Autobiography of Sir George Biddell Airy / Airy, George Biddell, 1801-1892

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Title: Autobiography of Sir George Biddell Airy

Author: George Biddell Airy

Release Date: January 9, 2004 [EBook #10655]

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                            AUTOBIOGRAPHY

                                  OF

                   SIR GEORGE BIDDELL AIRY, K.C.B.,

                M.A., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., F.R.A.S.,

            HONORARY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,
                 ASTRONOMER ROYAL FROM 1836 TO 1881.


                              EDITED BY

                   WILFRID AIRY, B.A., M.Inst.C.E.


                                 1896




PREFACE.

The life of Airy was essentially that of a hard-working, business man,
and differed from that of other hard-working people only in the
quality and variety of his work. It was not an exciting life, but it
was full of interest, and his work brought him into close relations
with many scientific men, and with many men high in the State. His
real business life commenced after he became Astronomer Royal, and
from that time forward, during the 46 years that he remained in
office, he was so entirely wrapped up in the duties of his post that
the history of the Observatory is the history of his life. For writing
his business life there is abundant material, for he preserved all his
correspondence, and the chief sources of information are as follows:

    (1) His Autobiography.
    (2) His Annual Reports to the Board of Visitors.
    (3) His printed Papers entitled "Papers by G.B. Airy."
    (4) His miscellaneous private correspondence.
    (5) His letters to his wife.
    (6) His business correspondence.

(1) His Autobiography, after the time that he became Astronomer Royal,
is, as might be expected, mainly a record of the scientific work
carried on at the Greenwich Observatory: but by no means exclusively
so. About the time when he took charge of the Observatory there was an
immense development of astronomical enterprise: observatories were
springing up in all directions, and the Astronomer Royal was expected
to advise upon all of the British and Colonial Observatories. It was
necessary also for him to keep in touch with the Continental
Observatories and their work, and this he did very diligently and
successfully, both by correspondence and personal intercourse with the
foreign astronomers. There was also much work on important subjects
more or less connected with his official duties--such as geodetical
survey work, the establishment of time-balls at different places,
longitude determinations, observation of eclipses, and the
determination of the density of the Earth. Lastly, there was a great
deal of time and work given to questions not very immediately
connected with his office, but on which the Government asked his
assistance in the capacity of general scientific adviser: such were
the Correction of the Compass in iron ships, the Railway Gauge
Commission, the Commission for the Restoration of the Standards of
Length and Weight, the Maine Boundary, Lighthouses, the Westminster
Clock, the London University, and many other questions.

Besides those above-mentioned there were a great many subjects which
he took up out of sheer interest in the investigations. For it may
fairly be said that every subject of a distinctly practical nature,
which could be advanced by mathematical knowledge, had an interest for
him: and his incessant industry enabled him to find time for many of
them. Amongst such subjects were Tides and Tidal Observations,
Clockwork, and the Strains in Beams and Bridges. A certain portion of
his time was also given to Lectures, generally on current astronomical
questions, for he held it as his duty to popularize the science as far
as lay in his power. And he attended the meetings of the Royal
Astronomical Society with great regularity, and took a very active
part in the discussions and business of the Society. He also did much
work for the Royal Society, and (up to a certain date) for the British
Association.

All of the foregoing matters are recorded pretty fully in his
Autobiography up to the year 1861. After that date the Autobiography
is given in a much more abbreviated form, and might rather be regarded
as a collection of notes for his Biography. His private history is
given very fully for the first part of his life, but is very lightly
touched upon during his residence at Greenwich. A great part of the
Autobiography is in a somewhat disjointed state, and appears to have
been formed by extracts from a number of different sources, such as
Official Journals, Official Correspondence, and Reports. In editing
the Autobiography it has been thought advisable to omit a large number
of short notes relating to the routine work of the Observatory, to
technical and scientific correspondence, to Papers communicated to
various Societies and official business connected with them, and to
miscellaneous matters of minor importance. These in the aggregate
occupied a great deal of time and attention. But, from their detached
nature, they would have but little general interest. At various places
will be found short Memoirs and other matter by the Editor.

(2) All of his Annual Reports to the Board of Visitors are attached to
his Autobiography and were evidently intended to be read with it and
to form part of it. These Reports are so carefully compiled and are so
copious that they form a very complete history of the Greenwich
Observatory and of the work carried on there during the time that he
was Astronomer Royal. The first Report contained only four pages, but
with the constantly increasing amount and range of work the Reports
constantly increased in volume till the later Reports contained 21
pages. Extracts from these Reports relating to matters of novelty and
importance, and illustrating the principles which guided him in his
conduct of the Observatory, have been incorporated with the
Autobiography.

(3) The printed "Papers by G.B. Airy" are bound in 14 large quarto
volumes. There are 518 of these Papers, on a great variety of
subjects: a list of them is appended to this history, as also is a
list of the books that he wrote, and one or two of the Papers which
were separately printed. They form a very important part of his
life's work, and are frequently referred to in the present
history. They are almost all to be found in the Transactions of
Societies or in newspapers, and extend over a period of 63 years (1822
to 1885). The progress made in certain branches of science during this
long period can very fairly be traced by these Papers.

(4) His private correspondence was large, and like his other papers it
was carefully arranged. No business letters of any kind are included
under this head. In this correspondence letters are occasionally found
either dealing with matters of importance or in some way
characteristic, and these have been inserted in this biography. As
already stated the Autobiography left by Airy is confined almost
entirely to science and business, and touches very lightly on private
matters or correspondence.

(5) The letters to his wife are very numerous. They were written
during his occasional absences from home on business or for
relaxation. On these occasions he rarely let a day pass without
writing to his wife, and sometimes he wrote twice on the same
day. They are full of energy and interest and many extracts from them
are inserted in this history. A great deal of the personal history is
taken from them.

(6) All correspondence in any way connected with business during the
time that he was Astronomer Royal is to be found at the Royal
Observatory. It is all bound and arranged in the most perfect order,
and any letter throughout this time can be found with the greatest
ease. It is very bulky, and much of it is, in a historical sense,
very interesting. It was no doubt mainly from this correspondence that
the Autobiography, which so far as related to the Greenwich part of it
was almost entirely a business history, was compiled.

The history of the early part of his life was written in great detail
and contained a large quantity of family matter which was evidently
not intended for publication. This part of the Autobiography has been
compressed. The history of the latter part of his life was not written
by himself at all, and has been compiled from his Journal and other
sources. In both these cases, and occasionally in short paragraphs
throughout the narrative, it has been found convenient to write the
history in the third person.

    2, THE CIRCUS,
        GREENWICH.


                                NOTE.

The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press desire to express their
thanks to Messrs Macmillan & Co. for their courteous permission to use
in this work the steel engraving of Sir George Biddell Airy published
in _Nature_ on October 31, 1878.




                          TABLE OF CONTENTS.

                              CHAPTER I.

Personal Sketch of George Biddell Airy

                             CHAPTER II.

From his birth to his taking his B.A. Degree at Cambridge

                             CHAPTER III.

At Trinity College, Cambridge, from his taking his B.A.  Degree to his
taking charge of the Cambridge Observatory as Plumian Professor

                             CHAPTER IV.

At Cambridge Observatory, from his taking charge of the Cambridge
Observatory to his residence at Greenwich Observatory as Astronomer
Royal

                              CHAPTER V.

At Greenwich Observatory, 1836-1846

                             CHAPTER VI.

At Greenwich Observatory, 1846-1856

                             CHAPTER VII.

At Greenwich Observatory, 1856-1866

                            CHAPTER VIII.

At Greenwich Observatory, 1866-1876

                             CHAPTER IX.

At Greenwich Observatory, from January 1st, 1876, to his resignation
of office on August 15th, 1881

                              CHAPTER X.

At the White House, Greenwich, from his resignation of office on
August 15th, 1881, to his death on January 2nd, 1892

                              APPENDIX.

List of Printed Papers by G.B. Airy, and List of Books written by
G.B. Airy

INDEX.




                              CHAPTER I.

               PERSONAL SKETCH OF GEORGE BIDDELL AIRY.


The history of Airy's life, and especially the history of his life's
work, is given in the chapters that follow. But it is felt that the
present Memoir would be incomplete without a reference to those
personal characteristics upon which the work of his life hinged and
which can only be very faintly gathered from his Autobiography.

He was of medium stature and not powerfully built: as he advanced in
years he stooped a good deal. His hands were large-boned and
well-formed. His constitution was remarkably sound. At no period in
his life does he seem to have taken the least interest in athletic
sports or competitions, but he was a very active pedestrian and could
endure a great deal of fatigue. He was by no means wanting in physical
courage, and on various occasions, especially in boating expeditions,
he ran considerable risks. In debate and controversy he had great
self-reliance, and was absolutely fearless. His eye-sight was
peculiar, and required correction by spectacles the lenses of which
were ground to peculiar curves according to formulae which he himself
investigated: with these spectacles he saw extremely well, and he
commonly carried three pairs, adapted to different distances: he took
great interest in the changes that took place in his eye-sight, and
wrote several Papers on the subject. In his later years he became
somewhat deaf, but not to the extent of serious personal
inconvenience.

The ruling feature of his character was undoubtedly Order. From the
time that he went up to Cambridge to the end of his life his system of
order was strictly maintained. He wrote his autobiography up to date
soon after he had taken his degree, and made his first will as soon as
he had any money to leave. His accounts were perfectly kept by double
entry throughout his life, and he valued extremely the order of
book-keeping: this facility of keeping accounts was very useful to
him. He seems not to have destroyed a document of any kind whatever:
counterfoils of old cheque-books, notes for tradesmen, circulars,
bills, and correspondence of all sorts were carefully preserved in the
most complete order from the time that he went to Cambridge; and a
huge mass they formed. To a high appreciation of order he attributed
in a great degree his command of mathematics, and sometimes spoke of
mathematics as nothing more than a system of order carried to a
considerable extent. In everything he was methodical and orderly, and
he had the greatest dread of disorder creeping into the routine work
of the Observatory, even in the smallest matters. As an example, he
spent a whole afternoon in writing the word "Empty" on large cards, to
be nailed upon a great number of empty packing boxes, because he
noticed a little confusion arising from their getting mixed with other
boxes containing different articles; and an assistant could not be
spared for this work without withdrawing him from his appointed
duties. His arrangement of the Observatory correspondence was
excellent and elaborate: probably no papers are more easy of reference
than those arranged on his system. His strict habits of order made him
insist very much upon detail in his business with others, and the
rigid discipline arising out of his system of order made his rule
irksome to such of his subordinates as did not conform readily to it:
but the efficiency of the Observatory unquestionably depended mainly
upon it. As his powers failed with age the ruling passion for order
assumed a greater prominence; and in his last days he seemed to be
more anxious to put letters which he received into their proper place
for reference than even to master their contents.

His nature was eminently practical, and any subject which had a
distinctly practical object, and could be advanced by mathematical
investigation, possessed interest for him. And his dislike of mere
theoretical problems and investigations was proportionately great. He
was continually at war with some of the resident Cambridge
mathematicians on this subject. Year after year he criticised the
Senate House Papers and the Smith's Prize Papers question by question
very severely: and conducted an interesting and acrimonious private
correspondence with Professor Cayley on the same subject. His great
mathematical powers and his command of mathematics are sufficiently
evidenced by the numerous mathematical treatises of the highest order
which he published, a list of which is appended to this biography. But
a very important feature of his investigations was the thoroughness of
them. He was never satisfied with leaving a result as a barren
mathematical expression. He would reduce it, if possible, to a
practical and numerical form, at any cost of labour: and would use any
approximations which would conduce to this result, rather than leave
the result in an unfruitful condition. He never shirked arithmetical
work: the longest and most laborious reductions had no terrors for
him, and he was remarkably skilful with the various mathematical
expedients for shortening and facilitating arithmetical work of a
complex character. This power of handling arithmetic was of great
value to him in the Observatory reductions and in the Observatory work
generally. He regarded it as a duty to finish off his work, whatever
it was, and the writer well remembers his comment on the mathematics
of one of his old friends, to the effect that "he was too fond of
leaving a result in the form of three complex equations with three
unknown quantities." To one who had known, in some degree, of the
enormous quantity of arithmetical work which he had turned out, and
the unsparing manner in which he had devoted himself to it, there was
something very pathetic in his discovery, towards the close of his
long life, "that the figures would not add up."

