Page images
PDF
EPUB

does not dislike this method of publishing his experiments, I would gladly place them at the head of my first volume, but I wish not that he should make any sacrifice of judgment or inclination."

It remains only to be stated, that Mr. Gilbert kindly undertook the negotiation, and completed it to the satisfaction of all the principal parties. Mrs. Davy yielded to her son's wishes, and Mr. Borlase very generously surrendered his indenture, with an endorsement to the following effect,-that he freely gave up the indenture, on account of the singularly promising talents which Mr. Davy had displayed.

His old and valued friend Mr. Tonkin, however, not only expressed his disapprobation of this scheme, but was so vexed and irritated at having his favourite plan of fixing Davy in his native town as a Surgeon, thus thwarted, that he actually altered his will, and revoked the legacy of his house which he had previously bequeathed him. Mr. Tonkin died on the 24th of December 1801; so that, although he lived long enough to witness Davy's appointment to the Royal Institution, he could never have anticipated the elevation to which his genius and talents ultimately raised him.

On the 2nd of October, in the year 1798, Davy quitted Penzance, before he had attained his twentieth year. Mr. Gilbert well remembers meeting him upon his journey to Bristol, and breakfasting with him at Okehampton, on the 4th of October. He was in the highest spirits, and in that frame of mind in which a man of ardent imagination identifies every successful occurrence with his own fortunes; his exhilaration, therefore, was not a little heightened by the arrival of the mail-coach from London, covered with laurels and ribbons, and bringing the news, so cheering to every English heart, of NELSON's glorious victory of the NILE.

CHAPTER II.

Cursory thoughts on the advantages of Biography.-Plan and objects of the Pneumatic Institution. -Davy contracts friendships during his residence at Bristol.-His first visit to London.-His Letters to Mr. Davies Gilbert.-The publication of the West Country Contributions, by Dr. Beddoes. Davy's Essays on Heat, Light, and Respiration.-His interesting experiments on bonnet canes. He commences an enquiry into the nature of nitrous oxyd.-He publishes his chemical researches.-A critical examination of the work.-Testimony of Tobin, Clayfield, Southey, and others, respecting the powers of nitrous oxyd.-Davy breathes carburetted hydrogen gas, and nearly perishes from its effects.-His new Galvanic experiments communicated in a Letter to Mr. Gilbert.

HAVING concluded the early history of the subject of these memoirs, and conducted it to that memorable day on which he left his native town, and bursting from obscurity, prepared to enter upon a wider field of usefulness and honour, I shall accompany him in his progress; and with the honest desire of affording instruction as well as amusement, for history is useful only as it holds up the mirror of Truth,-I shall continue to point out the various circumstances that may have contributed to his success and scientific renown; and to offer such occasional reflections as may be likely to illustrate not only the superficial peculiarities which constitute the light and shade of character, but those deeper varieties of mind, upon which the superiority of intellect may be supposed to depend.

After all, the great end of biography is not to be found, as some would seem to imagine, in a series of dates, or in a collection of gossiping anecdotes and table-talk, which, instead of lighting up and vivifying the features, hang as a cloud of dust upon the portrait; but it is to be found in an analysis of human genius, and in the developement of those elements of the mind, to whose varied combinations, and nicely adjusted proportions, the mental habits, and intellectual peculiarities of distinguished men may be readily referred.

It has been stated that an arrangement had been concluded between Dr. Beddoes and Davy: it is but an act of justice to say, that it was of a liberal and honourable description; and let me also add, in this place, that no sooner had Davy found himself in a situation which secured for him the necessaries of life, than he renounced all claims upon his paternal property, in favour of his mother and sisters.

By acceding to the proposal of Dr. Beddoes, Davy never intended to abandon the profession in which he had embarked; on the contrary, he persevered in his determination to study and graduate at Edinburgh, and his patron promised that every opportunity should be afforded him at Bristol, for seeing medical practice: this part of the arrangement, however, was voluntarily abandoned by him, for he soon became so absorbed by the labours of the laboratory, as to leave little leisure for the clinical studies of the hospital.

The Pneumatic Institution was established for the purpose of investigating the medical powers of factitious airs or gases; and to Davy was assigned the office of superintending the various experiments.

any

It is now generally acknowledged, that the Art of Physic has not derived direct advantage from the application of a class of agents which, undoubtedly, held forth the fairest promise of benefit; but it is too frequently the case, that in physic, theory and experience are in open hostilities with each other. The gases are now never employed in the treatment of disease, except by a few crafty or ignorant empirics, whose business it is to enrich themselves by playing on the credulity of mankind: indeed, we may say of popular remedies in general what M. de Lagrange has so wittily said of popular prejudices, that they are the cast-off clothes of philosophers, in which the rabble dress themselves.

