At a General Meeting, summoned for the purpose of taking into consideration some mode by which his fellow-townsmen might express their sense of his transcendent talents, and of the lustre which his genius had cast upon the place of his nativity:--It was unanimously RESOLVED--
"That a public dinner be given to Sir Humphry Davy, and that the Mayor be desired to wait upon him forthwith, in order to communicate the Resolution, and respectfully to request that he would appoint the day, on which it would be agreeable to him to meet their wishes."
On the day appointed, a deputation of Gentlemen proceeded in their carriages to the house of his mother, for the purpose of conducting him to the hotel, where an appropriate entertainment had been provided for the occasion.
The following letter evinces the sincere satisfaction which this visit afforded him.
An uncontrollable necessity has brought me here. Close to the Land's-end I am enjoying the majestic in nature, and living over again the days of my infancy and early youth.
The living beings that act upon me are interesting subjects for contemplation. Civilization has not yet destroyed in their minds the semblance of the great Parent of good.
Nature has done much for the inhabitants of Mount's Bay, by presenting to their senses all things that can awaken in the mind the emotions of greatness and sublimity. She has placed them far from cities, and given them forms of visible and audible beauty.
I am now reviving old associations, and endeavouring to attach old feelings to a few simple objects.
Although the letter which follows is without date, I am unwilling to withhold it.
I have been for some weeks absent from London, and have only just received your letter. When I return in the winter, I shall be glad to see Mr. A.--I regret that your niece is so much indisposed. Lady Davy has been obliged to change her climate in consequence of a long-continued cough, but I am happy in being able to say she is now quite well.
After the fatigues of a long season in London, I am now enjoying the Highland scenery and sports with a purer pleasure, and I find, after the Alps and Pyrenees, even the mountains of Scotland possessing some peculiar beauties. You ought to come and see this country, which you would enjoy, both as a lover of nature and of man. The one is grand and beautiful; the other, moral, active, and independent.