His energy and business capacity were remarkable. He was made for work
and could not long be happy without it. Whatever subject he was
engaged upon, he kept his object clearly in view, and made straight
for it, aiming far more at clearness and directness than at elegance
of periods or symmetry of arrangement. He wrote his letters with great
ease and rapidity: and having written them he very rarely had occasion
to re-write them, though he often added insertions and
interlineations, even in the most important official letters. Without
this it would have been impossible for him to have turned out the
enormous quantity of correspondence that he did. He never dictated
letters, and only availed himself of clerical assistance in matters of
the most ordinary routine. In his excursions, as in his work, he was
always energetic, and could not endure inaction. Whatever there was of
interest in the places that he visited he examined thoroughly and
without delay, and then passed on. And he thus accomplished a great
deal in a short vacation. His letters written to his wife, while he
was on his excursions, are very numerous and characteristic, and
afford ample proofs of his incessant energy and activity both of body
and mind. They are not brilliantly written, for it was not in his
nature to write for effect, and he would never give himself the
trouble to study the composition of his letters, but they are
straight-forward, clear, and concise, and he was never at a loss for
suitable language to express his ideas. He had a wonderful capacity
for enjoyment: the subjects that chiefly interested him were scenery,
architecture, and antiquities, but everything novel or curious had an
interest for him. He made several journeys to the Continent, but by
far the greater number of his excursions were made in England and
Scotland, and there were few parts of the country which he had not
visited. He was very fond of the Lake District of Cumberland, and
visited it very frequently, and each time that he went there the same
set of views had an eternal freshness for him, and he wrote long
descriptions of the scenery and effects with the same raptures as if
he had seen it for the first time. Many of his letters were written
from Playford, a village in a beautiful part of Suffolk, a few miles
from Ipswich. Here he had a small property, and generally stayed there
for a short time once or twice a year. He was extremely fond of this
country, and was never tired of repeating his walks by the well-known
lanes and footpaths. And, as in Cumberland, the Suffolk country had
an eternal freshness and novelty for him. Wherever he went he was
indefatigable in keeping up his acquaintance with his numerous friends
and his letters abound in social reminiscences.

His memory was singularly retentive. It was much remarked at school in
his early days, and in the course of his life he had stored up in his
memory an incredible quantity of poetry, ballads, and miscellaneous
facts and information of all sorts, which was all constantly ready and
at his service. It is almost needless to add that his memory was
equally accurate and extensive in matters connected with science or
business.

His independence of character was no doubt due to and inseparable from
his great powers. The value of his scientific work greatly depended
upon his self-reliance and independence of thought. And in the heavy
work of remodelling the Observatory it was a very valuable
quality. This same self-reliance made him in his latter years apt to
draw conclusions too confidently and hastily on subjects which he had
taken up more as a pastime than as work. But whatever he touched he
dealt with ably and in the most fearless truthseeking manner, and left
original and vigorous opinions.

He had a remarkably well-balanced mind, and a simplicity of nature
that appeared invulnerable. No amount of hero-worship seemed to have
the least effect upon him. And from a very early time he was exposed
to a great deal of it. His mind was incessantly engaged on
investigations of Nature, and this seems to have been with him, as has
been the case with others, a preserving influence. This simplicity of
character he retained throughout his life. At the same time he was
sensible and shrewd in his money matters and attentive to his personal
interests. And his practical good sense in the general affairs of
life, combined with his calm and steady consideration of points
submitted to him, made his advice very valuable. This was especially
recognized by his own and his wife's relations, who consulted him on
many occasions and placed the fullest confidence in his absolute sense
of justice as well as in his wise counsel. He was extremely liberal
in proportion to his means, and gave away money to a large extent to
all who had any claim upon him. But he was not in any sense reckless,
and kept a most cautious eye on his expenses. He was not indifferent
to the honours which he received in the scientific world, but he does
not appear to have sought them in any way, and he certainly did not
trouble himself about them.

His courtesy was unfailing: no amount of trouble could shake
it. Whether it was the Secretary of the Admiralty, or a servant girl
wanting her fortune told: whether a begging-letter for money, or
miscellaneous invitations: all had their answer in the most clear and
courteous language. But he would not grant personal interviews when he
could avoid it: they took up too much of his time. His head was so
clear that he never seemed to want for the clearest and most direct
language in expressing his meaning, and his letters are models of
terseness.

In all his views and opinions he was strongly liberal. At Cambridge at
an early date he was one of the 83 members of the Senate who supported
the application to permit the granting of medical degrees without
requiring an expression of assent to the religious doctrines of the
Church of England. And in 1868 he declined to sign a petition against
the abolition of religious declarations required of persons admitted
to Fellowships or proceeding to the degree of M.A. And he was opposed
to every kind of narrowness and exclusiveness. When he was appointed
to the post of Astronomer Royal, he stipulated that he should not be
asked to vote in any political election. But all his views were in the
liberal direction. He was a great reader of theology and church
history, and as regarded forms of worship and the interpretation of
the Scriptures, he treated them with great respect, but from the point
of view of a freethinking layman. In the Preface to his "Notes on the
Earlier Hebrew Scriptures" he says, "In regard to the general tone of
these notes, I will first remark that I have nothing to say on the
subject of verbal inspiration. With those who entertain that doctrine,
I can have nothing in common. Nor do I recognize, in the professedly
historical accounts, any other inspiration which can exempt them from
the severest criticism that would be applicable to so-called profane
accounts, written under the same general circumstances, and in the
same countries." And his treatment of the subject in the "Notes" shews
how entirely he took a rationalistic view of the whole question. He
also strongly sided with Bishop Colenso in his fearless criticism of
the Pentateuch, though he dissented from some of his conclusions. But
he was deeply imbued with the spirit of religion and reflected much
upon it. His whole correspondence conveys the impression of the most
sterling integrity and high-mindedness, without a trace of
affectation. In no letter does there appear a shadow of wavering on
matters of principle, whether in public or private matters, and he was
very clear and positive in his convictions.

The great secret of his long and successful official career was that
he was a good servant and thoroughly understood his position. He never
set himself in opposition to his masters, the Admiralty. He never
hesitated to ask the Admiralty for what he thought right, whether in
the way of money grants for various objects, or for occasional
permission to give his services to scientific matters not immediately
connected with the Observatory. Sometimes the Admiralty refused his
requests, and he felt this very keenly, but he was far too busy and
energetic to trouble himself about such little slights, and cheerfully
accepted the situation. What was refused by one Administration was
frequently granted by another; and in the meantime he was always ready
to give his most zealous assistance in any matter that was officially
brought before him. This cheerful readiness to help, combined with his
great ability and punctuality in business matters, made him a very
valuable servant, and speaking generally he had the confidence of the
Admiralty in a remarkable degree. In many of his Reports to the Board
of Visitors he speaks gratefully of the liberality of the Admiralty in
forwarding scientific progress and research. In matters too which are
perhaps of minor importance from the high stand-point of science, but
which are invaluable in the conduct of an important business office,
such for example as estimates and official correspondence, he was
orderly and punctual in the highest degree. And, what is by no means
unimportant, he possessed an excellent official style in
correspondence, combined with great clearness of expression. His
entire honesty of purpose, and the high respect in which he was held
both at home and abroad, gave great weight to his recommendations.

With regard to his habits while he resided at the Observatory, his
custom was to work in his official room from 9 to about 2.30, though
in summer he was frequently at work before breakfast. He then took a
brisk walk, and dined at about 3.30. This early hour had been
prescribed and insisted upon by his physician, Dr Haviland of
Cambridge, in whom he had great confidence. He ate heartily, though
simply and moderately, and slept for about an hour after dinner. He
then had tea, and from about 7 to 10 he worked in the same room with
his family. He would never retire to a private room, and regarded the
society of his family as highly beneficial in "taking the edge off his
work." His powers of abstraction were remarkable: nothing seemed to
disturb him; neither music, singing, nor miscellaneous conversation.
He would then play a game or two at cards, read a few pages of a
classical or historical book, and retire at 11. On Sundays he attended
morning service at church, and in the evening read a few prayers very
carefully and impressively to his whole household. He was very
hospitable, and delighted to receive his friends in a simple and
natural way at his house. In this he was most admirably aided by his
wife, whose grace and skill made everything pleasant to their
guests. But he avoided dinner-parties as much as possible--they
interfered too much with his work--and with the exception of
scientific and official dinners he seldom dined away from home. His
tastes were entirely domestic, and he was very happy in his
family. With his natural love of work, and with the incessant calls
upon him, he would soon have broken down, had it not been for his
system of regular relaxation. Two or three times a year he took a
holiday: generally a short run of a week or ten days in the spring, a
trip of a month or thereabouts in the early autumn, and about three
weeks at Playford in the winter. These trips were always conducted in
the most active manner, either in constant motion from place to place,
or in daily active excursions. This system he maintained with great
regularity, and from the exceeding interest and enjoyment that he took
in these trips his mind was so much refreshed and steadied that he
always kept himself equal to his work.

Airy seems to have had a strong bent in the direction of astronomy
from his youth, and it is curious to note how well furnished he was,
by the time that he became Astronomer Royal, both with astronomy in
all its branches, and with the kindred sciences so necessary for the
practical working and improvement of it. At the time that he went to
Cambridge Physical Astronomy was greatly studied there and formed a
most important part of the University course. He eagerly availed
himself of this, and mastered the Physical Astronomy in the most
thorough manner, as was evidenced by his Papers collected in his
"Mathematical Tracts," his investigation of the Long Inequality of the
Earth and Venus, and many other works. As Plumian Professor he had
charge of the small Observatory at Cambridge, where he did a great
deal of the observing and reduction work himself, and became
thoroughly versed in the practical working of an Observatory. The
result of this was immediately seen in the improved methods which he
introduced at Greenwich, and which were speedily imitated at other
Observatories. Optics and the Undulatory Theory of Light had been very
favourite subjects with him, and he had written and lectured
frequently upon them. In the construction of the new and powerful
telescopes and other optical instruments required from time to time
this knowledge was very essential, for in its instrumental equipment
the Greenwich Observatory was entirely remodelled during his tenure of
office. And in many of the matters referred to him, as for instance
that of the Lighthouses, a thorough knowledge of Optics was most
valuable. He had made a great study of the theory and construction of
clocks, and this knowledge was invaluable to him at Greenwich in the
establishment of new and more accurate astronomical clocks, and
especially in the improvement of chronometers. He had carefully
studied the theory of pendulums, and had learned how to use them in
his experiments in the Cornish mines. This knowledge he afterwards
utilized very effectively at the Harton Pit in comparing the density
of the Earth's crust with its mean density; and it was very useful to
him in connection with geodetic surveys and experiments on which he
was consulted. And his mechanical knowledge was useful in almost
everything.

The subjects (outside those required for his professional work) in
which he took most interest were Poetry, History, Theology,
Antiquities, Architecture, and Engineering. He was well acquainted
with standard English poetry, and had committed large quantities to
memory, which he frequently referred to as a most valuable acquisition
and an ever-present relief and comfort to his mind. History and
theology he had studied as opportunity offered, and without being
widely read in them he was much at home with them, and his powerful
memory made the most of what he did read. Antiquities and architecture
were very favourite subjects with him. He had visited most of the
camps and castles in the United Kingdom and was never tired of tracing
their connection with ancient military events: and he wrote several
papers on this subject, especially those relating to the Roman
invasions of Britain. Ecclesiastical architecture he was very fond of:
he had visited nearly all the cathedrals and principal churches in
England, and many on the Continent, and was most enthusiastic on their
different styles and merits: his letters abound in critical remarks on
them. He was extremely well versed in mechanics, and in the principles
and theory of construction, and took the greatest interest in large
engineering works. This led to much communication with Stephenson,
Brunel, and other engineers, who consulted him freely on the subject
of great works on which they were engaged: in particular he rendered
much assistance in connection with the construction of the Britannia
Bridge over the Menai Straits. There were various other subjects which
he read with much interest (Geology in particular), but he made no
study of Natural History, and knew very little about it beyond
detached facts. His industry was untiring, and in going over his books
one by one it was very noticeable how large a number of them were
feathered with his paper "marks," shewing how carefully he had read
them and referred to them. His nature was essentially cheerful, and
literature of a witty and humourous character had a great charm for
him. He was very fond of music and knew a great number of songs; and
he was well acquainted with the theory of music: but he was no
performer. He did not sketch freehand but made excellent drawings with
his Camera Lucida.

At the time when he took his degree (1823) and for many years
afterwards there was very great activity of scientific investigation
and astronomical enterprise in England. And, as in the times of
Flamsteed and Halley, the earnest zeal of men of science occasionally
led to much controversy and bitterness amongst them. Airy was by no
means exempt from such controversies. He was a man of keen
sensitiveness, though it was combined with great steadiness of temper,
and he never hesitated to attack theories and methods that he
considered to be scientifically wrong. This led to differences with
Ivory, Challis, South, Cayley, Archibald Smith, and others; but
however much he might differ from them he was always personally
courteous, and the disputes generally went no farther than as regarded
the special matter in question. Almost all these controversial
discussions were carried on openly, and were published in the
Athenaeum, the Philosophical Magazine, or elsewhere; for he printed
nearly everything that he wrote, and was very careful in the selection
of the most suitable channels for publication. He regarded it as a
duty to popularize as much as possible the work done at the
Observatory, and to take the public into his confidence. And this he
effected by articles communicated to newspapers, lectures, numerous
Papers written for scientific societies, reports, debates, and
critiques.