The investigation, however, into the nature and composition of the gases paved the way to some new and important discoveries in science; so that, to borrow a Baconian metaphor, although our philosophers failed in obtaining the treasure for which they so eagerly dug, they at least, by turning up and pulverizing the soil, rendered it fertile. The ingenuity of the chemist will for ever remain on record; the phantoms of the physicians have vanished into air. Davy was now constantly engaged in the prosecution of new experiments, in the conception of which, as he himself informs us, he was greatly aided by the conversation and advice of Dr. Beddoes. He was also occasionally assisted by Mr. William Clayfield, a gentleman ardently attached to chemical pursuits, and whose name is not unknown in the annals of science; indeed, it

G

appears that to him he was indebted for the invention of a mercurial airholder, by which he was enabled to collect and measure the various gases submitted to examination. He had also the advantages of some society of a highly intellectual cast: it is sufficient to mention the names of Edgeworth and James Tobin.

In reply to a letter of enquiry which was lately addressed to her, Miss Edgeworth observes, that "her father possessed much influence over Davy's mind;" and that "when he was a very young man at Clifton, unknown to fame, Mr. Edgeworth early distinguished and warmly admired his talents, and gave him much counsel, which sunk deep into his mind."

The present Lord Durham and his brother were also resident in the house of Dr. Beddoes, not only for their education, but for the benefit of his professional superintendence. Besides those who were residing at Clifton, the most distinguished in the circles of science and literature paid passing visits to Dr. Beddoes; with many of whom Davy contracted an acquaintance, with some an intimacy, and with a few a solid and permanent friendship. In examining the individuals composing this latter class, we find them differing so widely from each other in character and pursuit, that we are led to enquire upon what principles of affinity his regards could possibly have been attracted -the truth is, that there was more than one avenue to his heart; and the philosopher, the poet, the physician, the philanthropist, and the sportsman, found each, upon different terms, a more or less ready access to its recesses. The chemist who would aspire to his favour, could alone obtain it by laborious application and novel research; the philanthropist, by the practicability of his schemes for improving society, and increasing the sum of its happiness; but the fisherman instantly caught his affections by a hook and line. To be a flyfisher was, in his opinion, to possess the capabilities of intellectual distinction, although circumstances might not have conspired to call them into action; whilst a proficiency in this art, when exhibited by an individual otherwise distinguished, gave him an additional claim to his attention and regard. The stern courage of Nelson, tempered as it was with all the kindly feelings of humanity, was sufficient to excite in the breast of Davy the most enthusiastic admiration; but the circumstance of his having been a fly-fisher, and continued the sport, even with his left hand, threw, in his opinion, a still brighter halo around his character.

No one who knew him can accuse him of inconstancy in his friendships: amidst the excitements of his station, and the abstractions incident to his pur

suits, he might not always have shown those little attentions which are received by the world as the indications of personal regard; but his heart beat not less warmly on that account: when the flame of affection had been once kindled, it burnt with a pure and steady light through life. This will be readily seen in the letters addressed to his several early friends, more especially to Mr. Poole of Nether Stowey, in Somersetshire, and to Mr. Clayfield of Bristol, from which I shall have occasion to present some interesting extracts.

Those who had become acquainted with Davy in early life, and were enabled to watch the whole progress of his career from obscurity to the highest pinnacle of fame, have declared that his extraordinary talents never at any period excited greater astonishment and admiration than during his short residence at Bristol. His simplicity of mind and manner was also at this time truly delightful. He scarcely knew the names of our best authors, and had much less read any of their works; and yet upon topics of moral philosophy and metaphysics he would enter into discussion with acknowledged scholars, and not only delight them with the native energy of his mind, but instruct them by the novelty and truth of his conceptions. Mr. Coleridge lately expressed to me the astonishment he felt, very shortly after his introduction to him, on hearing him maintain an argument upon some abstruse subject with a gentleman equally distinguished for the extent of his erudition, and for the talent of rendering it available for illustration;-the contrast was most striking-it was the fresh and native wild flower, opposed to the elaborate exotic of the Hortus Siccus!

During this period, he occasionally visited his friend Mr. Gregory Watt, at Birmingham; at which place his ambition was constantly excited by intercourse with congenial minds; and his letters to his mother and relations represent him as rejoicing in the success of his experiments, and as delighting in his association with kindred genius; but always casting a longing, lingering thought on the scenes of his boyhood, he spoke with joyful anticipation of the period at which he proposed to revisit his mother and family.

That he still continued to regard the practice of physic as the great end and object of all his pursuits, is evident from one of these letters, written in 1799, in which he says, "Philosophy, Chemistry, and Medicine, are my profession."

On the 1st of December 1799 he visited London for the first time, and remained about a fortnight; the friends with whom he associated upon this occasion were Coleridge, Southey, Gregory Watt, Underwood, James and

« PreviousContinue »