AT CAMBRIDGE OBSERVATORY. FROM HIS TAKING
CHARGE OF THE CAMBRIDGE OBSERVATORY TO HIS
RESIDENCE AT GREENWICH OBSERVATORY AS ASTRONOMER
ROYAL.
FROM MARCH 15TH 1828 TO JAN. 1ST 1836.
1828
"I attended a meeting of the Board of Longitude on Apr. 3rd. And
again on June 4th; this was the last meeting: Sheepshanks had
previously given me private information of the certainty of its
dissolution.--On Apr. 4th I visited Mr Herschel at Slough, where one
evening I saw Saturn with his 20-foot telescope, the best view of it
that I have ever had.--In June I attended the Greenwich Observatory
Visitation.--Before my election (as Plumian Professor) there are
various schemes on my quires for computation of transit corrections,
&c. After Apr. 15th there are corrections for deficient wires,
inequality of pivots, &c. And I began a book of proposed regulations
for observations. In this are plans for groups of stars for R.A. (the
Transit Instrument being the only one finished): order of preference
of classes of observations: no reductions to be made after dinner, or
on Sunday: no loose papers: observations to be stopped if reductions
are two months in arrear: stars selected for parallax.--The reduction
of transits begins on Apr. 15th. On May 15th Mr Pond sent me some
moon-transits to aid in determining my longitude.--Dr Young, in a
letter to me of May 7th, enquires whether I will accept a free
admission to the Royal Society, which I declined. On May 9th I was
elected to the Astronomical Society.--Towards the end of the year I
observed Encke's Comet: and determined the latitude of the Observatory
with Sheepshanks's repeating circle.--On my papers I find a sketch of
an Article on the Figure of the Earth for the Encyclopaedia
Metropolitana.
"As early as Feb. 23rd I had been in correspondence with T. Jones, the
instrument-maker, about pendulums for a repetition of the Dolcoath
Experiments. Invitations had been received, and everything was
arranged with Whewell. Sheepshanks, my brother, and Mr Jackson of
Ipswich (Caius Coll.) were to go, and we were subsequently joined by
Sedgwick, and Lodge (Magdalene Coll.). On July 3rd Sheepshanks and I
started by Salisbury, taking Sherborne on our way to look at the
church, which had alarmed the people by signs of a crack, and arrived
at Camborne on July 8th. On the 14th we set up the pendulums, and at
once commenced observations, our plan being, to have no intermission
in the pendulum observations, so that as soon as the arc became too
small a fresh series was started. On July 29th we raised the
instruments, and Sheepshanks, who managed much of the upper
operations, both astronomical and of pendulums, mounted the pendulums
together in his observatory. We went on with our calculations, and on
August 8th, on returning from a visit to John Williams at Barncoose,
we heard that there was a 'run' in Dolcoath, that is a sinking of the
whole mass of rock where it had been set free by the mine excavations:
probably only a few inches, but enough to break the rock much and to
stop the pumps. On Aug. 10th the calculations of our observations
shewed that there was something wrong, and on the 13th I perceived an
anomaly in the form of the knife edge of one pendulum, and of its
agate planes, and suggested cautions for repeating the observations.
We determined at once to repeat them: and as the water was rising in
the mine there was no time to be lost. We again sent the instruments
down, and made observations on the 16th, 17th and 18th. On the 19th I
sent the instruments up, for the water was near our station, and
Sedgwick, Whewell, and I went on a geological expedition to the
Lizard. On our return we met Sheepshanks and the others, and found the
results of the last observations unsatisfactory. The results of
comparing the pendulums were discordant, and the knife edge of the
faulty pendulum had very sensibly altered. We now gave up
observations, with the feeling that our time had been totally lost,
mainly through the fault of the maker of the pendulum (T. Jones). On
the 28th we made an expedition to Penzance and other places, and
arrived at Cambridge on the 17th of September.
"In the course of the work at Dolcoath we made various expeditions as
opportunity offered. Thus we walked to Carn Brea and witnessed the
wrestling, the common game of the country. On another occasion
Sedgwick, Whewell, and I had a capital geological expedition to
Trewavas Head to examine granite veins. We visited at Pendarves and
Trevince, and made the expedition to the Lizard already referred to,
and saw many of the sights in the neighbourhood. After visiting
Penzance on the conclusion of our work we saw Cape Cornwall (where
Whewell overturned me in a gig), and returned homewards by way of
Truro, Plymouth (where we saw the watering-place and breakwater: also
the Dockyard, and descended in one of the working diving-bells),
Exeter, Salisbury, and Portsmouth. In returning from Camborne in 1826
I lost the principal of our papers. It was an odd thing that, in going
through Exeter on our way to Camborne in 1828, I found them complete
at Exeter, identified to the custodian by the dropping out of a letter
with my address.
"On my return to Cambridge I was immediately immersed in the work of
the Observatory. The only instrument then mounted at the Observatory
was the Transit. I had no Assistant whatever.--A Mr Galbraith of
Edinburgh had questioned something in one of my Papers about the
Figure of the Earth. I drew up a rather formal answer to it: Whewell
saw my draft and drew up a much more pithy one, which I adopted and
sent to the Philosophical Magazine.--For comparing our clocks at the
upper and lower stations of Dolcoath we had borrowed from the Royal
Observatory, Greenwich, six good pocket chronometers: they were still
in the care of Mr Sheepshanks. I arranged with him that they should be
sent backwards and forwards a few times for determining the longitude
of Cambridge Observatory. This was done on Oct. 21st, 22nd, 23rd: the
result was 23°54, and this has been used to the present time
(1853). It evinced an error in the Trigonometrical Survey, the origin
of which was found, I think, afterwards (Dr Pearson in a letter of
Dec. 17th spoke of the mistake of a may-pole for a signal-staff). I
drew up a Paper on this, and gave it to the Cambridge Philosophical
Society on Nov. 24th. (My only academical Paper this year.)--I had
several letters from Dr Young, partly supplying me with calculations
that I wanted, partly on reform or extension of the Nautical Almanac
(which Dr Young resisted as much as possible). He considered me very
unfairly treated in the dissolution of the Board of Longitude:
Professor Lax wished me to join in some effort for its restoration,
but I declined.
"As my reduction of observations was kept quite close, I now began to
think of printing. In regard to the form I determined to adopt a plan
totally different from that of any other observations which I had
seen. The results were to be the important things: I was desirous of
suppressing the separate wires of transits. But upon consulting
Herschel and other persons they would not agree to it, and I assented
to keeping them. I applied to the Press Syndicate to print the work,
and on Nov. 10th at the request of T. Musgrave (afterwards Archbishop
of York) I sent a specimen of my MS.: on Nov. 11th they granted 250
copies, and the printing soon commenced."
1829
"During a winter holiday at Playford I wrote out some investigations
about the orbits of comets, and on Jan. 23rd 1829 I returned to
Cambridge. The Smith's Prize Examination soon followed, in which I set
a Paper of questions as usual. On Feb. 18th I made notes on
Liesganig's geodetic work at the British Museum.
"I was naturally anxious now about the settlement of my salary and of
the Observatory establishment. I do not know when the Syndicate made
their Report, but it must have been in the last term of 1828. It
recommended that the salary should be annually made up (by Grace) to
_£500_: that an Assistant should be appointed with the assent of the
Vice-Chancellor and dismissable by the Plumian Professor: and that a
Visiting Syndicate should be appointed, partly official and partly of
persons to be named every year by Grace. The Grace for adopting this
Report was to be offered to the Senate on Feb. 27th. The passing of
the Grace was exposed to two considerable perils. First, I found out
(just in time) that a Senior Fellow of Trinity (G.A. Browne) was
determined to oppose the whole, on account of the insignificant clause
regarding dismissal of Assistants, which he regarded as tyrannical. I
at once undertook that that clause should be rejected. Secondly, by
the absurd constitution of the 'Caput' at Cambridge, a single M.A. had
the power of stopping any business whatever, and an M.A. actually
came to the Senate House with the intention of throwing out all the
Graces on various business that day presented to the Senate. Luckily
he mistook the hour, and came at 11 instead of 10, and found that all
were dispatched. The important parts of the Grace passed without any
opposition: but I mustered some friends who negatived that part which
had alarmed G.A. Browne, and it was corrected to his satisfaction by a
new Grace on Mar. 18th. I was now almost set at rest on one of the
great objects of my life: but not quite. I did not regard, and I
determined not to regard, the addition to my salary as absolutely
certain until a payment had been actually made to me: and I carefully
abstained, for the present, from taking any steps based upon it. I
found for Assistant at the Observatory an old Lieutenant of the Royal
Navy, Mr Baldrey, who came on Mar. 16.
