With regard to the introduction of a figurative and ornamental style into memoirs purely scientific, no one could entertain a more decided objection; and in his "Last Days," he warns us against the practice.
"In detailing the results of experiments, and in giving them to the world, the chemical philosopher should adopt the simplest style and manner; he will avoid all ornaments, as something injurious to his subject, and should bear in mind the saying of the first king of Great Britain, respecting a sermon which was excellent in doctrine, but overcharged with poetical allusions and figurative language,—"that the tropes and metaphors of the speaker were like the brilliant wild flowers in a field of corn, very pretty, but which did very much hurt the corn."
CHAPTER IV.
Davy makes a tour with Mr. Purkis, through Wales.—Beautiful phenomenon observed from the summit of Arran Benllyn.—Letter to Mr. Gilbert.—Journal of the Institution.—Davy's papers on Eudiometry, and other subjects.—His first communication to the Royal Society, on a new galvanic pile.—He is proposed as a Fellow, and elected into the Society.—His paper on astringent vegetable substances, and on their operation in tanning leather.—His letter to Mr. Poole.—He is appointed Chemical Lecturer to the Board of Agriculture.—He forms friendships with the Duke of Bedford, Mr. Coke, and many other celebrated agriculturists.—Attends the sheep-shearing at Holkham and Woburn.—Composes a Prologue to the "Honey-Moon."
After the fatigues and anxieties of his first session, Davy sought relaxation and repose amidst the magnificent scenery of Wales. The following letter will serve more fully to exhibit the enthusiasm he experienced in contemplating Nature in her wild and simplest forms.
TO SAMUEL PURKIS, ESQ.
Matlock, August 15, 1802.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Had I been alone, and perfectly independent as to my plans, I should probably have written to you long ago. I should have begged you to hasten your departure, so that we might have rejoiced together in Wales, under the influence of that moon which is now full in all its glory; for Derbyshire, taken as a whole, has not pleased me. A few beautiful valleys, placed at the distance of many miles from each other, do not compensate for the almost uniform wildness and brown barrenness of the hills and plains; and in the watering places, there is little amongst the living beings to awaken deep moral feelings, or to call the nobler powers of the mind, which act in consequence of sympathy, into existence.