CHAPTER IX.

SOCIETY IN LONDON—CORONATION OF GEORGE IV.—LETTER TO DR. SOMERVILLE.

We went frequently to see Mr. Babbage while he was making his Calculating-machines. He had a transcendant intellect, unconquerable perseverance, and extensive knowledge on many subjects, besides being a first-rate mathematician. I always found him most amiable and patient in explaining the structure and use of the engines. The first he made could only perform arithmetical operations. Not satisfied with that, Mr. Babbage constructed an analytical engine, which could be so arranged as to perform all kinds of mathematical calculations, and print each result.

Nothing has afforded me so convincing a proof of the unity of the Deity as these purely mental conceptions of numerical and mathematical science which have been by slow degrees vouchsafed to man, and are still granted in these latter times by the Differential Calculus and the Higher Algebra, all of which must have existed in that sublimely omniscient Mind from eternity.

Many of our friends had very decided and various religious opinions, but my husband and I never entered into controversy; we had too high a regard for liberty of conscience to interfere with any one's opinions, so we have lived on terms of sincere friendship and love with people who differed essentially from us in religious views, and in all the books which I have written I have confined myself strictly and entirely to scientific subjects, although my religious opinions are very decided.

Timidity of character, probably owing to early education, had a great influence on my daily life; for I did not assume my place in society in my younger days; and in argument I was instantly silenced, although I often knew, and could have proved, that I was in the right. The only thing in which I was determined and inflexible was in the prosecution of my studies. They were perpetually interrupted, but always resumed at the first opportunity. No analysis is so difficult as that of one's own mind, but I do not think I err much in saying that perseverance is a characteristic of mine.

* * * * *

Somerville and I were very happy when we lived in Hanover Square. We were always engaged in some pursuit, and had good society. General society was at that time brilliant for wit and talent. The Rev. Sidney Smith, Rogers, Thomas Moore, Campbell, the Hon. William Spencer, Macaulay, Sir James Mackintosh, Lord Melbourne, &c., &c., all made the dinner-parties very agreeable. The men sat longer at table than they do now, and, except in the families where I was intimate, the conversation of the ladies in the drawing-room, when we came up from dinner, often bored me. I disliked routs exceedingly, and should often have sent an excuse if I had known what to say. After my marriage I did not dance, for in Scotland it was thought highly indecorous for a married woman to dance. Waltzing, when first introduced, was looked upon with horror, and even in England it was then thought very improper.

One season I subscribed to the Concerts of Ancient Music, established by George the Third. They seemed to be the resort of the aged; a young face was scarcely to be seen. The music was perfect of its kind, but the whole affair was very dull. The Philharmonic Concerts were excellent for scientific musicians, and I sometimes went to them; but for my part I infinitely preferred hearing Pasta, Malibran, and Grisi, who have left the most vivid impression on my mind, although so different from each other. Somerville enjoyed a comic opera exceedingly, and so did I; and at that time Lablache was in the height of his fame. When Somerville and I made the tour in Italy already mentioned, we visited Catalani (then Madame Valabreque) in a villa near Florence, to which she retired in her old age. She, however, died in Paris, of cholera, some years later.

Somerville liked the theatre as much as I did; so we saw all the greatest actors of the day, both in tragedy and comedy, and the English theatre was then excellent. Young, who was scarcely inferior to John Kemble, Macready, Kean, Liston, &c., and Miss O'Neill, who after a short brilliant career entered into domestic life on her marriage with Sir William Beecher, were all at the height of their fame. It was then I became acquainted with Lady Beecher, who was so simple and natural that no one could have discovered she had ever been on the stage. A very clever company of French comedians acted in a temporary theatre in Tottenham Court Road, where we frequently went with a party of friends, and enjoyed very pleasant evenings. I think my fondness for the theatre depended to a certain degree on my silent disposition; for unless among intimate friends, or when much excited, I was startled at the sound of my own voice in general conversation, from the shyness which has haunted me through life, and starts up occasionally like a ghost in my old age. At a play I was not called upon to make any exertion, but could enjoy at my ease an intellectual pleasure for the most part far superior to the general run of conversation.

