Note 2 — Chapter I · THE WIDOWED AND THE FATHERLESS.

Mr. Tonkin (says Dr. John Davy, in his Memoirs of the Life of his brother) “will long be remembered in Penzance, both for excellences and peculiarities. The latter marked him as a person of the gone-by time, and attracted the notice even of the careless observer. He held in aversion modern changes of fashion, and in his old age wore the dress of his youth—the cocked hat, large powdered wig, hand-ruffles, upright collar; in brief, the professional dress of the beginning of the last century—and his manly form and countenance suited well with this venerable costume.” Dr. Davy says, moreover, that Mr. Tonkin “held a distinguished place among his fellow-townsmen, being looked up to for his sterling worth and strength of judgment, and very dear to his friends for his benevolence, kindness, and very generous and friendly disposition.” He was “of a quick temper,” he adds, “but his anger was of short duration.”—See Life of Sir Humphry Davy, vol. i. p. 109.

Sir Humphry himself, in his last letter to Mr. Tonkin, says, “If I was nearer I would endeavour to be useful to you. I would endeavour to pay some of the debts of gratitude I owe to you, my first protector and earliest friend. As it is, I must look forward to a futurity that will enable me to do this; but believe me, wherever I am, and whatever may be my situation, I shall never lose the remembrance of obligations conferred on me, or the sense of gratitude which ought to accompany them.”