have never constructed a Voltaic battery of sufficient power," was the answer. "Then," exclaimed Bonaparte, "let one be instantly formed, without any regard to cost or labour."

The command of the Emperor was of course obeyed; and, on being informed that it was in full action, he repaired to the laboratory to witness its powers; on his alluding to the taste produced by the contact of two metals, with that rapidity which characterised all his motions, and before the attendants could interpose any precaution, he thrust the extreme wires of the battery under his tongue, and received a shock which nearly deprived him of sensation. After recovering from its effects, he quitted the laboratory without making any remark, and was never afterwards heard to refer to the subject.

It is only an act of justice to state that Davy, during his residence in the French capital, so far from truckling to French politics, never lost an opportunity of vindicating with temper the cause of his own country. At the Théâtre de la Porte Saint Martin, a melodrame was got up, with the avowed intention of exposing the English character to the execration of the audience. Lord Cornwallis was represented as the merciless assassin of the children of Tippoo Saib. Davy was highly incensed at the injustice of the representation, and abruptly quitted the theatre in a state of great indignation.

Whatever objections might have existed in his mind, as to his attending a levee of the Emperor, they did not operate in preventing his being presented to the Empress at Malmaison; but he could not be prevailed upon to appear upon that occasion, in any other than a morning dress; and it was not until after repeated entreaty, and the assurance that he would not be admitted into the Salle de reception, that he consented to exchange a pair of half-boots that laced in front, and came over the lower part of his pantaloons, for black silk stockings and shoes. His constant answer to the remonstrances of his friends was, "I shall go in the same dress to Malmaison as that in which I called upon the Prince Regent at Carlton House."

The introduction of Sir Humphry and Lady Davy to the Empress Josephine, took place at Malmaison on the 30th of November. The only English present were, the Earl of Beverley, a détenue; General Sir Edward Paget, a prisoner of war, taken in Spain, and Mr. Underwood; and it was the first levee at which any of our countrymen had been introduced, with the exception of Mr. Underwood, who had been frequently in the habit of paying his court to the Empress, and to whom, indeed, he was indebted for those indulgences which have been already mentioned.

The persons present having arranged themselves in a semicircle, the Empress entered the Salle de reception, and in her usual gracious manner addressed each individual. After this court ceremony, her Majesty retired, having previously signified to a select few, her desire that they should follow her into the private apartment.

In the Boudoir, the conversation became general, and turned upon certain works of art; and upon Lady Davy expressing, in very florid terms, her admiration of some beautifully embellished cups of Porcelain, which were stationed on the mantelpiece, her Majesty, with that good-nature which ever distinguished her, immediately presented her with a specimen.

The Empress then proposed that Lady Davy should on this occasion visit her conservatories, upon which it is well known she had lavished large sums, and was ambitious to be thought to possess all that was rare and curious. Lady Davy having expressed some apprehensions as to the coldness of the day, and appearing to be but thinly clad, one of the Dames du Palais was commanded to provide cloaks; and in a short time, Mr. Underwood says, a mountain of the most costly and magnificent furs, that probably ever appeared even in a Regal Palace, were displayed before her; the splendid trophies, we may conclude, of the Royal conciliation at Tilsit.

It was on the 13th of December 1813, that Davy was elected a corresponding member of the First Class of the Imperial Institute; there were forty-eight members present, and he had forty-seven votes: Guyton de Morveau being the only person who opposed his election.

Nothing ever exceeded the liberality and unaffected kindness and attention with which the savans of France had received and caressed the English philosopher. Their conduct was the triumph of Science over national animosity,—a homage to genius, alike honourable to those who bestowed, and to him who received it; and it would be an act of ingratitude, a violation of historical justice, on the part of the English biographer, did he omit to express the pride and admiration with which every philosopher in his country continues to regard it. It would have been fortunate for the cause of Science, and fortunate for the historian, could he have terminated the subject with these remarks; but the biographer has an act of justice to perform, which he must not suffer his friendship to evade, nor his partialities to compromise.[7]

It would be an act of literary dishonesty to assert that Sir H. Davy returned the kindness of the savans of France, in a manner which the friends of Science could have expected and desired. There was a flippancy in his manner, a superciliousness and hauteur in his deportment, which surprised as much as they offended. Whatever opinions he might have formed as to the talents of the leading chemists, it was weakness to betray, and arrogance to avow them.

He had, by a single blow, fatally mutilated the system which was the pride and glory of their nation: it was ungenerous to remind them of his triumph. It required but little tact to have reconciled the French philosophers to the revolution he had effected; but, unfortunately, that cannot be said of Davy, which was so wittily observed of Voltaire,—that if he trod upon the toes of their prejudices, he touched his hat at the same time: even the affair of Iodine, had it been skilfully managed, would never have left an angry feeling. It was not his success, but the manner in which he spoke of it, that rendered it so offensive. He should have acted according to the judicious advice given to a member of the clerical profession, upon his consulting a friend as to the propriety of continuing his field-sports, should he become a dignitary of the Church—"You may hunt, but you must not holla."

It may be supposed that the unguarded conduct of Davy reached the ear of the Emperor; for in a conversation with one of the leading members of the Institute, Napoleon took occasion to observe, that he understood the young English chemist held them all in low estimation.

Having thus candidly avowed the errors of Davy, I may be justified in claiming from the reader his confidence in the sincerity with which I shall attempt to palliate them. From my personal knowledge of his character, I am inclined to refer much of that unfortunate manner, which has been considered as the expression of a haughty consciousness of superiority, to the desire of concealing a mauvaise honte and gaucherie—an ungraceful timidity, which he could never conquer. The bashful man, if he possess strong passions, will frequently force himself into a state of effrontery, by a violence of effort which passes amongst ordinary observers for the sallies of pride, or the ebullitions of temper; whereas if, on the contrary, his temperament be cold and passionless, he