* * * * *

Among many others, we were intimate with Dr. and Mrs. Baillie and his sisters. Joanna was my dear and valued friend to the end of her life. When her tragedy of "Montfort" was to be brought on the stage, Somerville and I, with a large party of her relations and friends, went with her to the theatre. The play was admirably acted, for Mrs. Siddons and her brother John Kemble performed the principal parts. It was warmly applauded by a full house, but it was never acted again. Some time afterwards "The Family Legend," founded on a Highland story, had better success in Edinburgh; but Miss Baillie's plays, though highly poetical, are not suited to the stage. Miss Mitford was more successful, for some of her plays were repeatedly acted. She excelled also as a writer. "Our Village" is perfect of its kind; nothing can be more animated than her description of a game of cricket. I met with Miss Austin's novels at this time, and thought them excellent, especially "Pride and Prejudice." It certainly formed a curious contrast to my old favourites, the Radcliffe novels and the ghost stories; but I had now come to years of discretion.

Among my Quaker friends I met with that amiable but eccentric person Mrs. Opie. Though a "wet" Quakeress, she continued to wear the peculiar dress. I was told that she was presented in it at the Tuileries, and astonished the French ladies. We were also acquainted with Mrs. Fry, a very different person, and heard her preach. Her voice was fine, her delivery admirable, and her prayer sublime. We were intimate with Mr. (now Sir Charles) Lyell, who, if I mistake not, first met with his wife at our house, where she was extremely admired as the beautiful Miss Horner. Until we lost all our fortune, and went to live at Chelsea, I used to have little evening parties in Hanover Square.

* * * * *

I was not present at the coronation of George the Fourth; but I had a ticket for the gallery in Westminster Hall, to see the banquet. Though I went very early in the morning, I found a wonderful confusion. I showed my ticket of admission to one official person after another; the answer always was "I know nothing about it." At last I got a good place near some ladies I knew; even at that early hour the gallery was full. Some time after the ceremony in the Abbey was over, the door of the magnificent hall was thrown open, and the king entered in the flowing curls and costume of Henry the Eighth, and, imitating the jaunty manner of that monarch, walked up the hall and sat down on the throne at its extremity. The peeresses had already taken their seats under the gallery, and the king was followed by the peers, and the knights of the Garter, Bath, Thistle, and St. Patrick, all in their robes. After every one had taken his seat, the Champion, on his horse, both in full armour, rode up the hall, and threw down a gauntlet before the king, while the heralds proclaimed that he was ready to do battle with any one who denied that George the Fourth was the liege lord of these realms. Then various persons presented offerings to the king in right of which they held their estates. One gentleman presented a beautiful pair of falcons in their hoods. While this pageantry and noise was at its height, Queen Caroline demanded to be admitted. There was a sudden silence and consternation,—it was like the "handwriting on the wall!" The sensation was intense. At last the order was given to refuse her admittance; the pageantry was renewed, and the banquet followed. The noise, heat, and vivid light of the illumination of the hall gave me a racking headache; at last I went out of the gallery and sat on a stair, where there was a little fresh air, and was very glad when all was over. Years afterwards I was present in Westminster Abbey at the coronation of our Queen, then a pretty young girl of eighteen. Placed in the most trying position at that early age, by her virtues, both public and private, she has endeared herself to the nation beyond what any sovereign ever did before.

* * * * *

I, who had so many occupations and duties at home, soon tired of the idleness and formality of visiting in the country. I made an exception, however, in favour of an occasional visit to Mr. Sotheby, the poet, and his family in Epping Forest, of which, if I mistake not, he was deputy-ranger; at all events, he had a pretty cottage there where he and his family received their friends with kind hospitality. He spent part of the day in his study, and afterwards I have seen him playing cricket with his son and grandson, with as much vivacity as any of them. The freshness of the air was quite reviving to Somerville and me; and our two little girls played in the forest all the day.

We also gladly went for several successive years to visit Sir John Saunders Sebright at Beechwood Park, Hertfordshire. Dr. Wollaston generally travelled with us on these occasions, when we had much conversation on a variety of subjects, scientific or general. He was remarkably acute in his observations on objects as we passed them. "Look at that ash tree; did you ever notice that the branches of the ash tree are curves of double curvature?" There was a comet visible at the time of one of these little journeys. Dr. Wollaston had made a drawing of the orbit and its elements; but, having left it in town, he described the lines so accurately without naming them, that I remarked at once, "That is the curtate or perihelion distance," which pleased him greatly, as it showed how accurate his description was. He was a chess-player, and, when travelling alone, he used to carry a book with diagrams of partially-played games, in which it is required to give checkmate in a fixed number of moves. He would study one of them, and then, shutting the book, play out the game mentally.

