On the day following this occurrence, Sir Humphry delivered his farewell lecture before the members of the Royal Institution; for he was on the eve of assuming a new station in society, which induced him to retire from those public situations which he had long held with so much advantage to the world, and with so much honour to himself. How far such a measure was calculated to increase his happiness I shall not enquire; but I am bound to observe, that it was not connected with any desire to abandon the pursuit of science, nor even to relax in his accustomed exertions to promote its interests. It was evident, however, to his friends, that other views of ambition than those presented by achievements in science, had opened upon his mind: the wealth he was about to command might extend the sphere of his usefulness, and exalt him in the scale of society: his feelings became more aristocratic, he discovered charms in rank which had before escaped him, and he no longer viewed Patrician distinction with philosophic indifference. On the 11th of April 1812, Sir Humphry married Mrs. Apreece, the widow of Shuckburgh Ashby Apreece, Esq. eldest son of Sir Thomas Apreece: this lady was the daughter and heiress of Charles Kerr, of Kelso, Esq. and possessed a very considerable fortune. Immediately after the celebration of the marriage, Sir Humphry and his bride proceeded to the hospitable mansion of Sir John Sebright, and afterwards made a tour through Scotland, receiving wherever they went the most flattering marks of attention. During their excursion, Davy wrote various letters to his scientific friends, several of which I shall introduce; but, in order that those to Mr. Children may be understood, it will be necessary that the reader should be made acquainted with a transaction which occurred in the year 1811. In consequence of some conversation on gunpowder, during which Davy observed that its composition might be greatly improved by rendering it less _hygrometric_, a proposition was started, that he should join Mr. Children and Mr. Burton in establishing a manufactory for its preparation upon chemical principles. Whether Davy considered himself, in the strict commercial sense, a partner, or merely a chemical adviser, it is perhaps not easy to determine; but it is quite clear that both Mr. Children and Mr. Burton considered him in the former light, although it is an act of justice to those gentlemen to state, that the very moment Davy expressed his disinclination to such an arrangement, they immediately, without the slightest hesitation, released him from all responsibility. This I am enabled to assert, after a most careful investigation of all the correspondence that passed upon the occasion. TO JOHN GEORGE CHILDREN, ESQ. Harewood House, July 14, 1812. MY DEAR FRIEND,