Scientific Women.
_SECTION I.—CAROLINE LUCRETIA HERSCHEL._
“Prior to her demise, hope had long become certainty, and prophecy
passed into truth; and assemblies of the learned, through means of just
though unusual tributes to herself, had recognised the immortality of
the name she bore!”
J. P. NICHOL, LL.D.
_ASTRONOMY._
In most other sciences, the mind is so often lost in details, that it
is difficult to stand where you may gaze freely out upon the unknown.
In astronomy, however, you are brought almost at once to stand face to
face with the Infinite. A wonderful study are these old heavens. They
have excited the curiosity, and called forth the discoveries of both
male and female students. What an immensity of sublime magnificence God
has crowded into a few yards of sky. There is truth in the well-known
lines:—
“When science from creation’s face
Enchantment’s veil withdraws,
What lovely visions yield their place
To cold material laws.”
But if science has torn from the heavens the false lustre of fiction,
it has supplied the clear light of fact. From points, the stars have
magnified into worlds, and from thousands they have multiplied into
millions.
“Come forth, O man, yon azure round survey,
And view those lamps that yield eternal day;
Bring forth your glasses; clear thy wondering eyes,
Millions beyond the former millions rise;
Look farther—millions more blaze from remoter skies.”
Sir William Herschel assuming that the instrument which he used could
enable him to penetrate 497 times farther than Sirius, reckoned 116,000
stars to pass in a quarter of an hour, over the field of view, which
subtended an angle of only 15′. If from such a narrow zone we compute,
the whole celestial vault must display, within the range of telescopic
vision, the stupendous number of more than five billions of stars. If
each of these be the sun to a system similar to ours, and if the same
number of planets revolve round it, then the whole planets in the
universe will be more than fifty-five billions, not reckoning the
satellites, which may be even more numerous. That part of the science
which gives a description of the motions, figures, periods of
revolution, and other phenomena of the celestial bodies, is called
_descriptive astronomy_; that part which determines the motions,
figures, periodical revolutions, distances, etc., of these orbs, is
called _practical astronomy_; and that part which explains the causes
of their motions, and demonstrates the laws by which those causes
operate, is termed _physical astronomy_.
_BIOGRAPHY._
On the 16th of March, 1750, Caroline Lucretia Herschel was born. Her
birthplace was Hanover. She was the fourth daughter of Isaac Herschel,
and Ann Ilse Moritzen, his wife. Her parents had also six sons. The
childhood of this distinguished woman is to us a blank. Till her
twenty-second year, she lived in her native place; and her father and
mother seem to have been anxious about her education, but their means
were limited; and moreover, Hanover, during the latter end of the last
century, did not possess the facilities for the acquirement of
literature, science, and art, that it does now. Since 1837, when it
became a royal residence, many changes have taken place, and numerous
improvements continue to be made. We may therefore consistently affirm,
that among the female examples of the pursuit of knowledge under
difficulties, few deserve a higher place than Miss Herschel.
In 1772, she came to England to live with her brother William, who had
been appointed organist to the Octagon chapel, at Bath. When he changed
his profession for astronomical labours, she became his helpmate. “From
the first commencement of his astronomical pursuits,” says an
authority, who writes from intimate knowledge, “her attendance on both
his daily labours and nightly watches was put in requisition, and was
found so useful, that on his removal to Datchet, and subsequently to
Slough, she performed the whole of the arduous and important duties of
his astronomical assistant—not only reading the clock and noting down
all the observations from dictation as an amanuensis, but subsequently
executing the whole of the extensive and laborious numerical
calculations necessary to render them available for the purposes of
science, as well as a multitude of others relative to the various
objects of theoretical and experimental inquiry in which, during a long
and active career, he was at any time engaged.” For these important
services, His Majesty King George III. was graciously pleased to place
her in receipt of a salary sufficient for her singularly moderate wants
and retired habits.
Her brother was knighted by George III., and made a D.C.L. by the
University of Oxford. During the whole of his distinguished career,
Miss Herschel remained by his side, aiding him and modestly sharing the
reflection of his fame.
