Humphry Davy Quote

In the present state of our knowledge, it would be useless to attempt to speculate on the remote cause of the electrical energy... its relation to chemical affinity is, however, sufficiently evident. May it not be identical with it, and an essential property of matter?

Researches, Chemical and Philosophical, Chiefly Concerning Nitrous Oxide (ed. Butterworth-Heinemann, 1800)