Although Sir John was a keen sportsman and ox-hunter in his youth, he was remarkable for his kindness to animals and for the facility with which he tamed them. He kept terriers, and his pointers were first rate, yet he never allowed his keepers to beat a dog, nor did he ever do it himself; he said a dog once cowed was good for nothing ever after. He trained them by tying a string to the collar and giving it a sharp pull when the dog did wrong, and patting him kindly when he did right. In this manner he taught some of his non-sporting dogs to play all sorts of tricks, such as picking out the card chosen by any spectator from a number placed in a circle on the floor, the signal being one momentary glance at the card, &c. &c. Sir John published a pamphlet on the subject, and sent copies of it to the sporting gentlemen and keepers in the county, I fear with little effect; men are so apt to vent their own bad temper on their dogs and horses.

At one of the battues at Holkham, Chantrey killed two woodcocks at one shot. Mr. Hudson Gurney some time after saw a brace of woodcocks carved in marble in Chantrey's studio; Chantrey told him of his shot and the difficulty of finding a suitable inscription, and that it had been tried in Latin and even Greek without success. Mr. Gurney said it should be very simple, such as:—

Driven from the north, where winter starved them, Chantrey first shot, and then he carved them.

Beechwood was one of the few places in Great Britain in which hawking was kept up. The falcons were brought from Flanders, for, except in the Isle of Skye, they have been extirpated in Great Britain like many other of our fine indigenous birds. Sir John kept fancy pigeons of all breeds. He told me he could alter the colour of their plumage in three years by cross-breeding, but that it required fully six to alter the shape of the bird.

* * * * *

At some house where we were dining in London, I forget with whom, Ugo Foscolo, the poet, was one of the party. He was extremely excitable and irritable, and when some one spoke of a translation of Dante as being perfect, "Impossible," shouted Foscolo, starting up in great excitement, at the same time tossing his cup full of coffee into the air, cup and all, regardless of the china and the ladies' dresses. He died in England, I fear in great poverty. He was a most distinguished classical scholar as well as poet. His remains have been brought to Italy within these few years, and interred in Sante Croce, in Florence.

* * * * *

I had a severe attack of what appeared to be cholera, and during my recovery Mrs. Hankey very kindly lent us her villa at Hampstead for a few weeks. There I went with my children, Somerville with some friends always coming to dinner on the Sundays. On one of these occasions there was a violent thunderstorm, and a large tree was struck not far from the house. We all went to look at the tree as soon as the storm ceased, and found that a large mass of wood was scooped out of the trunk from top to bottom. I had occasion in two other instances to notice the same effect. Dr. Wollaston lent me a sextant and artificial horizon; so I amused myself taking the altitude of the sun, the consequence of which was that I became as brown as a mulatto, but I was too anxious to learn something of practical astronomy to care about the matter.



CHAPTER X.

DEATH OF MARGARET SOMERVILLE—LETTER FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE TO THE REV. DR. SOMERVILLE—LIFE AT CHELSEA—THE NAPIERS—MARIA EDGEWORTH—TOUR IN GERMANY.

Our happy and cheerful life in Hanover Square came to a sad end. The illness and death of our eldest girl threw Somerville and me into the deepest affliction. She was a child of intelligence and acquirements far beyond her tender age.

[The long illness and death of this young girl fell very heavily on my mother, who by this time had lost several children. The following letter was written by her to my grandfather on this occasion. It shows her steadfast faith in the mercy and goodness of God, even when crushed by almost the severest affliction which can wring a mother's heart:—]

MRS. SOMERVILLE TO THE REV. DR. SOMERVILLE.

LONDON, October, 1823.

MY DEAR FATHER,

I never was so long of writing to you, but when the heart is breaking it is impossible to find words adequate to its relief. We are in deep affliction, for though the first violence of grief has subsided, there has succeeded a calm sorrow not less painful, a feeling of hopelessness in this world which only finds comfort in the prospect of another, which longs for the consummation of all things that we may join those who have gone before. To return to the duties of life is irksome, even to those duties which were a delight when the candle of the Lord shone upon us. I do not arraign the decrees of Providence, but even in the bitterness of my soul I acknowledge the wisdom and goodness of God, and endeavour to be resigned to His will. It is ungrateful not to remember the many happy years we have enjoyed, but that very remembrance renders our present state more desolate and dreary—presenting a sad contrast. The great source of consolation is in the mercy of God and the virtues of those we lament; the full assurance that no good disposition can be lost but must be brought to perfection in a better world. Our business is to render ourselves fit for that blessed inheritance that we may again be united to those we mourn.

