He became scientific adviser to the government in regard to the erection of lighthouses and buoys around the dangerous coast of Great Britain, and his brilliant lectures on this subject drew great crowds to hear him, among them, Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, and their children. He published a book entitled “Experimental Researches in Electricity,” which established his reputation as one of the greatest scientists of the world. Concerning this book the famous statesman, William E. Gladstone, wrote: “It is one of the most marvellous monuments of intellectual work; one of the rarest treasure-houses of newly-discovered knowledge, with which the world has ever been enriched.” By this time Michael’s mother was an old woman, but she was supremely happy to know that Michael was so much thought of and had become so clever. She used to call him “My Michael,” and she so idolised him that Michael, who was now married, said to his wife one day, “Please do not tell my mother of any honours conferred upon me, because it is not good for her.” However, no doubt, in his heart, Michael was glad that he had lived to make his hard-working mother comfortable. Honours followed in quick succession. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, a degree conferred only upon very distinguished men; the Cambridge Philosophical Society, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of British Architects and several leading associations of Scotland made him an honorary member. In addition to this he received signal honours from similar associations in St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Stockholm, Lisbon, Frankfort, Boston, Philadelphia and many other places. His important discoveries set many other men thinking, and it is safe to say that scores of inventions by other men were due in the first place to Michael Faraday’s discoveries. The British government conferred upon him a pension of three hundred pounds a year for life, which, while it was not large, relieved him from anxiety over money matters. To the end of his life he lived very simply. He was a man of deep religious character and very often preached on the Sabbath with quite as much enthusiasm as he taught science during the week. From being a bookbinder’s errand boy with little or no education, he rose to be one of the greatest and most honoured men of his time. CHAPTER IX THE NEWSBOY WHO BECAME A GREAT INVENTOR One day a boy sat at his desk in an Ohio schoolhouse, trying hard, but not very successfully, to master his lessons. The boy was Thomas Alva Edison and from birth he had been in delicate health. He did not get on very well at school. He was generally at the foot of the class, and one day, when the inspector was present, he heard the teacher say that “Al” as he was generally called, was “addled,” and that it almost seemed a waste of time for his parents to keep him at school.