THE GREAT LONDON CHEMISTS 47 



revealed by his notebooks have not much to recommend 

 them. He allowed his imagination, of which he possessed 

 a rich share, full scope in other directions. Many of his 

 imaginative projects were, however, not realised. Among 

 them may be mentioned an epic poem, in six books, 

 entitled The Epic of Moses, written, what there is of it, in 

 decasyllabics. He possessed a deeply religious nature; 

 and he regarded ' this little earth as but the point from 

 which we start towards a perfection bounded only by 

 infinity.' 



In 1801 Davy was recommended by Professor Hope of 

 Edinburgh for the lectureship at the Royal Institution, 

 which had been founded a few years previously by Count 

 Rurnford, on the resignation of Dr. Garnet, the first 

 Professor of Chemistry there. He delivered his first 

 lecture in April 1801, and he at once achieved a great 

 success. To quote from an account by a contemporary 

 witness : ' The sensation created by his first course of 

 lectures at the institution, and the enthusiastic admira- 

 tion which they obtained, is at this period hardly to be 

 imagined. Men of the first rank and talent the literary 

 and the scientific, the practical and the theoretical blue- 

 stockings and women of fashion, the old and the young, all 

 crowded, eagerly crowded, the lecture-room. His youth, his 

 simplicity, his natural eloquence, his chemical knowledge, 

 his happy illustrations and well-conducted experiments, ex- 

 cited universal attention and unbounded applause. Com- 

 pliments, invitations, and presents were showered on him in 

 abundance from all quarters ; his society was courted by 

 all, and all appeared proud of his acquaintance.' With 

 all these temptations to neglect his work, he remained 

 faithful to his charge. In 1803 he wrote : ' My real, my 

 waking existence is among the objects of scientific 

 research. Common amusements and enjoyments are 

 necessary to me only as dreams to interrupt the flow of 



