them, or that they have picklocks about them, by the means of which they hope to escape." "And sayest thou so;" said the giant: "I will therefore search them in the morning."

Well, on Saturday, about midnight, they began to pray, and continued in prayer till almost break of day.

Now, a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half amazed, brake out into this passionate speech: "What a fool am I thus to lie in a loathsome dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I have a key in my bosom, called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle." Then said Hopeful, "That's good news, good brother; pluck it out of thy bosom, and try."

Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom, and began to try at the dungeon-door, whose bolt (as he turned the key) gave back, and the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out. Then he went to the outer door that leads to the castle-yard, and with his key opened that door also. After, he went to the irongate, for that must be opened too; but that lock went very hard, yet the key did open it. Then they thrust open the door to make their escape with speed, but that gate, as it opened, made such a cracking, that it waked Giant Despair, who hastily rising to pursue his prisoners felt his limbs to fail; for his fits took him again, so that he could by no means go after them. Then they went on, and came to the King's highway and so were safe, because they were out of his jurisdiction.

Now, when they were gone over the stile, they began to contrive with themselves what they should do at that stile to prevent those that should come after from falling into the hands of Giant Despair. So they consented to erect there a pillar, and to engrave upon the stile thereof this sentence:-"Over this stile is the way to Doubting

Castle, which is kept by Giant Despair, who despiseth the King of the Celestial Country, and seeks to destroy his holy pilgrims." Many, therefore, that followed after, read what was written, and escaped the danger..

2

"BUNYAN, Pilgrim's Progress.

3

1to wit, namely. rating, abusing, scolding. condole, grieve together over. jurisdiction, authority; rule. 5 Bunyan, an author of the seventeenth century. See Appendix.

So mixt in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, This was a man !"

Shakespeare.

SCIENCE may proudly boast of her martyrs and her heroes. For her sake men of noble worth have sacrificed the world's rewards, and relinquished the fair promise of wealth and fame, happy if they might find but one undiscovered treasure to add to the knowledge of mankind. No pleasant pastime or holiday amusement this; it has been a lifelong struggle-earnest, hopeful, valiant. Our hearts are filled with admiration for the soldier on the field of battle, or the explorer far away in unknown lands, when we dwell upon the sad yet noble record of conflict, privation, and toil; but let us not limit to these worthies the rewards of the brave. The 2 philosopher in his quiet retreat wages a peaceful but heroic warfare, and beyond the most sanguine hopes of men he searches the untrodden wilds. No martial conqueror is he, returning from the conflict laden with the spoils of war; yet a warrior truly,

one who wrestles hard with Nature, and wearies not in the struggle, till she consents to relinquish the secret that he craved. Let us twine in his garland the laurel and the olive-a chaplet of victory, yet a symbol of peace.

None amongst the philosophers of modern times can better deserve our admiration than Michael Faraday. Acknowledged on all hands to be a prince in the domain of science, an intellectual giant, yet a child in the simplicity of his heart, he is worthy to be honoured amongst the noblest and the best of men.

Michael, the son of James Faraday, a blacksmith, residing at Newington in Surrey, was born September 22nd, 1791. When he was thirteen years of age, he left school, and was engaged by a bookseller in Blandford Street as errand-boy. His duties were, of course, of the simplest kind, such as the collection and delivery of papers at the houses of his master's customers. When years had passed away, and the name of this errand-boy was honoured as that of the first philosopher of the age he always retained a pleasant recollection of these early days. The sight of a newspaper-boy would generally call forth some kind remark. "I always," said he on one occasion, "feel a tenderness for those boys, because I once carried newspapers myself."

Mr. Rieban-for such was the name of the booksellerhad only engaged Michael for a year on trial; but so satisfied was he with the boy's attention, that at the end of the year he accepted him as an apprentice. The indentures of apprenticeship are dated October 7th, 1805; and it is equally creditable to both master and servant to find in them the words, "In consideration of his faithful services, no premium is given."

Here his scientific education began, and his own words, written late in life, will best explain what that VI.-Moffatt's Ex. Reader.

9

education was like. "I entered the shop of a bookseller and bookbinder at the age of thirteen in the year 1804, and remained there eight years, and during the chief part of the time bound books. Now it was in these books, in the hours after work, that I found the beginning of my philosophy. There were two that especially helped me: the Encyclopædia Britannica, from which I gained my first notions of electricity, and Mrs. Marcet's Conver sations on Chemistry, which gave me my foundation in that science. Do not suppose that I was a very deep thinker, or was marked as a precocious person. 8 I was a very lively imaginative person, and could believe in the Arabian Nights as easily as in the Encyclopædia; but facts were important to me, and saved me. I could trust a fact, and always cross-examined an assertion. So when I questioned Mrs. Marcet's book by such little experiments as I could find means to perform, and found it true to the facts as I could understand them, I felt that I had got hold of an anchor in chemical knowledge, and I clung fast to it."

The experiments by which he cross-examined the assertions of his books were at first of a very simple kind. "I made," he says, "such simple experiments in chemistry as could be defrayed in their expense by a few pence per week, and also constructed an electrical machine-first with a glass 9 vial, and afterwards with a real 10 cylinder-as well as other electrical apparatus of a corresponding kind."

When he had become fairly interested in the subject, he chanced to espy a notice in a shop-window, announcing that evening lectures in Natural Philosophy were delivered by Mr. Tatum at 53, Dorset Street. Young Faraday attended these meetings, where he made several valuable acquaintances, and was fortunate enough to

obtain an introduction to some of Sir Humphrey Davy's lectures at the Royal Institution,

Shortly after his apprenticeship had expired, the thought occurred to him of writing to Sir Humphrey Davy, expressing his wish to enter the service of science, and a hope that if an opportunity came in his way, he would favour his views; at the same time he sent a copy of the notes he had taken of his lectures. Sir Humphrey wrote to the young student a letter full of kindly feeling, such as is seldom shown by the great to a young and unknown aspirant, and a few months afterwards offered him the situation of assistant in tl 11 laboratory of the Royal Institution, at a salary of twentyfive shillings per week, with two rooms in the house. He eagerly accepted it on account of the facilities it afforded for the pursuit of science.

Sir Humphrey Davy's opinion of his new assistant had been favourable from the first, but improved as their acquaintance grew, and after they had been working together for about six months, he proposed that the young man should accompany him, as his 12 amanuensis, on a continental tour. Faraday, who could not remember having ever been a greater distance than twelve miles from London, was delighted at the prospect of visiting the capitals of Europe, and early in October, 1813, the scientific pair started on their journey,

During this tour Faraday was fortunate in making the acquaintance of several illustrious men of science. After an absence of about two years he returned to London, and was reinstated at the Royal Institution, at a salary of thirty shillings per week. His scientific education now fairly began, and his frequent contributions to the scientific journals of the day gave evidence of the progress he was making in his investigations.