His strong constitution and his regular habits, both of work and
exercise, are sufficient explanation of the good health which in
general he enjoyed. Not but what he had sharp touches of illness from
time to time. At one period he suffered a good deal from an attack of
eczema, and at another from a varicose vein in his leg, and he was
occasionally troubled with severe colds. But he bore these ailments
with great patience and threw them off in course of time. He was happy
in his marriage and in his family, and such troubles and distresses as
were inevitable he accepted calmly and quietly. In his death, as in
his life, he was fortunate: he had no long or painful illness, and he
was spared the calamity of aberration of intellect, the saddest of all
visitations.



                             CHAPTER II.

      FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS TAKING HIS B.A. DEGREE AT CAMBRIDGE.

              FROM JULY 27TH 1801 TO JANUARY 18TH 1823.


George Biddell Airy was born at Alnwick in Northumberland on July 27th
1801. His father was William Airy of Luddington in Lincolnshire, the
descendant of a long line of Airys who have been traced back with a
very high degree of probability to a family of that name which was
settled at Kentmere in Westmorland in the 14th century. A branch of
this family migrated to Pontefract in Yorkshire, where they seem to
have prospered for many years, but they were involved in the
consequences of the Civil Wars, and one member of the family retired
to Ousefleet in Yorkshire. His grandson removed to Luddington in
Lincolnshire, where his descendants for several generations pursued
the calling of small farmers. George Biddell Airy's mother, Ann Airy,
was the daughter of George Biddell, a well-to-do farmer in Suffolk.

William Airy, the father of George Biddell Airy, was a man of great
activity and strength, and of prudent and steady character. When a
young man he became foreman on a farm in the neighbourhood of
Luddington, and laid by his earnings in summer in order to educate
himself in winter. For a person in his rank, his education was
unusually good, in matters of science and in English literature. But
at the age of 24 he grew tired of country labour, and obtained a post
in the Excise. After serving in various Collections he was appointed
Collector of the Northumberland Collection on the 15th August 1800,
and during his service there his eldest son George Biddell Airy was
born. The time over which his service as Officer and Supervisor
extended was that in which smuggling rose to a very high pitch, and in
which the position of Excise Officer was sometimes dangerous. He was
remarkable for his activity and boldness in contests with smugglers,
and made many seizures. Ann Airy, the mother of George Biddell Airy,
was a woman of great natural abilities both speculative and practical,
kind as a neighbour and as head of a family, and was deeply loved and
respected. The family consisted of George Biddell, Elizabeth, William,
and Arthur who died young.

William Airy was appointed to Hereford Collection on 22nd October
1802, and removed thither shortly after. He stayed at Hereford till he
was appointed to Essex Collection on 28th February 1810, and during
this time George Biddell was educated at elementary schools in
writing, arithmetic, and a little Latin. He records of himself that he
was not a favourite with the schoolboys, for he had very little animal
vivacity and seldom joined in active play with his schoolfellows. But
in the proceedings of the school he was successful, and was a
favourite with his master.

On the appointment of William Airy to Essex Collection, the family
removed to Colchester on April 5th 1810. Here George Biddell was first
sent to a large school in Sir Isaac's Walk, then kept by Mr Byatt
Walker, and was soon noted for his correctness in orthography,
geography, and arithmetic. He evidently made rapid progress, for on
one occasion Mr Walker said openly in the schoolroom how remarkable it
was that a boy 10 years old should be the first in the school. At this
school he stayed till the end of 1813 and thoroughly learned
arithmetic (from Walkingame's book), book-keeping by double entry (on
which knowledge throughout his life he set a special value), the use
of the sliding rule (which knowledge also was specially useful to him
in after life), mensuration and algebra (from Bonnycastle's books). He
also studied grammar in all its branches, and geography, and acquired
some knowledge of English literature, beginning with that admirable
book The Speaker, but it does not appear that Latin and Greek were
attended to at this school. He records that at this time he learned an
infinity of snatches of songs, small romances, &c., which his powerful
memory retained most accurately throughout his life. He was no hand at
active play: but was notorious for his skill in constructing guns for
shooting peas and arrows, and other mechanical contrivances. At home
he relates that he picked up a wonderful quantity of learning from his
father's books. He read and remembered much poetry from such standard
authors as Milton, Pope, Gay, Gray, Swift, &c., which was destined to
prove in after life an invaluable relaxation for his mind. But he also
studied deeply an excellent Cyclopaedia called a Dictionary of Arts
and Sciences in three volumes folio, and learned from it much about
ship-building, navigation, fortification, and many other subjects.

During this period his valuable friendship with his uncle Arthur
Biddell commenced. Arthur Biddell was a prosperous farmer and valuer
at Playford near Ipswich. He was a well-informed and able man, of
powerful and original mind, extremely kind and good-natured, and
greatly respected throughout the county. In the Autobiography of
George Biddell Airy he states as follows:

"I do not remember precisely when it was that I first visited my uncle
Arthur Biddell. I think it was in a winter: certainly as early as the
winter of 1812--13. Here I found a friend whose society I could enjoy,
and I entirely appreciated and enjoyed the practical, mechanical, and
at the same time speculative and enquiring talents of Arthur
Biddell. He had a library which, for a person in middle life, may be
called excellent, and his historical and antiquarian knowledge was not
small. After spending one winter holiday with him, it easily came to
pass that I spent the next summer holiday with him: and at the next
winter holiday, finding that there was no precise arrangement for my
movements, I secretly wrote him a letter begging him to come with a
gig to fetch me home with him: he complied with my request, giving no
hint to my father or mother of my letter: and from that time,
one-third of every year was regularly spent with him till I went to
College. How great was the influence of this on my character and
education I cannot tell. It was with him that I became acquainted with
the Messrs Ransome, W. Cubitt the civil engineer (afterwards Sir
W. Cubitt), Bernard Barton, Thomas Clarkson (the slave-trade
abolitionist), and other persons whose acquaintance I have valued
highly. It was also with him that I became acquainted with the works
of the best modern poets, Scott, Byron, Campbell, Hogg, and others: as
also with the Waverley Novels and other works of merit."

In 1813 William Airy lost his appointment of Collector of Excise and
was in consequence very much straitened in his circumstances. But
there was no relaxation in the education of his children, and at the
beginning of 1814 George Biddell was sent to the endowed Grammar
School at Colchester, then kept by the Rev. E. Crosse, and remained
there till the summer of 1819, when he went to College. The
Autobiography proceeds as follows:

"I became here a respectable scholar in Latin and Greek, to the extent
of accurate translation, and composition of prose Latin: in regard to
Latin verses I was I think more defective than most scholars who take
the same pains, but I am not much ashamed of this, for I entirely
despise the system of instruction in verse composition.

"My father on some occasion had to go to London and brought back for
me a pair of 12-inch globes. They were invaluable to me. The first
stars which I learnt from the celestial globe were alpha Lyrae, alpha
Aquilae, alpha Cygni: and to this time I involuntarily regard these
stars as the birth-stars of my astronomical knowledge. Having
somewhere seen a description of a Gunter's quadrant, I perceived that
I could construct one by means of the globe: my father procured for me
a board of the proper shape with paper pasted on it, and on this I
traced the lines of the quadrant.

"My command of geometry was tolerably complete, and one way in which I
frequently amused myself was by making paper models (most carefully
drawn in outline) which were buttoned together without any cement or
sewing. Thus I made models, not only of regular solids, regularly
irregular solids, cones cut in all directions so as to shew the conic
sections, and the like, but also of six-gun batteries, intrenchments
and fortresses of various kinds &c.

"From various books I had learnt the construction of the steam-engine:
the older forms from the Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; newer forms
from modern books. The newest form however (with the sliding steam
valve) I learnt from a 6-horse engine at Bawtrey's brewery (in which
Mr Keeling the father of my schoolfellow had acquired a
partnership). I frequently went to look at this engine, and on one
occasion had the extreme felicity of examining some of its parts when
it was opened for repair.

"In the mean time my education was advancing at Playford. The first
record, I believe, which I have of my attention to mechanics there is
the plan of a threshing-machine which I drew. But I was acquiring
valuable information of all kinds from the Encyclopaedia Londinensis,
a work which without being high in any respect is one of the most
generally useful that I have seen. But I well remember one of the most
important steps that I ever made. I had tried experiments with the
object-glass of an opera-glass and was greatly astonished at the
appearance of the images of objects seen through the glass under
different conditions. By these things my thoughts were turned to
accurate optics, and I read with care Rutherford's Lectures, which my
uncle possessed. The acquisition of an accurate knowledge of the
effect of optical constructions was one of the most charming
attainments that I ever reached. Long before I went to College I
understood the action of the lenses of a telescope better than most
opticians. I also read with great zeal Nicholson's Dictionary of
Chemistry, and occasionally made chemical experiments of an
inexpensive kind: indeed I grew so fond of this subject that there was
some thought of apprenticing me to a chemist. I also attended to
surveying and made a tolerable survey and map of my uncle's farm.

"At school I was going on successfully, and distinguished myself
particularly by my memory. It was the custom for each boy once a week
to repeat a number of lines of Latin or Greek poetry, the number
depending very much on his own choice. I determined on repeating 100
every week, and I never once fell below that number and was sometimes
much above it. It was no distress to me, and great enjoyment. At
Michaelmas 1816 I repeated 2394 lines, probably without missing a
word. I do not think that I was a favourite with Mr Crosse, but he
certainly had a high opinion of my powers and expressed this to my
father. My father entertained the idea of sending me to College, which
Mr Crosse recommended: but he heard from some college man that the
expense would be _L200_ a year, and he laid aside all thoughts of it.

"The farm of Playford Hall was in 1813 or 1814 hired by Thomas
Clarkson, the slave-trade abolitionist. My uncle transacted much
business for him (as a neighbour and friend) in the management of the
farm &c. for a time, and they became very intimate. My uncle begged
him to examine me in Classical knowledge, and he did so, I think,
twice. He also gave some better information about the probable
expenses &c. at College. The result was a strong recommendation by my
uncle or through my uncle that I should be sent to Cambridge, and this
was adopted by my father. I think it likely that this was in 1816.

"In December 1816, Dealtry's Fluxions was bought for me, and I read it
and understood it well. I borrowed Hutton's Course of Mathematics of
old Mr Ransome, who had come to reside at Greenstead near Colchester,
and read a good deal of it.

"About Ladyday 1817 I began to read mathematics with Mr Rogers
(formerly, I think, a Fellow of Sidney College, and an indifferent
mathematician of the Cambridge school), who had succeeded a Mr Tweed
as assistant to Mr Crosse in the school. I went to his house twice a
week, on holiday afternoons. I do not remember how long I received
lessons from him, but I think to June, 1818. This course was extremely
valuable to me, not on account of Mr Rogers's abilities (for I
understood many things better than he did) but for its training me
both in Cambridge subjects and in the Cambridge accurate methods of
treating them. I went through Euclid (as far as usually read), Wood's
Algebra, Wood's Mechanics, Vince's Hydrostatics, Wood's Optics,
Trigonometry (in a geometrical treatise and also in Woodhouse's
algebraical form), Fluxions to a good extent, Newton's Principia to
the end of the 9th section. This was a large quantity, but I read it
accurately and understood it perfectly, and could write out any one of
the propositions which I had read in the most exact form. My connexion
with Mr Rogers was terminated by _his_ giving me notice that he could
not undertake to receive me any longer: in fact I was too much for
him. I generally read these books in a garret in our house in George
Lane, which was indefinitely appropriated to my brother and myself. I
find that I copied out Vince's Conic Sections in February, 1819. The
first book that I copied was the small geometrical treatise on
Trigonometry, in May, 1817: to this I was urged by old Mr Ransome,
upon my complaining that I could not purchase the book: and it was no
bad lesson of independence to me."

During the same period 1817-1819 he was occupied at school on
translations into blank verse from the Aeneid and Iliad, and read
through the whole of Sophocles very carefully.

The classical knowledge which he thus gained at school and
subsequently at Cambridge was sound, and he took great pleasure in it:
throughout his life he made a practice of keeping one or other of the
Classical Authors at hand for occasional relaxation. He terminated his
schooling in June 1819. Shortly afterwards his father left Colchester
and went to reside at Bury St Edmund's. The Autobiography proceeds as
follows:

"Mr Clarkson was at one time inclined to recommend me to go to St
Peter's College (which had been much enriched by a bequest from a Mr
Gisborne). But on giving some account of me to his friend Mr James
D. Hustler, tutor of Trinity College, Mr Hustler urged upon him that I
was exactly the proper sort of person to go to Trinity College. And
thus it was settled (mainly by Mr Clarkson) that I should be entered
at Trinity College. I think that I was sent for purposely from
Colchester to Playford, and on March 6th, 1819, I rode in company with
Mr Clarkson from Playford to Sproughton near Ipswich to be examined by
the Rev. Mr Rogers, incumbent of Sproughton, an old M.A. of Trinity
College; and was examined, and my certificate duly sent to Mr Hustler;
and I was entered on Mr Hustler's side as Sizar of Trinity College.

