"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.
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.
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 havewellgone 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.
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.
1836
"Through the last quarter of 1835 I had kept everything going on at the Greenwich Observatory in the same manner in which Mr Pond had carried it on. With the beginning of 1836 my new system began. I had already prepared 30 printed skeleton forms (a system totally unknown to Mr Pond) which were now brought into use. And, having seen the utility of the Copying Press in merchants' offices, I procured one. From this time my correspondence, public and private, is exceedingly perfect.
"At this time the dwelling house was still unconnected with the Observatory. It had no staircase to the Octagon Room. Four new rooms had been built for me on the western side of the dwelling house, but they were not yet habitable. The North-east Dome ground floor was still a passage room. The North Terrace was the official passage to the North-west Dome, where there was a miserable Equatoreal, and to the 25-foot Zenith Tube (in a square tower like a steeple, which connected the N.W. Dome with Flamsteed's house). The southern boundary of the garden ran down a hollow which divides the peninsula from the site of the present Magnetic Observatory, in such a manner that the principal part of the garden was fully exposed to the public. The Computing Room was a most pitiful little room. There was so little room for me that I transported the principal table to a room in my house, where I conducted much of my own official business. A large useless reflecting telescope (Ramage's), on the plan and nearly of the size of Sir W. Herschel's principal telescope, encumbered the centre of the Front Court.
"On Jan. 11th I addressed Mr Buck, agent of the Princess Sophia of Gloucester, Ranger of Greenwich Park, for leave to enclose a portion of the ground overlooking my garden. This was soon granted, and I was partially delivered from the inconvenience of the public gaze. The liberation was not complete till the Magnetic ground was enclosed in 1837.
"In the inferior departments of the Admiralty, especially in the Hydrographic Office (then represented by Captain Beaufort) with which I was principally connected, the Observatory was considered rather as a place for managing Government chronometers than as a place of science. The preceding First Assistant (Taylor) had kept a book of letter references, and I found that out of 840 letters, 820 related to Government chronometers only. On Jan. 17th I mentally sketched my regulations for my own share in chronometer business. I had some correspondence with Captain Beaufort, but we could not agree, and the matter was referred to the Admiralty. Finally arrangements were made which put the chronometer business in proper subordination to the scientific charge of the Observatory.
"In my first negociations with the Admiralty referring to acceptance of the office of Astronomer Royal, in 1834, Lord Auckland being then First Lord of the Admiralty, I had stipulated that, as my successor at Cambridge would be unprepared to carry on my Lectures, I should have permission to give a final course of Lectures there. At the end of 1835 Lord Auckland was succeeded by Lord Minto: I claimed the permission from him and he refused it. When this was known in Cambridge a petition was presented by many Cambridge residents, and Lord Minto yielded. On April 18th I went to Cambridge with my wife, residing at the Bull Inn, and began Lectures on April 21st: they continued (apparently) to May 27th. My lecture-room was crowded (the number of names was 110) and the lectures gave great satisfaction. I offered to the Admiralty to put all the profits in their hands, and transmitted a cheque to the Accountant General of the Navy: but the Admiralty declined to receive them.
"On June 4th the Annual Visitation of the Observatory was held, Mr F. Baily in the Chair. I presented a written Report on the Observatory (a custom which I had introduced at Cambridge) in which I did not suppress the expression of my feelings about chronometer business. The Hydrographer, Captain Beaufort, who was one of the Official Visitors, was irritated: and by his influence the Report was not printed. I kept it and succeeding Reports safe for three years, and then the Board of Visitors agreed to print them; and four Reports were printed together, and bound with the Greenwich Observations of 1838.
"In the course of this year I completed the volume of Observations made at Cambridge Observatory in 1835 and on Nov. 10th the printed copies were distributed. About the end of 1835 the Dome for the Northumberland Telescope was erected: but apparently the polar frame was not erected."
The following account of an accident which occurred during the construction of the dome is extracted from a letter by Airy to his wife dated 1836 Jan. 31st. "The workmen's account of the dome blowing off is very curious: it must have been a strange gust. It started suddenly when the men were all inside and Beaumont was looking up at it: the cannon balls were thrown in with great violence (one of them going between the spokes of Ransomes' large casting), and instantly after the dome had started, the boards of the outside scaffolding which had been tossed up by the same gust dropped down into the gap which the dome had left. It is a wonder that none of the men were hurt and that the iron was not broken. The dome is quite covered and I think does not look so well as when the hooping was visible."
"Previous to 1836 I had begun to contemplate the attachment of Magnetic Observations to the Observatory, and had corresponded with Prof. Christie, Prof. Lloyd, Prof. J. D. Forbes, and Mr Gauss on the subject. On Jan. 12th 1836 I addressed a formal letter to the Admiralty, and on Jan. 18th received their answer that they had referred it to the Board of Visitors. On March 25th I received authority for the expenditure of£30, and I believe that I then ordered Merz's 2-foot magnet. The Visitors met on Feb. 26th and after some discussion the site was chosen and the extent of ground generally defined, and on Dec. 22nd Mr Spring Rice (Lord Monteagle) as Chancellor of the Exchequer virtually effected the transfer of the ground. But no further steps were taken in 1836. A letter on a systematic course of magnetic observations in various parts of the world was addressed by Baron Alexander Humboldt to the Duke of Sussex, President of the Royal Society; and was referred to Prof. Christie and me. We reported on it on June 9th 1836, strongly recommending the adoption of the scheme.
