A MODEST PHILOSOPHER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue I, 7 January 1899, Page 31

A MODEST PHILOSOPHER.

One day Faraday, the famous natural philosopher, was asked by the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, Walter White, who records the talk in his ‘Journals,’ if he were writing a paper for the society. ‘No,’ said he, shaking his head, T am too old.’ He was then in his sixtyseventh year. ‘Too old! Why, age brings wisdom,’ replied the secretary. ‘Yes, but one may overshoot the wisdom,’ rejoined Faraday. ‘You cannot mean that you have outlived your wisdom ?’ asked the amazed official. ‘Something like it,’ answered the modest philosopher. ‘My memory is gone; if I make an experiment, I forget before twelve hours are over whether the result was positive or negative. How can I write a paper while my memory is unreliable? No, I must content myself with giving my lectures to children.’ The remark, illustrates the philosopher’s scientific spirit, and what is of greater value, his moral nature. He found his memory failing and his mental powers declining, and accepted the facts as quietly as he had accepted his discoveries in magnetism. He uttered no complaint, nor did he, as many old men do, attempt that which he could not achieve. Calmly, without ostentation, he gave up whatever work he could not carry on, content to lecture to the children who gathered to see his luminous experiments and to listen to explanations that explained even to their minds the laws of chemistry and magnetism. Faraday’s moral nature appears in his freedom from-pride and self-asser-tion. He gave generous recognition to the claims of his scientific contemporaries. made honourable mention of his assistants, thankfully accepted a correction, and made use of every expedient, no matter how humble the person who suggested it, if it would make his work more effective.