Note 18 — Chapter III · HUMPHRY AND HIS MOTHER.

The above are Davy’s own words, taken from a fragment of a letter which his brother says exists in one of Sir Humphry’s note-books, kept during his youth, and which was addressed to one of his early home friends, the letter itself being descriptive of his escape from the vices which are the most seductive to youth in towns. “An active mind,” he writes, “a deep ideal feeling of good, a look towards future greatness, has preserved me from these.”