442 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE 



serve tliat we have no right to judge religious opinions; 

 but the human nature of this evening is that part of man 

 which we have a right to judge. And I think it will be 

 found on examination, that this humanity — as it may per- 

 haps be called — will accord with what I have before de- 

 scribed as being in our own hands so improvable and 

 perfectible.*' 



In an old journal I find the following remarks on one 

 of my earliest dinners with Faraday: *'At two o'clock he 

 came down for me. He, his niece, and myself, formed 

 the party. *I never give dinners,' he said. 'I don't know 

 how to give dinners, and 1 never dine out But I should 

 not like my friends to attribute this to a wrong cause. 

 I act thus for the sake of securing time for work, and not 

 through religious motives, as some imagine.' He said 

 grace. I am almost ashamed to call his prayer a * saying 

 of grace.' In the language of Scripture, it might be de- 

 scribed as the petition of a son into whose heart God had 

 sent the Spirit of His Son, and who with absolute trust 

 asked a blessing from his father. We dined on roast beef, 

 Yorkshire pudding, and potatoes; drank sherry, talked 

 of research and its requirements, and of his habit of keep- 

 ing himself free from the distractions of society. He was 

 bright and joyful — boylike, in fact, though he is now 

 sixty- two. His work excites admiration, but contact with 

 him warms and elevates the heart. Here, surely, is a 

 strong man. I love strength; but let me not forget the 

 example of its union with modesty, tenderness, and sweet- 

 ness, in the character of Faraday." 



Faraday's progress in discovery, and the salient points 

 of his character, are well brought out by the wise choice 

 of letters and extracts published in the volumes before us. 