After Sir William’s death in 1822, Miss Herschel returned to Hanover,
which she never afterwards left; passing the last twenty-six years of
her life in repose, enjoying the society and cherished by the regard of
her remaining relatives and friends, and gratified by the occasional
visits of eminent astronomers. The Astronomical Society of London, very
much to its honour, voted her a gold medal for her reduction of the
nebulæ discovered by her renowned brother. She was afterwards chosen an
honorary member of that Society, and also a member of the Royal Irish
Academy: very unusual honours to be conferred upon a woman. Is it not
matter both for wonder and for lamentation, that the guardians of
learning, the patrons of literature, and the princes of science, have
been so indifferent to the intellectual claims of the female sex?
Surely sages and philosophers should not be the last to rescue woman
from the neglect of ignorance and the contempt of frivolity; to lift
her up to her proper elevation in the sight of the world; and enhance
their own dignity by associating her with themselves. There can be no
doubt but that the universities would have conferred their most
honourable diplomas upon Miss Herschel, had she not been a woman.
In her last days, she was not idle. She had known the pleasures of
science, and been thrilled as she heard her illustrious brother detail
the steps by which he had made his discoveries,—had actually stood by
the great philosopher as he fixed his delighted and reverent eye on the
stupendous wonders of the firmament so thickly and Divinely studded
with worlds, and seen him lay the deep and broad foundations of his
imperishable fame; and had been stimulated to seek like noble rewards,
by a diligent and irreproachable use of her own fine natural talents.
As a woman of intellectual height and strength, and with a field of
inexhaustible material over which to expatiate, she laboured with
corresponding success; laid open the secrets of nature, and explained
her deeper mysteries; enlarged the domain of knowledge; awakened the
spirit of inquiry; breathed fresh life into philosophy, and gave to the
world the promise of ever-accumulating truth. Her favourite study we
hesitate not to place first. No science “so perfectly illustrates the
gradual growth and development of human genius, as Astronomy: the
movement of the mind has been constantly onward; its highest energies
have ever been called into requisition; and there never has been a time
when Astronomy did not present problems, not only equal to all that man
could do, but passing beyond the limits of his greatest intellectual
vigour; and hence in all ages and countries, the absolute strength of
human genius may be measured by its reach to unfold the mysteries of
the stars.”
On the 16th of March, 1847, the press announced that Miss Herschel had
celebrated the ninety-seventh anniversary of her birthday. A letter
from Hanover informs us that the king on that occasion, “sent to
compliment her; the prince and princess royal paid her a visit, and the
latter presented her with a magnificent arm-chair, the back of which
had been embroidered by her royal highness; and the minister of
Prussia, in the name of his sovereign, remitted to her the gold medal
awarded for the extension of the sciences.” The labours of Miss
Herschel had shed a glory over her country, and the trump of fame now
gave her name to the world as a woman of unrivalled attainments.
Governments are slow to learn; and certainly they are not the first to
appreciate the fruits of genius. The liberal expenditure of the
national means for the advancement of science, would shed real glory
over every country and every age; and it therefore reflects infinite
honour on these German sovereigns, that they took her under their
immediate and special patronage. There are truths yet to be searched
out and declared, which shall equal, it may be surpass, the most
stupendous announcements which have yet been made. Surely “such truths
are things quite as worthy of struggles and sacrifices as many of the
objects for which nations contend and exhaust their physical and moral
energies and resources: they are gems of real and durable glory in the
diadems of princes; conquests which, while they leave no tears behind
them, continue for ever inalienable.”
Soon after the event referred to, her distinguished nephew, Sir John F.
W. Herschel, wrote a letter to the _Athenæum_, in which he stated that
notwithstanding her advanced age and bodily infirmities, Miss Herschel
was still in the possession of all her faculties.
But although she was not called to die when she had just begun to live,
nor to quit her investigations for ever when she had just begun to
learn how to study; the hour of her departure was at hand. Gold cannot
bribe death. Human power and grandeur cannot save from the grave.
