Faraday to George Herbert   20 August 1859

[Royal Institution embossed letterhead] | Royal Institution | 20 Aug 1859

My dear Sir

You will see at the close of a letter of mine to Mr Berthon date of 20 Aug 1858¹ that I think it is the Inventor that should say what he can or wants to do and that he should of himself work out all the data which he or the subject may require before he asks the Trinity house for a trial. It is not the place of the Trinity house to develop the propositions that come before it but to examine, check & criticize them. I have said this fully in my letter of the dates of 21 July² and 20 Aug 1858 to Mr Berthon - and mine of 16 Aug 1858 to Major Fitzmaurice³. I have seen the light at Major Fitzmaurices own house under I presume every advantage and seeing it again in the same way would give me no further information. In the letter already referred to I have said “that the proof (required by the TH) must in its nature be complete; the mere exhibition of the light in a parabolic reflector is in my eyes of no lighthouse value”[.]

Major Fitzmaurice in a letter of the 12 Aug 1858. to the Trinity house (of which I have no copy) says that his lights can be practically applied as central lights for dioptric arrangements[.] I said in my letter of the 20 Aug to the TH that this is the proper form for comparison with the Fresnel lamp &c[.] Such a trial must be made, before any useful opinion could be formed & it could only be made properly at such a place as the Upper South Foreland lighthouse where the light could be compared at sea with the lower light house as a Standard - could be carried on for a few months - and finally where the real liabilities & experiences of the plan could be ascertained and not left as they now are matters of mere expectation or supposition[.]

It seems to me as if the enquiries I made in former letters for data &c have been forgotten for I have never obtained the data[.] It is a weariness to look back for M.S. letters so if they should require to be referred to again & again I think I would ask that they should be set up in print and a score or two of copies struck off.

The season is just over & I am going off to Scotland next week for a month or so during which time I am sure the Deputy Master⁴ & Brethren will excuse my absence[.]

Ever My dear Sir | Very Truly Yours | M. Faraday

Geo. Herbert Esqr | &c &c &c