

 Britannique,' had been the first to make the English 

 chemist's labours known abroad. He welcomed Davy 

 to his country residence in 1814. Both were sports- 

 men, and they often went out shooting together. On 

 these occasions Faraday charged Davy's gun while De 

 la Rive charged his own. Once the Genevese philoso- 

 pher found himself by the side of Faraday, and in his 

 frank and genial way entered into conversation with 

 the young man. It was evident that a person possess- 

 ing such a charm of manner and such high intelligence 

 could be no mere servant. On enquiry De la Rive was 

 somewhat shocked to find that the soi-disant domes- 

 tique was really preparateur in the laboratory of the 

 Royal Institution; and he immediately proposed that 

 Faraday thenceforth should join the masters instead 

 of the servants at their meals. To this Davy, probably 

 out of weak deference to his wife, objected; but an ar- 

 rangement was come to that Faraday thenceforward 

 should have his food in his own room. Rumour states 

 that a dinner in honour of Faraday was given by De la 

 Rive. This is a delusion; there was no such banquet; 

 but Faraday never forgot the kindness of the friend who 

 saw his merit when he was a mere gargon de Idbora- 

 toire.* 



He returned in 1815 to the Royal Institution. Here 

 he helped Davy for years; he worked also for himself, 



* While confined last autumn at Geneva by the effects of a 

 fall in the Alps, my friends, with a kindness I can never forget, 

 did all that friendship could suggest to render my captivity 

 pleasant to me. M. de la Rive then wrote out for me the full 

 account, of which the foregoing is a condensed abstract. It was 

 at the desire of Dr. Bence Jones that I asked him to do so. The 

 rumour of a banquet at Geneva illustrates the tendency to sub- 

 stitute for the youth of 1814 the Faraday of later years. 



