RETURN TO ENGLAND--LETTER FROM HALLAM--TREATISE ON THE FORM AND ROTATION
OF THE EARTH AND PLANETS--SECOND EDITION OF "CONNEXION OF PHYSICAL
SCIENCES"--LETTERS FROM MARIA EDGEWORTH, MISS BERRY, LORD BROUGHAM, MRS.
MARCET, ADMIRAL SMYTH--DOUBLE STARS--ECLIPSE OF DOUBLE STARS--LETTER
FROM ADMIRAL SMYTH--SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL--NEBULÆ--LETTER FROM LORD
ROSSE--LETTER FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL--SIR JAMES SOUTH'S OBSERVATORY--MR.
JOHN MURRAY--MISS BERRY--LORD DUDLEY--MR. BOWDITCH AND OTHER
DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS--MRS. BROWNING WASHINGTON--LETTER FROM THE REV.
DR. TUCKERMAN--SIR WILLIAM FAIRFAX ATTACKED BY HIGHWAYMEN.
As soon as we returned to Chelsea, the "Connexion of the Physical
Sciences" was published. It was dedicated to Queen Adelaide, who thanked
me for it at a drawing-room. Some time after Somerville and I went to
Scotland; we had travelled all night in the mail coach, and when it
became light, a gentleman who was in the carriage said to Somerville,
"Is not the lady opposite to me Mrs. Somerville, whose bust I saw at
Chantrey's?" The gentleman was Mr. Sopwith, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, a
civil and mining engineer. He was distinguished for scientific
knowledge, and had been in London to give information to a
parliamentary committee. He travelled faster than we did, and when we
arrived at Newcastle he was waiting to take us to his house, where we
were hospitably received by Mrs. Sopwith. His conversation was highly
interesting, and to him I was indebted for much information on mining
generally, and on the mineral wealth of Great Britain, while writing on
Physical Geography. Many years after he and Mrs. Sopwith came and saw me
at Naples, which gave me much pleasure. He was unlike any other
traveller I ever met with, so profound and original were his
observations on all he saw.
* * * * *
On coming home I found that I had made an error in the first edition of
the "Physical Sciences," in giving 365 days 6 hours as the length of the
civil year of the ancient Egyptians. My friend Mr. Hallam, the
historian, wrote to me, proving from history and epochs of the
chronology of the ancient Egyptians, that their civil year was only 365
days. I was grateful to that great and amiable man for copies of all his
works while he was alive, and I am obliged to his daughter for an
excellent likeness of him, now that he is no more.
FROM HENRY HALLAM, ESQ., TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
WIMPOLE STREET, _March 12th, 1835_.
MY DEAR MADAM,
As you will probably soon be called upon for another edition of your
excellent work on the "Connexion of the Physical Sciences," I think
you will excuse the liberty I take in mentioning to you one passage
which seems to have escaped your attention in so arduous a labour.
It is in page 104, where you have this sentence:--
"The Egyptians estimated the year at 365 d. 6 h., by which they lost
one year in every 14,601, their Sothiac period. They determined the
length of their year by the heliacal rising of Sirius, 2782 years
before the Christian era, which is the earliest epoch of Egyptian
chronology."
The Egyptian civil year was of 365 days only, as we find in
Herodotus, and I apprehend there is no dispute about it. The Sothiac
period, or that cycle in which the heliacal rising of Sirius passed
the whole civil year, and took place again on the same day, was of
1461 years, not 14,601. If they had adopted a year of 365 d. 6 h.,
this period would have been more than three times 14,601; the excess
of the sidereal year above that being only 9' 9", which will not
amount to a day in less than about 125 years.
I do not see how the heliacal rising of Sirius in any one year could
help them to determine its length. By comparing two successive years
they could of course have got at a sidereal year; but this is what
they did not do; hence the irregularity which produced the canicular
cycle. The commencement of that cycle is placed by ancient
chronologers in 1322 A.C. It seems not correct to call 2782 A.C.
"the earliest epoch of Egyptian chronology," for we have none of
their chronology nearly so old, and in fact no chronology, properly
so called, has yet been made out by our Egyptian researches. It is
indeed certain that, if the reckoning by heliacal risings of Sirius
did not begin in 1322, we must go nearly 1460 years back for its
origin; since it must have been adopted when that event preceded
only for a short time the annual inundation of the Nile. But,
according to some, the year 1322 A.C. fell during the reign of
Sesostris, to whom Herodotus ascribes several regulations connected
with the rising of the Nile. Certainly, 2782 A.C. is a more remote
era than we are hitherto warranted to assume for any astronomical
observation.
