OBITUARY. 
577 
strong  evidence  that  at  that  time  he  knew  enough  of  chemistry  to  make 
himself  exceedingly  useful,  (Chem.  News,  Aug.  30).  How  it  happened 
that  Faraday  entered  Davy's  service  is  better  told  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Paris, 
and  the  reply  which  we  obtain  from  the  "  Laboratory"  for  Aug.  31. 
To  J.  A.  Paris,  M.  D. 
Royal  Institution,  Dee.  23,  1867. 
My  Dear  Sir, — -You  asked  me  to  give  you  an  account  of  my  first  introduc- 
tion to  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  which  I  am  very  happy  to  do,  as  I  think  the 
circumstances  will  bear  testimony  to  his  goodness  of  heart. 
When  I  was  a  bookseller's  apprentice  I  was  very  fond  of  experiments  and 
very  averse  to  trade.  It  happened  that  a  gentleman,  a  Member  of  the  Royal 
Institution,  took  me  to  hear  some  of  Sir  H.  Davy's  last  lectures  in  Albemarle 
Street.  I  took  notes,  and  afterwards  wrote  them  out  more  fairly  in  a  quarto 
volume.  My  desire  to  escape  from  trade,  which  I  thought  vicious  and  selfish 
and  to  enter  into  the  service  of  science,  which  I  imagined  made  its  pursuers 
amiable  and  liberal,  induced  me  at  last  to  take  the  bold  and  simple  step  of 
writing  to  Sir  H.  Davy,  expressing  my  wishes,  and  a  hope  that  if  an  oppor- 
tunity came  inthe  way  he  would  forward  my  views.  At  the  same  time  I  sent 
the  notes  I  had  taken  at  his  lecture. 
The  answer,  which  makes  all  the  point  of  my  communication,  I  send  you 
in  the  original,  requesting  you  to  take  great  care  of  it  and  let  me  have  it 
back,  for  you  may  imagine  how  much  I  value  it. 
Ycu  will  observe  that  this  took  place  at  the  end  of  the  year  1812,  and  early 
in  1813  he  requested  to  see  me,  and  told  me  of  the  situation  of  assistant  in 
the  laboratory  of  the  Royal  Institution,  then  just  vacant. 
At  the  same  time  that  he  thus  gratified  my  desires  at  a  scientific  employ- 
ment, he  still  advised  me  not  to  give  up  the  prospects  I  had  before  me,  telling 
me  that  science  was  a  harsh  mistress,  and  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view  but 
poorly  rewarding  those  who  devoted  themselves  to  her  service.  He  smiled  at 
my  notion  of  the  superior  moral  feelings  of  philosophic  men,  and  said  he 
would  leave  the  experience  of  a  few  years  to  set  me  right  on  that  matter. 
Finally,  through  his  good  efforts,  I  went  to  the  Royal  Institution  early  in 
March  of  1813,  as  assistant  in  the  laboratory;  and  in  October  of  the  same 
year  went  with  him  abroad  as  his  assistant  in  experiments  and  in  writing.  I 
returned  with  him  in  April,  18135  resumed  my  station  in  the  Royal  Institution, 
and  have,  as  you  know,  ever  since  remained  there. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 
M.  Faraday. 
To  M.  Faraday, — 
Sir: — I  am  far  from  displeased  at  the  proof  you  have  given  me  of  your 
confidence,  and  which  displays  great  zeal,  power  of  memory  and  attention. 
I  am  obliged  to  go  out  of  town,  and  shall  not  be  settled  in  town  till  the  end 
of  January.    I  will  then  see  you  at  any  time  you  wish. 
It  would  gratify  me  to  be  of  any  service  to  you.  I  wish  it  may  be  in  my 
power.  1  am,  sir,  your  obedient  humble  servant, 
H.  Davy. 
With  the  Royal  Institution  laboratory  as  an  arena,  Faraday's  intellect 
quietly,  but  certainly  developed  in  the  direction  he  most  loved,  gathering 
force  by  discipline  and  preparing  him  for  those  great  discoveries  that  after- 
wards connected  his  name  indissolubly  with  chemical  philosophy.  He 
discovered  Benzole,  determined  the  composition  of  Naphthalin  and  dis- 
covered Chloride  of  Carbon  in  1820.  In  1821  he  made  his  brilliant  dis- 
covery of  the  power  of  rotation  given  by  a  current  of  electricity  to  a  wire 
37 