Your affectionate daughter, MARY SOMERVILLE.

* * * * *

Somerville still held his place at the army medical board, and was now appointed physician to Chelsea Hospital; so we left our cheerful, comfortable house and went to reside in a government house in a very dreary and unhealthy situation, far from all our friends, which was a serious loss to me, as I was not a good walker, and during the whole time I lived at Chelsea I suffered from sick headaches. Still we were very glad of the appointment, for at this time we lost almost the whole of our fortune, through the dishonesty of a person in whom we had the greatest confidence.

All the time we lived at Chelsea we had constant intercourse with Lady Noel Byron and Ada, who lived at Esher, and when I came abroad I kept up a correspondence with both as long as they lived. Ada was much attached to me, and often came to stay with me. It was by my advice that she studied mathematics. She always wrote to me for an explanation when she met with any difficulty. Among my papers I lately found many of her notes, asking mathematical questions. Ada Byron married Lord King, afterwards created Earl of Lovelace, a college companion and friend of my son.

Somerville had formed a friendship with Sir Henry Bunbury when he had a command in Sicily, and we went occasionally to visit him at Barton in Suffolk. I liked Lady Bunbury very much; she was a niece of the celebrated Charles Fox, and had a turn for natural history. I had made a collection of native shells at Burntisland, but I only knew their vulgar names; now I learnt their scientific arrangement from Lady Bunbury. Her son, Sir Charles Bunbury, is an authority for fossil botany. The first Pinetum I ever saw was at Barton, and in 1837 I planted a cedar in remembrance of one of our visits.

Through Lady Bunbury we became intimate with all the members of the illustrious family of the Napiers, as she was sister of Colonel, afterwards General Sir William Napier, author of the "History of the Peninsular War." One day Colonel Napier, who was then living in Sloane Street, introduced Somerville and me to his mother, Lady Sarah Napier. Her manners were distinguished, and though totally blind, she still had the remains of great beauty; her hand and arm, which were exposed by the ancient costume she wore, were most beautiful still. The most sincere friendship existed between Richard Napier and his wife and me through life; I shall never forget their kindness to me at a time when I was in great sorrow. All the brothers are now gone. Richard and his wife were long in bad health, and he was nearly blind; but his wife never knew it, through the devoted attachment of Emily Shirriff, daughter of Admiral Shirriff, who was the comfort and consolation of both to their dying day.

Maria Edgeworth came frequently to see us when she was in England. She was one of my most intimate friends, warm-hearted and kind, a charming companion, with all the liveliness and originality of an Irishwoman. For seventeen years I was in constant correspondence with her. The cleverness and animation as well as affection of her letters I cannot express; certainly women are superior to men in letter-writing.

[The following is an extract from a letter from Maria Edgeworth to a friend concerning my mother:—]

MARIA EDGEWORTH TO MISS .....

BEECHWOOD PARK, January 17th, 1822.

We have spent two days pleasantly here with Dr. Wollaston, our own dear friend Mrs. Marcet, and the Somervilles. Mrs. Somerville is the lady who, Laplace says, is the only woman who understands his works. She draws beautifully, and while her head is among the stars her feet are firm upon the earth.

Mrs. Somerville is little, slightly made, fairish hair, pink colour, small, grey, round, intelligent, smiling eyes, very pleasing countenance, remarkably soft voice, strong, but well-bred Scotch accent; timid, not disqualifying timid, but naturally modest, yet with a degree of self-possession through it which prevents her being in the least awkward, and gives her all the advantage of her understanding, at the same time that it adds a prepossessing charm to her manner and takes off all dread of her superior scientific learning.

