Chapter 9.

Rest needed--visit to Switzerland.

The last of these memoirs was dated from the Royal Institution in
June, 1838. It concludes the first volume of his 'Experimental
Researches on Electricity.' In 1840, as already stated, he made his
final assault on the Contact Theory, from which it never recovered.[1]
He was now feeling the effects of the mental strain to which he had
been subjected for so many years. During these years he repeatedly
broke down. His wife alone witnessed the extent of his prostration,
and to her loving care we, and the world, are indebted for the
enjoyment of his presence here so long. He found occasional relief
in a theatre. He frequently quitted London and went to Brighton and
elsewhere, always choosing a situation which commanded a view of the
sea, or of some other pleasant horizon, where he could sit and gaze
and feel the gradual revival of the faith that

'Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her.'

But very often for some days after his removal to the country, he
would be unable to do more than sit at a window and look out upon
the sea and sky.

In 1841, his state became more serious than it had ever been before.
A published letter to Mr. Richard Taylor, dated March 11, 1843,
contains an allusion to his previous condition. 'You are aware,'
he says, 'that considerations regarding health have prevented me