"On May 4th I began lectures: there were 32 names. The Lectures were
improving, especially in the optical part. I do not find note of the
day of termination.--I do not know the actual day of publication of my
first small volume of Cambridge Observations, 1828, and of
circulation. The date of the preface is Apr. 27th 1829. I have letters
of approval of it from Davies Gilbert, Rigaud, and Lax. The system
which I endeavoured to introduce into printed astronomical
observations was partially introduced into this volume, and was
steadily improved in subsequent volumes. I think that I am justified,
by letters and other remarks, in believing that this introduction of
an orderly system of exhibition, not merely of observations but of the
steps for bringing them to a practical result--quite a novelty in
astronomical publications--had a markedly good effect on European
astronomy in general.--In Feb. and March I have letters from Young
about the Nautical Almanac: he was unwilling to make any great change,
but glad to receive any small assistance. South, who had been keeping
up a series of attacks on Young, wrote to me to enquire how I stood in
engagements of assistance to Young: I replied that I should assist
Young whenever he asked me, and that I disapproved of South's
course.--The date of the first visitation of the (Cambridge)
Observatory must have been near May 11th: I invited South and Baily to
my house; South and I were very near quarrelling about the treatment
of Young.--In a few days after Dr Young died: I applied to Lord
Melville for the superintendence of the Nautical Almanac: Mr Croker
replied that it devolved legally upon the Astronomer Royal, and on May
30th Pond wrote to ask my assistance when I could give any. On June
6th I was invited to the Greenwich Visitation, to which I believe I
went on the 10th.
"I had long desired to see Switzerland, and I wished now to see some
of the Continental Observatories. I was therefore glad to arrange with
Mr Lodge, of Magdalene College (perhaps 10 years senior to myself), to
make a little tour. Capt. W.H. Smyth and others gave me
introductions. I met Lodge in London, and we started for Calais on
July 27th 1829. We visited a number of towns in Belgium (at Brussels I
saw the beginning of the Observatory with Quetelet), and passed by
Cologne, Frankfort, Fribourg, and Basle to Zurich. Thus far we had
travelled by diligence or posting: we now procured a guide, and
travelled generally on foot. From the 13th to the 31st August we
travelled diligently through the well-known mountainous parts of
Switzerland and arrived at Geneva on the 31st August. Here I saw
M. Gautier, M. Gambard, and the beginning of the Observatory. Mr
Lodge was now compelled to return to Cambridge, and I proceeded alone
by Chambéry to Turin, where I made the acquaintance of M. Plana and
saw the Observatory. I then made a tour through north Italy, looking
over the Observatories at Milan, Padua, Bologna, and Florence. At
Leghorn I took a passage for Marseille in a xebeque, but after sailing
for three days the weather proved very unfavourable, and I landed at
Spezia and proceeded by Genoa and the Cornici Road to Marseille. At
Marseille I saw M. Gambart and the Observatory, and passed by Avignon,
Lyons, and Nevers to Orléans, where I visited my old host
M. Legarde. Thence by Paris, Beauvais, and Calais to London and
Cambridge, where I arrived on the 30th October. I had started with
more than _£140_ and returned with _2s. 6d_. The expedition was in
many ways invaluable to me.
"On my return I found various letters from scientific men: some
approving of my method for the mass of the Moon: some approving highly
of my printed observations, especially D. Gilbert, who informed me
that they had produced good effect (I believe at Greenwich), and
Herschel.--On Nov. 13th I gave the Royal Astronomical Society a Paper
about deducing the mass of the Moon from observations of Venus: on
Nov. 16th a Paper to the Cambridge Philosophical Society on a
correction to the length of a ball-pendulum: and on Dec. 14th a Paper
on certain conditions under which perpetual motion is possible.--The
engravings for my Figure of the Earth in the Encyclopaedia
Metropolitana were dispatched at the end of the year. Some of the
Paper (perhaps much) was written after my return from the
Continent.--I began, but never finished, a Paper on the form of the
Earth supposed to be projecting at middle latitudes. In this I refer
to the printed Paper which Nicollet gave me at Paris. I believe that
the investigations for my Paper in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana led
me to think the supposition unnecessary.--On Nov. 6th I was elected
member of the Geological Society.
"On Nov. 16th 1829 notice was given of a Grace to authorize payment to
me of _£157. 9s. 1d._, in conformity with the regulations adopted on
Feb. 27th, and on Nov. 18th the Grace passed the Senate. On Nov. 19th
the Vice-Chancellor wrote me a note enclosing the cheque. On Nov. 23rd
(practically the first day on which I could go) I went to London and
travelled to Edensor, where I arrived on the 26th. Here I found
Richarda Smith, proposed to her, and was accepted. I stayed there a
few days, and returned to Cambridge."
1830
"On Jan. 25th 1830 the Smith's Prize Paper was prepared. I was (with
my Assistant, Mr Baldrey) vigorously working the Transit Instrument
and its reductions, and gradually forming a course of proceeding which
has had a good effect on European Astronomy. And I was preparing for
my marriage.
"On Mar. 11th I started with my sister to London, and arrived at
Edensor on the afternoon of the 14th. On the 17th I started alone for
Manchester and Liverpool. Through Mr Mason, a cotton-spinner at
Calver, near Edensor, I had become acquainted with Mr John Kennedy of
Manchester, and I had since 1824 been acquainted with Dr Traill of
Liverpool. Amongst other things, I saw the works of the Manchester and
Liverpool Railway, then advancing and exciting great interest, and saw
George Stephenson and his son. On Mar. 24th I was married to Richarda
Smith by her father in Edensor. We stopped at Edensor till Apr. 1st,
and then started in chaises by way of Newark and Kettering (where we
were in danger of being stopped by the snow), and arrived at Cambridge
on Apr. 3rd.
"I was now busy in preparing for lectures, especially the part of the
optical lectures which related to the theory of interferences and
polarization. I think it was now that my wife drew some of my lecture
pictures, exhibiting interference phenomena. My lectures began on
Apr. 26th and finished on May 24th. The number of names was 50. They
were considered an excellent course of lectures.
"May 9th is the date of my Preface to the 1829 Observations: all was
then printed. Apparently I did not go to the Visitation of the
Greenwich Observatory this year.--I was at this time pressing Tulley,
the optician, about an object-glass for the Mural Circle.--A new
edition of my 'Tracts' was wanted, and I prepared to add a Tract on
the Undulatory Theory of Light in its utmost extent. The Syndicate of
the University Press intimated through Dr Turton that they could not
assist me (regarding the book as a second edition). On July 10th I
have some negociation about it with Deighton the bookseller.--On May
18th I have a note from Whewell about a number of crystals of
plagiedral quartz, in which he was to observe the crystalline
indication, and I the optical phenomena.--The Report of the Syndicate
for visiting the Observatory is dated June 18th: it is highly
laudatory.--The Proctor (Barnard of King's College) requested me to
name the Moderator for the next B.A. Examination: I named Mr Challis.
"On June 14th my wife and I went, in company with Professor and Mrs
Henslow, to London and Oxford; at Oxford we were received in
Christchurch College by Dr and Mrs Buckland. My wife and I then went
to Bedford to visit Capt. and Mrs Smyth, and returned to Cambridge on
the 23rd. On July 5th we went on a visit to my mother and uncle at
Playford. While there I took a drive with my uncle into some parts
near the valley of the Gipping, in which I thought that the extent of
the chalk was inadequately exhibited on Greenough's map, and
communicated my remarks to Buckland.
"I find letters from Dr Robinson and Col. Colby about determining
longitudes of certain observatories by fire signals: I proposed
chronometers as preferable. Also from Herschel, approving of my second
volume of observations: and from F. Baily, disclaiming the origination
of the attack on the old Nautical Almanac (with which I suppose I had
reproached him). On July 30th I received a summons from South to a
committee for improving the Nautical Almanac; and subsequently a
letter from Baily about Schumacher's taking offence at a passage of
mine in the Cambridge Observations, on the comparative merits of
Ephemerides, which I afterwards explained to his satisfaction.
"On Aug. 24th my wife and I started for Edensor, and after a short
stay there proceeded by Manchester to Cumberland, where we made many
excursions. We returned by Edensor, and reached Cambridge on Oct. 6th,
bringing my wife's sister Susanna on a visit. My mother had
determined, as soon as my intention of marriage was known to her, to
quit the house, although always (even to her death) entertaining the
most friendly feelings and fondness for my wife. It was also judged
best by us all that my sister should not reside with us as a settled
inhabitant of the house. They fixed themselves therefore at Playford
in the farm-house of the Luck's Farm, then in the occupation of my
uncle Arthur Biddell. On Oct. 21st I have a letter from my sister
saying that they were comfortably settled there.