"A plan had been proposed by the Promoters of the London and Gravesend Railway (Col. Landman, Engineer) for carrying a railway at high level across the bottom of the Park. On Jan. 9th I received orders from the Admiralty to examine into its possible effect in producing vibrations in the Observatory. After much correspondence, examination of ground, &c., I fixed upon a part of the Greenwich Railway (not yet opened for traffic) near the place where the Croydon trunk line now joins it, as the place for trains to run upon, while I made observations with a telescope viewing a collimator by reflection in mercury at the distance of 500 feet. The experiments were made on Jan. 25th, and I reported on Feb. 4th. It was shewn that there would be some danger to the Observatory. On Nov. 2nd Mr James Walker, Engineer, brought a model of a railway to pass by tunnel under the lower part of the Park: apparently this scheme was not pressed.
"In addition to the routine work of the Observatory, a special set of observations were made to determine the mass of Jupiter.—Also the Solar Eclipse of May 15th was observed at Greenwich in the manner which I had introduced at Cambridge.—The Ordnance Zenith Sector, and the instruments for the St Helena Observatory were brought for examination.—Much attention was given to chronometers, and various steps were taken for their improvement.—I had some important correspondence with Mr (Sir John) Lubbock, upon the Lunar Theory generally and his proposed empirical lunar tables. This was the first germ of the great reduction of Lunar Observations which I subsequently carried out.—In October I was nominated on the Council of the Royal Society, having been admitted a Fellow on Feb. 18th 1836. I was President of the Astronomical Society during this and the preceding year (1836 and 1835).
"My connection with Groombridge's Catalogue of Stars began in 1832, and the examination, in concert with Mr Baily, of the edition printed by Mr Henry Taylor, resulted in its condemnation. In 1834 I volunteered to the Admiralty to prepare a new edition, and received their thanks and their authority for proceeding. It required a great deal of examination of details, and much time was spent on it in 1836: but it was not brought to the state of readiness for press.
"My predecessor, Mr Pond, died on Sept. 7th 1836, and was interred inHalley's tomb in Lee churchyard."
* * * * *
The following letter was written by Airy in support of the application for a pension to Mrs Pond, who had been left in great distress:
To HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ.
"The points upon which in my opinion Mr Pond's claims to the gratitude of Astronomers are founded, are principally the following.Firstand chief, the accuracy which he introduced into all the principal observations. This is a thing which from its nature it is extremely difficult to estimate now, so long after the change has been made, and I can only say that so far as I can ascertain from books the change is one of very great extent: for certainty and accuracy, Astronomy is quite a different thing from what it was, and this is mainly due to Mr Pond. The most striking exemplification of this is in his laborious working out of every conceivable cause or indication of error in the Circle and the two Circles: but very great praise is also due for the new system which he introduced in working the Transit. In comparing Mr Pond's systems of observation with Dr Maskelyne's, no one can avoid being impressed with the inferiority of Dr Maskelyne's. It is very important to notice that the continental observatories which have since attracted so much attention did not at that time exist or did not exist in vigour.Secondly, the attention bestowed by Mr Pond on those points (chiefly of sidereal astronomy) which he regarded as fundamental: to which such masses of observations were directed as entirely to remove the doubts from probable error of individual observations or chance circumstances which have injured many other determinations.Thirdly, the regularity of observation. The effect of all these has been that, since the commencement of Mr Pond's residence at Greenwich, Astronomy considered as an accurate representation of the state of the heavens in the most material points has acquired a certainty and an extent which it never had before. There is no period in the history of the science so clean. On some matters (in regard to the choice of observations) I might say that my own judgment would have differed in some degree from Mr Pond's, but one thing could have been gained only by giving up another, and upon the general accuracy no improvement could have been made. Mr Pond understood nothing of physical astronomy; but neither did anybody else, in England.
"The supposed decrease of general efficiency in the last few years is to be ascribed to the following causes:
1. Mr Pond's ill health.
2. The inefficiency of his first assistant.
3. The oppression of business connected with chronometers.
"The last of these, as I have reason to think, operated very far. Business of this nature which (necessarily) isdailyandperemptorywill always prevail over that which isgeneralandconfidential. I will not trouble you with an account of the various ways in which the chronometer business teazed the Astronomer Royal (several alterations having been made at my representation), but shall merely remark that much of the business had no connection whatever with astronomy.
"I beg to submit these remarks to your perusal, requesting you to point out to mewhat partof them should be laid before any of the King's Ministers,at what time, in what shape, and to whom addressed. I am quite sure that Mrs Pond's claims require nothing to ensure favourable consideration but the impression of such a feeling of Mr Pond's astronomical merits as must be entertained by any reasonable astronomer; and I am most anxious to assist in conveying this impression.
