The following minutes from the Proceedings of the Society serve to explain this:—
“May 3, 1810. Resolved—That it is the wish of the Society to communicate to the Irish public in the most extended manner (consistent with the engagements of the Society), the knowledge of a science so intimately connected with the improvement of agriculture and the arts, which is their great object to promote; and that, with this view, it appears to them extremely desirable to obtain the fullest communication of the recent discoveries in electro-chemical science which have been made by Mr. Davy.
“Resolved—That application be made to the Royal Society requesting that they be pleased to dispense with the engagements of Mr. Davy [as Secretary], so far as to allow the Dublin Society to solicit the favour of his delivering a course of electro-chemical lectures in their new laboratory, as soon as may be convenient after the present course of chemical lectures shall have been completed by their professor, Mr. Higgins.
“Resolved—That the sum of 400 guineas be appropriated out of the funds of the Society, to be presented to Mr. Davy, as a remuneration, which they propose him to accept, and as a mark of the importance they attach to the communication they solicit.”
We further read: “Mr. Davy arrived in Dublin and delivered his course of lectures to a crowded auditory.” At the close of his lectures the following resolution was passed:—
“November 29th, 1810. Resolved—That the thanks of the Society be communicated to Mr. Professor Davy, for the excellent course of lectures which, at their request, he has delivered in their new laboratory; and to assure him, that the views which led the Society to seek for these communications have been answered even beyond their hopes; that the manner in which he has unfolded his discoveries has not only imparted new and valuable information, but, further, appears to have given a direction of the public mind towards chemical and philosophical inquiries, which cannot fail in its consequences to produce the improvement of the sciences, arts, and manufactures in Ireland. That Mr. Davy be requested to accept the sum of five hundred guineas from the Society.”
From Mr. Hare’s “Life and Letters of Maria Edgeworth” we gain some further information of the manner in which these lectures were received. In a letter to her cousin, Miss Ruxton, Miss Edgeworth writes:
“We are to set out for Dublin on the 13th [November] to hear Davy’s lectures.”
Mrs. Edgeworth adds:
“We spent a few weeks in Dublin. Davy’s lectures not only opened a new world of knowledge to ourselves and to our young people, but were especially gratifying to Mr. Edgeworth and Maria, confirming, by the eloquence, ingenuity, and philosophy which they displayed, the high idea which they had so early formed of Mr. Davy’s powers.”
Additional evidence of his success is seen in the circumstance that the Society decided to repeat their invitation:
“June 13th, 1811. Resolved—That a letter be written to Mr. Professor Davy requesting him to favour the Dublin Society and the Irish public with a further communication of the recent discoveries in chemical philosophy, and to deliver a course of lectures in their laboratory for that purpose, in the months of November and December next; and requesting that he will also repeat to them, at the same time, the course of lectures in geological science which he has read this year to the Royal Institution; and that he will be so good as to procure for the Society copies of as many of the geological sketches referred to in that course as he may think necessary for the elucidation of the subject; and further requesting him to superintend the construction of a voltaic battery of large plates, for the use of the Society, to be transmitted to them in time for these lectures.”