Genius cannot elude the king of terrors. The rich and the poor, the
learned and the unlearned, the wise and the foolish, meet together
here:—
“Their golden cordials cannot ease
Their painèd hearts or aching heads;
Nor fright nor bribe approaching death
From glittering roofs and downy beds.
The lingering, the unwilling soul,
The dismal summons must obey;
And bid a long, a sad farewell,
To the pale lump of lifeless clay.
Hence they are huddled to the grave,
Where kings and slaves have equal thrones;
Their bones without distinction lie
Amongst the heap of meaner bones.”
Miss Herschel died on the 9th of January, 1848, in the ninety-eighth
year of her age. Her end was tranquil and free from suffering—a simple
cessation of life.
It seems to be a law of human nature that however long we may have been
abroad, and however comfortable our foreign residence may have been, we
are yet drawn by old affection to our native country, there to spend
the evening of our life. Graciously has Providence implanted within us
this desire of returning to the place of our childhood; that being
thereby made to feel how valueless this world is in itself, and to
yearn after those dear ones who have gone before us, our own
preparation for going hence may be advanced. Such, doubtless, were the
feelings of Miss Herschel when returning to her native Hanover after
many years of activity spent in various other places. Her funeral took
place on the 18th of January; the coffin was adorned with palm
branches, by order of the Princess Royal, and followed by a royal
carriage. A long and useful life had been beautifully closed; and her
body was committed to the earth, in the sure and certain hope that her
soul was in heaven. Soundly she slumbers in a German tomb: and although
the place that once knew her knows her no more, she is not forgotten,
but her memory is sweet and fragrant still.
_ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES._
Though sitting up all night, especially in winter, doing all the duties
of an assistant astronomer to her brother, she found time for a series
of independent observations with a small Newtonian telescope, made for
her by Sir William. With this instrument she swept the heavens, and
discovered eight new comets, in regard to five of which she was the
first discoverer. These discoveries were made on August 1st, 1786;
December 21st, 1788; January 9th, 1790; April 17th, 1790; December
15th, 1791; October 7th, 1793; November 7th, 1795; and August 6th,
1797. The following account of a new comet was addressed to Charles
Blagden, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., and read before the Royal Society,
November the 9th, 1786.
“SIR,—In consequence of the friendship which I know to exist between
you and my brother, I venture to trouble you in his absence with the
following imperfect account of a comet.
“The employment of writing down my observations, when my brother uses
the 20 feet reflector, does not often allow me time to look at the
heavens; but as he is now on a visit to Germany, I have taken the
opportunity to _sweep_, in his absence, in the neighbourhood of the
sun, in search of comets. And last night, the 1st of August, about ten
o’clock, I found an object resembling in colour and brightness the
twenty-seventh nebula of the _Connoissance des Temps_, with the
difference, however, of being round. I suspect it to be a comet; but a
haziness coming on, it was not possible entirely to satisfy myself as
to its motion till this evening. I made several drawings of the stars
in the field of view with it, and have inclosed a copy of them, with my
observations annexed, that you may compare them together.
“August 1, 1786, 9h. 50′. The object in the centre is like a star out
of focus, while the rest are perfectly distinct, and I suspect it to be
a comet. Tab. 1., fig. 1.
“10h. 33′, fig. 2. The suspected comet makes now a perfect isosceles
triangle with the two stars, A and B.
“11h. 8′. I think the situation of the comet is now as in fig. 3; but
it is so hazy that I cannot sufficiently see the small star to be
assured of the motion.
“By the naked eye the comet is between the 54th and 53rd Ursæ Majoris,
and the 14th, 15th, and 16th Comæ Berenices, and makes an obtuse
triangle with them, the vertex of which is turned towards the south.
“August 2, 10h. 9′. The comet is now, with respect to the stars A and
B, situated as in fig. 4. Therefore the motion since last night is
evident.
“10h. 30′. Another considerable star, C, may be taken into the field
with it, by placing A in the centre; when the comet and the other star
will both appear in the circumference, as in fig. 5.