"In this month of October (principally, I believe) I made some capital
Experiments on Quartz, which were treated mathematically in a Paper
communicated in the next year to the Cambridge Philosophical
Society. In some of these my wife assisted me, and also drew
pictures.--On Nov. 15th the Grace for paying me _£198. 13s. 8d._ to
make my income up to _£500_ passed the Senate.--I made three journeys
to London to attend committees, one a committee on the Nautical
Almanac, and one a Royal Society Committee about two southern
observatories.--On Dec. 31st I have a letter from Maclear (medical
practitioner and astronomer at Biggleswade) about occultations.--In
this December I had a quartz object-glass by Cauchaix mounted by
Dollond, and presented it to the Observatory.--In this December
occurred the alarm from agrarian fires. There was a very large fire at
Coton, about a mile from the Observatory. This created the most
extraordinary panic that I ever saw. I do not think it is possible,
without having witnessed it, to conceive the state of men's minds. The
gownsmen were all armed with bludgeons, and put under a rude
discipline for a few days."
1831
"On Jan. 4th I went with my wife, first to Miss Sheepshanks in London,
at 30, Woburn Place, and next to the house of my wife's old friend,
the Rev. John Courtney, at Sanderstead, near Croydon. I came to London
on one day to attend a meeting of the new Board of Visitors of the
Greenwich Observatory. Formerly the Board of Visitors consisted of the
Council of the Royal Society with persons invited by them (in which
capacity I had often attended). But a reforming party, of which
South, Babbage, Baily and Beaufort were prominent members, had induced
the Admiralty to constitute a new Board, of which the Plumian
Professor was a member. Mr Pond, the Astronomer Royal, was in a rather
feeble state, and South seemed determined to bear him down:
Sheepshanks and I did our best to support him. (I have various letters
from Sheepshanks to this purpose.)--On Jan. 22nd we returned to
Cambridge, and I set an Examination Paper for Smith's Prizes as
usual.--On Jan. 30th I have a letter from Herschel about improving
the arrangement of Pond's Observations. I believe that much of this
zeal arose from the example of the Cambridge Observations.
"On Feb. 21st my Paper 'On the nature of the light in the two rays of
Quartz' was communicated to the Philosophical Society: a capital piece
of deductive optics. On Mar. 2nd I went to London, I suppose to
attend the Board of Visitors (which met frequently, for the proposed
reform of Pond's Observations, &c.). As I returned on the outside of
the coach there occurred to me a very remarkable deduction from my
ideas about the rays of Quartz, which I soon tried with success, and
it is printed as an Appendix to the Paper above mentioned. On Mar. 6th
my son George Richard was born."
Miscellaneous matters in the first half of this year are as follows:
"Faraday sends me a piece of glass for Amici (he had sent me a piece
before).--On Apr. 9th I dispatched the Preface of my 1830
Observations: this implies that all was printed.--On Apr. 18th I began
my Lectures and finished on May 24th. There were 49 names. A very good
series of lectures.--I think it was immediately after this, at the
Visitation of the Cambridge Observatory, that F. Baily and Lieut.
Stratford were present, and that Sheepshanks went to Tharfield on the
Royston Downs to fire powder signals to be seen at Biggleswade (by
Maclear) and at Bedford (by Capt. Smyth) as well as by us at
Cambridge.--On May 14th I received _£100_ for my article on the Figure
of the Earth from Baldwin the publisher of the Encyclopaedia
Metropolitana.--I attended the Greenwich Visitation on June 3rd.--On
June 30th the Observatory Syndicate made their report: satisfactory.
"On July 6th 1831 I started with my wife and infant son for Edensor,
and went on alone to Liverpool. I left for Dublin on the day on which
the loss of the 'Rothsay Castle' was telegraphed, and had a bad
voyage, which made me ill during my whole absence. After a little stay
in Dublin I went to Armagh to visit Dr Robinson, and thence to
Coleraine and the Giant's Causeway, returning by Belfast and Dublin to
Edensor. We returned to Cambridge on Sept. 9th.
"Up to this time the Observatory was furnished with only one large
instrument, namely the 10-foot Transit. On Feb. 24th of this year I
had received from Thomas Jones (62, Charing Cross) a sketch of the
stone pier for mounting the Equatoreal which he was commissioned to
make: and the pier was prepared in the spring or summer. On Sept. 20th
part of the instrument was sent to the Observatory; other parts
followed, and Jones himself came to mount it. On Sept. 16th I received
Simms's assurance that he was hastening the Mural Circle.--In this
autumn I seriously took up the recalculation of my Long Inequality of
Venus and the Earth, and worked through it independently; thus
correcting two errors. On Nov. 10th I went to Slough, to put my Paper
in the hands of Mr Herschel for communication to the Royal
Society. The Paper was read on Nov. 24th.--This was the year of the
first Meeting of the British Association at York. The next year's
meeting was to be at Oxford, and on Oct. 17th I received from the
Rev. W. Vernon Harcourt an invitation to supply a Report on Astronomy,
which I undertook: it employed me much of the winter, and the
succeeding spring and summer.--The second edition of my Tracts was
ready in October. It contained, besides what was in the first edition,
the Planetary Theory, and the Undulatory Theory of Light. The Profit
was _£80_.--On Nov. 14th I presented to the Cambridge Philosophical
Society a Paper 'On a remarkable modification of Newton's Rings': a
pretty good Paper.--In November the Copley Medal was awarded to me by
the Royal Society for my advances in Optics.--Amongst miscellaneous
matters I was engaged in correspondence with Col. Colby and
Capt. Portlock about the Irish Triangulation and its calculation. Also
with the Admiralty on the form of publication of the Greenwich and
Cape Observations."
1832
"In January my Examination Paper for Smith's Prizes was prepared as
usual.--Two matters (in addition to the daily routine of Observatory
work) occupied me at the beginning of this year. One was the
translation of Encke's Paper in successive numbers of the
Astronomische Nachrichten concerning Encke's Comet; the University
Press printed this gratuitously, and I distributed copies, partly by
the aid of Capt. Beaufort.--The other was the Report on Astronomy for
the British Association, which required much labour. My reading for
it was principally in the University Library (possibly some in
London), but I borrowed some books from F. Baily, and I wrote to
Capt. Beaufort about the possible repetition of Lacaille's Meridian
Arc at the Cape of Good Hope. The Report appears to have been finished
on May 2nd.--At this time the Reform Bill was under discussion, and
one letter written by me (probably at Sheepshanks's request) addressed
I think to Mr Drummond, Lord Althorp's secretary, was read in the
House of Commons.
"Optics were not neglected. I have some correspondence with Brewster
and Faraday. On Mar. 5th I gave the Cambridge Philosophical Society a
Paper 'On a new Analyzer,' and on Mar. 19th one 'On Newton's Rings
between two substances of different refractive powers,' both Papers
satisfactory to myself.--On the death of Mr F. Fallows, astronomer at
the Cape of Good Hope Observatory, the Admiralty appointed Mr
Henderson, an Edinburgh lawyer, who had done some little things in
astronomical calculation. On Jan. 10th I discussed with him
observations to be made, and drew up his Official Instructions which
were sent on Jan. 10th.--On Feb. 16th Sir James South writes that
Encke's Comet is seen: also that with his 12-inch achromatic,
purchased at Paris, and which he was preparing to mount equatoreally,
he had seen the disk of Aldebaran apparently bisected by the Moon's
limb.--Capt. Beaufort and D. Gilbert write in March about instructions
to Dunlop, the astronomer at Paramatta. I sent a draft to
Capt. Beaufort on Apr. 27th.
"The Preface to my 1831 Observations is dated Mar. 20th. The
distribution of the book would be a few weeks later.--On May 7th I
began my Lectures: 51 names: I finished on May 29th.--The mounting of
the Equatoreal was finished some time before the Syndicate Visitation
at the end of May, but Jones's charge appeared to be exorbitant: I
believe it was paid at last, but it was considered unfair.--On June
2nd I went to London: I presume to the Greenwich Visitation.--I went
to Oxford to the meeting of the British Association (lodging I think
with Prof. Rigaud at the Observatory) on June 16th, and read part of
my Report on Astronomy in the Theatre.
"On June 26th I started with my wife for the Highlands of
Scotland. After a short stay at Edensor, we went by Carlisle to
Glasgow, and through the Lake District to Inverness. Thence by
Auchnanault to Balmacarra, where we were received by Mr
Lillingstone. After an expedition in Skye, we returned to Balmacarra,
and passed on to Invermoriston, where we were received by Grant of
Glenmoriston. We then went to Fort William and Oban, and crossed over
to Mull, where we were received by Maclean of Loch Buy. We returned to
Oban and on to Edinburgh, where we made a short stay. Then to Melrose,
where we were received by Sir D. Brewster, and by Edensor to
Cambridge, where we arrived on Sept. 17th.
