“The lecturer was careful to explain that means would have to be provided for regulating the current of electricity, so that the temperature of the wire should not vary, for if too little, the light would be dull, if too much, the wire would melt. I quite clearly remember that while I admired the ingenuity of the mechanism of Staite’s lighthouse lamp, I was not at all satisfied with the too elementary device he proposed for small electric lights. “As far as it is possible to ‘track suggestion to her inmost cell,’ the train of thought which led, long years after, to the evolution of my electric lamp had its beginning in seeing Mr. Staite’s very simple and very inefficient attempt to produce electric light _on a small scale_, for I then _saw_ how essential it was that _the unit of light must be small_ and the means of producing it _simple_ for electricity ever to become a widely used means of illumination. “That is my answer—a very restricted and imperfect answer—to your kindly intended question. “I have always felt indebted to Mr. Staite for the inspiration he gave me. Unfortunately he did not live to see any great development of electric lighting; he was distinctly an inventor in advance of his time. “It has always been a pleasure to me to think that Faraday had the joy of seeing ripen some of the first-fruit of his great work in his department of applied science. In his old age he had the gratification of seeing the North Foreland Lighthouse lighted by means of electricity generated in economical manner made possible by his magneto-electrical discoveries. Would that he might have seen their greater results that we see to-day! “Most sincerely yours, “JOSEPH SWAN.” At a charming dinner at Sir James Mackay’s,[7] I sat between Prince d’Arenberg, an old friend (who is best known publicly as the Chairman of the Suez Canal) and Lord Morley; both elderly gentlemen, both scholars, leaders of men, both small, concise, and full of strength. Not long afterwards, I heard Lord Morley lecture on English Language and Literature. He has a nervous manner, with thin, refined hands and fidgety ways. It was no doubt an ordeal to face such an enormous audience, but it was curious to see the nervousness of the accustomed speaker. He took out his watch, unthreaded the long chain from the buttonholes, and laid it on the table before him, drank three whole tumblers of water by way of a preliminary canter, stood up, received a perfect ovation, pulled at the lapels of his coat, and looked unhappy.