“These observations were made with a Newtonian sweeper of 27 inches
focal length, and power of about 20. The field of view is 2° 12′. I
cannot find the stars A and C in any catalogue, but I suppose they may
easily be traced in the heavens; whence the situation of the comet, as
it was last night at 10h. 33′, may be pretty nearly ascertained.
“You will do me the favour of communicating these observations to my
brother’s astronomical friends.
“I have the honour to be, etc.,
“CAROLINE HERSCHEL.
“SLOUGH, NEAR WINDSOR, _August 2, 1786_.”
Many also of the nebulæ contained in Sir W. Herschel’s catalogues were
detected by her. Indeed the unconquerable industry of the sister
challenges our admiration quite as much as the intellectual power of
the brother.
_WORKS ON ASTRONOMY._
We shall not attempt fully to discuss Miss Herschel’s astronomical
works. Indeed her labours are so intimately connected with, and are
generally so dependent upon, those of her illustrious brother, that an
investigation of the latter is absolutely necessary before we can form
the most remote idea of the extent of the former. In 1798 she completed
“A catalogue of 561 Stars from Flamsteed’s Observations,” contained in
the “Historia Cælestis,” but which had escaped the notice of those who
framed the “British Catalogue.” For this valuable work which was
published, together with a general index of reference to every
observation of every star inserted in the “British Catalogue,” at the
expense of the Royal Society, in one volume, her brother wrote an
introduction. To the utility of these volumes in subsequent researches,
Mr. Baily, in the life of Flamsteed, bears ample testimony.
She moreover finished, in 1828, the reduction and arrangement of 2500
nebulæ to the 1st of January, 1800, presenting in one view the results
of all Sir William Herschel’s observations on those bodies; and thus
bringing to a close half a century spent in astronomical labour,
probably unparalleled either in magnitude or importance. But to deliver
an eulogy upon her memory is not our purpose. Suffice it to say that
her name will live even when the time comes that the astronomical
celebrity of a woman will not by the mere circumstance of sex excite
the slightest remark.
_CHARACTER OF MISS HERSCHEL._
The physical constitution of Miss Herschel was good. At Slough her
exertions seem to have been overpowering. Instead of passing the night
in repose, she was constantly with her illustrious brother,
participating in his toils, braving with him the inclemency of the
weather, and co-operating towards his triumphs. According to the best
of authorities she took down notes of the observations as they fell
from his lips; conveyed the rough manuscripts to her cottage at the
dawn of day; and produced a fair copy of the night’s work on the
subsequent morning. One would have said that such toils would have
shortened her life, but she lived to be very old, and till within a
short period of her death, her health continued uninterrupted.
Her intellect was of a supreme order. The physico-perceptive faculties
were immensely developed, and these, combined with a strong and active
temperament, delight and excel in natural science, see and survey
nature in all her operations, and confer a talent for acquiring
scientific knowledge. Causality was amply developed in Miss Herschel,
and her talents form an excellent sample of the cast of mind it
imparts. She will be remembered as long as astronomical records of the
last and present century are preserved.
The moral feelings were strong in Miss Herschel. She disapproved of all
violence, irreverence, and injustice. None knew better than she that
love is the just debt due to every human being, and the discipline
which God has ordained to prepare us for heaven. Hence she was civil
and obliging, free from jealousy, dissimulation, and envy. In a word,
she possessed a noble disposition.
_SECTION II.—JANE ANN TAYLOR_ [_JANET TAYLOR_].
“We believe that she was as gentle and simple in herself, as she was
deeply versed in the abstruse science which she professed. Perhaps some
surviving relative or friend may be able to throw light on the life and
labours of one who was as extraordinary from her acquirements of
knowledge as from her social reticence.”
Y.L.Y., in _The Athenæum_.