"I received (at Edinburgh I believe) a letter from Arago, writing for
the plans of our observing-room shutters.--Mr Vernon Harcourt wrote
deprecating the tone of my Report on Astronomy as related to English
Astronomers, but I refused to alter a word.--Sheepshanks wrote in
September in great anxiety about the Cambridge Circle, for which he
thought the pier ought to be raised: I would have no such thing, and
arranged it much more conveniently by means of a pit. On Oct. 9th
Simms says that he will come with the circle immediately, and Jones on
Sept. 29th says that he will make some alteration in the equatoreal:
thus there was at last a prospect of furnishing the Observatory
properly.--On Oct. 9th, I have Encke's thanks for the translation of
the Comet Paper.--One of the desiderata which I had pointed out in my
Report on Astronomy was the determination of the mass of Jupiter by
elongations of the 4th satellite: and as the Equatoreal of the
Cambridge Observatory was on the point of coming into use, I
determined to employ it for this purpose. It was necessary for the
reduction of the observations that I should prepare Tables of the
motion of Jupiter's 4th Satellite in a form applicable to computations
of differences of right-ascension. The date of my Tables is Oct. 3rd,
1832.--In October the Observatory Syndicate made their Report: quite
satisfactory.
"On Oct. 20th Sheepshanks wrote asking my assistance in the Penny
Cyclopaedia: I did afterwards write 'Gravitation' and 'Greenwich.'
--Capt. Beaufort wrote in November to ask my opinion on the
Preface to an edition of Groombridge's Catalogue which had been
prepared by H. Taylor: Sheepshanks also wrote; he had objected to
it. This was the beginning of an affair which afterwards gave me great
labour.--Vernon Harcourt writes, much offended at some terms which I
had used in reference to an office in the British Association.
"The Equatoreal mounting which Troughton and Simms had been preparing
for Sir James South's large telescope had not entirely succeeded. I
have various letters at this time from Sheepshanks and Simms, relating
to the disposition which Sir James South shewed to resist every claim
till compelled by law to pay it.--A general election of Members of
Parliament was now coming on: Mr Lubbock was candidate for the
University. On Nov. 27th I had a letter from Sedgwick requesting me to
write a letter in the newspapers in favour of Lubbock; which I did. On
Dec. 7th I have notice of the County voting at Newmarket on Dec. 18th
and 19th: I walked there to vote for Townley; he lost the election by
two or three votes in several thousands.
"The Mural Circle was now nearly ready in all respects, and it was
known that another Assistant would be required. Mr Richardson (one of
the Assistants of Greenwich Observatory) and Mr Simms recommended to
me Mr Glaisher, who was soon after appointed, and subsequently became
an Assistant at Greenwich.--On Dec. 24th I have a letter from Bessel
(the first I believe). I think that I had written to him about a
general reduction of the Greenwich Planetary Observations, using his
Tabulae Regiomontanae as basis, and that this was his reply approving
of it."
1833
"On Jan. 4th 1833 my daughter Elizabeth was born.--I prepared an
examination paper for Smith's Prizes as usual.--On Jan. 5th I received
notice from Simms that he had received payment (_£1050_) for the Mural
Circle from the Vice-Chancellor. About this time the Circle was
completely made serviceable, and I (with Mr Glaisher as Assistant)
immediately began its use. A puzzling apparent defect in the circle
(exhibiting itself by the discordance of zenith points obtained by
reflection observations on opposite sides of the zenith) shewed itself
very early. On Feb. 4th I have letters about it from Sheepshanks and
Simms.--On Jan. 17th I received notice from F. Baily that the
Astronomical Society had awarded me their Medal for my long inequality
of Venus and the Earth: on Feb. 7th I went to London, I suppose to
receive the Medal.--I also inspected Sir J. South's telescope, then
becoming a matter of litigation, and visited Mr Herschel at Slough: on
Feb. 12th I wrote to Sir J. South about the support of the
instrument, hoping to remove one of the difficulties in the
litigation; but it produced no effect.--Herschel wrote to me, from
Poisson, that Pontécoulant had verified my Long Inequality.
"Mar. 12th is the date of the Preface to my 1832 volume of
Observations: it was of course distributed a few weeks later.--In my
Report on Astronomy I had indicated the Mass of Jupiter as a subject
requiring fresh investigation. During the last winter I had well
employed the Equatoreal in observing elongations in R.A. of the 4th
Satellite. To make these available it was necessary to work up the
theory carefully, in which I discovered some remarkable errors of
Laplace. Some of these, for verification, I submitted to Mr Lubbock,
who entirely agreed with me. The date of my first calculations of the
Mass of Jupiter is Mar. 1st: and shortly after that I gave an oral
account of them to the Cambridge Philosophical Society. The date of my
Paper for the Astronomical Society is April 12th. The result of my
investigations (which was subsequently confirmed by Bessel) entirely
removed the difficulty among Astronomers; and the mass which I
obtained has ever since been received as the true one.
"On Apr. 9th my wife's two sisters, Elizabeth and Georgiana Smith,
came to stay with me.--On Apr. 22nd I began lectures, and finished on
May 21st: there were 54 names. During the course of the lectures I
communicated a Paper to the Philosophical Society 'On the calculation
of Newton's experiments on Diffraction.'--I went to London on the
Visitation of the Greenwich Observatory: the dinner had been much
restricted, but was now made more open.--It had been arranged that the
meeting of the British Association was to be held this year at
Cambridge. I invited Sir David Brewster and Mr Herschel to lodge at
the Observatory. The meeting lasted from June 24th to 30th. We gave
one dinner, but had a breakfast party every day. I did not enter much
into the scientific business of the meeting, except that I brought
before the Committee the expediency of reducing the Greenwich
Planetary Observations from 1750. They agreed to represent it to the
Government, and a deputation was appointed (I among them) who were
received by Lord Althorp on July 25th. On Aug. 3rd Herschel announced
to me that _£500_ was granted.
"On Aug. 7th I started with my wife for Edensor. At Leicester we met
Sedgwick and Whewell: my wife went on to Edensor, and I joined
Sedgwick and Whewell in a geological expedition to Mount Sorrel and
various parts of Charnwood Forest. We were received by Mr Allsop of
Woodlands, who proved an estimable acquaintance. This lasted four or
five days, and we then went on to Edensor.--On Aug. 15th Herschel
wrote to me, communicating an offer of the Duke of Northumberland to
present to the Cambridge Observatory an object-glass of about 12
inches aperture by Cauchaix. I wrote therefore to the Duke, accepting
generally. The Duke wrote to me from Buxton on Aug. 23rd (his letter,
such was the wretched arrangement of postage, reaching Bakewell and
Edensor on the 25th) and on the 26th I drove before breakfast to
Buxton and had an interview with him. On Sept. 1st the Duke wrote,
authorizing me to mount the telescope entirely, and he subsequently
approved of Cauchaix's terms: there was much correspondence, but on
Dec. 28th I instructed Cauchaix how to send the telescope.--On our
return we paid a visit to Dr Davy, Master of Caius College, at
Heacham, and reached Cambridge on Oct. 8th.
"Groombridge's Catalogue, of which the editing was formally entrusted
to Mr Henry Taylor (son of Taylor the first-assistant of the Greenwich
Observatory), had been in some measure referred to Sheepshanks: and
he, in investigating the work, found reason for thinking the whole
discreditable. About May he first wrote to me on his rising quarrel
with H. Taylor, but on Sept. 7th he found things coming to a crisis,
and denounced the whole. Capt. Beaufort the Hydrographer (in whose
office this matter rested) begged me with Baily to decide upon it. We
did not at first quite agree upon the terms of investigation &c., but
after a time all was settled, and on Oct. 4th the Admiralty formally
applied, and I formally accepted. Little or nothing had been done by
Mr Baily and myself, when my work was interrupted by illness.
"Sheepshanks had thought that something might be done to advance the
interests of myself or the Observatory by the favour of Lord Brougham
(then Lord Chancellor), and had urged me to write an article in the
Penny Cyclopaedia, in which Lord Brougham took great interest. I chose
the subject 'Gravitation,' and as I think wrote a good deal of it in
this Autumn: when it was interrupted by my illness.
"On Dec. 9th 1833, having at first intended to attend the meeting of
the Philosophical Society and then having changed my mind, I was
engaged in the evening on the formulae for effects of small errors on
the computation of the Solar Eclipse of 1833. A dizziness in my head
came on. I left off work, became worse, and went to bed, and in the
night was in high fever with a fierce attack of scarlet fever. My wife
was also attacked but very slightly. The first day of quitting my
bedroom was Dec. 31st. Somewhere about the time of my illness my
wife's sister, Susanna Smith, who was much reduced in the summer, died
of consumption.