"Of private history: I went to Suffolk for a week on Mar. 25th. On Sept. 19th my son Wilfrid (my fourth child) was born. In October I made an excursion for a week round the coast of Kent. In November I went to my brother's house at Keysoe in Bedfordshire: I was much exposed to cold on the return-journey, which probably aggravated the illness that soon followed. From Nov. 27th I was ill; made the last journal entry of the year on Dec. 6th; the next was on Jan. 14th, 1837. I find that in this year I had introduced Arthur Biddell to the Tithe Commutation Office, where he was soon favourably received, and from which connection he obtained very profitable employment as a valuer."
1837
"My connection with Cambridge Observatory was not yet finished. I had determined that I would not leave a figure to be computed by my successor. In October I had (at my private expense) set Mr Glaisher to work on reducing the observations of Sun, Moon, and Planets made in 1833, 1834, 1835; and subsequently had the calculations examined by Mr Hartnup. This employed me at times through 1837. I state here, once for all, that every calculation or other work in reference to the Cambridge Observatory, in this and subsequent years, was done at my private expense. The work of the Northumberland Telescope was going on through the year: from Nov. 24th to 29th I was at Cambridge on these works.
"An object-glass of 6-3/4 inches aperture (a most unusual size at this time, when it was difficult to find a 4-inch or 5-inch glass) had been presented to the Greenwich Observatory by my friend Mr Sheepshanks, and on Mar. 29th I received from the Admiralty authority for mounting it equatoreally in the empty South Dome, which had been intended for a copy of the Palermo Circle.—In the month of July the Admiralty wished for my political assistance in a Greenwich election, but I refused to give any.—On Jan. 3rd I gave notice to the Admiralty that I had finished the computations of Groombridge's Catalogue, and was ready to print. The printing was authorized and proceeded (the introduction was finished on Nov. 22nd), but the book was not quite ready till the beginning of 1838.—In connection with the Cavendish experiment: on June 10th I wrote to Spring Rice (Chancellor of the Exchequer) for£500, which was soon granted: and from this time there is a great deal of correspondence (mainly with Mr Baily) upon the details of the experiment and the theory of the calculation.—On July 24th I saw the descent of the parachute by which Mr Cocking was killed. I attended the coroner's inquest and gave evidence a few days later.
"The Planetary Reductions from 1750 to 1830 had been going on: the computers (Glaisher, Hartnup, and Thomas) worked in the Octagon Room, and considerable advance was made.—In consequence of the agitation of the proposal by Mr Lubbock to form empirical tables of the Moon, for which I proposed to substitute complete reduction of the observations of the Moon from 1750, the British Association at York (Oct. 23rd, 1837) appointed a deputation (including myself) to place the matter before the Government. I wrote on the matter to Mr Wood (Lord Halifax) stating that it would be proper to raise the First Assistant's salary, and to give me more indefinite power about employing computers. In all these things I received cordial assistance from Mr Wood. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Spring Rice) received us on Dec. 20th: statements were furnished by me, and the business was sanctioned immediately.—During this year I was very much engaged in correspondence with Lubbock and others on improvements of the Lunar Theory.
"In the operations of 1836 and 1837 a great quantity of papers had been accumulated. I had kept them in reasonably good order, tied up in bundles: but this method began to fail in convenience, as the number increased. The great lines of classification were however now well understood. I believe it was in the latter part of the year 1837 that I finally settled on the principle of arranging papers in packets and subordinate packets, every paper being flat, by the use of four punched holes in every paper. I have never seen any principle of arrangement comparable to this. It has been adopted with the greatest ease by every assistant, and is used to the present time (1871) without alteration.
"On Jan. 3rd I was informed unofficially by Mr Wood (Admiralty Secretary) that the addition of the Magnetic Ground was sanctioned. On Feb. 16th Mr Rhodes (an officer of the Department of Woods and Works) came to put me formally in possession of the ground. Between Apr. 26th and May 13th the ground was enclosed, and my garden was completely protected from the public. The plan of the building was settled, and numerous experiments were made on various kinds of concrete: at last it was decided to build with wood.
"After a dinner given by Lord Burlington, Chancellor, the first meeting of the London University was held on Mar. 4th, and others followed. On Apr. 18th I handed to the Chancellor a written protest against a vote of a salary of£1000to the Registrar: which salary, in fact, the Government refused to sanction. Dissensions on the question of religious examination were already beginning, but I took little part in them.
"In 1833 Mr Henderson had resigned the superintendance of the Cape of Good Hope Observatory, and Mr Maclear was appointed. I recommended the same Official Instructions for him (they had included an allusion to La Caille's Arc of Meridian) with an addition on the probability of Trigonometrical Survey, on Aug. 8th, 1837. On Feb. 24th, 1837, I wrote to Beaufort suggesting that Bradley's Sector should be used for verifying the astronomical determinations, and subsequently received the approval of the Admiralty. In June Sir J. Herschel and I had an interview with Mr Wood on the Cape equipment generally. The Sector was erected with its new mounting, careful drawings were made of every part, instructions were prepared for its use, and on Aug. 10th it was sent to Woolwich Dockyard and shipped for the Cape.
"Of private history: On Aug. 23rd I started with my wife for an excursion in South Wales, &c. On Sept. 9th I gave a lecture in the Town Hall of Neath. While at Swansea we received news of the death of my wife's father, the Rev. Richard Smith, and returned at once.—In this year Arthur Biddell bought the little Eye estate for me."