* * * * *

While in London I had a French maid for my daughters, and on coming to Chelsea I taught them a little geometry and algebra, as well as Latin and Greek, and, later, got a master for them, that they might have a more perfect knowledge of these languages than I possessed. Keenly alive to my own defects, I was anxious that my children should never undergo the embarrassment and mortification I had suffered from ignorance of the common European languages. I engaged a young German lady, daughter of Professor Becker, of Offenbach, near Frankfort, as governess, and was most happy in my choice; but after being with us for a couple of years, she had a very bad attack of fever, and was obliged to return home. She was replaced by a younger sister, who afterwards married Professor Trendelenburg, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Berlin. Though both these sisters were quite young, I had the most perfect confidence in them, from their strict conscientiousness and morality. They were well educated, ladylike, and so amiable, that they gained the friendship of my children and the affection of us all.

As we could with perfect confidence leave the children to Miss Becker's care, Sir James Mackintosh, Somerville and I made an excursion to the Continent. We went to Brussels, and what lady can go there without seeing the lace manufactory? I saw, admired,—and bought none! We were kindly received by Professor Quetelet, whom we had previously known, and who never failed to send me a copy of his valuable memoirs as soon as they were published. I have uniformly met with the greatest kindness from scientific men at home and abroad. If any of them are alive when this record is published, I beg they will accept of my gratitude. Of those that are no more I bear a grateful remembrance.

The weather was beautiful when we were at Brussels, and in the evening we went to the public garden. It was crowded with people, and very gay. We sat down, and amused ourselves by looking at them as they passed. Sir James was a most agreeable companion, intimate with all the political characters of the day, full of anecdote and historical knowledge. That evening his conversation was so brilliant that we forgot the time, and looking around found that everybody had left the garden, so we thought we might as well return to the hotel; but on coming to the iron-barred gate we found it locked. Sir James and Somerville begged some of those that were passing to call the keeper of the park to let us out; but they said it was impossible, that we must wait till morning. A crowd assembled laughing and mocking, till at last we got out through the house of one of the keepers of the park.

At Bonn we met with Baron Humboldt, and M. Schlegel, celebrated for his translation of Shakespeare. On going up the Rhine, Sir James knew the history of every place and of every battle that had been fought. A professor of his acquaintance in one of the towns invited us to dinner, and I was astonished to see the lady of the house going about with a great bunch of keys dangling at her side, assisting in serving up the dinner, and doing all the duty of carving, her husband taking no part whatever in it. I was annoyed that we had given so much trouble by accepting the invitation. In my younger days in Scotland, a lady might make the pastry and jelly, or direct in the kitchen; but she took no part in cooking or serving up the dinner, and never rose from the table till the ladies went to the drawing-room. However, as we could not afford to keep a regular cook, an ill-dressed dish would occasionally appear, and then my father would say, "God sends food, but the devil sends cooks."

In our tour through Holland, Somerville was quite at home, and amused himself talking to the people, for he had learnt the Dutch language at the Cape of Good Hope. We admired the pretty quaint costumes of the women; but I was the only one who took interest in the galleries. Many of the pictures of the Dutch school are very fine; but I never should have made a collection exclusively of them as was often done at one time in England. Lord Granville was British Minister at the Hague, and dining at the Embassy one day we met with a Mrs.——, who, on hearing one of the attaches addressed as Mr. Abercromby,[9] said, "Pray, Lord Granville, is that a son of the great captain whom the Lord slew in the land of Egypt?'"

I never met with Madame de Stael, but heard a great deal about her during this journey from Sir James Mackintosh, who was very intimate with her. At that time the men sat longer at table after dinner than they do now; and on one occasion, at a dinner party at Sir James's house, when Lady Mackintosh and the ladies returned to the drawing-room, Madame de Stael, who was exceedingly impatient of women's society, would not deign to enter into conversation with any of the ladies, but walked about the room; then suddenly ringing the bell, she said, "Ceci est insupportable!" and when the servant appeared, she said: "Tell your master to come upstairs directly; they have sat long enough at their wine."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 9: Afterwards Sir Ralph Abercromby, later Lord Dunfermline, minister first at Florence, then at Turin.]



CHAPTER XI.

LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM—WRITES "MECHANISM OF THE HEAVENS"—ANECDOTE OF THE ROMAN IMPROVISATRICE—LETTERS FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL AND PROFESSOR WHEWELL—ELECTED HON. MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY—NOTICE IN THE ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES, AND LETTER FROM M. BIOT—PENSION—LETTER FROM SIR ROBERT PEEL—BEGINS TO WRITE ON THE CONNECTION OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES—VISIT TO CAMBRIDGE—LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR SEDGWICK AND LAPLACE.