_NAVIGATION._
It is remarkable that women have, in a great number of instances, been
distinguished by merits the most opposite to their imaginary and
conventional character. The first use of ships as distinguished from
boats appears to have been by the early Egyptians, who are believed to
have reached the western coast of India, besides navigating the
Mediterranean. But whatever may have been their prowess upon the waves,
they were soon eclipsed by the citizens of Tyre, who, to compensate for
the unproductiveness of their small territory, laid the sea under
tribute, and made their city the great emporium of Eastern and European
trade. The Greek states gradually developed the art of navigation, and
at the time of the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians seem to have been
skilful conductors of vessels at sea. Rome next manifested maritime
daring. Time rolled on and the Saxon, Jutish, and Norse prows began to
roam the ocean in every direction. The Norsemen extended their voyages
to Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland. The sea had no terrors for
these hardy rovers. The introduction of the mariner’s compass made the
sailor independent of sun and stars; and the discovery of the variation
of the compass rendered navigation more secure. The two first treatises
on systematic navigation appeared in Spain, one by Pedro de Medina, the
other by Martin Cortes. These were speedily translated into French,
Dutch, English, etc., and for many years served as the text-books of
practical navigation. It would be tedious to enumerate the successive
improvements in the science of navigation; suffice it to say, that for
its present high perfection, it is under some obligation to female
intellect.
_BIOGRAPHY._
Jane Ann Jonn, was born on the 13th of May, 1804, at Wolsingham, a
market town and parish in the county of Durham, and about thirteen
miles from that ancient and celebrated city. She was the fourth
daughter of the Rev. Peter Jonn and Jane Deighton, his wife. Her father
was curate of Wolsingham, and head master of the grammar school.
When about ten years of age, she got an appointment to Queen
Charlotte’s school, at Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, a small town
pleasantly situated, partly upon, and partly between two gentle
acclivities, forty miles from London. The establishment being very
select, and the other girls much older, she became a great favourite
with them, and learned much from them. When the very plain, but rigidly
virtuous queen, died at Kew, on the 17th of November, 1818, Miss Jonn,
was sent by her father to a boarding-school conducted by Mr. and Mrs.
Stables, at Hendon, near the village of Hampstead, Middlesex. Here she
assisted in teaching, as well as received lessons from various masters;
and whilst a certain amount of seclusion was secured by a suburban
residence, London was close at hand: the working London with its
inspiring life.
However well this boarding-school was carried on, we have no reason to
believe that it made Miss Jonn a learned woman. Female education then,
and sometimes even now, is simply a little outside polish. It does not
teach to think; it does not develope mind; it does not confer power; it
does not form character; it does not do anything to mould girls into
the noblest types of womanhood.
After leaving the quiet retreat at Hendon, she was many years a
governess in the family of the Rev. Mr. Huntly, of Kimbolton, in
Huntingdonshire. This employment no doubt has recommendations, it
certainly has serious drawbacks; among those that are inevitable is the
effect of a lonely life on the governess. A great effort may be made to
treat her as one of the family, but she does not really belong to it;
and must spend the greater part of her time with young and immature
minds, only varied by unequal association with the parents or grown-up
brothers and sisters of her pupils. The society of her equals in age
and position is entirely wanting, and the natural tendency of such
mental solitude is to produce childishness, angularity, and
narrow-mindedness. It must be a strong character indeed which can do
without such wholesome trituration and the expansive influence of equal
companionship, and this is just what a governess cannot have. She is
moreover, always a bird of passage, and in this respect her position is
worse than that of a domestic servant, who, besides being better
remunerated and having the companionship of fellow-servants, may look
forward to remaining in one family for life.
About the year 1829, Miss Jonn left Kimbolton and went to London to
keep the house of one of her brothers. Soon after she went on a visit
to a sister at Antwerp. Without attempting to detail her impressions
concerning the numerous churches, convents, magnificent public
buildings, elaborate and extensive fortifications, and stately
antique-looking houses which line the older thoroughfares of that
exceedingly picturesque city; we may say that during that journey Mr.
