Pa7is's Life of Sh 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 original etchings in the DelicicB Sylvdrum 

 and Sylva Britdnnica, 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. II. Life of Sir Humphry Davy, By Dr. Paris. In the Annual 

 Biography and Obituary for 1830. 



The 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 