1838
"Cambridge Observatory:—On Dec. 29th, 1837, I had set Mr Glaisher to work in collecting the annual results for star-places from the Cambridge Observations, to form one catalogue: I examined the calculations and the deduced catalogue, and on Dec. 14, 1838, presented it to the Royal Astronomical Society, under the title of 'The First Cambridge Catalogue.'—For the Northumberland telescope I was engaged with Simms about the clockwork from time to time up to Apr. 30th, and went to Cambridge about it. The instrument was brought to a useable state, but some small parts were still wanting.
"At Greenwich:—In April I drew up a little history of the Observatory for the Penny Cyclopaedia.—On June 30th the Lords of the Admiralty paid a short visit to the Observatory: on this occasion Mr Wood suggested a passage connecting the Observatory with the dwelling-house, and I subsequently prepared sketches for it; it was made in the next year.—In the course of the year the Sheepshanks Equatoreal was mounted, and Encke's Comet was observed with it from Oct. 26th to Nov. 13th.—On Mar. 31st, &c. I reported to the Admiralty on the selection of chronometers for purchase, from a long list: this was an important beginning of a new system.—The Magnetic Observatory was built, in the form originally planned for it (a four-armed cross with equal arms, one axis being in the magnetic meridian) in the beginning of this year. (No alteration has since been made in form up to the present time, 1871, except that the north arm has been lengthened 8 feet a few years ago.) On May 21st a magnet was suspended for the first time, Mr Baily and Lieut. (afterwards Sir William) Denison being present.—Groombridge's Catalogue was finished, and on Mar. 3rd I arranged for sending out copies.—The Planetary Reductions were carried on vigorously. On May 31st, 1838, the Treasury assented to the undertaking of the Lunar Reductions and allotted£2,000for it: preparations were made, and in the autumn 7 computers were employed upon it. It will easily be seen that this undertaking added much to my labours and cares.—The geodetic affairs of the Cape of Good Hope began to be actively pressed, and in February Beaufort wrote to me in consequence of an application from Maclear, asking about a standard of length for Maclear (as foundation for a geodetic survey). I made enquiries, and on Mar. 13th wrote to Mr Wood, alluding also generally to the want of a National English standard after the destruction of the Houses of Parliament. On Apr. 24th the Admiralty sanctioned my procuring proper Standard Bars.—In connection with the Cavendish Experiment, I have an immense quantity of correspondence with Mr Baily, and all the mathematics were furnished by me: the experiment was not finished at the end of the year.—The Perturbations of Uranus were now attracting attention. I had had some correspondence on this subject with Dr Hussey in 1834, and in 1837 with Eugène Bouvard. On Feb. 24th, of 1838, I wrote to Schumacher regarding the error in the tabular radius-vector of Uranus, which my mode of reducing the observations enabled me to see.
"The National Standards of Length and Weight had been destroyed in the fire of the Houses of Parliament. On May 11th I received a letter from Mr Spring Rice, requesting me to act (as chairman) with a committee consisting of F. Baily, J.E. Drinkwater Bethune, Davies Gilbert, J.G.S. Lefevre, J.W. Lubbock, G. Peacock, and R. Sheepshanks, to report on the steps now to be taken. I accepted the charge, and the first meeting was held at the Observatory on May 22nd; all subsequent meetings in London, usually in the apartments of the Royal Astronomical Society. I acted both as chairman and as working secretary. Our enquiries went into a very wide field, and I had much correspondence.
"On Jan. 4th Mr Wood wrote to me, mentioning that Capt. Johnson had made some observations on the magnetism of iron ships, and asking whether they ought to be continued; a steamer being offered at£50per week. I applied to Beaufort for a copy of Johnson's Observations, and on Jan. 7th replied very fully, discouraging such observations; but recommending a train of observations expressly directed to theoretical points. On Feb. 17th I reported that I had examined the Deptford Basin, and found that it would do fairly well for experiments. On July 14th, 1838, Capt. Beaufort wrote to me that the Admiralty wished for experiments on the ship, the 'Rainbow,' then in the river, and enquired whether I would undertake them and what assistance I desired, as for instance that of Christie or Barlow. I replied that one person should undertake it, either Christie, Barlow, or myself, and that a basin was desirable. On July 16th and 17th I looked at the basins of Woolwich and Deptford, approving the latter. On July 21st the Admiralty gave me full powers. From July 23rd I was almost entirely employed on preparations. The course of operations is described in my printed Paper: the original maps, curves, and graphical projections, are in the bound MSS.: 'Correction of Compass in Iron Ships—"Rainbow,"' at the Greenwich Observatory. The angular disturbances were found on July 26th and 30th, requiring some further work on a raft, so that they were finally worked out on Aug. 11th. I struggled hard with the numbers, but should not have succeeded if it had not occurred to me to examine the horizontal magnetic intensities. This was done on Aug. 14th, and the explanation of the whole was suggested at once: graphical projections were made on Aug. 16th and 17th for comparison of my explanation with observations, and the business was complete. On Aug. 17th and 18th I measured the intensity of some magnets, to be used in the ship for correction. It is to be remarked that, besides the effect of polar magnetism, there was no doubt of the existence of an effect of induced magnetism requiring correction by other induced magnetism: and experiments for this were made in the Magnetic Observatory. All was ready for trial: and on Aug. 20th I carried my magnets and iron correctors to Deptford, mounted them in the proper places, tried the ship, and the compass, which had been disturbed 50 degrees to the right and 50 degrees to the left, was now sensibly correct. On Aug. 21st I reported this to the Admiralty, and on Aug. 24th I tried the ship to Gravesend. On Aug. 30th I had the loan of her for an expedition with a party of friends to Sheerness, and on Sept. 9th I accompanied her to Gravesend, on her first voyage to Antwerp.