"In the summer of 1819 I spent some time at Playford. On July 27th,
1819 (my birthday, 18 years old), Mr Clarkson invited me to dinner, to
meet Mr Charles Musgrave, Fellow of Trinity College, who was residing
for a short time at Grundisburgh, taking the church duty there for Dr
Ramsden, the Rector. It was arranged that I should go to Grundisburgh
the next day (I think) to be examined in mathematics by Mr Musgrave. I
went accordingly, and Mr Musgrave set before me a paper of questions
in geometry, algebra, mechanics, optics, &c. ending with the first
proposition of the Principia. I knew nothing more about my answers at
the time; but I found long after that they excited so much admiration
that they were transmitted to Cambridge (I forget whether to Mr
Musgrave's brother, a Fellow of Trinity College and afterwards
Archbishop of York, or to Mr Peacock, afterwards Dean of Ely) and were
long preserved.

"The list of the Classical subjects for the first year in Trinity
College was transmitted to me, as usual, by Mr Hustler. They were--The
Hippolytus of Euripides, the 3rd Book of Thucydides, and the 2nd
Philippic of Cicero. These I read carefully and noted before going
up. Mr Hustler's family lived in Bury; and I called on him and saw him
in October, introduced by Mr Clarkson. On the morning of October 18th,
1819, I went on the top of the coach to Cambridge, knowing nobody
there but Mr Hustler, but having letters of introduction from Mr
Charles Musgrave to Professor Sedgwick, Mr Thomas Musgrave, and Mr
George Peacock, all Fellows of Trinity College.

"I was set down at the Hoop, saw Trinity College for the first time,
found Mr Hustler, was conducted by his servant to the robe-maker's,
where I was invested in the cap and blue gown, and after some further
waiting was installed into lodgings in Bridge Street. At 4 o'clock I
went to the College Hall and was introduced by Mr Hustler to several
undergraduates, generally clever men, and in the evening I attended
Chapel in my surplice (it being St Luke's day) and witnessed that
splendid service of which the occasional exhibition well befits the
place.

"As soon as possible, I called on Mr Peacock, Mr Musgrave, and
Professor Sedgwick. By all I was received with great kindness: my
examination papers had been sent to them, and a considerable
reputation preceded me. Mr Peacock at once desired that I would not
consider Mr C. Musgrave's letter as an ordinary introduction, but that
I would refer to him on all occasions. And I did so for several years,
and always received from him the greatest assistance that he could
give. I think that I did not become acquainted with Mr Whewell till
the next term, when I met him at a breakfast party at Mr Peacock's. Mr
Peacock at once warned me to arrange for taking regular exercise, and
prescribed a walk of two hours every day before dinner: a rule to
which I attended regularly, and to which I ascribe the continuance of
good general health.

"I shewed Mr Peacock a manuscript book which contained a number of
original Propositions which I had investigated. These much increased
my reputation (I really had sense enough to set no particular value on
it) and I was soon known by sight to almost everybody in the
University. A ridiculous little circumstance aided in this. The former
rule of the University (strictly enforced) had been that all students
should wear drab knee-breeches: and I, at Mr Clarkson's
recommendation, was so fitted up. The struggle between the old dress
and the trowsers customary in society was still going on but almost
terminated, and I was one of the very few freshmen who retained the
old habiliments. This made me in some measure distinguishable:
however at the end of my first three terms I laid these aside.

"The College Lectures began on Oct. 22: Mr Evans at 9 on the
Hippolytus, and Mr Peacock at 10 on Euclid (these being the Assistant
Tutors on Mr Hustler's side): and then I felt myself established.

"I wrote in a day or two to my uncle Arthur Biddell, and I received
from him a letter of the utmost kindness. He entered gravely on the
consideration of my prospects, my wants, &c.: and offered at all times
to furnish me with money, which he thought my father's parsimonious
habits might make him unwilling to do. I never had occasion to avail
myself of this offer: but it was made in a way which in no small
degree strengthened the kindly feelings that had long existed between
us.

"I carefully attended the lectures, taking notes as appeared
necessary. In Mathematics there were geometrical problems, algebra,
trigonometry (which latter subjects the lectures did not reach till
the terms of 1820). Mr Peacock gave me a copy of Lacroix's
Differential Calculus as translated by himself and Herschel and
Babbage, and also a copy of their Examples. At this time, the use of
Differential Calculus was just prevailing over that of Fluxions (which
I had learnt). I betook myself to it with great industry. I also made
myself master of the theories of rectangular coordinates and some of
the differential processes applying to them, which only a few of the
best of the university mathematicians then wholly possessed. In
Classical subjects I read the Latin (Seneca's) and English Hippolytus,
Racine's Phedre (which my sister translated for me), and all other
books to which I was referred, Aristotle, Longinus, Horace, Bentley,
Dawes &c., made verse translations of the Greek Hippolytus, and was
constantly on the watch to read what might be advantageous.

"Early in December Mr Hustler sent for me to say that one of the
Company of Fishmongers, Mr R. Sharp, had given to Mr John H. Smyth,
M.P. for Norwich, the presentation to a small exhibition of _L20_ a
year, which Mr Smyth had placed in Mr Hustler's hands, and which Mr
Hustler immediately conferred on me. This was my first step towards
pecuniary independence. I retained this exhibition till I became a
Fellow of the College.

"I stayed at Cambridge during part of the winter vacation, and to
avoid expense I quitted my lodgings and went for a time into
somebody's rooms in the Bishop's Hostel. (It is customary for the
tutors to place students in rooms when their right owners are absent.)
I took with me Thucydides and all relating to it, and read the book,
upon which the next term's lectures were to be founded, very
carefully. The latter part of the vacation I spent at Bury, where I
began with the assistance of my sister to pick up a little French: as
I perceived that it was absolutely necessary for enabling me to read
modern mathematics.

"During a part of the time I employed myself in writing out a paper on
the geometrical interpretation of the algebraical expression
sqrt(-1). I think that the original suggestion of perpendicular line
came from some book (I do not remember clearly), and I worked it out
in several instances pretty well, especially in De Moivre's Theorem. I
had spoken of it in the preceding term to Mr Peacock and he encouraged
me to work it out. The date at the end is 1820, January 21. When some
time afterwards I spoke of it to Mr Hustler, he disapproved of my
employing my time on such speculations. About the last day of January
I returned to Cambridge, taking up my abode in my former lodgings. I
shewed my paper on sqrt(-1) to Mr Peacock, who was much pleased with
it and shewed it to Mr Whewell and others.

"On February 1 I commenced two excellent customs. The first was that
I always had upon my table a quire of large-sized scribbling-paper
sewn together: and upon this paper everything was entered:
translations into Latin and out of Greek, mathematical problems,
memoranda of every kind (the latter transferred when necessary to the
subsequent pages), and generally with the date of the day. This is a
most valuable custom. The other was this: as I perceived that to write
Latin prose well would be useful to me, I wrote a translation of
English into Latin every day. However much pressed I might be with
other business, I endeavoured to write at least three or four words,
but if possible I wrote a good many sentences.

"I may fix upon this as the time when my daily habits were settled in
the form in which they continued for several years. I rose in time for
the chapel service at 7. It was the College regulation that every
student should attend Chapel four mornings and four evenings (Sunday
being one of each) in every week: and in this I never failed. After
chapel service I came to my lodgings and breakfasted. At 9 I went to
College lectures, which lasted to 11. Most of my contemporaries, being
intended for the Church, attended also divinity lectures: but I never
did. I then returned, put my lecture notes in order, wrote my piece of
Latin prose, and then employed myself on the subject which I was
reading for the time: usually taking mathematics at this hour. At 2 or
a little sooner I went out for a long walk, usually 4 or 5 miles into
the country: sometimes if I found companions I rowed on the Cam (a
practice acquired rather later). A little before 4 I returned, and at
4 went to College Hall. After dinner I lounged till evening chapel
time, 1/2 past 5, and returning about 6 I then had tea. Then I read
quietly, usually a classical subject, till 11; and I never, even in
the times when I might seem most severely pressed, sat up later.

"From this time to the close of the annual examination (beginning of
June) I remained at Cambridge, stopping there through the Easter
Vacation. The subjects of the mathematical lectures were ordinary
algebra and trigonometry: but Mr Peacock always had some private
problems of a higher class for me, and saw me I believe every day. The
subjects of the Classical lectures were, the termination of
Hippolytus, the book of Thucydides and the oration of Cicero. In
mathematics I read Whewell's Mechanics, then just published (the first
innovation made in the Cambridge system of Physical Sciences for many
years): and I find in my scribbling-paper notes, integrals, central
forces, Finite Differences, steam-engine constructions and powers,
plans of bridges, spherical trigonometry, optical calculations
relating to the achromatism of eye-pieces and achromatic
object-glasses with lenses separated, mechanical problems, Transit of
Venus, various problems in geometrical astronomy (I think it was at
this time that Mr Peacock had given me a copy of Woodhouse's Astronomy
1st Edition), the rainbow, plans for anemometer and for a wind-pumping
machine, clearing lunars, &c., with a great number of geometrical
problems. I remark that my ideas on the Differential Calculus had not
acquired on some important points the severe accuracy which they
acquired in a few months. In Classics I read the Persae of Aeschylus,
Greek and Roman history very much (Mitford, Hooke, Ferguson) and the
books of Thucydides introductory to that of the lecture subject (the
3rd): and attended to Chronology. On the scribbling-paper are
verse-translations from Euripides, careful prose-translations from
Thucydides, maps, notes on points of grammar &c. I have also little
MS. books with abundant notes on all these subjects: I usually made a
little book when I pursued any subject in a regular way.

"On May 1st Mr Dobree, the head lecturer, sent for me to say that he
appointed me head-lecturer's Sizar for the next year. The stipend of
this office was _L10_, a sum upon which I set considerable value in my
anxiety for pecuniary independence: but it was also gratifying to me
as shewing the way in which I was regarded by the College authorities.

"On Wednesday, May 24th, 1820, the examination began. I was anxious
about the result of the examination, but only in such a degree as to
make my conduct perfectly steady and calm, and to prevent me from
attempting any extraordinary exertion.

"When the Classes were published the first Class of the Freshman's
Year (alphabetically arranged, as is the custom) stood thus: Airy,
Boileau, Childers, Drinkwater, Field, Iliff, Malkin, Myers, Romilly,
Strutt, Tate, Winning. It was soon known however that I was first of
the Class. It was generally expected (and certainly by me) that,
considering how great a preponderance the Classics were understood, in
the known system of the College, to have in determining the order of
merit, Field would be first. However the number of marks which Field
obtained was about 1700, and that which I obtained about 1900. No
other competitor, I believe, was near us."--In a letter to Airy from
his College Tutor, Mr J. D. Hustler, there is the following passage:
"It is a matter of extreme satisfaction to me that in the late
examination you stood not only in the First Class but first of the
first. I trust that your future exertions and success will be
commensurate with this honourable beginning."

"Of the men whom I have named, Drinkwater (Bethune) was afterwards
Legal Member of the Supreme Court of India, Field was afterwards
Rector of Reepham, Romilly (afterwards Lord Romilly) became
Solicitor-General, Strutt (afterwards Lord Belper) became M.P. for
Derby and First Commissioner of Railways, Tate was afterwards master
of Richmond Endowed School, Childers was the father of Childers who
was subsequently First Lord of the Admiralty.

"I returned to Bury immediately. While there, some students (some of
them men about to take their B.A. degree at the next January) applied
to me to take them as pupils, but I declined. This year of my life
enabled me to understand how I stood among men. I returned to
Cambridge about July 11th. As a general rule, undergraduates are not
allowed to reside in the University during the Long Vacation. I
believe that before I left, after the examination, I had made out that
I should be permitted to reside: or I wrote to Mr  Hustler. I applied
to Mr Hustler to be lodged in rooms in College: and was put, first
into rooms in Bishop's Hostel, and subsequently into rooms in the
Great Court.

"The first affair that I had in College was one of disappointment by
no means deserving the importance which it assumed in my thoughts. I
had been entered a Sizar, but as the list of Foundation Sizars was
full, my dinners in Hall were paid for. Some vacancies had arisen: and
as these were to be filled up in order of merit, I expected one: and
in my desire for pecuniary independence I wished for it very
earnestly. However, as in theory all of the first class were equal,
and as there were some Sizars in it senior in entrance to me, they
obtained places first: and I was not actually appointed till after the
next scholarship examination (Easter 1821). However a special
arrangement was made, allowing me (I forget whether others) to sit at
the Foundation-Sizars' table whenever any of the number was absent:
and in consequence I received practically nearly the full benefits.

"Mr Peacock, who was going out for the vacation, allowed me access to
his books. I had also (by the assistance of various Fellows, who all
treated me with great kindness, almost to a degree of respect) command
of the University Library and Trinity Library: and spent this Long
Vacation, like several others, very happily indeed.

"The only non-mathematical subjects of the next examination were The
Gospel of St Luke, Paley's Evidences, and Paley's Moral and Political
Philosophy. Thus my time was left more free to mathematics and to
general classics than last year. I now began a custom which I
maintained for some years. Generally I read mathematics in the
morning, and classics for lectures in the afternoon: but invariably I
began at 10 o'clock in the evening to read with the utmost severity
some standard classics (unconnected with the lectures) and at 11
precisely I left off and went to bed. I continued my daily
translations into Latin prose as before.