Believe me, dear Mrs. Somerville,
Very truly yours,
HENRY HALLAM.
I refer you to Montucla, if you have any doubt about the Egyptian
year being of 365 days without bissextile of any kind.
* * * * *
I had sent a copy of the "Mechanism of the Heavens" to M. Poisson soon
after it was published, and I had received a letter from him dated 30th
May, 1832, advising me to complete the work by writing a volume on the
form and rotation of the earth and planets. Being again strongly advised
to do so while in Paris, I now began the work, and, in consequence, I
was led into a correspondence with Mr. Ivory, who had written on the
subject, and also with Mr. Francis Baily, on the density and compression
of the earth. My work was extensive, for it comprised the analytical
attraction of spheroids, the form and rotation of the earth, the tides
of the ocean and atmosphere, and small undulations.
When this was finished, I had nothing to do, and as I preferred analysis
to all other subjects, I wrote a work of 246 pages on curves and
surfaces of the second and higher orders. While writing this, _con
amore_, a new edition of the "Physical Sciences" was much needed, so I
put on high pressure and worked at both. Had these two manuscripts been
published at that time, they might have been of use; I do not remember
why they were laid aside, and forgotten till I found them years
afterwards among my papers. Long after the time I am writing about,
while at Naples, I amused myself by repairing the time-worn parts of
these manuscripts, and was surprised to find that in my eighty-ninth
year I still retained facility in the "Calculus."
The second edition of the "Physical Sciences" was dedicated to my dear
friend, Sir John Herschel. It went through nine editions, and has been
translated into German and Italian. The book went through various
editions in the United States, to the honour, but not to the profit, of
the author. However, the publisher obligingly sent me a copy. I must say
that profit was never an object with me: I wrote because it was
impossible for me to be idle.
I had the honour of presenting a copy of my book to the Duchess of Kent
at a private audience. The Duchess and Princess Victoria were alone, and
received me very graciously, and conversed for half an hour with me. As
I mentioned before, I saw the young Princess crowned: youthful, almost
child-like as she was, she went through the imposing ceremony with all
the dignity of a Queen.
[A few letters from some of my mother's friends, written at this
period, may prove of interest. They are chiefly written to thank her
for copies of the Preliminary Dissertation or of the "Physical
Sciences." One from Lord Brougham concerns my mother's estimate of
the scientific merit of Dr. Young, for whom she had the sincerest
admiration, considering him one of the first philosophers and
discoverers of the age.]
FROM MISS EDGEWORTH TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
EDGWORTHTOWN, _May 31st, 1832_.
MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,
There is one satisfaction at least in giving knowledge to the
ignorant, to those who know their ignorance at least, that they are
grateful and humble. You should have my grateful and humble thanks
long ago for the favour--the honour--you did me by sending me that
Preliminary Dissertation, in which there is so much knowledge, but
that I really wished to read it over and over again at some
intervals of time, and to have the pleasure of seeing my sister
Harriet read it, before I should write to you. She has come to us,
and has just been enjoying it, as I knew she would. For my part, I
was long in the state of the boa constrictor after a full meal--and
I am but just recovering the powers of motion. My mind was so
distended by the magnitude, the immensity, of what you put into it!
I am afraid that if you had been aware how ignorant I was you would
not have sent me this dissertation, because you would have felt that
you were throwing away much that I could not understand, and that
could be better bestowed on scientific friends capable of judging of
what they admire. I can only assure you that you have given me a
great deal of pleasure; that you have enlarged my conception of the
sublimity of the universe, beyond any ideas I had ever before been
enabled to form.
The great simplicity of your manner of writing, I may say of your
_mind_, which appears in your writing, particularly suits the
scientific sublime--which would be destroyed by what is commonly
called fine writing. You trust sufficiently to the natural interest
of your subject, to the importance of the facts, the beauty of the
whole, and the adaptation of the means to the ends, in every part of
the immense whole. This reliance upon your reader's feeling along
with you, was to me very gratifying. The ornaments of eloquence
dressing out a sublime subject are just so many proofs either of bad
taste in the orator, or of distrust and contempt of the taste of
those whom he is trying thus to captivate.
I suppose nobody yet has completely _mastered_ the tides, therefore
I may well content myself with my inability to comprehend what
relates to them. But instead of plaguing you with an endless
enumeration of my difficulties, I had better tell you some of the
passages which gave me, ignoramus as I am, peculiar pleasure.... I
am afraid I shall transcribe your whole book if I go on to tell you
all that has struck me, and you would not thank me for that--you,
who have so little vanity, and so much to do better with your time
than to read _my_ ignorant admiration. But pray let me mention to
you a few of the passages that amused my imagination particularly,
viz., 1st, the inhabitant of Pallas _going round_ his world--or who
might go--in five or six hours in one of our steam carriages; 2nd,
the moderate-sized man who would weigh two tons at the surface of
the sun--and who would weigh only a few pounds at the surface of the
four new planets, and would be so light as to find it impossible to
stand from the excess of muscular force! I think a very entertaining
dream might be made of a man's visit to the sun and planets--these
ideas are all like dreamy feelings when one is a little feverish. I
forgot to mention (page 58) a passage on the propagation of sound.