—On Oct. 5th application was made to me by the owner of the 'Ironsides' to correct her compasses. In consequence of this I went to Liverpool on Oct. 25th, and on this occasion made a very important improvement in the practical mode of performing the correction.—On Nov. 16th I reported to the Admiralty in considerable detail. On Dec. 4th I had an interview with Lord Minto (First Lord of the Admiralty) and Mr Wood. They refused to sanction any reward to me.—The following is a copy of the report of the Captain of the 'Rainbow' after her voyage to Antwerp: 'Having had the command of the Rainbow steamer the two voyages between London and Antwerp, I have the pleasure to inform you that I am perfectly satisfied as to the correctness of the compasses, and feel quite certain they will continue so. I took particular notice from land to land from our departure and found the bearings by compass to be exact.'"—The following extracts from letters to his wife refer to the "Ironsides": on Oct. 28th 1838 he writes, "I worked up the observations so much as to see that the compass disturbance is not so great as in the 'Rainbow' (35° instead of 50°), but quite enough to make the vessel worthless; and that it is quite different in direction from that in the 'Rainbow'—so that if they had stolen one of the 'Rainbow' correctors and put it into this ship it would have been much worse than before." And on Nov. 1st he writes, "On Wednesday I again went to the ship and tried small alterations in the correctors: I am confident now that the thing is very near, but we were most abominably baffled by the sluggishness of the compass."
"The University of London:—On Jan. 6th I attended a sub-committee meeting on the minimum of acquirements for B.A. degree, and various meetings of the Senate. On July 14th I intimated to Mr Spring Rice my wish to resign. I had various correspondence, especially with Mr Lubbock, and on Dec. 13th I wrote to him on the necessity of stipends to Members of Senate. The dissensions on religious examination became very strong. I took a middle course, demanding examination in the languages and books, but absolutely refusing to claim any religious assent. I expressed this to Dr Jerrard, the principal representative on the religious side, by calling on him to substitute the words 'Recognition of Christian Literature' for 'Recognition of Christian Religion': I addressed a printed letter to Lord Burlington (Chancellor) and the Members of the Senate, on this subject.
"Of private history: In January I made a short excursion in Norfolk and Suffolk, and visited Prof. Sedgwick at Norwich. In April I paid a short visit to Mr Courtney at Sanderstead, with my wife. On June 14th my son Hubert was born. In September I went with my sister by Cambridge, &c., to Luddington, where I made much enquiry concerning my father and the family of Airy who had long been settled there. We then visited various places in Yorkshire, and arrived at Brampton, near Chesterfield, where Mrs Smith, my wife's mother, now resided. And returned by Rugby. I had much correspondence with my brother and for him about private pupils and a better church living. I complained to the Bishop of Norwich about the mutilation of a celebrated monument in Playford Church by the incumbent and curate."
The following extracts are from letters to his wife relating to the above-mentioned journeys:
CLOSE, NORWICH.1838, Jan. 21.
I do not know what degree of cold you may have had last night, but here it was (I believe) colder than before—thermometer close to the house at 3°. I have not suffered at all. However I do not intend to go to Lowestoft.
BRAMPTON.1838, Sept. 30th.
We began to think that we had seen enough of Scarborough, so we took a chaise in the afternoon to Pickering, a small agricultural town, and lodged in a comfortable inn there. On Wednesday morning at 8 we started by the railroad for Whitby, in a huge carriage denominated the Lady Hilda capable of containing 40 persons or more drawn by one horse, or in the steep parts of the railway by two horses. The road goes through a set of defiles of the eastern moorlands of Yorkshire which are extremely pretty: at first woody and rich, then gradually poorer, and at last opening on a black moor with higher moors in sight: descending in one part by a long crooked inclined plane, the carriage drawing up another load by its weight: through a little tunnel: and then along a valley to Whitby. The rate of travelling was about 10 miles an hour. Betsy declares that it was the most agreeable travelling that she ever had.
Yesterday (Saturday) Caroline drove Betsy and Miss Barnes drove me to Clay Cross to see the works at the great railroad tunnel there. Coming from the north, the railroad passes up the Chesterfield valley close by the town and continues up the same valley, till it is necessary for it to enter the valley which runs the opposite way towards Buttersley: the tunnel passes under the high ground between these two vallies: so that it is in reality at the water-shed: it is to be I think more than a mile long, and when finished 27 feet clear in height, so it is a grand place. We saw the preparations for a blast, and heard it fired: the ladies stopping their ears in due form.