George Taylor met her, and on the 1st of Feb., 1830, they were married
at the British Ambassador’s chapel, at the Hague. On their return to
London, Mrs. Taylor commenced teaching navigation, at 104, Minories. In
consequence of her singular abilities in that branch of science, she
gained the confidence and approval of the Board of Admiralty and the
Trinity Brethren, as well as several foreign powers. Her husband
meanwhile, was a manager for Sir Henry Meux, the well-known brewer,
which situation he held till his death in 1859. Instead of being a
burden to her five sons and one daughter, by means of her establishment
in the Minories she more than provided for her own wants.
The English nation may be slow in perceiving merit, but when perceived,
none appreciate it more highly. There is not an honour which we have to
bestow, which is not designed to be awarded to those who have proved
their title to it by steady worth. Mrs. Taylor began life with no
wealth and with no patronage from powerful friends. She was dependent
on her own efforts. When she enlarged her acquaintance beyond the
limits of her girlhood and youth, she did not encounter a cold and
unfriendly world, or find that those who had not before known her were
disposed to impede her progress, or to throw embarrassments in her
path. She came to London with but little experience, and with no such
reputation as to make success certain. But by a diligent and
irreproachable use of fine natural talents, she constructed her own
greatness, and manufactured her own fortune. It is a good thing that
even a woman may find many fields of usefulness, before which there is
not the tiniest wicket-gate; and we rejoice to know that many women
pursue in peace those paths to glory and gain that are already open to
them.
Mrs. Taylor had the honour of being presented to King William and Queen
Adelaide, whose amiable disposition and habitual beneficence made her a
great favourite with the British nation. She had also the offer of a
situation as reader to our present queen. But as the salary was small,
and the attendance on her majesty was likely to interfere with her
family and scientific arrangements, it was declined. In this decision,
Edward Maltby, D.D., then Bishop of Durham concurred, and at the first
meeting of the British Association held in Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1838,
made honourable mention of her. At the world’s great assembly in 1851,
she exhibited an ingeniously contrived little instrument—a quadrant
and sextant—which the queen graciously accepted for the Prince of
Wales. Mrs. Taylor received a medal from the King of the Netherlands,
also in 1860 a very complimentary letter from the present pope, Pius
IX., with a medal.
On the accession of Queen Victoria, £1200 was intrusted to her Majesty
for the payment of pensions to persons who have just claims on the
royal beneficence, or who, by their personal services to the crown, by
the performance of duties to the public, or by their useful discoveries
in science, and attainments in literature and the arts, have merited
the gracious consideration of their sovereign and the gratitude of
their country. In consequence of her valuable services in the fields of
science, Mrs. Taylor’s name was added to the civil list, and in 1862,
she disposed of her business at 104, Minories, and retired to
Camberwell Grove, on a pension of £50 per annum. Those who desolate
nations, stay the progress of arts, manufactures, knowledge,
civilization, benevolence, and religion; and sweep myriads of their
fellow-creatures, unprepared, into eternity, we load with titles and
treasures; and those who by their self-denying devotedness to the
investigation of truth, have conferred benefits upon mankind, and thus
deserved imperishable monuments, we reward with a pension of £50!
Though life with Mrs. Taylor was real and earnest, it was still in the
review like a dream, and she was brought somewhat suddenly to the point
where things seen lose all their importance, and things unseen become
the only realities. She spent the evening of life—an evening worthy of
the day, and beaming with the mild radiance that gave promise of a
glorious morning of immortality—in visiting her relatives and friends.
On the 15th of January, 1870, she went to Bishop-Aukland, a small town
in the middle of her native county of Durham, pleasantly situated on an
eminence, nearly 140 feet above the level of the plain; to spend a few
days with her brother-in-law, the Rev. T. Chester, at the vicarage of
St. Helen’s. The following week she was seized with bronchitis, and
gradually sank until she died on Wednesday morning, January the 26th,
in the sixty-sixth year of her age.
The death of Mrs. Taylor excited a degree of sympathy throughout the
north of England, in London, and indeed in many other parts of the
kingdom, that indicated how high and general was the esteem in which
she was held. The funeral took place on the Saturday. A select body of
relatives and friends assembled at the vicarage, St. Helen’s. As they
approached the vault of her brother-in-law, the company bared their
heads, while the body was committed to the ground, in the beautiful
language of the English ritual; and then bade reluctantly a long adieu
to one of the most distinguished of women.