It is a beautiful sentence, as well as a sublime idea, "so that at a
very small height above the surface of the earth, the noise of the
tempest ceases and the thunder is heard no more in those boundless
regions, where the heavenly bodies accomplish their periods in
eternal and sublime silence."
Excuse me in my trade of sentence-monger, and believe me, dear
Mrs. Somerville, truly your obliged and truly your affectionate
friend,
MARIA EDGEWORTH.
I have persuaded your dear curly-headed friend, Harriet, to add her
own observations; she sends her love to you; and I know you love
her, otherwise I would not press her to write her own _say_.
* * * * *
FROM MISS JOANNA BAILLIE TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
HAMPSTEAD, _February 1st, 1832_.
MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,
I am now, thank God! recovered from a very heavy disease, but still
very weak. I will not, however, delay any longer my grateful
acknowledgments for your very flattering gift of your Preliminary
Dissertation. Indeed, I feel myself greatly honoured by receiving
such a mark of regard from one who has done more to remove the light
estimation in which the capacity of women is too often held, than
all that has been accomplished by the whole sisterhood of poetical
damsels and novel-writing authors. I could say much more on this
subject were I to follow my own feelings; but I am still so weak
that writing is a trouble to me, and I have nearly done all that I
am able.
God bless and prosper you!
Yours gratefully and truly,
J. BAILLIE.
* * * * *
FROM MISS BERRY TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
BELLEVUE, _18th September, 1834_.
MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,
I have just finished reading your book, which has entertained me
extremely, and at the same time, I hope, improved my moral character
in the Christian virtue of humility. These must appear to you such
_odd_ results--so little like those produced on the great majority
of your readers, that you must allow me to explain them to you.
Humbled, I must be, by finding my own intellect unequal to
following, beyond a first step, the explanations by which you seek
to make easy to comprehension the marvellous phenomena of the
universe--humbled, by feeling the intellectual difference between
you and me, placing you as much above me in the scale of reasoning
beings, as I am above my dog. Still I rejoice with humility at
feeling myself, in that order of understandings which, although
utterly incapable of following the chain of your reasonings,
calculations, and inductions--utterly deprived of the powers
necessary _sic itur ad astra_--am yet informed, enlightened, and
entertained with the series of sublime truths to which you conduct
me.
In some foggy morning of November, I shall drive out to you at
Chelsea and surprise you with my ignorance of science, by asking you
to explain to me some things which you will _wonder any one_ can
have so long existed without knowing. In the mean time, I wish you
could read in any combination of the stars the probability of our
often having such a season as this, of uninterrupted summer since
April last, and when last week it was sobering into autumn, has now
returned to enter summer again. The thermometer was at 83° in the
shade yesterday, and to-day promises to be as much. We are delighted
with our two months' residence at this place, which we shall see
with regret draw towards a close the end of this month. October we
mean to spend at Paris, before we return to the _nebulosities_ of
London. During my residence in Paris, before we came here, I never
had the good luck to meet with your friend M. Arago; had I not been
reading your book, I should have begged you to give me a letter for
him. But as it is, and as my stay at Paris will now be so short, I
shall content myself with looking up at a respectful distance to all
your great fixed stars of science, excepting always yourself, dear
Mrs. Somerville. No "disturbing influence" will, I hope, ever throw
me out of the orbit of _your_ intimacy and friendship, whose value,
believe me, is most duly and accurately calculated by your ignorant
but very affectionate friend,
M. BERRY.
* * * * *
FROM LORD BROUGHAM TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
1834.
MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,
Many thanks for the sheets, which I have read with equal pleasure
and instruction as those I formerly had from you. One or two things
I could have troubled you with, but they are of little moment. I
shall note them. The only one that is at all material relates to the
way you mention Dr. Young--not that I object to the word
"illustrious," or as applied to him. But as you don't give it to one
considerably more so, it looks either as if you overrated him, or
underrated Davy, or (which I suppose to be the truth) as if you
felt Young had not had his due share of honour, and desired to make
it up to his memory. Observe I give him a very high place--but
Davy's discoveries are both of more unquestioned originality and
more undoubtedly true--perhaps I should say, more brought to a
close. The alkalis and the principle of the safety lamp are
concluded and fixed, the undulation is in progress, and somewhat
uncertain as to how and where it may end. You will please to observe
that I reckon both those capital discoveries of Davy the fruit of
inquiry, and not at all of chance--for, as to the lamp, it is plain;
and as to the metals, if you look at the inquiries that immediately
preceded, you will see he was thereby led to the alkalis. Indeed, I
well remember saying, when I read them, "He will analyse lime and
barytes." I am quite ready to admit his extreme folly in some
things, but that is nothing to the present purpose.