1839
"Cambridge Observatory:—On Mar. 7th I went to Cambridge on the business of the Northumberland Telescope: I was subsequently engaged on the accounts, and on Aug. 16th I finally resigned it to Prof. Challis, who accepted it on Aug. 19th. On Sept. 11th I communicated its completion and the settlement of accounts to the Duke of Northumberland. The total expense was£1938. 9s. 2d.+ 15000 francs for the object-glass.
"At Greenwich Observatory:—On Jan. 3rd I received the last revise of the 1837 Observations, and on Jan. 8th the first sheet for 1838.—In July I report on selection from a long list of chronometers which had been on trial, and on Sept. 2nd I pointed out to Capt. Beaufort that the system of offering only one price would be ruinous to the manufacture of chronometers, and to the character of those supplied to the Admiralty: and that I would undertake any trouble of classifying the chronometers tried. This letter introduced the system still in use (1871), which has been most beneficial to the manufacture. On Sept. 11th I proposed that all trials begin in the first week of January: this also has been in use as an established system to the present time.—It was pointed out to me that a certain chronometer was affected by external magnetic power. I remedied this by placing under it a free compass magnet: a stand was specially prepared for it. I have never found another chronometer sensibly affected by magnetism.—In November and December I tried my new double-image micrometer.—Between May 16th and Oct. 13th a fireproof room was constructed in the southern part of the quadrant room; and in November a small shed was erected over the entrance to the North Terrace.—The position of the free Meridional Magnet (now mounted in the Magnetic Observatory) was observed at every 5 m. through 24 hours on Feb. 22nd and 23rd, May 24th and 25th, Aug. 30th and 31st, and Nov. 29th and 30th. This was done in cooperation with the system of the Magnetic Union established by Gauss in Germany.—The Reduction of the Greenwich Planetary and Lunar Observations, 1750 to 1830, went on steadily. I had six and sometimes seven computers constantly at work, in the Octagon Room.—As in 1838 I had a great amount of correspondence with Mr Baily on the Cavendish Experiment.—I attended as regularly as I could to the business of the University of London. The religious question did not rise very prominently. I took a very active part, and have a great deal of correspondence, on the nature of the intended examinations in Hydrography and Civil Engineering.—On the Standards Commission the chief work was in external enquiries.—On June 6th I had enquiries from John Quincey Adams (U.S.A.) on the expense, &c., of observatories: an observatory was contemplated in America.—I had correspondence about the proposed establishment of observatories at Durham, Glasgow, and Liverpool.
"I had in this year a great deal of troublesome and on the whole unpleasant correspondence with the Admiralty about the correction of the compass in iron ships. I naturally expected some acknowledgment of an important service rendered to Navigation: but the Admiralty peremptorily refused it. My account of the Experiments &c. for the Royal Society is dated April 9th. The general success of the undertaking soon became notorious, and (as I understood) led immediately to extensive building of iron ships: and it led also to applications to me for correction of compasses. On Jan. 9th I was addressed in reference to the Royal Sovereign and Royal George at Liverpool; July 18th the Orwell; May 11th two Russian ships built on the Thames; Sept. 4th the ships of the Lancaster Company.
"I had much work in connection with the Cape of Good Hope Observatory, chiefly relating to the instrumental equipment and to the geodetical work. As it was considered advisable that any base measured in the Cape Colony should be measured with compensation bars, I applied to Major Jervis for the loan of those belonging to the East Indian Survey, but he positively refused to lend them. On Jan. 20th I applied to Col. Colby for the compensation bars of the British Survey, and he immediately assented to lending them. Col. Colby had suggested to the Ordnance Department that Capt. Henderson and several sappers should be sent to use the measuring bars, and it was so arranged. It still appeared desirable to have the command of some soldiers from the Garrison of Cape Town, and this matter was soon arranged with the military authorities by the Admiralty.
"The following are the principal points of my private history: it was a very sad year. On Jan. 24th I went with my wife to Norwich, on a visit to Prof. Sedgwick, and in June I visited Sir J. Herschel at Slough. On June 13th my dear boy Arthur was taken ill: his malady soon proved to be scarlet fever, of which he died on June 24th at 7 in the morning. It was arranged that he should be buried in Playford churchyard on the 28th, and on that day I proceeded to Playford with my wife and my eldest son George Richard. At Chelmsford my son was attacked with slight sickness, and being a little unwell did not attend his brother's funeral. On July 1st at 4h.15m. in the morning he also died: he had some time before suffered severely from an attack of measles, and it seemed probable that his brain had suffered. On July 5th he was buried by the side of his brother Arthur in Playford churchyard.—On July 23rd I went to Colchester on my way to Walton-on-the-Naze, with my wife and all my family; all my children had been touched, though very lightly, with the scarlet fever.—It was near the end of this year that my mother quitted the house (Luck's) at Playford, and came to live with me at Greenwich Observatory, where she lived till her death; having her own attendant, and living in perfect confidence with my wife and myself, and being I trust as happy as her years and widowhood permitted. My sister also lived with me at the Observatory."