"On August 24th, 1820, Rosser, a man of my own year, engaged me as
private tutor, paying at the usual rate (_L14_ for a part of the
Vacation, and _L14_ for a term): and immediately afterwards his friend
Bedingfield did the same. This occupied two hours every day, and I
felt that I was now completely earning my own living. I never received
a penny from my friends after this time.

"I find on my scribbling-paper various words which shew that in
reading Poisson I was struggling with French words. There are also
Finite Differences and their Calculus, Figure of the Earth (force to
the center), various Attractions (some evidently referring to
Maclaurin's), Integrals, Conic Sections, Kepler's Problem, Analytical
Geometry, D'Alembert's Theorem, Spherical Aberration, Rotations round
three axes (apparently I had been reading Euler), Floating bodies,
Evolute of Ellipse, Newton's treatment of the Moon's Variation. I
attempted to extract something from Vince's Astronomy on the physical
explanation of Precession: but in despair of understanding it, and
having made out an explanation for myself by the motion round three
axes, I put together a little treatise (Sept. 10, 1820) which with
some corrections and additions was afterwards printed in my
Mathematical Tracts. On Sept. 14th I bought Woodhouse's Physical
Astronomy, and this was quite an epoch in my mathematical
knowledge. First, I was compelled by the process of "changing the
independent variable" to examine severely the logic of the
Differential Calculus. Secondly, I was now able to enter on the Theory
of Perturbations, which for several years had been the desired land to
me.

"At the Fellowship Election of Oct. 1st, Sydney Walker (among other
persons) was elected Fellow. He then quitted the rooms in which he had
lived (almost the worst in the College), and I immediately took
them. They suited me well and I lived very happily in them till I was
elected Scholar. They are small rooms above the middle staircase on
the south side of Neville's Court. (Mr Peacock's rooms were on the
same staircase.) I had access to the leads on the roof of the building
from one of my windows. This was before the New Court was built: my
best window looked upon the garden of the College butler.

"I had brought to Cambridge the telescope which I had made at
Colchester, and about this time I had a stand made by a carpenter at
Cambridge: and I find repeated observations of Jupiter and Saturn made
in this October term.

"Other mathematical subjects on my scribbling-paper are: Geometrical
Astronomy, Barometers (for elevations), Maclaurin's Figure of the
Earth, Lagrange's Theorem, Integrals, Differential Equations of the
second order, Particular Solutions. In general mathematics I had much
discussion with Atkinson (who was Senior Wrangler, January 1821), and
in Physics with Rosser, who was a friend of Sir Richard Phillips, a
vain objector to gravitation. In Classics I read Aeschylus and
Herodotus.

"On October 5th I received notice from the Head Lecturer to declaim in
English with Winning. (This exercise consists in preparing a
controversial essay, learning it by heart, and speaking it in Chapel
after the Thursday evening's service.)  On October 6th we agreed on
the subject, "Is natural difference to be ascribed to moral or to
physical causes?" I taking the latter side. I spoke the declamation
(reciting it without missing a word) on October 25th. On October 26th
I received notice of Latin declamation with Myers: subject agreed on,
"Utrum civitati plus utilitatis an incommodi afferant leges quae ad
vitas privatorum hominum ordinandas pertinent"; I took the former. The
declamation was recited on November 11, when a curious circumstance
occurred. My declamation was rather long: it was the first Saturday of
the term on which a declamation had been spoken: and it was the day on
which arrived the news of the withdrawal of the Bill of Pains and
Penalties against Queen Caroline. (This trial had been going on
through the summer, but I knew little about it.) In consequence the
impatience of the undergraduates was very great, and there was such an
uproar of coughing &c. in the Chapel as probably was never known. The
Master (Dr Wordsworth, appointed in the beginning of the summer on the
death of Dr Mansell, and to whom I had been indirectly introduced by
Mrs Clarkson) and Tutors and Deans tried in vain to stop the
hubbub. However I went on steadily to the end, not at all
frightened. On the Monday the Master sent for me to make a sort of
apology in the name of the authorities, and letters to the Tutors were
read at the Lectures, and on the whole the transaction was nowise
disagreeable to me.

"On the Commemoration Day, December 15th, I received my Prize
(Mitford's Greece) as First-Class man, after dinner in the College
Hall. After a short vacation spent at Bury and Playford I returned to
Cambridge, walking from Bury on Jan. 22nd, 1821. During the next term
I find in Mathematics Partial Differential Equations, Tides, Sound,
Calculus of Variations, Composition of rotary motions, Motion in
resisting medium, Lhuillier's theorem, Brightness of an object as seen
through a medium with any possible law of refraction (a good
investigation), star-reductions, numerical calculations connected with
them, equilibrium of chain under centripetal force (geometrically
treated, as an improvement upon Whewell's algebraical method),
investigation of the magnitude of attractive forces of glass, &c.,
required to produce refraction. I forget about Mathematical Lectures;
but I have an impression that I regularly attended Mr Peacock's
lectures, and that he always set me some private problems.

"I attended Mr Evans's lectures on St Luke: and I find many notes
about the history of the Jews, Cerinthus and various heresies, Paley's
Moral Philosophy, Paley's Evidences, and Biblical Maps: also
speculations about ancient pronunciations.

"For a week or more before the annual examination I was perfectly
lazy. The Classes of my year (Junior Sophs) were not published till
June 11. It was soon known that I was first with 2000 marks, the next
being Drinkwater with 1200 marks. After a short holiday at Bury and
Playford I returned to Cambridge on July 18th, 1821. My daily life
went on as usual. I find that in writing Latin I began Cicero De
Senectute (retranslating Melmoth's translation, and comparing). Some
time in the Long Vacation the names of the Prizemen for Declamations
were published: I was disappointed that not one, English or Latin, was
assigned to me: but it was foolish, for my declamations were rather
trumpery.

"My former pupil, Rosser, came again on August 14th. On August 29th
Dr Blomfield (afterwards Bishop of London) called, to engage me as
Tutor to his brother George Beecher Blomfield, and he commenced
attendance on Sept. 1st. With these two pupils I finished at the end
of the Long Vacation: for the next three terms I had one pupil,
Gibson, a Newcastle man, recommended by Mr Peacock, I believe, as a
personal friend (Mr Peacock being of Durham).

"The only classical subject appointed for the next examination was the
5th, 6th and 7th Books of the Odyssey: the mathematical subjects all
the Applied Mathematics and Newton. There was to be however the
Scholarship Examination (Sizars being allowed to sit for Scholarships
only in their 3rd year: and the Scholarship being a kind of little
Fellowship necessary to qualify for being a candidate for the real
Fellowship).

"When the October term began Mr Hustler, who usually gave lectures in
mathematics to his third-year pupils, said to me that it was not worth
my while to attend his lectures, and he or Mr Peacock suggested that
Drinkwater, Myers, and I should attend the Questionists'
examinations. The Questionists are those who are to take the degree of
B.A. in the next January: and it was customary, not to give them
lectures, but three times a week to examine them by setting
mathematical questions, as the best method of preparing for the
B.A. examination. Accordingly it was arranged that we should attend
the said examinations: but when we went the Questionists of that year
refused to attend. They were reported to be a weak year, and we to be
a strong one: and they were disposed to take offence at us on any
occasion. From some of the scholars of our year who sat at table with
scholars of that year I heard that they distinguished us as 'the
impudent year,' 'the annus mirabilis' &c. On this occasion they
pretended to believe that the plan of our attendance at the
Questionists' examinations had been suggested by an undergraduate, and
no explanation was of the least use. So the Tutors agreed not to press
the matter on them: and instead of it, Drinkwater, Myers, and I went
three times a week to Mr Peacock's rooms, and he set us questions. I
think that this system was also continued during the next two terms
(ending in June 1822) or part of them, but I am not certain.

"In August 1821 I copied out a M.S. on Optics, I think from Mr
Whewell: on August 24th one on the Figure of the Earth and Tides; and
at some other time one on the motion of a body round two centers of
force; both from Mr Whewell. On my scribbling paper I find--A problem
on the vibrations of a gig as depending on the horse's step (like that
of a pendulum whose support is disturbed), Maclaurin's Attractions,
Effect of separating the lenses of an achromatic object-glass
(suggested by my old telescope), Barlow's theory of numbers, and
division of the circle into 17 parts, partial differentials, theory of
eye-pieces, epicycloids, Figure of the Earth, Time of body in arc of
parabola, Problem of Sound, Tides, Refraction of Lens, including
thickness, &c., Ivory's paper on Equations, Achromatism of microscope,
Capillary Attraction, Motions of Fluids, Euler's principal axes,
Spherical pendulum, Equation b squared(d squaredy/dx squared)=(d squaredy/dt squared), barometer, Lunar
Theory well worked out, ordinary differential equations, Calculus of
Variations, Interpolations like Laplace's for Comets, Kepler's
theorem. In September I had my old telescope mounted on a short tripod
stand, and made experiments on its adjustments. I was possessed of
White's Ephemeris, and I find observations of Jupiter and Saturn in
October. I planned an engine for describing ellipses by the polar
equation A/(1 + e cos theta) and tried to make a micrometer with silk
threads converging to a point. Mr Cubitt called on Oct. 4 and Nov. 1;
he was engaged in erecting a treadmill at Cambridge Gaol, and had some
thoughts of sending plans for the Cambridge Observatory, the erection
of which was then proposed. On Nov. 19 I find that I had received from
Cubitt a Nautical Almanac, the first that I had. On Dec. 11 I made
some experiments with Drinkwater: I think it was whirling a glass
containing oil on water. In Classics I was chiefly engaged upon
Thucydides and Homer. On October 6th I had a letter from Charles
Musgrave, introducing Challis, who succeeded me in the Cambridge
Observatory in 1836.

"At this time my poor afflicted father was suffering much from a
severe form of rheumatism or pain in the legs which sometimes
prevented him from going to bed for weeks together.

"On the Commemoration Day, Dec. 18th, I received my prize as
first-class man in Hall again. The next day I walked to Bury, and
passed the winter vacation there and at Playford.

"I returned to Cambridge on Jan. 24th, 1822. On Feb. 12th I kept my
first Act, with great compliments from the Moderator, and with a most
unusually large attendance of auditors. These disputations on
mathematics, in Latin, are now discontinued. On March 20th I kept a
first Opponency against Sandys. About this time I received Buckle, a
Trinity man of my own year, who was generally supposed to come next
after Drinkwater, as pupil. On my sheets I find integrals and
differential equations of every kind, astronomical corrections (of
which I prepared a book), chances, Englefield's comets, investigation
of the brightness within a rainbow, proof of Clairaut's theorem in one
case, metacentres, change of independent variable applied to a
complicated case, generating functions, principal axes. On Apr. 8th I
intended to write an account of my eye: I was then tormented with a
double image, I suppose from some disease of the stomach: and on May
28th I find by a drawing of the appearance of a lamp that the disease
of my eye continued.

"On Feb. 11th I gave Mr Peacock a paper on the alteration of the focal
length of a telescope as directed with or against the Earth's orbital
motion (on the theory of emissions) which was written out for reading
to the Cambridge Philosophical Society on Feb. 24th and 25th. [This
Society I think was then about a year old.] On Feb. 1 my MS. on
Precession, Solar Inequality, and Nutation, was made complete.

"The important examination for Scholarships was now approaching. As I
have said, this one opportunity only was given to Sizars (Pensioners
having always two opportunities and sometimes three), and it is
necessary to be a Scholar in order to be competent to be a candidate
for a Fellowship. On Apr. 10th I addressed my formal Latin letter to
the Seniors. There were 13 vacancies and 37 candidates. The election
took place on Apr. 18th, 1822. I was by much the first (which I hardly
expected) and was complimented by the Master and others. Wrote the
formal letter of thanks as usual. I was now entitled to claim better
rooms, and I took the rooms on the ground floor on the East side of
the Queen's Gate of the Great Court. Even now I think of my quiet
residence in the little rooms above the staircase in Neville's Court
with great pleasure. I took possession of my new rooms on May 27th.

"The Annual Examination began on May 30th. The Classes were published
on June 5th, when my name was separated from the rest by two lines. It
was understood that the second man was Drinkwater, and that my number
of marks was very nearly double of his. Having at this time been
disappointed of a proposed walking excursion into Derbyshire with a
college friend, who failed me at the last moment, I walked to Bury and
spent a short holiday there and at Playford.

"I returned to Cambridge on July 12th, 1822. I was steadily busy
during this Long Vacation, but by no means oppressively so: indeed my
time passed very happily. The Scholars' Table is the only one in
College at which the regular possessors of the table are sure never to
see a stranger, and thus a sort of family intimacy grows up among the
Scholars. Moreover the Scholars feel themselves to be a privileged
class 'on the foundation,' and this feeling gives them a sort of
conceited happiness. It was the duty of Scholars by turns to read
Grace after the Fellows' dinner and supper, and at this time (1848) I
know it by heart. They also read the Lessons in Chapel on week days:
but as there was no daily chapel-service during the summer vacation, I
had not much of this. In the intimacy of which I speak I became much
acquainted with Drinkwater, Buckle, Rothman, and Sutcliffe: and we
formed a knot at the table (first the Undergraduate Scholars' table,
and afterwards the Bachelor Scholars' table) for several years. During
this Vacation I had for pupils Buckle and Gibson.

