office, he desired to see
Faraday; and probably in utter ignorance of the man--for unhappily for
them and us, Ministers of State in England are only too often ignorant
of great Englishmen--his Lordship said something that must have deeply
displeased his visitor. All the circumstances were once communicated to
me, but I have forgotten the details. The term 'humbug,' I think, was
incautiously employed by his Lordship, and other expressions were used
of a similar kind. Faraday quitted the Minister with his own resolves,
and that evening he left his card and a short and decisive note at the
residence of Lord Melbourne, stating that he had manifestly mistaken his
Lordship's intention of honouring science in his person, and declining
to have anything whatever to do with the proposed pension. The
good-humoured nobleman at first considered the matter a capital joke;
but he was afterwards led to look at it more seriously. An excellent
lady, who was a friend both to Faraday and the Minister, tried to
arrange matters between them; but she found Faraday very difficult to
move from the position he had assumed. After many fruitless efforts, she
at length begged of him to state what he would require of Lord Melbourne
to induce him to change his mind. He replied, 'I should require from his
Lordship what I have no right or reason to expect that he would grant--a
written apology for the words he permitted himself to use to me.' The
required apology came, frank and full, creditable, I thought, alike to
the Prime Minister and the philosopher.

Considering the enormous strain imposed on Faraday's intellect, the
boy-like buoyancy even of his later years was astonishing. He was often
prostrate, but he had immense resiliency, which he brought into action
by getting away from London whenever his health failed. I have already
indicated the thoughts which filled his mind during the evening of his
life. He brooded on magnetic media and lines of force; and the great
object of the last investigation he ever undertook was the decision of
the question whether magnetic force requires time for its propagation.
How he proposed to attack this subject we may never know. But he has
left some beautiful apparatus behind; delicate wheels and pinions,
and associated mirrors, which were to have been employed in the
investigation. The mere conception of such an inquiry is an illustration
of his strength and hopefulness, and it is impossible to say to what
result