16 
Sir  Humphri/  Davy,  Bart.,  P.R.S. 
expressive  of  his  own  sentiments  in  relation  to  the  benefit 
conferred  upon  the  whole  world  by  this  discovery. 
Before  the  presentation  from  the  coal  owners,  the  following 
address  was  })resented  to  Davy  from  the  Whitehaven  colliers  : — 
“ September  18,  1816. 
“ W e,  the  undersigned  miners  at  the  Whitehaven  Collieries, 
belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  return  our  sincere  thanks 
to  Sir  Humphry  Davy  for  his  invaluable  discovery  of  the  .safe 
lamps,  which  are  to  us  life  preservers  ; and.  being  the  only 
return  in  our  power  to  make,  we  most  humbly  offer  this,  our 
tribute  of  gratitude.” 
The  names  of  eighty-two  miners  are  appended,  the  majority 
of  them,  viz.,  forty-seven,  with  their  mark  affixed.’ 
Davy  expressed  to  his  brother  his  intense  feeling  of  pleasure 
on  receiving  this.  “ I was  never  more  affected  than  by  a 
written  address  which  f received  from  the  working  colliers 
when  I was  in  the  North,  thanking  me  on  behalf  of  themselves 
and  their  families  for  the  j)reservation  of  their  lives.” 
The  service  of  plate  was  bequeathed  by  Davy  to  the  Royal 
Society  after  the  death  of  his  widow  and  brother,  so  that  the 
proceeds  of  its  sale  should  be  used  for  the  foundation  of  a 
medal.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Davy  (1868)  it  was  forwarded 
to  London  and  melted  down  at  the  Mint.®  The  Davy  IMedal, 
now  awarded  annually,  was  given  for  the  first  time  in  1877. 
An  unfortunate  discussion  arose  over  the  respective  merits 
of  Davy  and  the  subsequently  famous  George  Stephenson,  and 
Davy’s  enemies  took  the  o[)portunity  of  traducing  his  character. 
These  attacks  for  a time  embittered  Davy’s  life  and  greatly 
exas[)erated  him,  but  the  highest  authorities  of  the  kingdom 
fully  justified  him.  Dr.  Thorpe  remarks  that  “it  becomes 
necessary  to  examine  the  grounds  upon  which  George  Stephen- 
son— a man  of  undoubted  genius,  and  of  an  integrity  as 
blameless  as  that  of  Davy,  and  who,  as  the  pioneer  of  railway 
enterprise,  subsequently  acquired  a fame  as  high  and  as 
deserved  as  that  of  the  great  chemist — has  claims  to  be 
regarded  as  an  inventor  of  the  safety-lamp.”  He  adds  that 
“ an  unbiassed  review  of  the  evidence  will  convince  most 
people  that,  however  certain  it  may  be  that  the  Killingworth 
* Thorpe’s  Ilimphry  Danj,  page  203. 
^ Davy’s  Life,  page  464. 
“ Tlie  writer  of  this  article  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  record  that  when 
the  service  of  plate  came  to  London  it  was  his  duty,  as  an  officer  of  the  Royal 
Society,  to  take  it  to  the  Mint  and  receive  the  official  acknowleilgment. 
