1856.ÆT.64–65.

Even in the last chapter of Faraday's life each one of his great qualities can be very distinctly traced.

Few of those who saw him enjoying the kindness which gave him his house at Hampton Court, or delighting in the beauty of the sunsets from the palace gardens, or rejoicing in the idleness of the summer life in the country, knew that during a great part of this period of his life he was proving by experiment whether his magneto-electric light could be made by Professor Holmes practically useful for lighthouses.

His energy and truthfulness made him take the whole responsibility of the decision upon himself, and without doubt his frequent journeys to the South Foreland and Dungeness lighthouses, and his night excursions in the Channel during the winter, when he was seventy years old, were remote causes of his last illness.

Throughout all the reports which he made regarding the light, there is scarcely a word to show that he ever thought of it as his light, his greatest discovery; he even heard others call it their light without making a remark; but he gave all credit and honour to him who applied it, and only said of himself, that he must take care ‘that we do not lead our authorities into error by the advice given.’