"I wrote my daily Latin as usual, beginning with the retranslation of
Cicero's Epistles, but I interrupted it from Sept. 27th to Feb. 8th. I
believe it was in this Vacation, or in the October term, that I began
every evening to read Thucydides very carefully, as my notes are
marked 1822 and 1823. On August 27 I find that I was reading Ovid's
Fasti.

"In Mathematics I find the equation x + y = a, x^q + y^q = b,
Caustics, Calculus of Variations, Partial Differentials, Aberration of
Light, Motions of Comets, various Optical constructions computed with
spherical aberrations, Particular Solutions, Mechanics of Solid
Bodies, Attractions of Shells, Chances, Ivory's attraction-theorem,
Lunar Theory (algebraical), Degrees across meridian, theoretical
refraction, Newton's 3rd Book, Investigation of the tides in a shallow
equatoreal canal, from which I found that there would be low-water
under the moon, metacentres, rotation of a solid body round three
axes, Attractions of Spheroids of variable density, finite
differences, and complete Figure of the Earth. There is also a good
deal of investigation of a mathematical nature not connected with
College studies, as musical chords, organ-pipes, sketch for a
computing machine (suggested by the publications relating to
Babbage's), sketch of machine for solving equations. In August there
is a plan of a MS. on the Differential Calculus, which it appears I
wrote then: one on the Figure of the Earth written about August 15th;
one on Tides, Sept. 25th; one on Newton's Principia with algebraical
additions, Nov. 1st. On Sept. 6th and 10th there are Lunar Distances
observed with Rothman's Sextant and completely worked out; for these I
prepared a printed skeleton form, I believe my first. On December 13th
there are references to books on Geology (Conybeare and Phillips, and
Parkinson) which I was beginning to study. On July 27th, being the day
on which I completed my 21st year, I carefully did nothing.

"Another subject partly occupied my thoughts, which, though not (with
reference to practical science) very wise, yet gave me some Cambridge
celebrity. In July 1819 I had (as before mentioned) sketched a plan
for constructing reflecting telescopes with silvered glass, and had
shewn it afterwards to Mr Peacock. I now completed the theory of this
construction by correcting the aberrations, spherical as well as
chromatic. On July 13th, 1822, I drew up a paper about it for Mr
Peacock. He approved it much, and in some way communicated it to Mr
(afterwards Sir John) Herschel. I was soon after introduced to
Herschel at a breakfast with Mr Peacock: and he approved of the scheme
generally. On August 5th I drew up a complete mathematical paper for
the Cambridge Philosophical Society, which I entrusted to Mr
Peacock. The aberrations, both spherical and chromatic, are here
worked out very well. On Nov. 25th it was read at the meeting of the
Philosophical Society, and was afterwards printed in their
Transactions: this was my first printed Memoir. Before this time
however I had arranged to try the scheme practically. Mr Peacock had
engaged to bear the expense, but I had no occasion to ask him. Partly
(I think) through Drinkwater, I communicated with an optician named
Bancks, in the Strand, who constructed the optical part. I
subsequently tried my telescope, but it would not do. The fault, as I
had not and have not the smallest doubt, depends in some way on the
crystallization of the mercury silvering. It must have been about this
time that I was introduced to Mr (afterwards Sir James) South, at a
party at Mr Peacock's rooms. He advised me to write to Tulley, a
well-known practical optician, who made me some new reflectors,
&c. (so that I had two specimens, one Gregorian, the other
Cassegrainian). However the thing failed practically, and I was too
busy ever after to try it again.

"During the October term I had no pupils. I kept my second Act on
Nov. 6 (opponents Hamilton, Rusby, Field), and an Opponency against
Jeffries on Nov. 7. I attended the Questionists' Examinations. I seem
to have lived a very comfortable idle life. The Commemoration Day was
Dec. 18th, when I received a Prize, and the next day I walked to
Bury. On Jan. 4th, 1823, I returned to Cambridge, and until the
B.A. Examination I read novels and played cards more than at any other
time in College.

"On Thursday, Jan. 9th, 1823, the preliminary classes, for arrangement
of details of the B.A. Examination, were published. The first class,
Airy, Drinkwater, Jeffries, Mason. As far as I remember, the rule was
then, that on certain days the classes were grouped (in regard to
identity of questions given to each group) thus: 1st, {2nd/3rd},
{4th/5th} &c., and on certain other days thus: {1st/2nd}, {3rd/4th},
&c. On Saturday, Jan. 11th, I paid fees. On Monday, Jan. 13th, the
proceedings of examination began by a breakfast in the Combination
Room. After this, Gibson gave me breakfast every day, and Buckle gave
me and some others a glass of wine after dinner. The hours were sharp,
the season a cold one, and no fire was allowed in the Senate House
where the Examination was carried on (my place was in the East
gallery), and altogether it was a severe time.

"The course of Examination was as follows:

"Monday, Jan. 13th. 8 to 9, printed paper of questions by Mr Hind
(moderator); half-past 9 to 11, questions given orally; 1 to 3, ditto;
6 to 9, paper of problems at Mr Higman's rooms.

"Tuesday, Jan. 14th. 8 to 9, Higman's paper; half-past 9 to 11,
questions given orally; 1 to 3, ditto; 6 to 9, paper of problems in
Sidney College Hall.

"Wednesday, Jan. 15th. Questions given orally 8 to 9 and 1 to 3, with
paper of questions on Paley and Locke (one question only in each was
answered).

"Thursday, Jan. 16th. We went in at 9 and 1, but there seems to have
been little serious examination.

"Friday, Jan. 17. On this day the brackets or classes as resulting
from the examination were published, 1st bracket Airy, 2nd bracket
Jeffries, 3rd bracket Drinkwater, Fisher, Foley, Mason, Myers.

"On Saturday, Jan. 18th, the degrees were conferred in the usual
way. It had been arranged that my brother and sister should come to
see me take my degree of B.A., and I had asked Gibson to conduct them
to the Senate House Gallery: but Mr Hawkes (a Trinity Fellow) found
them and stationed them at the upper end of the Senate House. After
the preliminary arrangements of papers at the Vice-Chancellor's table,
I, as Senior Wrangler, was led up first to receive the degree, and
rarely has the Senate House rung with such applause as then filled
it. For many minutes, after I was brought in front of the
Vice-Chancellor, it was impossible to proceed with the ceremony on
account of the uproar. I gave notice to the Smith's Prize Electors of
my intention to 'sit' for that prize, and dined at Rothman's rooms
with Drinkwater, Buckle, and others. On Monday, Jan. 20th, I was
examined by Professor Woodhouse, for Smith's Prize, from 10 to 1. I
think that the only competitor was Jeffries. On Tuesday I was examined
by Prof. Turton, 10 to 1, and on Wednesday by Prof. Lax, 10 to 1. On
Thursday, Jan. 23rd, I went to Bury by coach, on one of the coldest
evenings that I ever felt.

"Mr Peacock had once recommended me to sit for the Chancellor's medal
(Classical Prize). But he now seemed to be cool in his advice, and I
laid aside all thought of it."

       *       *       *       *       *

It seems not out of place to insert here a copy of some "Cambridge
Reminiscences" written by Airy, which will serve to explain the Acts
and Opponencies referred to in the previous narrative, and other
matters.


                              THE ACTS.

The examination for B.A. degrees was preceded, in my time, by keeping
two Acts, in the Schools under the University Library: the second of
them in the October term immediately before the examination; the first
(I think) in the October term of the preceding year.

These Acts were reliques of the Disputations of the Middle Ages, which
probably held a very important place in the discipline of the
University. (There seems to be something like them in some of the
Continental Universities.)  The presiding authority was one of the
Moderators. I apprehend that the word "Moderator" signified
"President," in which sense it is still used in the Kirk of Scotland;
and that it was peculiarly applied to the Presidency of the
Disputations, the most important educational arrangement in the
University. The Moderator sent a summons to the "Respondent" to submit
three subjects for argument, and to prepare to defend them on a given
day: he also named three Opponents. This and all the following
proceedings were conducted in Latin. For my Act of 1822, Nov. 6, I
submitted the following subjects:

"Recte statuit Newtonus in Principiis suis Mathematicis, libro primo,
sectione undecima."

"Recte statuit Woodius de Iride."

"Recte statuit Paleius de Obligationibus."

The Opponents named to attack these assertions were Hamilton of St
John's, Rusby of St Catharine's, Field of Trinity. It was customary
for the Opponents to meet at tea at the rooms of the Senior Opponent,
in order to discuss and arrange their arguments; the Respondent was
also invited, but he was warned that he must depart as soon as tea
would be finished: then the three Opponents proceeded with their
occupation. As I have acted in both capacities, I am able to say that
the matter was transacted in an earnest and business-like way. Indeed
in the time preceding my own (I know not whether in my own time) the
assistance of a private tutor was frequently engaged, and I remember
hearing a senior M.A. remark that my College Tutor (James D. Hustler)
was the best crammer for an Act in the University.

At the appointed time, the parties met in the Schools: the Respondent
first read a Latin Thesis on any subject (I think I took some
metaphysical subject), but nobody paid any attention to it: then the
Respondent read his first Dogma, and the first Opponent produced an
argument against it, in Latin. After this there were repeated replies
and rejoinders, all in viva voce Latin, the Moderator sometimes
interposing a remark in Latin. When he considered that one argument
was disposed of, he called for another by the words "Probes aliter."
The arguments were sometimes shaped with considerable ingenuity, and
required a clear head in the Respondent. When all was finished, the
Moderator made a complimentary remark to the Respondent and one to the
first Opponent (I forget whether to the second and third). In my
Respondency of 1822, November 6, the compliment was, "Quaestiones tuas
summo ingenio et acumine defendisti, et in rebus mathematicis
scientiam plane mirabilem ostendisti."  In an Opponency (I forget
when) the compliment was, "Magno ingenio argumenta tua et construxisti
et defendisti."

The Acts of the high men excited much interest among the students. At
my Acts the room was crowded with undergraduates.

I imagine that, at a time somewhat distant, the maintenance of the
Acts was the only regulation by which the University acted on the
studies of the place. When the Acts had been properly kept, license
was given to the Father of the College to present the undergraduate to
the Vice-Chancellor, who then solemnly admitted him "ad respondendum
Quaestioni." There is no appearance of collective examination before
this presentation: what the "Quaestio" might be, I do not know. Still
the undergraduate was not B.A. The Quaestio however was finished and
approved before the day of a certain Congregation, and then the
undergraduate was declared to be "actualiter in artibus Baccalaureum."

Probably these regulations were found to be insufficient for the
control of education, and the January examination was instituted. I
conjecture this to have been at or shortly before the date of the
earliest Triposes recorded in the Cambridge Calendar, 1748.

The increasing importance of the January examination naturally
diminished the value of the Acts in the eyes of the undergraduates;
and, a few years after my M.A. degree, it was found that the Opponents
met, not for the purpose of concealing their arguments from the
Respondent, but for the purpose of revealing them to him. This led to
the entire suppression of the system. The most active man in this
suppression was Mr Whewell: its date must have been near to 1830.

The shape in which the arguments were delivered by an Opponent,
reading from a written paper, was, "Si (quoting something from the
Respondent's challenge), &c., &c. Cadit Quaestio; Sed (citing
something else bearing on the subject of discussion), Valet
Consequentia; Ergo (combining these to prove some inaccuracy in the
Respondent's challenge), Valent Consequentia et Argumentum." Nobody
pretended to understand these mystical terminations.

Apparently the original idea was that several Acts should be kept by
each undergraduate; for, to keep up the number (as it seemed), each
student had to gabble through a ridiculous form "Si quaestiones tuae
falsae sint, Cadit Quaestio:--sed quaestiones tuae falsae sunt, Ergo
valent Consequentia et Argumentum."  I have forgotten time and place
when this was uttered.


                    THE SENATE-HOUSE EXAMINATION.

The Questionists, as the undergraduates preparing for B.A. were called
in the October term, were considered as a separate body; collected at
a separate table in Hall, attending no lectures, but invited to attend
a system of trial examinations conducted by one of the Tutors or
Assistant-Tutors.

