438 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE 



tain that, notwithstanding the very full account of this 

 transaction given by Dr. Bence Jones, motives and influ- 

 ences were at work which even now are not entirely re- 

 vealed. The minister was bitterly attacked, but he bore 

 the censure of the press with great dignity. Faraday, 

 while he disavowed having either directly or indirectly 

 furnished the matter of those attacks, did not publicly 

 exonerate the Premier. The Hon. Caroline Fox had 

 proved herself Faraday's ardent friend, and it was she 

 who had healed the breach between the philosopher and 

 the minister. She manifestly thought that Faraday ought 

 to have come forward in Lord Melbourne's defence, and 

 there is a flavor of resentment in one of her letters to 

 him on the subject. No doubt Faraday had good grounds 

 for his reticence, but they are to me unknown. 



In 1841 his health broke down utterly, and he went 

 to Switzerland with his wife and brother-in-law. His 

 bodily vigor soon revived, and he accomplished feats of 

 walking respectable even for a trained mountaineer. The 

 published extracts from his Swiss journal contain many 

 beautiful and touching allusions. Amid references to the 

 tints of the Jungfrau, the blue rifts of the glaciers, and 

 the noble Niesen towering over the Lake of Thun, we 

 come upon the charming little scrap which I have else- 

 where quoted: *' Clout-nail making goes on here rather 

 considerably, and is a very neat and pretty operation to 

 observe. I love a smith's shop and anything relating to 

 smithery. My father was a smith." This is from his 

 journal; but he is unconsciously speaking to somebody 

 — ^perhaps to the world. 



His description of the Staubbach, Giessbach, and of 

 the scenic effects of sky and mountain, are all fine and 



