JOURNAL OF A TOUR
MADE
IN THE YEARS 1828-1829,
THROUGH
STYRIA, CARNIOLA, AND ITALY,
WHILST ACCOMPANYING
THE LATE SIR HUMPHRY DAVY.
BY J. J. TOBIN, M.D.
LONDON:
W. S. ORR, 14, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1832.
LONDON:
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS,
BOUVERIE STREET.
PREFACE.
The following pages were originally intendedfor the perusal only of my own family and immediatefriends. Some of these now persuademe to lay them before the public, believing that,to it, a detail of circumstances connected, as myJournal necessarily is, with the last recreationsand pursuits of the late Sir Humphry Davy, mustbe interesting. To have been in any degree apartaker of the hours of this great man, whosename must shed a lustre over his native land, solong as genius and science shall be admired, I[Pg iv]cannot be supposed to imagine otherwise thanhighly gratifying; and aware that my Journalthrough him bears an interest it could nototherwise pretend to, I do not hesitate to complywith their request.
The state of Sir Humphry's health inducinghim to seek its restoration in a tour on theContinent, he wrote to my mother, who wasresiding on my account and that of my brothersat Heidelberg, stating his plan to her, andnaming his wish to have a son of his "warmly-lovedand sincerely-lamented friend," as the assistantand companion of his journey. My motherdid not hesitate to suspend my studies during theperiod of the proposed tour, conscious that inthe society of such a mind and acquirementsas those of Sir Humphry, mine must advance.And to have been the companion of his latterdays, clouded as they often were by the sufferingswhich I beheld him endure, will be [Pg v]my last pride and advantage; and though thehand of death has laid low many a hope whichgilded the future, it cannot deprive me of therecollection of those hours, when I marked hisspirit still radiant and glowing (to use his ownwords)
"With the undying energy of strength divine."
Sir Humphry's health was in so shattered astate, that it often rendered his inclinations andfeelings sensitive and variable to a painful degree.Frequently he preferred being left aloneat his meals; and in his rides, or fishing and shootingexcursions, to be attended only by his servant.Sometimes he would pass hours together,when travelling, without exchanging a word,and often appeared exhausted by his mental exertions.When he passed through Heidelbergto see my mother, he named all this to her, andwith evident feeling thanked her for her request,[Pg vi]that he would on all occasions consider me asalone desirous to contribute to his ease andcomfort. I mention this to account for myhaving so seldom spoken of his passing remarks,and for