Yours,
H.B.
(_Henry Brougham._)
* * * * *
FROM MRS. MARCET TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
GENEVA, _6th April, 1834_.
DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,
I am desired by Professor Prevost to inform you that you were
elected an honorary member of the Société de Physique et d'Histoire
Naturelle de Genève on the 3rd April, and that a diploma will be
forwarded to you by the earliest opportunity. After all the honours
you have received, this little feather is hardly worthy of waving in
your plume, but I am glad that Geneva should know how to appreciate
your merit. You receive great honours, my dear friend, but that
which you confer on our sex is still greater, for with talents and
acquirements of masculine magnitude you unite the most sensitive and
retiring modesty of the female sex; indeed, I know not any woman,
perhaps I might say, any human being, who would support so much
applause without feeling the weakness of vanity. Forgive me for
allowing my pen to run away with this undisguised praise, it looks
so much like compliment, but I assure you it comes straight from the
heart, and you _must_ know that it is fully deserved.... I know not
whether you have heard of the death of Professor de la Rive (the
father); it was an unexpected blow, which has fallen heavily on all
his family. It is indeed a great loss to Geneva, both as a man of
science and a most excellent citizen.
M. Rossi[12] has left us to occupy the chair of political economy of
the late M. Say, at Paris; his absence is sadly felt, and it is in
vain to look around for any one capable of replacing him....
Yours affectionately,
J. MARCET.
* * * * *
FROM ADMIRAL W.H. SMYTH TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
CRESCENT, BEDFORD, _October 3rd, 1835_.
MY DEAR MADAM,
As an opportunity offers of sending a note to town, I beg to mention
that I have somewhat impatiently waited for some appearance of
settled weather, in order to press your coming here to inspect
Halley's comet, before it should have become visible to the
unassisted eye. That unerring monitor, however, the barometer, held
forth no hope, and the ceaseless traveller is already an object of
conspicuous distinction without artificial aid, except, perhaps, to
most eyes an opera-glass, magnifying three or four times, will be
found a pleasant addition. It is now gliding along with wonderful
celerity, and the nucleus is very bright. It is accompanied with a
great luminosity, and the nucleus has changed its position therein;
that is, on the 29th August, the nucleus was like a minute star near
the centre of the nebulous envelope; on the 2nd September it
appeared in the _n. f._ quarter, and latterly it has been in the _s.
f._
How remarkable that the month of August this year should rattle
Halley's name throughout the globe, in identity with an astonishing
scientific triumph, and that in the selfsame month the letters of
Flamsteed should have appeared! How I wish some one would give us a
life of Newton, with all the interesting documents that exist of his
labours! Till such appears, Flamsteed's statements, though bearing
strong internal evidence of truth, are _ex-parte_, and it is evident
his anxiety made him prone to impute motives which he could not
prove. The book is painfully interesting, but except in all that
relates to the personal character of Flamsteed, I could almost have
wished the documents had been destroyed. People of judgment well
know that men without faults are monsters, but vulgar minds delight
in seeing the standard of human excellence lowered.
Dear Madam,
Yours faithfully,
W.H. SMYTH.
We were deprived of the society of Sir John and Lady Herschel for four
years, because Sir John took his telescope and other instruments to the
Cape of Good Hope, where he went, accompanied by his family, for the
purpose of observing the celestial phenomena of the southern hemisphere.
There are more than 6,000 double stars in the northern hemisphere, in a
large proportion of which the angle of position and distance between the
two stars have been measured, and Sir John determined, in the same
manner, 1081 in the southern hemisphere, and I believe many additions
have been made to them since that time. In many of these one star
revolves rapidly round the other. The elliptical orbits and periodical
times of sixteen or seventeen of these stellar systems have been
determined. In Gamma Virginis the two stars are nearly of the same
magnitude, and were so far apart in the middle of the last century that
they were considered to be quite independent of each other. Since then
they have been gradually approaching one another, till, in March, 1836,
I had a letter from Admiral Smyth, informing me that he had seen one of
the stars eclipse the other, from his observatory at Bedford.