"Miscellaneous notes in 1833 are as follows: Henderson (at the Cape)
could not endure it much longer, and on Oct. 14th Stratford writes
that Maclear had just sailed to take his place: Henderson is candidate
for the Edinburgh Observatory.--Stratford writes on Dec. 2nd that the
Madras observations have come to England, the first whose arrangement
imitates mine.--On Nov. 3rd Herschel, just going to the Cape,
entrusted to me the revisal of some proof sheets, if necessary:
however it was never needed.--In November I sat for my portrait to a
painter named Purdon (I think): he came to the house and made a good
likeness. A pencil portrait was taken for a print-seller (Mason) in
Cambridge: it was begun before my illness and finished after it.--I
applied through Sheepshanks for a copy of Maskelyne's Observations, to
be used in the Reduction of the Planetary Observations: and on
Dec. 24th (from my bedroom) I applied through Prof. Rigaud to the
Delegates of the Clarendon Press for a copy of Bradley's Observations
for the same. The latter request was refused. In October I applied to
the Syndics of the University Press for printed forms for these
Reductions: the Syndics agreed to grant me 12,000 copies."
1834
"On Jan. 11th 1834 I went with my wife to London for the recruiting of
my strength. We stayed at the house of our friend Miss Sheepshanks,
and returned on Feb. 13th.--I drew up a Paper of Questions for Smith's
Prizes, but left the whole trouble of examination and adjudication to
Professor Miller, who at my request acted for me.--While I was in
London I began to look at the papers relating to Groombridge's
Catalogue: and I believe that it was while in London that I agreed
with Mr Baily on a Report condemnatory of H. Taylor's edition, and
sent the Report to the Admiralty. The Admiralty asked for further
advice, and on Feb. 28th I replied, undertaking to put the Catalogue
in order. On Mar. 17th Capt. Beaufort sent me all the papers. Some
time however elapsed before I could proceed with it.
"There was in this spring a furious discussion about the admission of
Dissenters into the University: I took the Liberal side. On Apr. 30th
there was a letter of mine in the Cambridge newspaper.--On Apr. 14th I
began lectures, and finished on May 20th: there were 87 names.--My
'Gravitation' was either finished or so nearly finished that on Jan.
24th I had some conversation with Knight the publisher about printing
it. It was printed in the spring, and on Apr. 27th Sheepshanks sent a
copy of it to Lord Brougham. I received from Knight _£83. 17s. 1d._
for this Paper.--On May 10th I went to London, I believe to attend one
of the Soirées which the Duke of Sussex gave as President of the Royal
Society. The Duke invited me to breakfast privately with him the next
morning. He then spoke to me, on the part of the Government, about my
taking the office of Astronomer Royal. On May 19th I wrote him a
semi-official letter, to which reference was made in subsequent
correspondence on that subject.
"On May 12th my son Arthur was born.--In June the Observatory
Syndicate made a satisfied Report.--On June 7th I went to the
Greenwich Visitation, and again on June 14th I went to London, I
believe for the purpose of trying the mounting of South's telescope,
as it had been strengthened by Mr Simms by Sheepshanks's
suggestions. I was subsequently in correspondence with Sheepshanks on
the subject of the Arbitration on South's telescope, and my giving
evidence on it. On July 29th, as I was shortly going away, I wrote him
a Report on the Telescope, to be used in case of my absence. The
award, which was given in December, was entirely in favour of
Simms.--On July 23rd I went out, I think to my brother's marriage at
Ixworth in Suffolk.--On Aug. 1st I started for Edensor and Cumberland,
with my wife, sister, and three children: Georgiana Smith joined us at
Edensor. We went by Otley, Harrogate, Ripon, and Stanmoor to Keswick,
from whence we made many excursions. On Aug. 11th I went with Whewell
to the clouds on Skiddaw, to try hygrometers. Mr Baily called on his
way to the British Association at Edinburgh. On Sept. 10th we
transferred our quarters to Ambleside, and after various excursions we
returned to Edensor by Skipton and Bolton. On Sept. 19th I went to
Doncaster and Finningley Park to see Mr Beaumont's Observatory. On
Sept. 25th we posted in one day from Edensor to Cambridge.
"On Aug. 25th Mr Spring Rice (Lord Monteagle) wrote to me to enquire
whether I would accept the office of Astronomer Royal if it were
vacant. I replied (from Keswick) on Aug. 30th, expressing my general
willingness, stipulating for my freedom of vote, &c., and referring to
my letter to the Duke of Sussex. On Oct. 8th Lord Auckland, First Lord
of the Admiralty, wrote: and on Oct. 10th I provisionally accepted the
office. On Oct. 30th I wrote to ask for leave to give a course of
lectures at Cambridge in case that my successor at Cambridge should
find difficulty in doing it in the first year: and to this Lord
Auckland assented on Oct. 31st. All this arrangement was for a time
upset by the change of Ministry which shortly followed.
"Amongst miscellaneous matters, in March I had some correspondence
with the Duke of Northumberland about the Cauchaix Telescope. In
August I had to announce to him that the flint-lens had been a little
shattered in Cauchaix's shop and required regrinding: finally on
Dec. 17th I announced its arrival at Cambridge.--In the Planetary
Reductions, I find that I employed one computer (Glaisher) for 34
weeks.--In November the Lalande Medal was awarded to me by the French
Institut, and Mr Pentland conveyed it to me in December.--On March
14th I gave the Cambridge Philosophical Society a Paper, 'Continuation
of researches into the value of Jupiter's Mass.' On Apr. 14th, 'On the
Latitude of Cambridge Observatory.' On June 13th, 'On the position of
the Ecliptic,' and 'On the Solar Eclipse of 1833,' to the Royal
Astronomical Society. On Nov. 24th, 'On Computing the Diffraction of
an Object Glass,' to the Cambridge Society. And on Dec. 3rd, 'On the
Calculation of Perturbations,' to the Nautical Almanac: this Paper was
written at Keswick between Aug. 22nd and 29th.--I also furnished Mr
Sheepshanks with investigations regarding the form of the pivots of
the Cape Circle."
1835
"On Jan. 9th 1835 I was elected correspondent of the French Academy;
and on Jan. 26th Mr Pentland sent me _£12. 6s._, the balance of the
proceeds of the Lalande Medal Fund.--I prepared my Paper for Smith's
Prizes, and joined in the Examination as usual.
"There had been a very sudden change of Administration, and Sir
R. Peel was now Prime Minister as First Lord of the Treasury, and Lord
Lyndhurst was Lord Chancellor. On Jan. 19th I wrote to Lord
Lyndhurst, asking him for a Suffolk living for my brother William,
which he declined to give, though he remembered my application some
years later. Whether my application led to the favour which I shortly
received from the Government, I do not know. But, in dining with the
Duke of Sussex in the last year, I had been introduced to Sir R. Peel,
and he had conversed with me a long time, and appeared to have heard
favourably of me. On Feb. 17th he wrote to me an autograph letter
offering a pension of _£300_ per annum, with no terms of any kind, and
allowing it to be settled if I should think fit on my wife. I wrote
on Feb. 18th accepting it for my wife. In a few days the matter went
through the formal steps, and Mr Whewell and Mr Sheepshanks were
nominated trustees for my wife. The subject came before Parliament, by
the Whig Party vindicating their own propriety in having offered me
the office of Astronomer Royal in the preceding year; and Spring
Rice's letter then written to me was published in the Times, &c."
* * * * *
The correspondence relating to the pension above-mentioned is given
below, and appears to be of interest, both as conveying in very
felicitous terms the opinion of a very eminent statesman on the
general subject of such pensions, and as a most convincing proof of
the lofty position in Science which the subject of this Memoir had
then attained.
WHITEHALL GARDENS,
_Feb. 17 1835_.
SIR,
You probably are aware that in a Resolution voted by the House of
Commons in the last Session of Parliament, an opinion was expressed,
that Pensions on the Civil List, ought not thereafter to be granted by
the Crown excepting for the satisfaction of certain public claims,
among which those resting on Scientific or Literary Eminence were
especially mentioned.
I trust that no such Resolution would have been necessary to induce me
as Minister of the Crown fully to recognize the justice of such
claims, but I refer to the Resolution, as removing every impediment to
a Communication of the nature of that which I am about to make to you.
In acting upon the Principle of the Resolution in so far as the Claims
of Science are concerned, my _first_ address is made to you, and made
directly, and without previous communication with any other person,
because it is dictated exclusively by public considerations, and
because there can be no advantage in or any motive for indirect
communication.