[After my mother's return home my father received the following letter from Lord Brougham, which very importantly influenced the further course of my mother's life. It is dated March 27th, 1827:—]

LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM TO DR. SOMERVILLE.

MY DEAR SIR,

I fear you will think me very daring for the design I have formed against Mrs. Somerville, and still more for making you my advocate with her; through whom I have every hope of prevailing. There will be sent to you a prospectus, rules, and a preliminary treatise of our Society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge, and I assure you I speak without any flattery when I say that of the two subjects which I find it most difficult to see the chance of executing, there is one, which—unless Mrs. Somerville will undertake—none else can, and it must be left undone, though about the most interesting of the whole, I mean an account of the Mecanique Celeste; the other is an account of the Principia, which I have some hopes of at Cambridge. The kind of thing wanted is such a description of that divine work as will both explain to the unlearned the sort of thing it is—the plan, the vast merit, the wonderful truths unfolded or methodized—and the calculus by which all this is accomplished, and will also give a somewhat deeper insight to the uninitiated. Two treatises would do this. No one without trying it can conceive how far we may carry ignorant readers into an understanding of the depths of science, and our treatises have about 100 to 800 pages of space each, so that one might give the more popular view, and another the analytical abstracts and illustrations. In England there are now not twenty people who know this great work, except by name; and not a hundred who know it even by name. My firm belief is that Mrs. Somerville could add two cyphers to each of those figures. Will you be my counsel in this suit? Of course our names are concealed, and no one of our council but myself needs to know it.

Yours ever most truly, H. BROUGHAM.

My mother in alluding to the above says:—

* * * * *

This letter surprised me beyond expression. I thought Lord Brougham must have been mistaken with regard to my acquirements, and naturally concluded that my self-acquired knowledge was so far inferior to that of the men who had been educated in our universities that it would be the height of presumption to attempt to write on such a subject or indeed on any other. A few days after this Lord Brougham came to Chelsea himself, and Somerville joined with him in urging me at least to make the attempt. I said, "Lord Brougham, you must be aware that the work in question never can be popularized, since the student must at least know something of the differential and integral calculi, and as a preliminary step I should have to prove various problems in physical mechanics and astronomy. Besides, La Place never gives diagrams or figures, because they are not necessary to persons versed in the calculus, but they would be indispensable in a work such as you wish me to write. I am afraid I am incapable of such a task: but as you both wish it so much, I shall do my very best upon condition of secrecy, and that if I fail the manuscript shall be put into the fire." Thus suddenly and unexpectedly the whole character and course of my future life was changed.

I rose early and made such arrangements with regard to my children and family affairs that I had time to write afterwards; not, however, without many interruptions. A man can always command his time under the plea of business, a woman is not allowed any such excuse. At Chelsea I was always supposed to be at home, and as my friends and acquaintances came so far out of their way on purpose to see me, it would have been unkind and ungenerous not to receive them. Nevertheless, I was sometimes annoyed when in the midst of a difficult problem some one would enter and say, "I have come to spend a few hours with you." However, I learnt by habit to leave a subject and resume it again at once, like putting a mark into a book I might be reading; this was the more necessary as there was no fire-place in my little room, and I had to write in the drawing-room in winter. Frequently I hid my papers as soon as the bell announced a visitor, lest anyone should discover my secret.