FROM ADMIRAL SMYTH TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
CRESCENT, BEDFORD, _March 26th, 1836_.
MY DEAR MADAM,
Knowing the great interest you take in sidereal astronomy, of which
so little is yet known, I trust it will not be an intrusion to tell
you of a new, extraordinary, and very unexpected fact, in the
complete occultation of one "fixed" star by another, under
circumstances which admit of no possible doubt or equivocation.
You are aware that I have been measuring the position and distance
of the two stars [Greek: g]^1 and [Greek: g]^2 Virginis, which are both
nearly of similar magnitudes, and also, that they have approximated to
each other very rapidly. They were very close last year, and I expected
to find they had crossed each other at this apparition, but to my
surprise I find they have become a fair round disc, which my highest
powers will not elongate--in fact, _a single star_! I shall watch
with no little interest for the reappearance of the second [Greek: g].
My dear madam,
Your truly obliged servant,
W.H. SMYTH.
* * * * *
This eclipse was also seen by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good
Hope, as well as by many astronomers in Europe provided with instruments
of great optical power. In 1782 Sir William Herschel saw one of the
stars of Zeta Herculis eclipse the other.
In the "Connexion of the Physical Sciences" I have given an abridged
account of Sir John Herschel's most remarkable discoveries in the
southern hemisphere; but I may mention here that he determined the
position and made accurate drawings of all the nebulæ that were
distinctly visible in his 20 ft. telescope. The work he published will
be a standard for ascertaining the changes that may take place in these
mysterious objects for ages to come. Sir William Herschel had determined
the places of 2,500 nebulæ in the northern hemisphere; they were
examined by his son, and drawings made of some of the most remarkable,
but when these nebulæ were viewed through Lord Rosse's telescope, they
presented a very different appearance, showing that the apparent form of
the nebulæ depends upon the space-penetrating power of the telescope, a
circumstance of vital importance in observing the changes which time may
produce on these wonderful objects.
[Long afterwards Lord Rosse wrote in reply to some questions which
my mother had addressed to him on this subject:--]
FROM THE EARL OF ROSSE TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
CASTLE, PARSONSTOWN, _June 12th, 1844_.
DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,
I have very reluctantly postponed so long replying to your
inquiries respecting the telescope, but there were some points upon
which I was anxious to be enabled to speak more precisely. The
instrument we are now using is 3 feet aperture, and 27 feet focus,
and in the greater proportion of the nebulæ which have been observed
with it some new details have been brought out. Perhaps the most
interesting general result is that, as far as we have gone,
increasing optical power has enlarged the list of clusters, by
diminishing that of the nebulæ properly so-called. Such has always
been the case since the nebulæ have been observed with telescopes,
and although it would be unsafe to draw the inference, it is
impossible not to feel some expectation that with sufficient optical
power the nebulæ would all be reduced into clusters. Perhaps the two
of the most remarkable of the resolved nebulæ are Fig. 26 and Fig.
55. In several of the planetary nebulæ we have discovered a star or
bright point in the centre, and a filamentous edge, which is just
the appearance which a cluster with a highly condensed centre would
present in a small instrument. For instance, Figs. 47 and 32. We
have also found that many of the nebulæ have not a symmetrical form,
as they appear to have in inferior instruments; for instance, Fig.
81 is a cluster with long resolvable filaments from its southern
extremity, and Fig. 85 is an oblong cluster with a bright centre.
Fig. 45 is an annular nebula, like Herschel's drawing of the annular
nebula in Lyra. I have sent drawings of a few of these objects to
the Royal Society, they were forwarded a few days ago. We have upon
the whole as yet observed but little with the telescope of 3 feet
aperture. You recollect Herschel said that it was a good observing
year, in which there were 100 hours fit for observing, and of the
average of our hours I have not employed above 30. We have been for
the last two years engaged in constructing a telescope of 6 feet
aperture and 52 feet focus, and it would have been impossible to
have bestowed the necessary attention upon it had we made a business
of observing. That instrument is nearly finished, and I hope it will
effect something for astronomy. The unequal refraction of the
atmosphere will limit its powers, but how far remains to be
ascertained.... Lady Rosse joins me in very kind remembrances and
believe me to be,
Dear Mrs. Somerville,
Yours very truly and ever,
ROSSE.
* * * * *
[Sir John Herschel wrote to my father from the Cape:--]
FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL TO MR. SOMERVILLE.
FELDHAUSEN, NEAR WYNBERG, C.G.H., _July 17th, 1830_.