1840
"In the latter part of 1839, and through 1840, I had much correspondence with the Admiralty, in which I obtained a complete account of the transfer of the Observatory from the Ordnance Department to the Admiralty, and the transfer of the Visitation of the Observatory from the Royal Society to the present Board of Visitors. In 1840 I found that the papers of the Board of Longitude were divided between the Royal Society and the Admiralty: I obtained the consent of both to bring them to the Observatory.
"In this year I began to arrange about an annual dinner to be held at the Visitation.—My double-image micrometer was much used for observations of circumpolar double stars.—In Magnetism and Meteorology, certain quarterly observations were kept up; but in November the system of incessant eye-observations was commenced. I refused to commence this until I had secured a 'Watchman's Clock' for mechanical verification of the regular attendance of the Assistants.—With regard to chronometers: In this year, for the first time, I took the very important step of publishing the rates obtained by comparisons at the Observatory. I confined myself on this occasion to the chronometers purchased by the Admiralty. In March a pigeon-house was made for exposure of chronometers to cold.—The Lunar and Planetary Reductions were going on steadily.—I was consulted about an Observatory at Oxford, where I supported the introduction of the Heliometer.—The stipend of the Bakerian Lecture was paid to me for my explanation of Brewster's new prismatic fringes.—The business of the Cape Observatory and Survey occupied much of my time.—In 1838 the Rev. H. J. Rose (Editor of the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana) had proposed my writing a Paper on Tides, &c.; In Oct. 1840 I gave him notice that I must connect Tides with Waves, and in that way I will take up the subject. Much correspondence on Tides, &c., with Whewell and others followed.
"With regard to the Magnetical and Meteorological Establishment. On June 18th Mr Lubbock reported from the Committee of Physics of the Royal Society to the Council in favour of a Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory near London. After correspondence with Sheepshanks, Lord Northampton, and Herschel, I wrote to the Council on July 9th, pointing out what the Admiralty had done at Greenwich, and offering to cooperate. In a letter to Lord Minto I stated that my estimate was£550, including£100to the First Assistant: Lubbock's was£3,000. On Aug. 11th the Treasury assented, limiting it to the duration of Ross's voyage. On Aug. 17th Wheatstone looked at our buildings and was satisfied. My estimate was sent to the Admiralty, viz.£150outfit,£520annual expense; and Glaisher to be Superintendent. I believe this was allowed for the present; for the following year it was placed on the Estimates. Most of the contemplated observations were begun before the end of 1840: as much as possible in conformity with the Royal Society's plan. Mr Hind (subsequently the Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac) and Mr Paul were the first extra assistants.
"Of private history. On Feb. 29th I went to Cambridge with my Paper on the Going Fusee. On Mar. 27th I went to visit Mrs Smith, my wife's mother, at Brampton near Chesterfield. I made a short visit to Playford in April and a short expedition to Winchester, Portsmouth, &c., in June. From Sept. 5th to Oct. 3rd I was travelling in the North of England and South of Scotland." [This was an extremely active and interesting journey, in the course of which a great number of places were visited by Airy, especially places on the Border mentioned in Scott's Poems, which always had a great attraction for him. He also attended a Meeting of the British Association at Glasgow and made a statement regarding the Planetary and Lunar Reductions: and looked at a site for the Glasgow Observatory.] "In November I went for a short time to Cambridge and to Keysoe (my brother's residence). On Dec. 26th my daughter Hilda was born (subsequently married to E.J. Routh). In this year I had a loss of£350by a fire on my Eye estate."
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The following extracts are from letters to his wife. Some of them relate to matters of general interest. They are all of them characteristic, and serve to shew the keen interest which he took in matters around him, and especially in architecture and scenery. The first letter relates to his journey from Chesterfield on the previous day.
FLAMSTEED HOUSE,1840, April 2.
I was obliged to put up with an outside place to Derby yesterday, much against my will, for I was apprehensive that the cold would bring on the pain in my face. Of that I had not much; but I have caught something of sore throat and catarrh. The coach came up at about 22 minutes past 8. It arrived in Derby at 20 minutes or less past 11 (same guard and coachman who brought us), and drew up in the street opposite the inn at which we got no dinner, abreast of an omnibus. I had to go to a coach office opposite the inn to pay and be booked for London, and was duly set down in a way-bill withname; and then entered the omnibus: was transferred to the Railway Station, and then received the Railway Ticket by shouting out my name. If you should come the same way, you would find it convenient to book your place at Chesterfield to London by your name (paying for the whole, namely, coach fare, omnibus fare-/6, and railway fare£1. 15s. 0d.first class). Then you will only have to step out of the coach into the omnibus, and to scream out once or twice to the guard to make sure that you are entered in the way-bill and that your luggage is put on the omnibus.
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FLAMSTEED HOUSE, GREENWICH,1840, April 15.
I forgot to tell you that at Lord Northampton's I saw some specimens of the Daguerrotype, pictures made by the Camera Obscura, and they surpass in beauty of execution anything that I could have imagined. Baily who has two or three has promised to lend them for your inspection when you return. Also I saw some post-office stamps and stamped envelopes: I do not much admire the latter.
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The following relates to the fire on his Eye farm, referred to above:
PLAYFORD,1840, April 23.
