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    FARADAY'S JUVENILE LECTURES*

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    Disregarded then , it has since risenvmt 6 great importance , seeingthat its author is no longer a mere theorist , bnt a man with power to actualize his ideas , and miike them the facts of his time . We are , therefore , not ungrateful-to the Frem-h editor , who has thus pressed it upon out consideration ^ and h . ive reperused it with no common interest . It has awakened some thoughts in us which we desire to share with -our readers . The first thing that strikes us in this famous essay is the scientific form into which the matter of argument ' . is cast . Here is no merely poptihir writing , hut an essay tor philosophers and p oliticians . It is wonderful that its early readers saw no greatness in it , whether of design or style ; that its author received no appreciation us a thinker who might , become a doer . Never was a sterner or more logical mind declared—never a more sincere sagacity disclosed . But blindness , was the disease of the time—its policy also ; and the

    coming- event was seen hut in the shadow , not the sunlight . The dawn had not yet approached , and the nations sat in darkness . The cardinal idea of the work undoubtedly was that Fiance uatnmlly is the source of progress to Western Europe , for she possesses the two supports of empires— -the genius of the arts of peace and the genius of war . Moreover , France has an especial mission , namely , in all treaties ' to throw in her sword of Brennus in favour ' . of civilization . With this mission recent events have proved that the author has identified his own . To these ideas , thns expressed and thus realized , the writer added correlative maxims-- —one that it is the province of government to guide true ideas by placing ; itself -boldly at their head . "If , " said he , " instead of leading , a Government suffers itself to be led , it at once ensures its own destruction , and compromises , instead of protecting society " And such maxims he has since observed , as well as adopted the associated ideas . He has taken the initiative in policy , both domestic and foreign .

    people ; the representative of tlte nation . In his public act * the Eimw'T alwavs took glory to himsell that he owed eve »> thmjr to the French peop ' ahme . . Wljen . ' surrounded . by kings m \ d } mnv > g . e , he , at the foot of the Pyrenees , disposed of thr . mey and of empires , he eiier « retii' » 'Hy asserted for hiniatlt that title of First Representative of the People which it seemed to be proposed to assign to the Legislative body . " . A note to that effect was indeed inserted in the Momteur , 19 th December , 3 808 , by order of the Emperor . Another excerpt , and we twtve done : — . " One n » ay sum up the Imperial system by saying- that itsbase ts democratic , since all its powers emanate-from the people ; whih * its organization is hierarchical , since there a » re in society various ranks to stin uhite all canaci ' ies . "

    ... Thus have we jotted down a few hasty notes while re-pernsing a celebrated work , to which , notwithstanding , too little attention has been paid . J > t it now be carefully perused by all concerned . If it stimulate Eirsr-H .-hi . nen to regard ideas with favour , and to place them in their pr « per relation to facts , something-will be won on the score not only of national progress , but of national safety . It is not by envy , and hatred of whatever is great in "Frenrh institutions that England can prosper , but by nobly rising , in generous emulation , and supplementing her own deficiencies by what is best in the example of her powerful neighbour .

    The now Imperial writer professes an indifference to mere forms of government .,. He recognised only two Governments as fulfilling their providential mission—one Oriental , and one -. -Occidental ; i . e ., the American and ! " the Russian . The' latter had tc strugy l . e against * ' les vieux prejuges de noire vieille Europe ; * ' but it was then clear to Louis Napoleon that -. " it was only from the Czar that the _ East could receive the amelioration which it was awaiting . "" . Upon the '¦ whole , he seems to approve of the Russian despotism ; but the re _ - puhlican form is also high in favour . A republic , however , cannot exist without an aristocracy ; and further , ^ - the nature of democracy is to become personified in one . man "—( la nature de la democratie estde se personnifier dans un hornine . ) _

    The rationale of these opinions lies in the fact that in a state there are two classes of . interests , permanent interests and transient interest ' s ; the spirit of the former is transmitted from ag-e to age by tradition , and can only be represented by an aristocracy . Transient and special interests , on the contrary , can only be thoroughly appreciated by the delegates of the people , Napoleon I . is not , for " the reasons above stated , ' to he blamed ( such is the philosophical deduction rnade by bis nephew ) for having 1 surmounted with a crown his 'republican biurels . They who censured him were people of paltry passions , while he was guided by reasons of the loftiest range . ' -When the remarks of such people

    were reported to the captive of St . Helena , he rightfully exclaimed , " Hsive I , then , reigned over pigmies in intellect , .. that I have been so little understood . ! " On the contrary , the first Emperor ,. to be justly appreciated , should be " considered commele Messie desidees nouvelles . " .. Kow the main thing of importance in these pretensions and reasonings lies , after nil , in the assumptions that ideas , as powers , do exi . ^ 6 ; that there are new ideas that supersede the old ; and that the Buonaparte family have a mission , identified with that of France , to establish a JHeasianic dynasty in their favour . Without controverting these assiimptinns , which , it would be idle to attempt in words only , Europe must regard them with the utmost attention , and 8 tand * ineessimtly on her ' guard in relation to nil that they imply .