MY DEAR SOMERVILLE,
Since our arrival here, I have, I know in many instances, maintained
or established the character of a bad correspondent; and really it
is not an inconvenient character to have established. Only, in your
case, I should be very sorry to appear in that, or any other
negligent or naughty light; but you, I know, will allow for the
circumstances which have occasioned my silence. Meanwhile, I am not
sorry that the execution of an intention I had more than once formed
should have been deferred, till we read in the papers of the
well-judged and highly creditable notice (creditable I mean to the
government _pro tempore_) which His Majesty has been pleased to take
of Mrs. Somerville's elaborate works. Although the Royal notice is
not quite so swift as the lightning in the selection of its objects,
it agrees with it in this, that it is attracted by the loftiest; and
though what she has performed may seem so natural and easy to
herself, that she may blush to find it fame; all the rest of the
world will agree with me in rejoicing that merit of that kind is
felt and recognised at length in the high places of the earth. This,
and the honourable mention of Airy by men of both parties in the
House of Commons about the same time, are things that seem to mark
the progress of the age we live in; and I give Peel credit for his
tact in perceiving this mode of making a favourable impression on
the public mind.
We are all going on very comfortably, and continue to like the
Cape as a place of (temporary) residence as much or more than at
first. The climate is so very delicious.... The stars are most
propitious, and, astronomically speaking, I can now declare the
climate to be most excellent. Night after night, for weeks and
months, with hardly an interruption, of _perfect_ astronomical
weather, discs of stars reduced almost to points, and tranquilly
gliding across the field of your telescope. It is really a treat,
such as occurs once or perhaps twice a year in England--hardly more.
I had almost forgotten that by a recent vote of the Astronomical
Society I can now claim Mrs. Somerville as a _colleague_. Pray make
my compliments to her in that capacity, and tell her that I hope to
meet her there at some future session....
Yours very faithfully,
H.W. HERSCHEL.
TO WILLIAM SOMERVILLE, ESQ.
* * * * *
Spectrum analysis has shown that there is a vast quantity of
self-luminous gaseous matter in space, incapable of being reduced into
stars, however powerful the telescope through which it is observed.
Hence the old opinion once more prevails, that this is the matter of
which the sun and stellar systems have been formed, and that other
stellar systems are being formed by slow, continuous condensation. The
principal constituents of this matter are, the terrestrial gases,
hydrogen, and nitrogen. The yellow stars, like the sun, contain
terrestrial matter. The nebulous and stellar constituents were chiefly
discovered by Dr. Huggins.
Somerville and I were always made welcome by Sir James South, and at
Campden Hill I learnt the method of observing, and sometimes made
observations myself on the double stars and binary systems, which,
worthless as they were, enabled me to describe better what others had
done. One forenoon Somerville and I went to pay a visit to Lady South.
Sir James, who was present, said, "Come to the observatory, and measure
the distance of Mercury from the sun; for they are in close
approximation, and I wish to see what kind of observation you will
make." It was erroneous, as might have been expected; but when I took
the mean of several observations, it differed but little from that which
Sir James South had made; and here I learnt practically the importance
of taking the mean of approximate quantities.
* * * * *
Dr. Wollaston, Dr. Young, and the Katers died before I became an author;
Lord Brougham was one of the last of my scientific contemporaries, all
the rest were younger than myself, and with this younger set, as with
their predecessors, we had most agreeable and constant intercourse.
Although we lived so much in scientific society we had all along been on
the most friendly and intimate terms with the literary society of the
day, such as Hallam, Milman, Moore, Malthus, &c., &c. The highly
intellectual conversation of these was enlivened by the brilliant wit of
my early friend, Sydney Smith, who was loved and admired by every one.
His daughter married our friend Sir Henry Holland, the distinguished
physician, well known for his eminent literary and scientific
acquirements as well as for his refined taste.
No house in London was more hospitable and agreeable than that of the
late Mr. John Murray, in Albemarle Street. His dinner parties were
brilliant, with all the poets and literary characters of the day, and
Mr. Murray himself was gentlemanly, full of information, and kept up the
conversation with spirit. He generously published the "Mechanism of the
Heavens" at his own risk, which, from its analytical character, could
only be read by mathematicians.
Besides those I have mentioned we had a numerous acquaintance who were
neither learned nor scientific; and at concerts at some of their houses
I enjoyed much hearing the great artists of the day, such as Pasta,
Malibran, Grisi, Rubini, &c., &c. We knew Lucien Buonaparte, who gave me
a copy of his poems, which were a failure.
