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pasteboard, and lances of wood, to which
he gave the appearance of steel, by means
of black lead. On one occasion, he got
up @ pantomime, and wrote on a leaf
of a lexicon the names of the principal
characters. Some of these persons be-
came distinguished in after life, and would
be amused to find themselves figuring on
this list of actors.

From Penzance school, Humphrey went
to Truro, and finished his education under
the Rev. Dr. Carden. On being removed
thither, he was found to be behind the
class of his age in his studies, but on ac-
count of the quickness of his mind, was
placed with them, in the hope that indus-
try and application would enable him to
keep his station, which he did to the en-
tire satisfaction of his master.

In 1794, Mr. Robert Davy died, and
his son Humphrey was soon after appren-
tived, by the advice of a valued friend of
his mother, to Mr. Borlase, at that time a
surgeon and apothecary. With him he
commenced the study of chemistry, and
his eldest sister, who acted as his assistant,
well remembers the ravages committed on
her dress by corrosive substances. At this
period, it was his constant custom to walk
in the evening, to drink tea with an aunt,
to whom he was greatly attached, when
he always carried a hammer to obtain

‘mens in mineralogy from the rocks
on the beach. This pursuit so much oc-
cupied him, that when he should have
been assisting his master to bleed the
sick, he was opening veins in the granite,
and instead of preparing medicines in the
surgery he was often found experimenting
in the garret. It is said that, on one oc-
casion, he produced an explosion which
put Dr. Borlase and his glass bottles in

great danger, who exclaimed—* This boy

  

THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

Humphrey is incorrigible. Was there
ever so idle a dog? He will blow us in
the air.” At other times, in a jesting
tone, he would call him “the philoso-
pher,” or “Sir Humphrey,” in sport, as
if in prophecy of his future title.

Our hero, in early youth, had some de-
fects, which even time and patience could
not overcome. His voice was disagree-
able, and to cure this defect he was ac-
eustomed, like Demosthenes, to walk on
the sea-shore, and declaim amidst the
howling of the winds and waves. He
thus improved his articulation, but even
in after years it was not perfectly harmo-
nious. Though fond of humming a tune,
when engaged in chemical pursuits, no
one could ever discover what air he in-
tended to sing. His music was a subject
of raillery among his friends, who declared
that it was impossible to teach him “ God
save the king.”

On entering a volunteer company, his
awkwardness was really amusing, and
after taking private lessons, he could nei-
ther keep step nor be taught to shoulder
a musket. That he possessed courage,
however, is inferred from his having, on
receiving a bite from @ dog supposed to
be mad, taken his pocket-knife, and with-
out the least hesitation cut out the part
on the spot, and then retired into the sut-
gery, and cauterized the wound, an opera-
tion which confined him to the house for
three weeks.

One of the fitst experiments of the
young philosopher was for the purpose of
discovering the kind of air contained in
sea-weed, and was performed by means
of the kitchen utensils, and instruments
taken from the surgery. Not long after,
he formed a machine for exhausting the
air, so ingenious as to gain the commen-