The following letter was the last my mother received from Faraday:—
FROM PROFESSOR FARADAY TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
Royal Institution, 17th January, 1859.
So you have remembered me again, and I have the delight of receiving from you a new copy of that work which has so often instructed me; and I may well say, cheered me in my simple homely course through life in this house. It was most kind to think of me; but ah! how sweet it is to believe that I have your approval in matters where kindness would be nothing, where judgment alone must rule. I almost doubt myself when I think I have your approbation, to some degree at least, in what I may have thought or said about gravitation, the forces of nature, their conservation, &c. As it is, I cannot go back from these thoughts; on the contrary, I feel encouraged to go on by way of experiment, but am not so able as I was formerly; for when I try to hold the necessary group of thoughts in mind at one time, with the judgment suspended on almost all of them, then my head becomes giddy, and I am obliged to lay all aside for a while. I am trying for time in magnetic action, and do not despair of reaching it, even though it may be only that of light. Nous verrons.
I have been putting into one volume various papers of mine on experimental branches in chemistry and physics. The index and title-page has gone to the printer, and I expect soon to receive copies from him. I shall ask Mr. Murray to help me in sending one to you which I hope you will honour by acceptance. There is nothing new in it, except a few additional pages about "regelation," and also "gravity." It is useful to get one's scattered papers together with an index, and society seems to like the collection sufficiently to pay the expenses.... Pray remember me most kindly to all with whom I may take that privilege, and believe me to be most truly,
Your admirer and faithful servant,
M. Faraday.
My mother wrote of this letter:—
Florence, 8th February, 1859.
... I have had the most charming and gratifying letter from Faraday; I cannot tell you how I value such a mark of approbation and friendship from the greatest experimental philosopher and discoverer next to Newton.