I consider you to have the first claim on the Royal Favour which
Eminence in those high Pursuits to which your life is devoted, can
give, and I fear that the Emoluments attached to your appointment in
the University of Cambridge are hardly sufficient to relieve you from
anxiety as to the Future on account of those in whose welfare you are
deeply interested.
The state of the Civil List would enable me to advise the King to
grant a pension of three hundred pounds per annum, and if the offer be
acceptable to you the Pension shall be granted either to Mrs Airy or
yourself as you may prefer.
I beg you distinctly to understand that your acquiescence in this
Proposal, will impose upon you no obligation personal or political in
the slightest degree. I make it solely upon public grounds, and I ask
you, by the acceptance of it, to permit the King to give some slight
encouragement to Science, by proving to those who may be disposed to
follow your bright Example, that Devotion to the highest Branches of
Mathematical and Astronomical Knowledge shall not necessarily involve
them in constant solicitude as to the future condition of those, for
whom the application of the same Talents to more lucrative Pursuits
would have ensured an ample Provision.
I have the honor to be, Sir,
With true Respect and Esteem,
Your faithful Servant,
ROBERT PEEL.
_Mr Professor Airy,
&c., &c.,
Cambridge_.
OBSERVATORY, CAMBRIDGE,
_1835, Feb. 18_.
SIR,
I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of the 17th acquainting me
with your intention of advising the King to grant a pension of _£300_
per annum from the Civil List to me or Mrs Airy.
I trust you will believe that I am sensible of the flattering terms in
which this offer is made, and deeply grateful for the considerate
manner in which the principal arrangement is left to my choice, as
well as for the freedom from engagement in which your offer leaves
me. I beg to state that I most willingly accept the offer. I should
prefer that the pension be settled on Mrs Airy (by which I understand
that in case of her surviving me the pension would be continued to her
during her life, or in the contrary event would cease with her life).
I wish that I may have the good fortune to prove to the world that I
do not accept this offer without an implied engagement on my part. I
beg leave again to thank you for your attention, and to assure you
that the form in which it is conveyed makes it doubly acceptable.
With sincere respect I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your very faithful Servant,
G.B. AIRY.
_The Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart.,
First Lord of the Treasury, &c., &c._
WHITEHALL,
_Feb. 19th 1835_.
SIR,
I will give immediate directions for the preparation of the Warrant
settling the Pension on Mrs Airy--the effect of which will be, as you
suppose, to grant the Pension to her for her life. I assure you I
never gave an official order, which was accompanied with more
satisfaction to myself than this.
I have the honor to be, Sir.
Your faithful Servant,
ROBERT PEEL.
_Mr Professor Airy,
&c., &c.,
Cambridge_.
* * * * *
"On March 18th 1835 I started (meeting Sheepshanks at Kingstown) for
Ireland. We visited Dublin Observatory, and then went direct to
Markree near Sligo, to see Mr Cooper's telescope (our principal
object). We passed on our return by Enniskillen and Ballyjamesduff,
where my former pupil P. Morton was living, and returned on
Apr. 3rd.--On Apr. 20th I was elected to the Royal Society,
Edinburgh.--Apr. 22nd my wife wrote me from Edensor that her sister
Florence was very ill: she died shortly after.--On May 4th I began
lectures and finished on May 29th: there were 58 names.--My former
pupil Guest asks my interest for the Recordership of Birmingham.--In
June was circulated the Syndicate Report on the Observatory.--The date
of the Preface to the 1834 Observations is June 16th.
"The Ministry had been again changed in the spring, and the Whigs were
again in power. On June 11th Lord Auckland, who was again First Lord
of the Admiralty (as last year), again wrote to me to offer me the
office of Astronomer Royal, or to request my suggestions on the
filling up of the office. On June 15th I wrote my first reply, and on
June 17th wrote to accept it. On June 18th Lord Auckland acknowledges,
and on June 22nd the King approved. Lord Auckland appointed to see me
on Friday, June 23rd, but I was unwell. I had various correspondence
with Lord Auckland, principally about buildings, and had an
appointment with him for August 13th. As Lord Auckland was just
quitting office, to go to India, I was introduced to Mr Charles Wood,
the Secretary of the Admiralty, with whom principally the subsequent
business was transacted. At this meeting Lord Auckland and Mr Wood
expressed their feeling, that the Observatory had fallen into such a
state of disrepute that the whole establishment ought to be cleared
out. I represented that I could make it efficient with a good First
Assistant; and the other Assistants were kept. But the establishment
was in a queer state. The Royal Warrant under the Sign Manual was sent
on August 11th. It was understood that my occupation of office would
commence on October 1st, but repairs and alterations of buildings
would make it impossible for me to reside at Greenwich before the end
of the year. On Oct. 1st I went to the Observatory, and entered
formally upon the office (though not residing for some time). Oct 7th
is the date of my Official Instructions.
"I had made it a condition of accepting the office that the then First
Assistant should be removed, and accordingly I had the charge of
seeking another. I determined to have a man who had taken a
respectable Cambridge degree. I made enquiry first of Mr Bowstead
(brother to the bishop) and Mr Steventon: at length, consulting Mr
Hopkins (a well-known private tutor at Cambridge), he recommended to
me Mr Robert Main, of Queens' College, with whom I corresponded in the
month (principally) of August, and whom on August 30th I nominated to
the Admiralty. On Oct. 21st F.W. Simms, one of the Assistants (who
apparently had hoped for the office of First Assistant, for which he
was quite incompetent) resigned; and on Dec. 4th I appointed in his
place Mr James Glaisher, who had been at Cambridge from the beginning
of 1833, and on Dec. 10th the Admiralty approved.
"During this quarter of a year I was residing at Cambridge
Observatory, visiting Greenwich once a week (at least for some time),
the immediate superintendence of the Observatory being placed with Mr
Main. I was however engaged in reforming the system of the Greenwich
Observatory, and prepared and printed 30 skeleton forms for reductions
of observations and other business. On Dec. 14th I resigned my
Professorship to the Vice-Chancellor. But I continued the reduction of
the observations, so that not a single figure was left to my
successor: the last observations were those of Halley's Comet. The
Preface to my 1835 Cambridge Observations is dated Aug. 22nd, 1836.
"In regard to the Northumberland Telescope, I had for some time been
speculating on plans of mounting and enclosing the instrument, and had
corresponded with Simms, A. Biddell, Cubitt, and others on the
subject. On Apr. 24th Tulley the younger was endeavouring to adjust
the object-glass. On May 31st I plainly asked the Duke of
Northumberland whether he would defray the expense of the mounting and
building. On June 4th he assented, and money was placed at a banker's
to my order. I then proceeded in earnest: in the autumn the building
was erected, and the dome was covered before the depth of winter. I
continued in 1836 to superintend the mounting of the instrument.
"In regard to the Planetary Reductions: to July 11th J. Glaisher had
been employed 27 weeks, and from July 11th to Jan. 16th, 1836, 25
weeks. Mr Spring Rice, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, had promised
money, but no official minute had been made, and no money had been
granted. On Aug. 21st I applied to Mr Baring (Secretary of the
Treasury). After another letter he answered on Oct. 15th that he
found no official minute. After writing to Vernon Harcourt and to
Spring Rice, the matter was arranged: my outlay was refunded, and
another sum granted.--In regard to Groombridge's Observations, I find
that on Dec. 16th certain trial reductions had been made under my
direction by J. Glaisher.--I had attempted some optical experiments in
the summer, especially on the polarization of sky-light; but had been
too busy with the Observatory to continue them.
"In August my wife was in a critical state of health.--In December I
received information regarding merchant ships' chronometers, for which
I had applied to Mr Charles Parker of Liverpool.--On Dec. 8th Mr
Spring Rice and Lord John Russell offered me knighthood, but I
declined it.--On July 23rd I went into Suffolk with my wife's sisters
Elizabeth and Georgiana, and returned on August 3rd: this was all the
holiday that I got in this year.--On the 14th of August I saw Mr
Taylor, the Admiralty Civil Architect in London, and the extension of
buildings at Greenwich Observatory was arranged.--I made various
journeys to Greenwich, and on Dec. 17th, having sent off our
furniture, we all quitted the Cambridge Observatory, and stayed for
some days at the house of Miss Sheepshanks.
"Thus ended a busy and anxious year."
* * * * *
With reference to the offer of knighthood above-mentioned, Airy's
reply is characteristic, and the short correspondence relating to it
is therefore inserted.--The offer itself is an additional proof of the
high estimation in which he stood at this time.
DOWNING STREET,
_Dec. 8th 1835_.
MY DEAR SIR,
I have been in communication with my colleague Lord John Russell which
has made me feel rather anxious to have the pleasure of seeing you,
but on second thoughts it has occurred to me that the subject of my
communication would render it more satisfactory to you to receive a
letter than to pay a visit.
