Page:On the various forces of nature and their relations to each other.djvu/17

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THE

VARIOUS FORCES OF NATURE.



LECTURE I.

THE FORCE OF GRAVITATION.

It grieves me much to think that I may have been a cause of disturbance in your Christmas arrangements[1], for nothing is more satisfactory to my mind than to perform what I undertake; but such things are not always left in our own power, and we must submit to circumstances as they are appointed. I will to-day do my best, and will ask you to bear with me if I am unable to give more than a few words; and as a substitute, I will endeavour to make the illustrations of the sense I try to express as full as possible; and if we find by the end of this lecture that we may be justified in continuing them, thinking that next week our power shall be greater,—why, then,

  1. The opening lecture was twice postponed on account of Dr. Faraday's illness.