Estimate  of  his  character. 
23 
“ the  angler  seems  to  contemplate  nature  with  the  eye  at  once 
of  a poet  and  a philosopher.”  ^ 
The  testimonies  to  the  beauty  of  Davy’s  character  are 
numerous,  and,  written  as  they  are  by  lifelong  friends,  they 
carry  great  weight.  Southey  called  Davy  “ an  irreplaceable 
companion”  ; and  Thomas  Poole  wrote  to  Dr.  Davy:  “Although 
the  most  friendly  intercourse  existed  between  us  for  thirty 
years,  and  occasionally  correspondence  by  letters,  I fear  I have 
little  else  to  communicate  than  to  bear  testimony  to  his  general 
intellectual  elevation,  and  to  the  warmth,  sincerity,  and  sim- 
plicity of  his  heart.  . . . Neither  the  importance  of  his 
discoveries,  nor  the  attentions  of  the  exalted  in  rank  and 
science,  whether  as  individuals  or  public  bodies,  nor  the 
honour  conferred  on  him  by  his  sovereign,  made  the  least 
alteration  in  his  demeanour  or  in  the  tone  of  his  correspon- 
dence. No  man  was  ever  less  spoiled  by  the  world.  The 
truth  is,  though  he  conformed  to  the  world  and  ])aid  due 
deference  to  those  men  and  things  which  are  deferred  to  by 
the  world,  his  delight  was  in  his  intellectual  being.” 
W ordsworth  said  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  express  the 
feelings  with  which  he,  who  so  often  had  climbed  Helvellyn 
alone,  found  himself  standing  on  its  summit  with  two  such  men 
as  Scott  and  Davy.  The  intimate  friendshi])  of  Coleridge  and 
Davy  is  well  known.  Those  strangers  who  came  in  contact 
with  him  were  struck  by  his  unaffected  charm  ; and  so  natural 
was  he  in  his  manners  that  often  they  were  quite  unaware  that 
they  were  in  the  presence  of  a man  of  world-wide  fame. 
Those  who  met  him  as  anglers  were  surprised  to  learn  after- 
wards that  they  had  been  on  such  intimate  terms  with  the 
President  of  the  Royal  Society.  Mr.  Samuel  Purkis,  who 
made  a tour  through  Wales  with  Davy  in  1802,  gave  to 
Dr.  Paris  an  amusing  account  of  their  meeting  with  an 
agreeable  stranger  at  the  little  inn  at  Tan-y-Bwlch  : — 
“ Davy’s  youth,  simplicity  of  manner,  and  cautious  con- 
cealment of  superior  knowledge,  not  exciting  constraint,  our 
‘ The  writer  has  had  the  privilege  of  consulting  an  interesting  collection 
of  four  small  volumes  of  Davy’s  MS.  note  book.s,  dated  respectively  1804,  1827, 
1828,  and  1829,  in  the  possession  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Arthur  Gilbey,  who  kindly 
lent  them  to  him.  The  volume  for  1804  contains  jottings  of  thoughts  as  they 
occurred  to  Davy,  hints  for  poems,  &c.,  and  these  have  evidently  been  used  by 
Dr.  Davy,  as  he  prints  some  of  the  aphorisms  in  his  Life.  The  volume  for 
1827  contains  a Fishing  Journal,  and  Hints  and  Experiments  in  Physical 
Science  ; that  for  1828,  Notes  on  the  Torpetlo,  &c.,  A<lditions  to  the  Second 
Edition  of  Salmonia,  written  in  Southern  Austria  ; and  that  for  1829,  Further 
Notes  for  Salmonia,  written  in  Rome. 
