'When Sir Walter Scott was debating in his mind the Prince Regent's
offer of a baronetcy, he wrote to his friend Morritt: "After all, if
one must speak for themselves, I have my quarters and emblazonments
free of all stain but Border theft and high treason, which I hope are
gentlemanlike crimes; and I hope 'Sir Walter Scott' will not sound
worse than 'Sir Humphry Davy,' though my merits are as much under his,
in point of utility, as can well be imagined. But a name is something,
and mine is the better of the two."' When Mrs. Davy, Dr. Davy's wife,
told Sir Walter Scott, at Malta, that her husband was writing his
brother's life, Sir Walter said, 'I am glad of it; I hope his mother
lived to see his greatness.' And it is pleasant to be able to record
such was the case.
Not only Sir Walter Scott, but even the cold and reserved Poet of the
Lakes, was deeply impressed with Davy's genius. Lockhart tells us
that when Sir Walter and Wordsworth ascended Helvellyn, 'they were
accompanied by an illustrious philosopher, who was also a true poet,
and might have been one of the greatest of poets had he chosen; and I
have heard Mr. Wordsworth say that it would be difficult to express
the feelings with which he, who so often had climbed Helvellyn alone,
found himself standing on its summit with two such men as _Scott_ and
_Davy_.'
The crowning honour of Davy's life now awaited him. His friend Sir
Joseph Banks--himself the successor of such men as Sir Christopher
Wren, Sir Hans Sloane, and Sir Isaac Newton--who had held the post of
President of the Royal Society for forty-two years, died on 19th June,
1820, and Sir Humphry was, almost unanimously, elected on the 30th
of the following November. He continued to fill the post for seven
successive years, and his annual addresses are very characteristic
specimens of his eloquence and suavity. He retained the old practice
of delivering his speeches in full court dress,[114] and with the
Society's mace (Oliver Cromwell's celebrated 'bauble') laid before him.
He also continued his predecessor's practice of having weekly evening
gatherings of the most distinguished men of science of the day, so long
as he remained in Lower Grosvenor Street; but they were discontinued on
his moving, in 1825, to 26, Park Street, Grosvenor Square.