FAEADAY. 403 



Davy was the reverse. She treated him as an underling ; 

 he chafed under the treatment, and was often on the point 

 of returning home. They 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 sportsmen, and they often went out shooting 

 together. On these occasions Faraday charged Davy's 

 gun while De la Rive charged his own. Once the 

 Grenevese philosopher found himself by the side of Fara- 

 day, and in his frank and genial way entered into con- 

 versation with the young man. It was evident that a 

 person possessing 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 domestique was really preparateur in the labo- 

 ratory 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 arrangement was come to that Fara- 

 day 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 oi 

 the friend who saw his merit when he was a mere gar$on 

 de laboratoire.* 



1 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 Blve 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 substitute for the 

 youth of 1814 the Faraday of later years, 



