Consolations in Travel; or, the Last Days of a PhilosopherDavy, Humphry, Sir
Philosophy
Consolations in Travel; or, the Last Days of a Philosopher
Davy, Humphry, Sir
Chemists -- Great Britain -- Biography; Davy, Humphry, Sir, 1778-1829
impossible to describe the shouts of triumph and of rapture sent up to
heaven by every voice. And when he gave his benediction to the people,
there was an universal prostration, a sobbing and marks of emotions of
joy almost like the bursting of the heart. I heard, everywhere around
me, cries of "The holy Father! The most holy Father! His restoration is
the work of God!" I saw tears streaming from the eyes of almost all the
women about me, many of them were sobbing hysterically, and old men were
weeping as if they had been children. I pressed my rosary to my breast
on this occasion, and repeatedly touched with my lips that part of it
which had received the kiss of the most venerable Pontiff. I preserve it
with a kind of hallowed feeling, as the memorial of a man whose sanctity,
firmness, meekness and benevolence are an honour to his Church and to
human nature; and it has not only been useful to me, by its influence
upon my own mind, but it has enabled me to give pleasure to others, and
has, I believe, been sometimes beneficial in insuring my personal safety.
I have often gratified the peasants of Apulia and Calabria by presenting
them to kiss a rosary from the Holy Sepulchre which had been hallowed by
the touch of the lips and benediction of the Pope; and it has been even
respected by and procured me a safe passage through a party of brigands
who once stopped me in the passes of the Apennines.
_Onu_.--The use you have made of this relic puts me in mind of a device
of a very ingenious geological philosopher now living. He was on Etna
and busily employed in making a collection of the lavas formed from the
igneous currents of that mountain; the peasants were often troublesome to
him, suspecting that he was searching for treasures. It occurred to him
to make the following speech to them: "I have been a great sinner in my
youth and, as a penance, I have made a vow to carry away with me pieces
of every kind of stone found upon the mountain; permit me quietly to
perform my pious duty, that I may receive absolution for my sins." The
speech produced the desired effect; the peasants shouted, "The holy man!
The saint!" and gave him every assistance in their power to enable him to
carry off his burthen, and he made his ample collections with the utmost
security and in the most agreeable manner.
_The Stranger_.--I do not approve of pious frauds even for philosophical
purposes; my rosary excited in others the same kind of feeling which it
excited in my own bosom, and which I hold to be perfectly justifiable,
and of which I shall never be ashamed.
_Amb_.--You must have travelled in Italy in very dangerous times; have
you always been secure?
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