From the Acts, from the annual College examinations, and (I suppose)
from enquiries in the separate Colleges, the Moderators acquired a
general idea of the relative merits of the candidates for
honours. Guided by this, the candidates were divided into six
classes. The Moderators and Assistant Examiners were provided each
with a set of questions in manuscript (no printed papers were used for
Honours in the Senate House; in regard to the [Greek: hoi polloi] I
cannot say). On the Monday on which the examination began, the Father
of the College received all the Questionists (I believe), at any rate
all the candidates for honours, at breakfast in the Combination Room
at 8 o'clock, and marched them to the Senate House. My place with
other honour-men was in the East Gallery. There one Examiner took
charge of the 1st and 2nd classes united, another Examiner took the
3rd and 4th classes united, and a third took the 5th and 6th
united. On Tuesday, one Examiner took the 1st class alone, a second
took the 2nd and 3rd classes united, a third took the 4th and 5th
classes united, and a fourth took the 6th class alone. On Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday the changes were similar. And, in all, the
questioning was thus conducted. The Examiner read from his manuscript
the first question. Those who could answer it proceeded to write out
their answers, and as soon as one had finished he gave the word
"Done"; then the Examiner read out his second question, repeating it
when necessary for the understanding by those who took it up more
lately. And so on. I think that the same process was repeated in the
afternoon; but I do not remember precisely. In this manner the
Examination was conducted through five days (Monday to Friday) with no
interruption except on Friday afternoon. It was principally, perhaps
entirely, bookwork.

But on two _evenings_ there were printed papers of problems: and the
examination in these was conducted just as in the printed papers of
the present day: but in the private College Rooms of the
Moderators. And there, wine and other refreshments were offered to the
Examinees. How this singular custom began, I know not.

The order of merit was worked out on Friday afternoon and evening, and
was in some measure known through the University late in the
evening. I remember Mr Peacock coming to a party of Examinees and
giving information on several places. I do not remember his mentioning
mine (though undoubtedly he did) but I distinctly remember his giving
the Wooden Spoon. On the Saturday morning at 8 o'clock the manuscript
list was nailed to the door of the Senate-House. The form of further
proceedings in the presentation for degree (ad respondendum
quaestioni) I imagine has not been much altered. The kneeling before
the Vice-Chancellor and placing hands in the Vice-Chancellor's hands
were those of the old form of doing homage.

The form of examination which I have described was complicated and
perhaps troublesome, but I believe that it was very efficient,
possibly more so than the modern form (established I suppose at the
same time as the abolition of the Acts). The proportion of questions
now answered to the whole number set is ridiculously small, and no
accurate idea of relative merit can be formed from them.


                          THE COLLEGE HALL.

When I went up in 1819, and for several years later, the dinner was at
1/4 past 3. There was no supplementary dinner for special
demands. Boat-clubs I think were not invented, even in a plain social
way, till about 1824 or 1825; and not in connection with the College
till some years later. Some of the senior Fellows spoke of the time
when dinner was at 2, and regretted the change.

There was supper in Hall at 9 o'clock: I have known it to be attended
by a few undergraduates when tired by examinations or by evening
walks; and there were always some seniors at the upper table: I have
occasionally joined them, and have had some very interesting
conversations. The supper was cold, but hot additions were made when
required.

One little arrangement amused me, as shewing the ecclesiastical
character of the College. The Fasts of the Church were to be strictly
kept, and there was to be no dinner in Hall. It was thus arranged. The
evening chapel service, which was usually at 5-1/2 (I think), was held
at 3; and at 4 the ordinary full meal was served in Hall, but as it
followed the chapel attendance it was held to be supper; and there was
no subsequent meal.

There were no chairs whatever in Hall, except the single chair of the
vice-master at the head of the table on the dais and that of the
senior dean at the table next the East wall. All others sat on
benches. And I have heard allusions to a ludicrous difficulty which
occurred when some princesses (of the Royal Family) dined in the Hall,
and it was a great puzzle how to get them to the right side of the
benches.

The Sizars dined after all the rest; their dinner usually began soon
after 4. For the non-foundationists a separate dinner was provided, as
for pensioners. But for the foundationists, the remains of the
Fellows' dinner were brought down; and I think that this provision was
generally preferred to the other.

The dishes at all the tables of undergraduates were of pewter, till a
certain day when they were changed for porcelain. I cannot remember
whether this was at the time when they became Questionists (in the
October Term), or at the time when they were declared "actualiter esse
in artibus Baccalaureos" (in the Lent Term).

Up to the Questionist time the undergraduate Scholars had no mixture
whatever; they were the only pure table in the Hall: and I looked on
this as a matter very valuable for the ultimate state of the College
society. But in the October term, those who were to proceed to
B.A. were drafted into the mixed body of Questionists: and they
greatly disliked the change. They continued so till the Lent Term,
when they were formally invited by the Bachelor Scholars to join the
upper table.


           MATHEMATICAL SUBJECTS OF STUDY AND EXAMINATION.

In the October Term 1819, the only books on Pure Mathematics
were:--Euclid generally, Algebra by Dr Wood (formerly Tutor, but in
1819 Master, of St John's College), Vince's Fluxions and Dealtry's
Fluxions, Woodhouse's and other Trigonometries. Not a whisper passed
through the University generally on the subject of Differential
Calculus; although some papers (subsequently much valued) on that
subject had been written by Mr Woodhouse, fellow of Caius College; but
their style was repulsive, and they never took hold of the
University. Whewell's Mechanics (1819) contains a few and easy
applications of the Differential Calculus. The books on applied
Mathematics were Wood's Mechanics, Whewell's Mechanics, Wood's Optics,
Vince's Hydrostatics, Vince's Astronomy, Woodhouse's Plane Astronomy
(perhaps rather later), The First Book of Newton's Principia: I do not
remember any others. These works were undoubtedly able; and for the
great proportion of University students going into active life, I do
not conceal my opinion that books constructed on the principles of
those which I have cited were more useful than those exclusively
founded on the more modern system. For those students who aimed at the
mastery of results more difficult and (in the intellectual sense) more
important, the older books were quite insufficient. More aspiring
students read, and generally with much care, several parts of Newton's
Principia, Book I., and also Book III. (perhaps the noblest example
of geometrical form of cosmical theory that the world has seen). I
remember some questions from Book III. proposed in the Senate-House
Examination 1823.

In the October term 1819, I went up to the University. The works of
Wood and Vince, which I have mentioned, still occupied the
lecture-rooms. But a great change was in preparation for the
University Course of Mathematics. During the great Continental war,
the intercourse between men of science in England and in France had
been most insignificant. But in the autumn of 1819, three members of
the Senate (John Herschel, George Peacock, and Charles Babbage) had
entered into the mathematical society of Paris, and brought away some
of the works on Pure Mathematics (especially those of Lacroix) and on
Mechanics (principally Poisson's). In 1820 they made a translation of
Lacroix's Differential Calculus; and they prepared a volume of
Examples of the Differential and Integral Calculus. These were
extensively studied: but the form of the College Examinations or the
University Examinations was not, I think, influenced by them in the
winter 1820-1821 or the two following terms. But in the winter
1821-1822 Peacock was one of the Moderators; and in the Senate-House
Examination, January 1822, he boldly proposed a Paper of important
questions entirely in the Differential Calculus. This was considered
as establishing the new system in the University. In January 1823, I
think the two systems were mingled. Though I was myself subject to
that examination, I grieve to say that I have forgotten much of the
details, except that I well remember that some of the questions
referred to Newton, Book III. on the Lunar Theory. To these I have
already alluded.

No other work occurs to me as worthy of mention, except Woodhouse's
Lunar Theory, entirely founded on the Differential Calculus. The style
of this book was not attractive, and it was very little read.



                             CHAPTER III.

            AT TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, FROM HIS TAKING
             HIS B.A. DEGREE TO HIS TAKING CHARGE OF THE
             CAMBRIDGE OBSERVATORY AS PLUMIAN PROFESSOR.

            FROM JANUARY 18TH, 1823, TO MARCH 15TH, 1828.


"On Jan. 30th, 1823, I returned to Cambridge. I had already heard that
I had gained the 1st Smith's Prize, and one of the first notifications
to me on my return was that the Walker's good-conduct prize of _L10_
was awarded to me.

"I remember that my return was not very pleasant, for our table in
hall was half occupied by a set of irregular men who had lost terms
and were obliged to reside somewhat longer in order to receive the
B.A. degree. But at the time of my completing the B.A. degree (which
is not till some weeks after the examination and admission) I with the
other complete bachelors was duly invited to the table of the B.A.
scholars, and that annoyance ended.

"The liberation from undergraduate study left me at liberty generally
to pursue my own course (except so far as it was influenced by the
preparation for fellowship examination), and also left me at liberty
to earn more money, in the way usual with the graduates, by taking
undergraduate pupils. Mr Peacock recommended me to take only four,
which occupied me four hours every day, and for each of them I
received 20 guineas each term. My first pupils, for the Lent and
Easter terms, were Williamson (afterwards Head Master of Westminster
School), James Parker (afterwards Q.C. and Vice-Chancellor), Bissett,
and Clinton of Caius. To all these I had been engaged before taking my
B.A. degree.

"I kept up classical subjects. I have a set of notes on the [Greek:
Ploutos] and [Greek: Nephelai] of Aristophanes, finished on Mar. 15th,
1823, and I began my daily writing of Latin as usual on Feb. 8th. In
mathematics I worked very hard at Lunar and Planetary Theories. I have
two MS. books of Lunar Theory to the 5th order of small quantities,
which however answered no purpose except that of making me perfectly
familiar with that subject. I worked well, upon my quires, the figure
of Saturn supposed homogeneous as affected by the attraction of his
ring, and the figure of the Earth as heterogeneous, and the Calculus
of Variations. I think it was now that I wrote a MS. on constrained
motion.

"On Mar. 17th, 1823, I was elected Fellow of the Cambridge
Philosophical Society. On May 9th a cast of my head was taken for Dr
Elliotson, an active phrenologist, by Deville, a tradesman in the
Strand.

"I had long thought that I should like to visit Scotland, and on my
once saying so to my mother, she (who had a most kindly recollection
of Alnwick) said in a few words that she thought I could not do
better. I had therefore for some time past fully determined that as
soon as I had sufficient spare time and money enough I would go to
Scotland. The interval between the end of Easter Term and the usual
beginning with pupils in the Long Vacation offered sufficient time,
and I had now earned a little money, and I therefore determined to go,
and invited my sister to accompany me. I had no private
introductions, except one from James Parker to Mr Reach, a writer of
Inverness: some which Drinkwater sent being too late. On May 20th we
went by coach to Stamford; thence by Pontefract and Oulton to York,
where I saw the Cathedral, which _then_ disappointed me, but I suppose
that we were tired with the night journey. Then by Newcastle to
Alnwick, where we stopped for the day to see my birthplace. On May
24th to Edinburgh. On this journey I remember well the stone walls
between the fields, the place (in Yorkshire) where for the first time
in my life I saw rock, the Hambleton, Kyloe, Cheviot and Pentland
Hills, Arthur's Seat, but still more strikingly the revolving Inch
Keith Light. At Edinburgh I hired a horse and gig for our journey in
Scotland, and we drove by Queensferry to Kinross (where for the first
time in my life I saw clouds on the hills, viz. on the Lomond Hills),
and so to Perth. Thence by Dunkeld and Killicrankie to Blair Athol
(the dreariness of the Drumochter Pass made a strong impression on
me), and by Aviemore (where I saw snow on the mountains) to
Inverness. Here we received much kindness and attention from Mr Reach,
and after visiting the Falls of Foyers and other sights we went to
Fort Augustus and Fort William. We ascended Ben Nevis, on which there
was a great deal of snow, and visited the vitrified fort in Glen
Nevis. Then by Inverary to Tarbet, and ascended Ben Lomond, from
whence we had a magnificent view. We then passed by Loch Achray to
Glasgow, where we found James Parker's brother (his father, of the
house of Macinroy and Parker, being a wealthy merchant of Glasgow). On
June 15th to Mr Parker's house at Blochairn, near Glasgow (on this day
I heard Dr Chalmers preach), and on the 17th went with the family by
steamer (the first that I had seen) to Fairly, near Largs. I returned
the gig to Edinburgh, visited Arran and Bute, and we then went by
coach to Carlisle, and by Penrith to Keswick (by the old road: never
shall I forget the beauty of the approach to Keswick). After visiting
Ambleside and Kendal we returned to Cambridge by way of Leeds, and
posted to Bury on the 28th June. The expense of this expedition was
about _L81_. It opened a completely new world to me.

"I had little time to rest at Bury. In the preceding term Drinkwater,
Buckle, and myself, had engaged to go somewhere into the country with
pupils during the Long Vacation (as was customary with Cambridge
men). Buckle however changed his mind. Drinkwater went to look for a
place, fixed on Swansea, and engaged a house (called the Cambrian
Hotel, kept by a Captain Jenkins). On the morning of July 2nd I left
Bury for London and by mail coach to Bristol. On the morning of July
3rd by steamer to Swansea, and arrived late at night. I had then five
pupils: Parker, Harman Lewis (afterwards Professor in King's College,
London), Pierce Morton, Gibson, and Guest of Caius (afterwards Master
of the College). Drinkwater had four, viz. two Malkins (from Bury),
Elphinstone (afterwards M.P.), and Farish (son of Professor
Farish). We lived a hard-working strange life. My pupils began with me
at six in the morning: I was myself reading busily. We lived
completely _en famille_, with two men-servants besides the house
establishment. One of our first acts was to order a four-oared boat to
be built, fitted with a lug-sail: she was called the Granta of
Swansea. In the meantime we made sea excursions with boats borrowed
from ships in the port. On July 23rd, with a borrowed boat, we went
out when the sea was high, but soon found our boat unmanageable, and
at last got into a place where the sea was breaking heavily over a
shoal, and the two of the crew who were nearest to me (A. Malkin and
Lewis), one on each side, were carried out: they were good swimmers
and we recovered them, though with some trouble: the breaker had
passed quite over my head: we gained the shore and the boat was taken
home by land. When our own boat was finished, we had some most
picturesque adventures at the Mumbles, Aberavon, Caswell Bay,
Ilfracombe, and Tenby. From all this I learnt navigation pretty
well. The mixture of hard study and open-air exertion seemed to affect
the health of several of us (I was one): we were covered with painful
boils.

