Paris’s Life of Sir Humphry Davy. 389 
P.S.— We think it but justice to inform our readers that the three 
wood-cuts which accompany the present article are miniature sketches, by 
Mr. Williams, from Mr. Strutt’s origmal etchings in the Delicie Sylvarum 
and Sylva Br itannica, These two artists work admirably well in couples ; ; 
an assertion in which, we think, we are borne out by an inspection of the 
vignettes themselves, as well as of similar specimens from the same source 
in former Numbers of the Magazine. To Mr. Strutt is due the merit of 
having made the sketches, and drawn them with pencil on the wood; and 
to Mr. Williams that of having most successfully executed the blocks so 
traced by his coadjutor. We avow ourselves great admirers of the xylogra- 
phic art; and among all its professors we know of few who equal, of none 
who surpass, Mr. Williams; for executing sylvan subjects he stands, we 
think, unrivalled in this department of the fine arts. — A. R. Y, 
Art. Il. Life of Sir Humphry Davy. By Dr. Paris. In the Annual 
Biography and Obituary for 1830. 
Tue lives of men of transcendent talents and genius, who have raised 
themselves from the humble walks of society to distinguished eminence, 
offer some of the most useful examples which biography can record, as they 
afford encouragement to intellectual exertion, when deprived of ‘the ad- 
ventitious aid of family consequence, and an expensive education. Any 
attempt to disguise the real circumstances under which the early lives of 
great men have often been passed, and to represent them as more dignified 
than they really were, may be compared to smearing a beautiful statue of 
Parian marble with paint, and clothing it in a court dress. 
We have been led into these remarks, by perusing the life of Sir Hum- 
phry Davy in the Annual Biography and Obituary for 1830. The writer of 
the article has given a very luminous and masterly sketch of Sir Humphrey 
Davy’s scientific discoveries ; but, not content with claiming respect for him 
as a philosopher, he would increase our veneration for him on account of 
the gentility of his family. ‘ The name of Davy,” he informs us, “ is of 
ancient respectability in the West of England; his father, Robert Davy, 
possessed a paternal estate opposite to St. Michael’s Mount, called Bartel, 
which, though small, was amply competent for the supply of his limited 
desires. It is, therefore, probable that his profession, which was that of a 
carver in wood, was pursued by him as an object rather of amusement than 
of necessity ; although, in the town and neighbourhood of Penzance, there 
are many specimens of his art; ; and, among others, several chimney-pieces 
curiously embellished by his chisel? Had the writer stated that Ro- 
bert Davy was an honest industrious man, the praise would have been 
better understood in Penzance, where, as we have been informed, he was 
best known by the title of “ Little Carver Davy;” and Sir Humphry, 
when young, was always spoken of in the place as “ Carver Davy’s boy ; ” 
and under this title, we believe, he was first introduced to Mr. Davies 
Giddy, now Gilbert, President of the Royal Society. Dr. Southey, in his 
life of Kirke White the poet, informs us that he was the son of a butcher 
at Nottingham. He might have added, with truth, that Mr. White, the 
butcher, was possessed of some landed property; but Dr. Southey had 
too much respect for the understanding of his readers to tell them, “ It 
is probable that Mr. White slaughtered oxen, calves, and sheep, rather for 
amusement than from necessity, though he constantly supplied many 
families in Nottingham and its vicinity with meat, and was particularly dis- 
tinguished for the excellence of his veal.” Some persons have such a fas- 
tidious taste, that they would have all eminent discoveries to be made by 
gentlemen, or men who have had a university education ; but the history of 
philosophy will inform us that four fifths of the most important advance- 
ments in science have been made by self-taught men, the children of parents 