“For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey
This pleasing anxious being e’er resigned?
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind?”
_PUBLICATIONS ON NAVIGATION._
The question _cui bono?_ to what practical end and advantage do your
researches tend? is one which the truly scientific mind can seldom hear
without a sense of humiliation. There is a lofty and disinterested
pleasure in such pursuits which ought to exempt them from such
questioning. Endowed with great capacity and relish for intellectual
pursuits, Mrs. Taylor never made such an inquiry.
In 1846, her first work—“Directions for using the Planisphere of the
Stars, with Illustrative, and Explanatory Problems”—appeared,
accompanied by “A Planisphere of the Fixed Stars.” The _Morning Post_
said, “Though this work only professes to guide the learner to the
positions of the fixed stars, it is calculated to impart a good deal of
knowledge of astronomy, in a very simple and intelligible manner, and
in a very short time.” A second edition was published in 1847. “Diurnal
Register for Barometer, Sympresometer, Thermometer and Hygrometer; with
a few brief Remarks on the Instruments,” was issued about this time,
and dedicated by permission to Col. Sir William Reid, K.C.B., F.R.S.,
governor of Malta; a name that must ever be revered by those whose
“path is in the sea,” and whose associations and wanderings lead them
to cross the bosom of the mighty waters. This volume enables mariners
and others to mark the exact derivation and variation of the barometer,
etc., at any hour, by a single dot, and contains a brief description of
the different instruments, and the principles on which they are
constructed. It was characterised by the _Athenæum_, as “A useful work
with excellent directions,” and reached seven editions, or more. In
1851, the ninth edition of “An Epitome of Navigation and Nautical
Astronomy, with improved Lunar Tables,” was presented to the world.
This work is dedicated with heartfelt gratitude to the Hon. the Elder
Brethren of the Corporation of Trinity House, London. In this book the
tables familiar to the mariner are presented in a very much improved
shape; and the rules by which the young sailor is directed in the
attainment of that knowledge, which is indispensable to success in his
future career, are clearly laid down, and under each rule examples are
given. The organs of the day expressed their opinions in terms of the
highest eulogy. The _Liverpool Mail_ said, “Mrs. Taylor indeed merits
high praise, and we add national gratitude; she has removed the chief
difficulties which obscured the science of navigation. We have no
hesitation in saying, that here is the most complete treatise on
navigation which has ever been published.” In 1854, the seventh edition
of “Lunar and Horary Tables: with the shortest method of finding the
Longitude and the Time,” appeared. This work was highly recommended by
gentlemen well qualified to test its merits, and who could not be
affected by mere partialities. It gives a very simple, easy, and
accurate method of working the lunar problem. These learned and
laudable volumes were deposited in the library of the Vatican, in 1860.
The above are not all the writings of Mrs. Taylor, but they are amply
sufficient to prove that she was a mathematician of the first class.
Her logarithmic tables are correct and complete in no ordinary degree.
Such rare knowledge she did not gain from merely attending lectures on
the various subjects which her own taste led her to cultivate, or which
fell within her reach. Neither did she furnish her mind by the mere
reading of books. In both ways, or in either, it is true, much
information may be acquired; but still it may be knowledge only imposed
upon the mind, not received within it. Knowledge, to be useful, must be
attained by young and old, through an exercise of the reasoning power
which very quickly leads to a conviction that the learner is treading
upon firm ground. Between a woman who tests and tries every opinion and
principle subjected to her notice, and one who does not, there are no
points of comparison; the one may adopt false sentiments, but the other
cannot be said to have any sentiments at all, only a collection of
prejudices and predilections in their place.