I had become acquainted with Madame de Montalembert, who was an
Englishwoman, and was mother of the celebrated Comte; she was very
eccentric, and at that time was an Ultra-Protestant. One day she came to
ask me to go and drive in the Park with her, and afterwards dine at her
house, saying, "We shall all be in high dresses." So I accepted, and on
entering the drawing-room, found a bishop and several clergymen, Lady
Olivia Sparrow, and some other ladies, all in high black satin dresses
and white lace caps, precisely the dress I wore, and I thought it a
curious coincidence. The party was lively enough, and agreeable, but the
conversation was in a style I had never heard before--in fact, it
affected the phraseology of the Bible. We all went after dinner to a
sort of meeting at Exeter Hall, I quite forget for what purpose, but our
party was on a kind of raised platform. I mentioned this to a friend
afterwards, and the curious circumstance of our all being dressed alike.
"Do you not know," she said, "that dress is assumed as a distinctive
mark of the Evangelical party! So you were a wolf in sheep's clothing!"
I had been acquainted with the Miss Berrys at Raith, when visiting their
cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson. Mary, the eldest, was a handsome,
accomplished woman, who from her youth had lived in the most
distinguished society, both at home and abroad. She published a
"Comparative View of Social Life in France and England," which was well
received by the public. She was a Latin scholar, spoke and wrote French
fluently, yet with all these advantages, the consciousness that she
might have done something better, had female education been less
frivolous, gave her a characteristic melancholy which lasted through
life. She did not talk much herself, but she had the tact to lead
conversation. She and her sister received every evening a select society
in their small house in Curzon Street. Besides any distinguished
foreigners who happened to be in London, among their habitual guests
were my friend, Lady Charlotte Lindsay, always witty and agreeable, the
brilliant and beautiful Sheridans, Lady Theresa Lister, afterwards Lady
Theresa Lewis, who edited Miss Berry's "Memoirs," Lord Lansdowne, and
many others. Lady Davy came occasionally, and the Miss Fanshaws, who
were highly accomplished, and good artists, besides Miss Catherine
Fanshaw wrote clever _vers de société_, such as a charade on the letter
H, and, if I am not mistaken, "The Butterfly's Ball," &c. I visited
these ladies, but their manners were so cold and formal that, though I
admired their talents, I never became intimate with them. On the
contrary, like everyone else, I loved Mary Berry, she was so
warm-hearted and kind. When London began to fill, and the season was at
its height, the Miss Berrys used to retire to a pretty villa at
Twickenham, where they received their friends to luncheon, and
strawberries and cream, and very delightful these visits were in fine
spring weather. I recollect once, after dining there, to have been
fortunate enough to give a place in my carriage to Lord Macaulay, and
those who remember his charming and brilliant conversation will
understand how short the drive to London appeared.
We sometimes went to see Miss Lydia White, who received every evening;
she was clever, witty, and very free in her conversation. On one
occasion the party consisted, besides ourselves, of the Misses Berry,
Lady Davy; the three poets, Rogers, William Spencer, and Campbell; Sir
James Macintosh, and Lord Dudley. Rogers, who was a bitter satirist and
hated Lord Dudley, had written the following, epigram:--
Ward has no heart, 'tis said; but I deny it.
He has a heart, and gets his speeches by it.
I had never heard of this epigram, and on coming away Lord Dudley said,
"You are going home to sleep and I to work." I answered, "Oh! you are
going to prepare your speech for to-morrow." My appropriate remark
raised an universal laugh.
* * * * *
Mr. Bowditch, of Boston, U.S., who died in 1838, left among other works
a "Commentary on La Place's Mécanique Céleste" in four volumes. While
busily occupied in bringing out an edition of the "Physical Sciences," I
received a letter from his son, Mr. H. Bowditch, requesting me to write
an elaborate review of that work, which would be published in Boston
along with the biography of his father, written by Mr. Young, who sent
me a copy of it. Though highly sensible of the honour, I declined to
undertake so formidable a work, fearing that I should not do justice to
the memory of so great a man.
I have always been in communication with some of the most distinguished
men of the United States. Washington Irving frequently came to see me
when he was in London; he was as agreeable in conversation as he was
distinguished as an author. No one could be more amiable than Admiral
Wilkes, of the U.S. navy: he had all the frankness of a sailor. We saw a
good deal of him when he was in London, and I had a long letter from
him, giving me an account of his fleet, his plan for circumnavigation,
&c.&c. I never had the good fortune to become personally acquainted with
Captain Maury, of the U.S. navy, author of that fascinating book, the
"Physical Geography of the Sea," but I am indebted to him for a copy of
that work, and of his valuable charts. Mr. Dana, who is an honour to his
country, sent me copies of his works, to which I have had occasion
frequently to refer as acknowledged authority on many branches of
natural history. I should be ungrateful if I did not acknowledge the
kindness I received from the Silliman family, who informed me of any
scientific discovery in the United States, and sent me a copy of their
Journal when it contained anything which might interest me. I was
elected an honorary member of the Geographical and Statistical Society
of New York, U.S. on the 15th May, 1857, and on the 15th October, 1869,
I was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society at
Philadelphia, for Promoting Useful Knowledge. I shall ever be most
grateful for these honours.
