In the bustling activity occasioned in cities by the action and re-action of diversified talents, occupations, and passions, our existence is, as it were, broken into fragments, and with you I have always wished for unbroken intercourse and continuous feeling.
Be not alarmed, my dear friend, as to the effect of worldly society on my mind. The age of danger has passed away. There are in the intellectual being of all men, permanent elements, certain habits and passions that cannot change. I am a lover of Nature, with an ungratified imagination. I shall continue to search for untasted charms,—for hidden beauties.
My real, my waking existence is amongst the objects of scientific research: common amusements and enjoyments are necessary to me only as dreams, to interrupt the flow of thoughts too nearly analogous to enlighten and to vivify.
Coleridge has left London for Keswick; during his stay in town, I saw him seldomer than usual; when I did see him, it was generally in the midst of large companies, where he is the image of power and activity. His eloquence is unimpaired; perhaps it is softer and stronger. His will is probably less than ever commensurate with his ability. Brilliant images of greatness float upon his mind: like the images of the morning clouds upon the waters, their forms are changed by the motion of the waves, they are agitated by every breeze, and modified by every sunbeam. He talked in the course of one hour, of beginning three works, and he recited the poem of Christobel unfinished, and as I had before heard it. What talent does he not waste in forming visions, sublime, but unconnected with the real world! I have looked to his efforts, as to the efforts of a creating being; but as yet, he has not even laid the foundation for the new world of intellectual forms.
When my Agricultural Lectures are finished, I propose to visit Paris, and perhaps Geneva. How I regret that circumstances had not enabled us to make the same tour at the same time! I think, at all events, I shall see you before the Autumn, on your own lands, amidst your own images and creations.
Your affectionate friend,
Humphry Davy.
TO THE SAME.
Royal Institution.