"SIR,
"I am far from displeased with 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.
"I am, sir,
"Your obedient humble servant,
"H. DAVY."
The minutes of the meeting of managers of the Royal Institution, on
March 1, 1813, contain the following entry:--"Sir Humphry Davy has the
honour to inform the managers that he has found a person who is
desirous to occupy the situation in the institution lately filled by
William Payne. His name is Michael Faraday. He is a youth of
twenty-two years of age. His habits seem good, his disposition active
and cheerful, and his manner intelligent. He is willing to engage
himself on the same terms as those given to Mr. Payne at the time of
quitting the institution.
"Resolved, that Michael Faraday be engaged to fill the situation
lately occupied by Mr. Payne, on the same terms."
About this time Faraday joined the City Philosophical Society, which
had been started at Mr. Tatum's house in 1808. The members met every
Wednesday evening, either for a lecture or discussion; and perhaps the
society did not widely differ from some of the "students'
associations" which have more recently been started in connection with
other educational enterprises. Magrath was secretary of this society,
and from it there sprang a smaller band of students, who, meeting once
a week, either at Magrath's warehouse in Wood Street, or at Faraday's
private rooms in the attics of the Royal Institution, for mutual
improvement, read together, and freely criticized each other's
pronunciation and composition. In a letter to Abbott six weeks after
commencing work at the Royal Institution, Faraday says:--
A stranger would certainly think you and I were a couple of very
simple beings, since we find it necessary to write to each
other, though we so often personally meet; but the stranger
would, in so judging, only fall into that error which envelops
all those who decide from the outward appearances of things....
When writing to you I seek that opportunity of striving to
describe a circumstance or an experiment clearly; so that you
will see I am urged on by selfish motives partly to our mutual
correspondence, but, though selfish, yet not censurable.
During the summer of 1813 Faraday, in his letters to Abbott, gave his
friend the benefit of his experience "on the subject of lectures and
lecturers in general," in a manner that speaks very highly of his
power of observation of men as well as things. He was of opinion that
a lecture should not last more than an hour, and that the subject
should "fit the audience."
"A lecturer may consider his audience as being polite or vulgar (terms
I wish you to understand according to Shuffleton's new dictionary),
learned or unlearned (with respect to the subject), listeners or
gazers. Polite company expect to be entertained, not only by the
subject of the lecture, but by the manner of the lecturer; they look
for respect, for language consonant to their dignity, and ideas on a
level with their own. The vulgar--that is to say, in general, those
who will take the trouble of thinking, and the bees of business--wish
for something that they can comprehend. This may be deep and elaborate
for the learned, but for those who are as yet tyros and unacquainted
with the subject, must be simple and plain. Lastly, listeners expect
reason and sense, whilst gazers only require a succession of words."