position of the reporter. Faraday then
expressed his desire to devote himself to the prosecution of chemical
studies, from which Sir Humphry at first endeavored to dissuade him:
but the young man persisting, he was at length taken into the Royal
Institution as an assistant; and eventually the mantle of the
brilliant apothecary's boy fell upon the worthy shoulders of the
equally brilliant bookbinder's apprentice.

The words which Davy entered in his notebook, when about twenty years
of age, working in Dr. Beddoes' laboratory at Bristol, were eminently
characteristic of him: "I have neither riches, nor power, nor birth
to recommend me; yet if I live I trust I shall not be of less service
to mankind and my friends, than if I had been born with all these
advantages." Davy possessed the capability, as Faraday did, of
devoting the whole power of his mind to the practical and
experimental investigation of a subject in all its bearings; and such
a mind will rarely fail, by dint of mere industry and patient
thinking, in producing results of the highest order. Coleridge said
of Davy: "There is an energy and elasticity in his mind, which
enables him to seize on and analyze all questions, pushing them to
their legitimate consequences. Every subject in Davy's mind has the
principle of vitality. Living thoughts spring up like turf under his
feet." Davy, on his part said of Coleridge, whose abilities he
greatly admired: "With the most exalted genius, enlarged views,
sensitive heart, and enlightened mind, he will be the victim of a
want of order, precision, and regularity."

It is not accident, then, that helps a man in the world so much as
purpose and persistent industry. To the feeble, the sluggish and
purposeless, the happiest accidents will avail nothing--they pass
them by, seeing no meaning in them. But it is astonishing how much
can be accomplished if we are prompt to seize and improve the
opportunities for action and effort which are constantly presenting
themselves. Watt taught himself chemistry and mechanics while working
at his trade of a mathematical instrument maker, at the same time
that he was learning German from a Swiss dyer. Stephenson taught
himself arithmetic and mensuration while working as an engine-man,
during the night shifts; and when he could snatch a few moments in
the intervals allowed for meals during the day, he worked his sums
with a bit of chalk upon the sides of the colliery wagons. Dalton's
industry