eased, took their place in the funeral
procession; and the invitations to the syndicate, and to the learned
bodies who accompanied it, were made by that body in the same character.
The whole was conducted with much appropriate order and decency, and
whilst every attention and respect were paid to the memory of the
deceased, nothing was attempted beyond the unostentatious simplicity
which the deceased had frequently declared to be his wish, whenever his
mortal remains should be consigned to their last home; and which in
accordance to that wish, had been expressly enjoined to her kind friends
by the afflicted widow. In the procession, which followed the corporate
bodies and the countrymen of the deceased, were many of the most eminent
manufacturers of Geneva, and a large body of mechanics, who were anxious
to pay this tribute of regard and gratitude to one whom they deservedly
looked upon as a great benefactor to the arts, and promoter of sciences,
by the application of which they earn their livelihood.[4]

During his retirement on the Continent, Sir Humphry continued to
communicate the splendid results of his labours to the Royal Society,
and at the anniversary meeting of the year 1827, the royal medal was
awarded to him for a series of brilliant discoveries developing the
relation between electricity and chemistry.[5] Upon this interesting
occasion, Mr. Davies Gilbert spoke at some length, commencing as
follows: "It is with feelings most gratifying to myself that I now
approach to the award of a royal medal to Sir Humphry Davy; and I esteem
it a most fortunate occurrence, that this award should have taken place
during the short period of my having to discharge the duties attached to
the office of president; having witnessed the whole progress of Sir
Humphry Davy's advancement in science and in reputation, from his first
attempts in his native town to vary some of Dr. Priestly's experiments
on the extraction of oxygen from marine vegetables to the point of
eminence which we all know him to have reached. It is not necessary for
me more than to advert to his discovery of nitrous oxyde; to his
investigation of the action of light on gases; on the nature of heat; to
his successful discrimination of proximate vegetable elements; nor to
his most scientific, ingenious, and useful invention, the
safety-lamp,--an invention reasoned out from its principles, with all
the accuracy and precision of mathematical deduction."

The cour