Note 19 — Chapter IV · THE FIRST DRINK AT THE WELL.

When Davy was offered the appointment of Superintendant of the Pneumatic Institution at Bristol, “he accepted it,” says his brother, “with the consent of all his friends, excepting Mr. John Tonkin, who had hoped he would have settled at Penzance; and who,” Dr. Davy tells us in another place, “was so angry with Humphry for accepting the appointment, that he made some alteration in his will in consequence.” Dr. Paris’s version of the affair is as follows: “His old and valued friend, Mr. Tonkin, not only expressed his disapprobation of the scheme, but was so vexed and irritated at having his favourite plan of fixing Davy in his native town as a surgeon thus thwarted, that he actually altered his will, and revoked the legacy of his house, which he had previously bequeathed him. Mr. Tonkin died on the 24th December, 1801; so that, although he lived long enough to witness Davy’s appointment to the Royal Institution, he could never have anticipated the elevation to which his genius and talents ultimately raised him.”—Life of Sir Humphry Davy, p. 39.