_NAUTICAL AND MATHEMATICAL ACADEMY._
In comparing the achievements of the sexes, we must not forget that the
mind which has most dazzled or benefited the nations has received its
first instructions from a mother’s, and probably its last from a wife’s
lips. “Though the sinewy sex achieves enterprises on public theatres,
it is the nerve and sensibility of the other that arm the mind and
inflame the soul in secret. Everywhere man executes the performance,
but woman trains the man.” Mrs. Taylor exercised not only the influence
of a wife and a mother, but also that of a very efficient professional
teacher of male pupils. The conduct of a large academy for sailors may
seem to many an unsuitable employment for a woman; likely to injure,
and to a great extent destroy her beautiful nature. But it is certain
that Mrs. Taylor’s mind lost none of its refinement by the rude
associations with which it was brought into contact, while her great
administrative power enabled her to manage the establishment in an
admirable manner. There is a certain chivalry amongst the most
uncultivated men, when they know that they cannot be compelled to do a
thing by force, which will often make them yield. We have known a class
of unruly lads in a ragged school, utterly unamenable to the discipline
of a man, yield implicit obedience to a young woman, as a bad-tempered
horse is sometimes most easily guided by a female hand that is both
skilful and light.
Mrs. Taylor’s Nautical and Mathematical Academy, was under the
patronage of the Admiralty, Trinity House, East India House, and Kings
of Holland and Prussia. The upper schoolrooms were under the direction
of a highly qualified master, and devoted to the preparation of masters
and mates in the navy and merchant service; and the lower schoolrooms
were superintended by a mathematical master, and every care was taken
that the junior pupils should be progressively fitted for the highest
grade of examinations. She also undertook to place those pupils who had
no relations in town, under the care and superintendence of families,
where they received every domestic comfort and attention, when not
engaged in the academy. Terms, to be paid on entrance. A complete
course of navigation, including trigonometry, and its application to
navigation, £6 6_s._; a general course of navigation, £4 4_s._;
algebra, £2 2_s._; geometry, £2 2_s._; a course of algebra and
geometry, £3 3_s._; a practical course of astronomy, specially in
relation to navigation, £2 2_s._; physical geography, etc., £2 2_s._;
mechanics, etc., £2 2_s._ Also a general course, including the whole of
the above, on moderate terms. Nor was this all. Lectures illustrative
of these subjects were delivered in the upper schoolroom to those
studying in the academy, each of whom was at liberty to introduce a
friend.
_CHARACTER OF MRS. TAYLOR._
The fall, in a physiological sense, whatever may be said of the
theological dogma so termed, is no myth. The general lack of vigour,
especially in the female sex, might be quoted in evidence of its truth.
Miss Catherine E. Beecher, in her “Letters to the People,” says: “I am
not able to recall, in my immense circle of friends and acquaintances
all over the Union, so many as ten married ladies, born in this century
and in this country, who are perfectly sound, healthy, and vigorous.”
Mrs. Taylor was rather tall, somewhat slender, and a little defective
in muscular development. For many years she was subject to a disease of
very common occurrence in Great Britain. Her head was large, and in
perfect harmony with all its component parts. The brow broad, smooth,
and high, gave the face a pyriform appearance, which diminished
gradually as it descended, till it terminated in the delicate outline
of the chin.
Intellect was the constitutional guide of her entire being. An active
temperament and strong and evenly-balanced mental powers enabled her to
awaken the minds of her pupils, and to write what was worth perusal and
re-perusal. She spent much time and money and care on science. Her
quick perceptive faculties ranged the heavens, explored the earth, and
fathomed the sea, in search of facts, which her prominent reflective
powers enabled her to explain and apply, so as to accomplish
innumerable ends otherwise unattainable. A more quiet and singular
union of rare powers in a woman, than hers, does not occur to us.
Mrs. Taylor had not only a well-cultivated head, but what was better, a
healthy, affectionate, and loving heart. She had a lively moral sense
for perceiving right and wrong. Perhaps the greatest of her moral
attributes was charity. Enjoying only a moderate competence, and
obliged to make a decent appearance in life, she nevertheless gave
large sums to those from whom lover and friend were put far away, whose
harp was turned into mourning, and their organ into the voice of them
that weep.