In testimony of the respect which is felt for your character and
acquirements, there would be every disposition to recommend you to His
Majesty to receive the distinction of Knighthood. I am quite aware
that to you individually this may be a matter of small concern, but to
the scientific world in general it will not be indifferent, and to
foreign countries it will mark the consideration felt for you
personally as well as for the position which you occupy among your
learned contemporaries.
From a knowledge of the respect and esteem which I feel for you Lord
John Russell has wished that the communication should be made through
me rather than through any person who had not the pleasure of your
acquaintance.
Pray let me hear from you and believe me my dear Sir, with compliments
to Mrs Airy,
Very truly yours,
T. SPRING RICE.
P.S.--It may be right to add that when a title of honor is conferred
on grounds like those which apply to your case, no fees or charges of
any kind would be payable.
OBSERVATORY, CAMBRIDGE,
_1835, Dec. 10th_.
MY DEAR SIR,
I beg to acknowledge your letter of the 8th, which I have received at
this place, conveying to me an intimation of the wish of His Majesty's
Ministers to recommend me to the King for the honor of Knighthood.
I beg to assure you that I am most sensible to the liberality which I
have experienced from the Government in other as well as in pecuniary
matters, and that I am very highly gratified by the consideration
(undeserved by me, I fear) which they have displayed in the present
instance. And if I now request permission to decline the honor offered
to me, I trust I may make it fully understood that it is not because I
value it lightly or because I am not anxious to receive honors from
such a source.
The unalterable custom of this country has attached a certain degree
of light consideration to titles of honor which are not supported by
considerable fortune; or at least, it calls for the display of such an
establishment as may not be conveniently supported by even a
comfortable income. The provision attached to my official situation,
and the liberality of the King towards one of the members of my
family, have placed me in a position of great comfort. These
circumstances however have bound me to consider myself as the devoted
servant of the country, and to debar myself from efforts to increase
my fortune which might otherwise have been open to me. I do not look
forward therefore to any material increase of income, and that which I
enjoy at present is hardly sufficient, in my opinion, to support
respectably the honor which you and Lord John Russell have proposed to
confer upon me. For this reason only I beg leave most respectfully to
decline the honor of Knighthood at the present time.
I have only to add that my services will always be at the command of
the Government in any scientific subject in which I can be of the
smallest use.
I am, my dear Sir,
Your very faithful Servant,
G.B. AIRY.
_The Right Honorable T. Spring Rice_.
* * * * *
"In brief revision of the years from 1827 to 1835 I may confine myself
to the two principal subjects--my Professorial Lectures, and my
Conduct of the Cambridge Observatory.
"The Lectures as begun in 1827 included ordinary Mechanics, ordinary
Hydrostatics and Pneumatics (I think that I did not touch, or touched
very lightly, on the subjects connected with the Hydraulic Ram), and
ordinary Optics (with a very few words on Polarization and
Depolarization). In 1828 the two first were generally improved, and
for the third (Optics) I introduced a few words on Circular
Polarization. I believe that it was in 1829 that I made an addition
to the Syllabus with a small engraving, shewing the interference of
light in the best practical experiment (that of the flat prism); and I
went thoroughly into the main points of the Undulatory Theory,
interference, diffraction, &c. In 1830 I believe I went (in addition
to what is mentioned above) into Polarization and Depolarization of
all kinds. My best lecture diagrams were drawn and painted by my
wife. The Lectures were universally pronounced to be valuable. The
subjects underwent no material change in 1831, 2, 3, 4, 5; and I
believe it was a matter of sincere regret to many persons that my
removal to Greenwich terminated the series. Each lecture nominally
occupied an hour. But I always encouraged students to stop and talk
with me; and this supplement was usually considered a valuable part of
the lecture. Practically the lecture, on most days, occupied two
hours. I enjoyed the Lectures much: yet I felt that the labour (in
addition to other work) made an impression on my strength, and I
became at length desirous of terminating them.
"The Observatory, when I took charge of it, had only one
instrument--the Transit-Instrument The principles however which I laid
down for my own direction were adapted to the expected complete
equipment, Planets (totally neglected at Greenwich) were to be
observed. Observations were to be reduced completely, and the
reductions were to be exhibited in an orderly way: this was a novelty
in Astronomy. I considered it so important that I actually proposed
to omit in my publication the original observations, but was dissuaded
by Herschel and others. I sometimes suspended, observations for a
short time, in order to obtain leisure for; the reductions. I had at
first no intention of correcting the places of the fundamental stars
as settled at Greenwich. But I found myself compelled to do so,
because they were not sufficiently accurate; and then I took the
course of observing and reducing as an independent observer, without
reference to any other observatory. I introduced the principle of not
correcting instrumental errors, but measuring them and applying
numerical corrections. I determined my longitude by chronometers, and
my latitude by a repeating circle borrowed from Mr Sheepshanks, which
I used so well that the result; was only half a second in error. The
form of my reductions in the published volume for 1828 is rather
irregular, but the matter is good: it soon attracted attention. In
1829 the process was much the same: I had an assistant, Mr Baldrey.
In 1830 still the same, with the additions:--that I formally gave the
corrections of relative right-ascension of fundamental stars (without
alteration of equinox, which I had not the means of obtaining) to be
used in the year 1831; and that I reduced completely the observed
occultations (with a small error, subsequently corrected). In 1831 the
system of correction of broken transits was improved: the errors of
assumed R.A. of Fundamental Stars were exhibited: Mean Solar Time was
obtained from Sidereal Time by time of Transit of [Symbol: Aries]
(computed by myself): the method of computing occultations was
improved. In 1832 the small Equatoreal was erected, and was soon
employed in observations of the elongation of the 4th Satellite of
Jupiter for determining the mass of Jupiter. The Mural Circle was
erected at the end of the year, but not used. The calculation of
R.A. of Fundamental Stars was made homogeneously with the others:
separate results of all were included in ledgers: a star-catalogue was
formed: all as to the present time (1871). With the Equatoreal the
difference of N.P.D. of Mars and stars was observed.
"With the beginning of 1833 the Mural Circle was established at work,
a second assistant (Mr Glaisher) was appointed, and the Observatory
might be considered complete. I made experiments on the graduations of
the Circle. I detected and was annoyed by the R--D. I determined the
latitude. I exhibited the separate results for N.P.D. of stars in
ledger, and their means in Catalogue. I investigated from my
observations the place of equinox and the obliquity of the ecliptic.
I made another series of observations of Jupiter's 4th Satellite, for
the mass of Jupiter. I observed the solar eclipse with the Equatoreal,
by a method then first introduced, which I have since used several
times at Cambridge and Greenwich with excellent effect. The Moon and
the Planets were usually observed till near two in the morning.
Correction for defective illumination applied when necessary.
The volume is very complete, the only deficiency being in
the observation of Moon and Planets through the severe morning
hours. In 1834 the only novelties are--examination of the graduations
of the declination circle of the Equatoreal (excessively bad):
observations of a spot on Jupiter for rotation, and of Mars and
stars. In 1835 (including January 1836) there is a more complete
examination of the Equatoreal graduations: parallax and refraction for
Equatoreal observations: a spot on Jupiter: a series of observations
on Jupiter's 4th Satellite for the mass of Jupiter: Mars and stars:
Halley's Comet (the best series of observations which could be made in
the season): and a short series of meteorological observations, on a
plan suggested by Sir John Herschel then at the Cape of Good Hope.
"I cannot tell precisely in which year I introduced the following
useful custom. Towards the end of each year I procured a pocket-book
for the following year with a space for every day, and carefully
examining all the sources of elements of observations, and determining
the observations to be made every day, I inserted them in the
pocket-book. This system gave wonderful steadiness to the plan of
observations for the next year. The system has been maintained in
great perfection at the Observatory of Greenwich. (The first of these
pocket-books which Prof. Adams has found is that for 1833.) Printed
skeleton forms were introduced for all calculations from 1828. In the
Greenwich Observatory Library there is a collection, I believe
complete, of printed papers commencing with my manifesto, and
containing all Syndicate Reports except for 1833 (when perhaps there
was none). It seems from these that my first written Report on
Observations, &c., was on May 30th, 1834. The first Syndicate Report
is on May 25th, 1829."
* * * * *
A few remarks on Airy's private life and friends during his residence
at Cambridge Observatory may be here appropriately inserted.
