He demanded its
cause, and I responded:--'Lest you should have decided against the
wishes of the deputation that waited on you yesterday.' 'You would
not urge me to undertake this responsibility,' he said. 'I not only
urge you,' was my reply, 'but I consider it your bounden duty to
accept it.' He spoke of the labour that it would involve; urged that
it was not in his nature to take things easy; and that if he became
president, he would surely have to stir many new questions, and
agitate for some changes. I said that in such cases he would find
himself supported by the youth and strength of the Royal Society.
This, however, did not seem to satisfy him. Mrs. Faraday came into
the room, and he appealed to her. Her decision was adverse, and I
deprecated her decision. 'Tyndall,' he said at length, 'I must
remain plain Michael Faraday to the last; and let me now tell you,
that if I accepted the honour which the Royal Society desires to
confer upon me, I would not answer for the integrity of my intellect
for a single year.' I urged him no more, and Lord Wrottesley had a
most worthy successor in Sir Benjamin Brodie.
After the death of the Duke of Northumberland, our Board of Managers
wished to see Mr. Faraday finish his career as President of the
Institution, which he had entered on weekly wages more than half a
century before. But he would have nothing to do with the
presidency. He wished for rest, and the reverent affection of his
friends was to him infinitely more precious than all the honours of
official life.
Pages:
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156