"My Latin-writing began again on July 25th: I have notes on
Demosthenes, Lucretius, and Greek History. In mathematics I find
Chances, Figure of the Earth with variable density, Differential
Equations, Partial Differentials, sketch for an instrument for shewing
refraction, and Optical instruments with effects of chromatic
aberration. In August there occurred an absurd quarrel between the
Fellows of Trinity and the undergraduates, on the occasion of
commencing the building of King's Court, when the undergraduates were
not invited to wine, and absented themselves from the hall.

"There were vacant this year (1823) five fellowships in Trinity
College. In general, the B.A.'s of the first year are not allowed to
sit for fellowships: but this year it was thought so probable that
permission would be given, that on Sept. 2nd Mr Higman, then appointed
as Tutor to a third 'side' of the College, wrote to me to engage me as
Assistant Mathematical Tutor in the event of my being elected a Fellow
on Oct. 1st, and I provisionally engaged myself. About the same time
I had written to Mr Peacock, who recommended me to sit, and to Mr
Whewell, who after consultation with the Master (Dr Wordsworth),
discouraged it. As there was no absolute prohibition, I left Swansea
on Sept. 11th (before my engagement to my pupils was quite finished)
and returned to Cambridge by Gloucester, Oxford, and London. I gave in
my name at the butteries as candidate for fellowship, but was informed
in a day or two that I should not be allowed to sit. On Sept. 19th I
walked to Bury.

"I walked back to Cambridge on Oct. 17th, 1823. During this October
term I had four pupils: Neate, Cankrein, Turner (afterwards 2nd
wrangler and Treasurer of Guy's Hospital), and William Hervey (son of
the Marquis of Bristol). In the Lent term I had four (Neate, Cankrein,
Turner, Clinton). In the Easter term I had three (Neate, Cankrein,
Turner).

"My daily writing of Latin commenced on Oct. 27th. In November I began
re-reading Sophocles with my usual care. In mathematics I find
investigations of Motion in a resisting medium, Form of Saturn, Draft
of a Paper about an instrument for exhibiting the fundamental law of
refraction (read at the Philosophical Society by Mr Peacock on
Nov. 10th, 1823), Optics, Solid Geometry, Figure of the Earth with
variable density, and much about attractions. I also in this term
wrote a MS. on the Calculus of Variations, and one on Wood's Algebra,
2nd and 4th parts. I have also notes of the temperature of mines in
Cornwall, something on the light of oil-gas, and reminiscences of
Swansea in a view of Oswick Bay. In November I attended Professor
Sedgwick's geological lectures.

"At some time in this term I had a letter from Mr South (to whom I
suppose I had written) regarding the difficulty of my telescope: he
was intimately acquainted with Tulley, and I suppose that thus the
matter had become more fully known to him. He then enquired if I could
visit him in the winter vacation. I accordingly went from Bury, and
was received by him at his house in Blackman Street for a week or more
with great kindness. He introduced me to Sir Humphrey Davy and many
other London savans, and shewed me many London sights and the
Greenwich Observatory. I also had a little practice with his own
instruments. He was then on intimate terms with Mr Herschel
(afterwards Sir John Herschel), then living in London, who came
occasionally to observe double stars. This was the first time that I
saw practical astronomy. It seems that I borrowed his mountain
barometer. In the Lent term I wrote to him regarding the deduction of
the parallax of Mars, from a comparison of the relative positions of
Mars and 46 Leonis, as observed by him and by Rumker at Paramatta. My
working is on loose papers. I see that I have worked out perfectly the
interpolations, the effects of uncertainty of longitude, &c., but I do
not see whether I have a final result.

"In Jan. 1824, at Playford, I was working on the effects of separating
the two lenses of an object-glass, and on the kind of eye-piece which
would be necessary: also on spherical aberrations and Saturn's
figure. On my quires at Cambridge I was working on the effects of
separating the object-glass lenses, with the view of correcting the
secondary spectrum: and on Jan. 31st I received some numbers (indices
of refraction) from Mr Herschel, and reference to Fraunhofer's
numbers.

"About this time it was contemplated to add to the Royal Observatory
of Greenwich two assistants of superior education. Whether this
scheme was entertained by the Admiralty, the Board of Longitude, or
the Royal Society, I do not know. Somehow (I think through Mr
Peacock) a message from Mr Herschel was conveyed to me, acquainting me
of this, and suggesting that I should be an excellent person for the
principal place. To procure information, I went to London on Saturday,
Feb. 7th, sleeping at Mr South's, to be present at one of Sir Humphrey
Davy's Saturday evening soirees (they were then held every Saturday),
and to enquire of Sir H. Davy and Dr Young. When I found that
succession to the post of Astronomer Royal was not considered as
distinctly a consequence of it, I took it coolly, and returned the
next night. The whole proposal came to nothing.

"At this time I was engaged upon differential equations, mountain
barometer problem and determination of the height of the Gogmagogs and
several other points, investigations connected with Laplace's
calculus, spherical aberration in different planes, geology
(especially regarding Derbyshire, which I proposed to visit), and much
of optics. I wrote a draft of my Paper on the figure of Saturn, and on
Mar. 15th, 1824, it was read at the Philosophical Society under the
title of 'On the figure assumed by a fluid homogeneous mass, whose
particles are acted on by their mutual attraction, and by small
extraneous forces,' and is printed in their Memoirs. I also wrote a
draft of my Paper on Achromatic Eye-pieces, and on May 17th, 1824, it
was read at the Philosophical Society under the title of 'On the
Principles and Construction of the Achromatic Eye-pieces of
Telescopes, and on the Achromatism of Microscopes,' including also the
effects of separating the lenses of the object-glass. It is printed in
their Memoirs.

"Amongst miscellaneous matters I find that on Mar. 22nd of this year I
began regularly making extracts from the books of the Book Society, a
practice which I continued to March 1826. On Mar. 27th, a very rainy
day, I walked to Bury to attend the funeral of my uncle William
Biddell, near Diss, and on Mar. 30th I walked back in rain and
snow. On Feb. 24th I dined with Cubitt in Cambridge. On May 21st I
gave a certificate to Rogers (the assistant in Crosse's school, and my
instructor in mathematics), which my mother amplified much, and which
I believe procured his election as master of Walsall School. On June
23rd I went to Bury. The speeches at Bury School, which I wished to
attend, took place next day."

At this point of his Autobiography the writer continues, "Now came one
of the most important occurrences in my life." The important event in
question was his acquaintance with Richarda Smith, the lady who
afterwards became his wife. The courtship was a long one, and in the
Autobiography there are various passages relating to it, all written
in the most natural and unaffected manner, but of somewhat too private
a nature for publication. It will therefore be convenient to digress
from the straight path of the narrative in order to insert a short
memoir of the lady who was destined to influence his life and
happiness in a most important degree.

Richarda Smith was the eldest daughter of the Rev. Richard Smith, who
had been a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, but was at this time
Private Chaplain to the Duke of Devonshire, and held the small living
of Edensor, near Chatsworth, in Derbyshire. He had a family of two
sons and seven daughters, whom he had brought up and educated very
carefully. Several of his daughters were remarkable both for their
beauty and accomplishments. Richarda Smith was now in her 20th year,
and the writer of the Autobiography records that "at Matlock we
received great attention from Mr Chenery: in speaking of Mr Smith I
remember his saying that Mr Smith had a daughter whom the Duke of
Devonshire declared to be the most beautiful girl he ever saw." This
was before he had made the acquaintance of the family. Airy was at
this time on a walking tour in Derbyshire with his brother William,
and they were received at Edensor by Mr Smith, to whom he had letters
of introduction. He seems to have fallen in love with Miss Smith "at
first sight," and within two days of first seeing her he made her an
offer of marriage. Neither his means nor his prospects at that time
permitted the least idea of an immediate marriage, and Mr Smith would
not hear of any engagement. But he never had the least doubt as to
the wisdom of the choice that he had made: he worked steadily on,
winning fame and position, and recommending his suit from time to time
to Miss Smith as opportunity offered, and finally married her, nearly
six years after his first proposal. His constancy had its reward, for
he gained a most charming and affectionate wife. As he records at the
time of his marriage, "My wife was aged between 25 and 26, but she
scarcely appeared more than 18 or 20. Her beauty and accomplishments,
her skill and fidelity in sketching, and above all her exquisite
singing of ballads, made a great sensation in Cambridge."

Their married life lasted 45 years, but the last six years were
saddened by the partial paralysis and serious illness of Lady
Airy. The entire correspondence between them was most carefully
preserved, and is a record of a most happy union. The letters were
written during his numerous journeys and excursions on business or
pleasure, and it is evident that his thoughts were with her from the
moment of their parting. Every opportunity of writing was seized with
an energy and avidity that shewed how much his heart was in the
correspondence. Nothing was too trivial or too important to
communicate to his wife, whether relating to family or business
matters. The letters on both sides are always full of affection and
sympathy, and are written in that spirit of confidence which arises
from a deep sense of the value and necessity of mutual support in the
troubles of life. And with his active and varied employments and his
numerous family there was no lack of troubles. They were both of them
simple-minded, sensible, and practical people, and were very grateful
for such comforts and advantages as they were able to command, but for
nothing in comparison with their deep respect and affection for one
another.

Both by natural ability and education she was well qualified to enter
into the pursuits of her husband, and in many cases to assist him. She
always welcomed her husband's friends, and by her skill and attractive
courtesy kept them well together. She was an admirable letter-writer,
and in the midst of her numerous domestic distractions always found
time for the duties of correspondence. In conversation she was very
attractive, not so much from the wit or brilliancy of her remarks as
from the brightness and interest with which she entered into the
topics under discussion, and from the unfailing grace and courtesy
with which she attended to the views of others. This was especially
recognized by the foreign astronomers and men of science who from time
to time stayed as guests at the Observatory and to whom she acted as
hostess. Although she was not an accomplished linguist yet she was
well able to express herself in French and German, and her natural
good sense and kindliness placed her guests at their ease, and made
them feel themselves (as indeed they were) welcomed and at home.

Her father, the Rev. Richard Smith, was a man of most cultivated mind,
and of the highest principles, with a keen enjoyment of good society,
which the confidence and friendship of his patron the Duke of
Devonshire amply secured to him, both at Chatsworth and in London. He
had a deep attachment to his Alma Mater of Cambridge, and though not
himself a mathematician he had a great respect for the science of
mathematics and for eminent mathematicians. During the long courtship
already related Mr Smith conceived the highest respect for Airy's
character, as well as for his great repute and attainments, and
expressed his lively satisfaction at his daughter's marriage. Thus on
January 20th, 1830, he wrote to his intended son-in-law as follows: "I
have little else to say to you than that I continue with heartfelt
satisfaction to reflect on the important change about to take place in
my dear daughter's situation. A father must not allow himself to
dilate on such a subject: of course I feel confident that you will
have no reason to repent the irrevocable step you have taken, but from
the manner in which Richarda has been brought up, you will find such a
helpmate in her as a man of sense and affection would wish to have,
and that she is well prepared to meet the duties and trials (for such
must be met with) of domestic life with a firm and cultivated mind,
and the warm feelings of a kind heart. Her habits are such as by no
means to lead her to expensive wishes, nor will you I trust ever find
it necessary to neglect those studies and pursuits upon which your
reputation and subsistence are chiefly founded, to seek for idle
amusements for your companion. I must indulge no further in speaking
of her, and have only at present to add that I commit in full
confidence into your hands the guardianship of my daughter's
happiness." And on April 5th, 1830, shortly after their marriage, he
wrote to his daughter thus: "If thinking of you could supply your
place amongst us you would have been with us unceasingly, for we have
all of us made you the principal object of our thoughts and our talk
since you left us, and I travelled with you all your journey to your
present delightful home. We had all but one feeling of the purest
pleasure in the prospect of the true domestic comfort to which we
fully believe you to be now gone, and we rejoice that all your
endearing qualities will now be employed to promote the happiness of
one whom we think so worthy of them as your dear husband, who has left
us in the best opinion of his good heart, as well as his enlightened
and sound understanding. His late stay with us has endeared him to us
all. Never did man enter into the married state from more honourable
motives, or from a heart more truly seeking the genuine happiness of
that state than Mr Airy, and he will, I trust, find his reward in you
from all that a good wife can render to the best of husbands, and his
happiness be reflected on yourself." It would be difficult to find
let