FARADAY. 345 



of ardor and patience — the one prompting the attack, the 

 other holding him on to it till defeat was final or victory 

 assured. Certainty in one sense or the other was necessary 

 to his peace of mind. The right method of investigation 

 is, perhaps, incommunicable ; it depends on the individual 

 rather than on the system, and the mark is missed when 

 Faraday's researches are pointed to as merely illustrative 

 of the power of the inductive philosophy. The brain may 

 be filled with that philosophy, but without the energy and 

 insight which this man possessed, and which with him were 

 personal and distinctive, we should never rise to the level 

 of his achievements. His power is that of individual genius, 

 rather than of philosophic method ; the energy of a strong 

 soul expressing itself after its own fashion, and acknowl- 

 edging no mediator between it and Nature. 



The second volume of the " Life and Letters," like the 

 first, is an historic treasury as regards Faraday's work and 

 character, and his scientific and social relations. It contains 

 letters from Humboldt, Herschel, Hachette, De la Rive, Du- 

 mas, Liebig, Melloni, Becquerel, Oersted, Pliicker, Du Bois- 

 Rey mond, Lord Melbourne, Prince Louis Napoleon, and many 

 other distinguished men. I notice with particular pleasure 

 a letter from Sir John Herschel in reply to a sealed packet 

 addressed to him by Faraday, but which he had permission 

 to open if he pleased. The packet referred to one of the 

 many unfulfilled hopes which spring up in the mind of fer- 

 tile investigators : 



" Go on and prosper, ' from strength to strength,' like a 

 victor marching with assured step to further conquests ; and 

 be certain that no voice will join more heartily in the pceans 

 that already begin to rise, and will speedily swell into a 

 shout of triumph, astounding even to yourself, than that of 

 J. F. W. Herschel." 



As an encourager of the scientific worker, this fine spirit 

 is still active. 