On Wednesday (yesterday) went with my uncle to the Eye Estate, to see the effects of the fire. The farming buildings of every kind are as completely cleared away as if they had been mown down: not a bit of anything but one or two short brick walls and the brick foundations of the barns and stacks. The aspect of the place is much changed, because in approaching the house you do not see it upon a back-ground of barns, &c., but standing alone. The house is in particularly neat and good order. I did not think it at all worth while to make troublesome enquiries of the people who reside there, but took Mr Case's account. There seems no doubt that the fire was caused by the maid-servant throwing cinders into a sort of muck-place into which they had been commonly thrown. I suppose there was after all this dry weather straw or muck drier than usual, and the cinders were hotter than usual. The whole was on fire in an exceedingly short time; and everything was down in less than an hour. Two engines came from Eye, and all the population of the town (as the fire began shortly after two o'clock in the afternoon). It is entirely owing to these that my house, and the farm (Sewell's) on the opposite side of the road, were not burned down. At the beginning of the fire the wind was N.E. which blew directly towards the opposite farm (Sewell's): although the nearest part of it (tiled dwelling house) was 100 yards off or near it, and the great barn (thatched roof) considerably further, yet both were set on fire several times. All this while, the tail of my house was growing very hot: and shortly after the buildings fell in burning ruins, the wind changed to N.W., blowing directly to my house. If this change had happened while the buildings were standing and burning, there would have been no possibility of saving the house. As it was, the solder is melted from the window next the farm-yard, and the roof was set on fire in three or four places. One engine was kept working on my house and one on the opposite farm. A large pond was pretty nearly emptied. Mr Case's horses and bullocks were got out, not without great difficulty, as the progress of the fire was fearfully rapid. A sow and nine pigs were burnt, and a large hog ran out burnt so much that the people killed it immediately.
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GEORGE INN, WINCHESTER,1840, June 21.
At Winchester we established ourselves at the George and then without delay proceeded to St Cross. I did not know before the nature of its hospital establishment, but I find that it is a veritable set of alms-houses. The church is a most curious specimen of the latest Norman. I never saw one so well marked before—Norman ornaments on pointed arches, pilasters detached with cushion capitals, and various signs: and it is clearly an instance of that state of the style when people had been forced by the difficulties and inelegancies of the round arch in groining to adopt pointed arches for groining but had not learnt to use them for windows…….This morning after breakfast went to the Cathedral (looking by the way at a curious old cross in the street). I thought that its inside was wholly Norman, and was most agreeably surprised by finding the whole inside groined in every part with excellent late decorated or perpendicular work. Yet there are several signs about it which lead me to think that the whole inside has been Norman, and even that the pilasters now worked up into the perpendicular are Norman. The transepts are most massive old Norman, with side-aisles running round their ends (which I never saw before). The groining of the side aisles of the nave very effective from the strength of the cross ribs. The clerestory windows of the quire very large. The organ is on one side. But the best thing about the quire is the wooden stall-work, of early decorated, very beautiful. A superb Lady Chapel, of early English.
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PORTSMOUTH,1840, June 23.
We left Winchester by evening train to the Dolphin, Southampton, and slept there. At nine in the morning we went by steamboat down the river to Ryde in the Isle of Wight: our steamer was going on to Portsmouth, but we thought it better to land at Ryde and take a boat for ourselves. We then sailed out (rather a blowing day) to the vessel attending Col. Pasley's operations, and after a good deal of going from one boat to another (the sea being so rough that our boat could not be got up to the ships) and a good deal of waiting, we got on board the barge or lump in which Col. Pasley was. Here we had the satisfaction of seeing the barrel of gunpowder lowered (there was more than a ton of gunpowder), and seeing the divers go down to fix it, dressed in their diving helmets and supplied with air from the great air-pump above. When all was ready and the divers had ascended again, the barge in which we were was warped away, and by a galvanic battery in another barge (which we had seen carried there, and whose connection with the barrel we had seen), upon signal given by sound of trumpet, the gunpowder was fired. The effect was most wonderful. The firing followed the signal instantaneously. We were at between 100 and 200 yards from the place (as I judge), and the effects were as follows. As soon as the signal was given, there was a report, louder than a musket but not so loud as a small cannon, and a severe shock was felt at our feet, just as if our barge had struck on a rock. Almost immediately, a very slight swell was perceived over the place of the explosion, and the water looked rather foamy: then in about a second it began to rise, and there was the most enormous outbreak of spray that you can conceive. It rose in one column of 60 or 70 feet high, and broad at the base, resembling a stumpy sheaf with jagged masses of spray spreading out at the sides, and seemed to grow outwards till I almost feared that it was coming to us. It sunk, I suppose, in separate parts, for it did not make any grand squash down, and then there were seen logs of wood rising, and a dense mass of black mud, which spread gradually round till it occupied a very large space. Fish were stunned by it: our boatmen picked up some. It was said by all present that this was the best explosion which had been seen: it was truly wonderful. Then we sailed to Portsmouth…….The explosion was a thing worth going many miles to see. There were many yachts and sailing boats out to see it (I counted 26 before they were at the fullest), so that the scene was very gay.