While living in Florence, many years after, an American friend invited
me to an evening party to meet an American authoress who wished
particularly to make my acquaintance. I accordingly went there on the
evening in question, and my friends, after receiving me with their
accustomed cordiality, presented me to the lady, and placed me beside
her to give me an opportunity of conversing with her. I addressed her
several times, and made various attempts to enter into conversation, but
only received very dry answers in reply. At last she fairly turned her
back upon me, and became engrossed with a lady who sat on her other
side, upon which I got up and left her and never saw her again. A very
different person in every respect was present that evening, as much
distinguished by her high mental qualities and poetical genius as by her
modesty and simplicity. I allude to our greatest British poetess, Mrs.
Browning, who at that time resided in Florence, except when the delicacy
of her health obliged her to go to Rome. I think there is no other
instance of husband and wife both poets, and both distinguished in their
different lines. I can imagine no happier or more fascinating life than
theirs; two kindred spirits united in the highest and noblest
aspirations. Unfortunately her life was a short one; in the full bloom
of her intellect her frail health gave way, and she died leaving a noble
record of genius to future ages, and a sweet memory to those who were
her contemporaries. The Florentines, who, like all Italians, greatly
appreciate genius, whether native or foreign, have placed a
commemorative tablet on Casa Guidi, the house Mrs. Browning inhabited.
I was extremely delighted last spring in being honoured by a visit from
Longfellow, that most genial poet. It is not always the case that the
general appearance of a distinguished person answers to one's ideal of
what he ought to be--in this respect Longfellow far surpasses
expectation. I was as much charmed with his winning manner and
conversation as by his calm, grand features and the expression of his
intellectual countenance.
The Barons Fairfax, as I mentioned already, had long been members of
the Republic of the United States, and Washington's mother belonged to
this family. During the war of Independence, while my father, then
Lieutenant Fairfax, was on board a man-of-war on the American station,
he received a letter from General Washington claiming him as a relation,
and inviting him to pay him a visit, saying, he did not think that war
should interfere with the courtesies of private life. Party spirit ran
so high at that time that my father was reprimanded for being in
correspondence with the enemy. I mentioned to my friend, the Rev. Dr.
Tuckerman, of the United States, how much I regretted that so precious a
letter had been lost, and he most kindly on going home sent me an
autograph letter of General Washington.
FROM THE REV. JOSEPH TUCKERMAN TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
BOSTON, _August 28th, 1834_.
MY DEAR MADAM,
I have very great pleasure in sending to you an autograph letter of
your and our glorious Washington. I obtained it from Mr. Sparks, who
had the gratification of seeing you when he was in England, and who
told me when I applied to him for it, that there is no one in the
world to whom he would be so glad to give it. It is beyond
comparison the best and almost the only remaining one at his
disposal among the "Washington" papers.
I am again in my family and in the field of my ministry.
But very dear to me are my associations with scenes and friends in
England; and most glad should I be if I could renew that intercourse
with yourself, and with the intellect and virtue around you, to
which I have been indebted for great happiness, and which, I hope,
has done something to qualify me for a more efficient service. Will
you please to present my very sincere respects to your husband, and
to recall me to the kind remembrance of your children. With the
highest respect and regard, allow me to call myself.
Your friend,
JOSEPH TUCKERMAN.
* * * * *
I think it must have been on returning from the American station, or may
be later in the career of my father's life, that a circumstance occurred
which distressed him exceedingly. Highway robberies were common on all
the roads in the vicinity of London, but no violence was offered. My
father was travelling alone over Blackheath when the postilion was
ordered to stop, a pistol presented at my father, and his purse
demanded. My father at once recognised the voice as that of a shipmate,
and exclaimed, "Good God! I know that voice! can it be young----? I am
dreadfully shocked; I have a hundred pounds which shall be yours--come
into the carriage, and let me take you to London, where you will be
safe." ... "No, no," the young man said, "I have associates whom I
cannot leave--it is too late." ... It was too late; he was arrested
eventually and suffered. Years afterwards when by some accident my
father mentioned this event, he was deeply affected, and never would
tell the name of the young man who had been his mess-mate.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 12: M. Pellegrino Rossi, afterwards Minister of France at
Rome, then Prime Minister to Pius the Ninth; murdered in 1848 on the
steps of the Cancelleria, at Rome.]