    Much of the tractate under review is occupied with a running defence of many points of the first Napoleon ' s upeoiiil policy—m ' oKt of which has now little concern for us or the world . Among ; his philanthropic purposes , however , the completion of which was prevented by Avar , m . iiy bo mentioned his project of having- the prices of the pit seats in the Theatre Francois reduced on 'Sundays to one franc , in order that the people might enjoy the chefs-d'eeuvreof French literature ; and in a speech , delivered in 1807 , before the Legislative body , he eaid , that "in all parts of his empire , even in the smallest humlet , the comfort of the citizenmind the value of hind would be very soon enhanced by the effect of the general system of improvement which ho hnd conceived . ' -. ' In glancing at these pnHMiiges , we are reminded of Marc Antony's reading- to the populace the will over the dead body of Crctiar , — - , " Here waa a Caesar : when comes such another ?" No reasonable oVSection can be taken to the credit which the nephew claimed for the great JnRtitutjIonB nctuully € st » ibli « ht » d by his uncle . In both the administrative fund political organization ol the empire ho displayed admirable genius . Doubtless , Napoleon III . will einuliite him in these respects . He will endeavour to give to Franco what he says America hus not—an organized snciul world . " Mim , " he Mates emphatically , "hasnot yet taken root in America ; he is not incorporated with the soil ; the interests are persona ) , and not territorial . " The reverse of the'American order he would establish in Europe , and thus place France " at the h « ud of civilization . " In reprnrd to the office of Emperor , alao , an important distinction prevaile . Tuke it as we have translated it : — " Napoleon is the supreme chief of the State ; the elected of the

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    TTpHE dearth . of good lecturers is a ' remarkable fact , and one nofc A satisfactorily 'accounted' for on the principle cf- substitution by the comparative cheapntss of good boob . There , is something beyond the n ere . words-of a good ¦ lecturer whichms . kes oral teach ing effective , and Mnooths-. away .-the difficulties that attend the ' . reception of new and complicated ideas ; and when experimental science is the theme to be illustrated , there is a great deal ' suggested as well as learnt by witnessing- the demons ! rations of an able ¦ m . ai . iipiilator . There is another point of view in which first-class lectures are important They brii g before a number of persons later factsmid ideas-tban arerto-be-found in books .- A considerable pi > rt ion of this -work niijiht be done by meansof periodical litei at nre ; Jbut in ail tUe

    sciences of observation and experiment there are--things ' to be . seen ' ,. ' as well as to be talked of or . written about , and a public instiJution can obtain either the actual objects , or correct representation ? , to " an extent impossible to private " persons -, But notwithstandingthe permanent value of lectures , we have-scarcely halt a dozen firstrate lecturers ; the popular- demand running * strongly in favour of sr » mething that savours of bufToonery , rather than corresponds with the best forms that our literature assumes . Among the few who can lecture well , Faraday has long occupied a foremost place , and amonjr the greatest triumphs of teaching have bctn the scientific discourses annually delivered to juvenile audiences , of which the book before us contain * ' the latest and not least successful efforts .

    The greatest men have nearly always been remarkable for the preservation of a child-like nsiture , and Faraday bus shown in a remarkable degree how the sensitive , impressionable character of child-~ lTotRl ~ tiTe ^ l"Gve ~ 0 t ^^ tihle with a laborions precision of m \ estimation and the utmost accuracy of inductive thought . . If any one . hears our great . philosopher deliver a lecture , or reads a few pages of such a . work as the i . present , it will be . apparent that his moral- and emotional nature has been an important cause of the brilliant success that bus attended his scientific career . He cannot get so used to the world that its most ordinary phenomena cease to aii ' ect him . He h » s no capacity for b « 'ing " u « ed up , " and the comnionest incident strikes him with the freshness and vividness that a traveller experiences when a newocean or mountain chain is exhibited to his view . With Faraday

    there is no such thing as the connnou-pliice , for every incident suggests trains of thought and speculation that link effects with causes , and bind all nature together as a beautiful nnd harmonious whole . Wonder , if not the parent , is a near relative of investigation : linked with theologiuul or physical superstition , it is content with any marveilpus explanation without regard to its truth ; but when united to a clear , patient intelligence that him acquired the . habit of philosophic doubt , it is un invuluable incentive to scientific inquiry . Thome who do not love what Tennyson uptly calls the " Fairy Tales of Science , " will neither do for priests nor doorkeepers in Nature ' s Temple ; they have no acceptable sacrifice to offer , mid to them the orucle will rmike no response . Beasts , a » Sir Thomas Urown tells us , can " inhabit the eiirth , " but man lives in it when lie is filled with a " devout and learned aduiirution" of the wonders which it

    contains . Fnradiiy is remarkable for recalling his audience to those primitive feelings which the din and turmoil ol an industrial civilization are apt to overpower . " Lut un consider , " he exclaim * , " how wonderfully we stand upon this world . Here it is we are born , bred , and live ; and yet we view these things with tin utmost entire absence of wonder to ouraelvea respecting' t he way in whicli all this happens . So niuall , indeed , is our wonder , that we are never taken by Hurprise . " Few , indeed , have ever reflected thub the Himplo fact of standing upon the eurth is a marvellous thing ; and yet if we exiimine , we ttlmll perceive tbut rightly u ' nderHtunding it would go a great way to nuike all sciei > ce intelligible . How many forces or forms concur to thid result—gravitution , cuhenion , power of nerve und nnificle , not one of which do wo really underntand . Nothing * seems u > ore simple than pulling- a sheet of paper one way or pu » hing > it another by means of muscuhir force , but it is nevertholesH a

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    498 The Leader and Satvrday Analyst . [ May 26 , 1 S 60 p

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    * Siv I * Qtwrea on the Force * of Matter . W . Griffin aud Co .

    Faraday's Juvenile Lectures*

    FAEADAY'S JUVENILE LECTURES *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 26, 1860, page 498, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2349/page/14/