Amid the laborious occupations recorded in the foregoing pages, his
social life and surroundings appear to have been most pleasant and
congenial. At that period there were in residence in Cambridge, and
particularly at Trinity, a large number of very brilliant men. Airy
was essentially a Cambridge man. He had come up poor and friendless:
he had gained friends and fame at the University, and his whole work
had been done there. From the frequent references in after times both
by him and his wife to their life at Cambridge, it is clear that they
had a very pleasant recollection of it, and that the social gatherings
there were remarkably attractive. He has himself recorded that with
Whewell and Sedgwick, and his accomplished sisters-in-law, who were
frequently on long visits at the Observatory, they formed pretty
nearly one family.
His friendship with Whewell was very close. Although Whewell was at
times hasty, and rough-mannered, and even extremely rude, yet he was
generous and large-minded, and thoroughly upright. [Footnote: The
following passage occurs in a letter from Airy to his wife, dated
1845, Sept. 17th: "I am sorry that ---- speaks in such terms of the
'Grand Master,' as she used to be so proud of him: it is only those
who have _well_ gone through the ordeal of quarrels with him and
almost insults from him, like Sheepshanks and me, that thoroughly
appreciate the good that is in him: I am sure he will never want a
good word from me."] In power of mind, in pursuits, and interests,
Airy had more in common with Whewell than with any other of his
friends. It was with Whewell that he undertook the experiments at
Dolcoath: it was to Whewell that he first communicated the result of
his remarkable investigation of the Long Inequality of Venus and the
Earth; and some of his Optical researches were conducted jointly with
Whewell. Whewell took his degree in 1816, seven years before Airy, and
his reputation, both for mathematical and all-round knowledge, was
extremely and deservedly great, but he was always most generous in his
recognition of Airy's powers. Thus in a letter of Mar. 16th, 1823
(Life of William Whewell by Mrs Stair Douglas), he says, "Airy is
certainly a most extraordinary man, and deserves everything that can
be said of him"; and again in the autumn of 1826 he writes to his
aunt, "You mentioned a difficulty which had occurred to you in one of
your late letters; how Airy should be made Professor while I was here,
who, being your nephew, must of course, on that account, deserve it
better than he could. Now it is a thing which you will think odd, but
it is nevertheless true, that Airy is a better mathematician than your
nephew, and has moreover been much more employed of late in such
studies.... Seriously speaking, Airy is by very much the best person
they could have chosen for the situation, and few things have given me
so much pleasure as his election." How much Whewell depended upon his
friends at the Observatory may be gathered from a letter which he
wrote to his sister on Dec. 21st, 1833. "We have lately been in alarm
here on the subject of illness. Two very near friends of mine,
Prof. and Mrs Airy, have had the scarlet fever at the same time; she
more slightly, he very severely. They are now, I am thankful to say,
doing well and recovering rapidly. You will recollect that I was
staying with them at her father's in Derbyshire in the summer. They
are, I think, two of the most admirable and delightful persons that
the world contains." And again on Dec. 20th, 1835, he wrote to his
sister Ann, "My friends--I may almost say my dearest friends
--Professor Airy and his family have left Cambridge, he being
appointed Astronomer Royal at Greenwich--to me an irreparable loss;
but I shall probably go and see how they look in their new abode."
Their close intercourse was naturally interrupted by Airy's removal to
Greenwich, but their friendly feelings and mutual respect continued
without material break till Whewell's death. There was frequent
correspondence between them, especially on matters connected with the
conduct and teaching of the University, in which they both took a keen
interest, and a warm welcome at Trinity Lodge always awaited Mr and
Mrs Airy when they visited Cambridge. In a letter written to Mrs Stair
Douglas on Feb. 11th, 1882, enclosing some of Whewell's letters, there
occurs the following passage: "After the decease of Mrs Whewell,
Whewell wrote to my wife a mournful letter, telling her of his
melancholy state, and asking her to visit him at the Lodge for a few
days. And she did go, and did the honours of the house for several
days. You will gather from this the relation in which the families
stood." Whewell died on Mar. 6th, 1866, from the effects of a fall
from his horse, and the following extract is from a letter written by
Airy to Whewell's niece, Mrs Sumner Gibson, on hearing of the death of
his old friend:
"The Master was, I believe, my oldest surviving friend (beyond my own
family), and, after an acquaintance of 46 years, I must have been one
of his oldest friends. We have during that time been connected
privately and officially: we travelled together and experimented
together: and as opportunity served (but I need not say in very
different degrees) we both laboured for our College and University. A
terrible blank is left on my mind."
Sedgwick was probably 15 years older than Airy: he took his degree in
1808. But the astonishing buoyancy of spirits and bonhomie of Sedgwick
fitted him for all ages alike. He was undoubtedly the most popular man
in Cambridge in modern times. His ability, his brightness and wit, his
fearless honesty and uprightness, his plain-speaking and good humour,
rendered him a universal favourite. His close alliance with Airy was
much more social than scientific. It is true that they made some
geological excursions together, but, at any rate with Airy, it was far
more by way of recreation than of serious study, and Sedgwick's
science was entirely geological. Their friendship continued till
Sedgwick's death, though it was once or twice imperilled by Sedgwick's
impulsive and hasty nature.
Peacock took his degree in 1813 (Herschel's year), and was therefore
probably 10 years older than Airy. He was the earliest and staunchest
friend of Airy in his undergraduate years, encouraged him in every
possible way, lent him books, assisted him in his studies, helped him
with wise advice on many occasions, and took the greatest interest in
his success. He was a good and advanced mathematician, and with a
great deal of shrewdness and common-sense he united a singular
kindness and gentleness of manner. It is therefore not to be wondered
at that he was regarded by Airy with the greatest esteem and
affection, and though they were afterwards separated, by Peacock
becoming Dean of Ely and Airy Astronomer Royal, yet their warm
friendship was never broken. The following letter, written by Airy to
Mrs Peacock on receiving the news of the death of the Dean, well
expresses his feelings towards his old friend:
TRINITY LODGE, CAMBRIDGE,
_1858, Dec. 4_.
MY DEAR MADAM,
I have desired for some time to express to you my sympathies on
occasion of the sad bereavement which has come upon me perhaps as
strongly as upon any one not connected by family ties with my late
friend. But I can scarcely give you an idea how every disposable
moment of my time has been occupied. I am now called to Cambridge on
business, and I seize the first free time to write to you.
My late friend was the first person whom I knew in College (I had an
introduction to him when I went up as freshman). From the first, he
desired me to consider the introduction not as entitling me to a mere
formal recognition from him, but as authorizing me at all times to
call on him for any assistance which I might require. And this was
fully carried out: I referred to him in every difficulty: I had the
entire command of his rooms and library (a very important aid in
following the new course of mathematics which he had been so
instrumental in introducing into the University) in his occasional
absences: and in all respects I looked to him as to a parent. All my
debts to other friends in the University added together are not
comparable to what I owe to the late Dean.
Latterly I need not say that I owed much to him and that I owe much to
you for your kind notice of my two sons, even since the sad event
which has put it out of his power to do more.
In the past summer, looking to my custom of making a visit to
Cambridge in some part of the October Term, I had determined that a
visit to Ely this year should not depend on the chance of being free
to leave Cambridge, but that, if it should be found convenient to
yourself and the Dean, the first journey should be made to Ely. I
wish that I had formed the same resolution one or two years ago.
With many thanks for your kindness, and with deep sympathy on this
occasion,
I am,
My dear Madam,
Yours very faithfully,
G.B. AIRY.
Sheepshanks was a Fellow of Trinity, in orders: he was probably seven
years older than Airy (he took his degree in 1816). He was not one of
Airy's earliest friends, but he had a great taste and liking for
astronomy, and the friendship between them when once established
became very close. He was a very staunch and fearless friend, an able
and incisive writer, and remarkably energetic and diligent in
astronomical investigations. He, or his sister, Miss Sheepshanks, had
a house in London, and Sheepshanks was very much in London, and busied
himself extremely with the work of the Royal Observatory, that of the
Board of Longitude, and miscellaneous astronomical matters. He was
most hospitable to his friends, and while Airy resided at Cambridge
his house was always open to receive him on his frequent visits to
town. In the various polemical discussions on scientific matters in
which Airy was engaged, Sheepshanks was an invaluable ally, and after
Airy's removal to Greenwich had more or less separated him from his
Cambridge friends, Sheepshanks was still associated with him and took
a keen interest in his Greenwich work. And this continued till
Sheepshanks's death. The warmest friendship always subsisted between
the family at the Observatory and Mr and Miss Sheepshanks.
There were many other friends, able and talented men, but these four
were the chief, and it is curious to note that they were all much
older than Airy. It would seem as if Airy's knowledge had matured in
so remarkable a manner, and the original work that he produced was so
brilliant and copious, that by common consent he ranked with men who
were much his seniors: and the natural gravity and decorum of his
manners when quite a young man well supported the idea of an age
considerably greater than was actually the case.