[My mother had a singular power of abstraction. When occupied with some difficult problem, or even a train of thought which deeply interested her, she lost all consciousness of what went on around her, and became so entirely absorbed that any amount of talking, or even practising scales and solfeggi, went on without in the least disturbing her. Sometimes a song or a strain of melody would recall her to a sense of the present, for she was passionately fond of music. A curious instance of this peculiarity of hers occurred at Rome, when a large party were assembled to listen to a celebrated improvisatrice. My mother was placed in the front row, close to the poetess, who, for several stanzas, adhered strictly to the subject which had been given to her. What it was I do not recollect, except that it had no connection with what followed. All at once, as if by a sudden inspiration, the lady turned her eyes full upon my mother, and with true Italian vehemence and in the full musical accents of Rome, poured forth stanza after stanza of the most eloquent panegyric upon her talents and virtues, extolling them and her to the skies. Throughout the whole of this scene, which lasted a considerable time, my mother remained calm and unmoved, never changing countenance, which surprised not only the persons present but ourselves, as we well knew how much she disliked any display or being brought forward in public. The truth was, that after listening for a while to the improvising, a thought struck her connected with some subject she was engaged in writing upon at the time and so entirely absorbed her that she heard not a word of all that had been declaimed in her praise, and was not a little surprised and confused when she was complimented on it. I call this, advisedly, a power of hers, for although it occasionally led her into strange positions, such as the one above mentioned, it rendered her entirely independent of outward circumstances, nor did she require to isolate herself from the family circle in order to pursue her studies. I have already mentioned that when we were very young she taught us herself for a few hours daily; when our lessons were over we always remained in the room with her, learning grammar, arithmetic, or some such plague of childhood. Any one who has plunged into the mazes of the higher branches of mathematics or other abstruse science, would probably feel no slight degree of irritation on being interrupted at a critical moment when the solution was almost within his grasp, by some childish question about tense or gender, or how much seven times seven made. My mother was never impatient, but explained our little difficulties quickly and kindly, and returned calmly to her own profound thoughts. Yet on occasion she could show both irritation and impatience—when we were stupid or inattentive, neither of which she could stand. With her clear mind she darted at the solution, sometimes forgetting that we had to toil after her laboriously step by step. I well remember her slender white hand pointing impatiently to the book or slate—"Don't you see it? there is no difficulty in it, it is quite clear." Things were so clear to her! I must here add some other recollections by my mother of this very interesting portion of her life.]

* * * * *

I was a considerable time employed in writing this book, but I by no means gave up society, which would neither have suited Somerville nor me. We dined out, went to evening parties, and occasionally to the theatre. As soon as my work was finished I sent the manuscript to Lord Brougham, requesting that it might be thoroughly examined, criticised and destroyed according to promise if a failure. I was very nervous while it was under examination, and was equally surprised and gratified that Sir John Herschel, our greatest astronomer, and perfectly versed in the calculus, should have found so few errors. The letter he wrote on this occasion made me so happy and proud that I have preserved it.

LETTER FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,

I have read your manuscript with the greatest pleasure, and will not hesitate to add, (because I am sure you will believe it sincere,) with the highest admiration. Go on thus, and you will leave a memorial of no common kind to posterity; and, what you will value far more than fame, you will have accomplished a most useful work. What a pity that La Place has not lived to see this illustration of his great work! You will only, I fear, give too strong a stimulus to the study of abstract science by this performance.

I have marked as somewhat obscure a part of the illustration of the principle of virtual velocities.... Will you look at this point again? I have made a trifling remark in page 6, but it is a mere matter of metaphysical nicety, and perhaps hardly worth pencilling your beautiful manuscript for.

Ever yours most truly, J. HERSCHEL.

[In publishing the following letter, I do not consider that I am infringing on the rule I have followed in obedience to my mother's wishes, that is, to abstain from giving publicity to all letters which are of a private and confidential character. This one entirely concerns her scientific writings, and is interesting as showing the confidence which existed between Sir John Herschel and herself. This great philosopher was my mother's truest and best friend, one whose opinion she valued above all others, whose genius and consummate talents she admired, and whose beautiful character she loved with an intensity which is better shown by some extracts from her letters to be given presently than by anything I can say. This deep regard on her part he returned with the most chivalrous respect and admiration. In any doubt or difficulty it was his advice she sought, his criticism she submitted to; both were always frankly given without the slightest fear of giving offence, for Sir John Herschel well knew the spirit with which any remarks of his would be received.]

FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

SLOUGH, Feb. 23rd, 1830.

MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,

... As you contemplate separate publication, and as the attention of many will be turned to a work from your pen who will just possess quantum enough of mathematical knowledge to be able to read the first chapter without being able to follow you into its application, and as these, moreover, are the very people who will think themselves privileged to criticise and use their privilege with the least discretion, I cannot recommend too much clearness, fulness, and order in the expose of the principles. Were I you, I would devote to this first part at least double the space you have done. Your familiarity with the results and formulae has led you into what is extremely natural in such a case—a somewhat hasty passing over what, to a beginner, would prove insuperable difficulties; and if I may so express it, a sketchiness of outline (as a painter you will understand my meaning, and what is of more consequence, see how it is to be remedied).

You have adopted, I see, the principle of virtual velocity, and the principle of d'Alembert, rather as separate and independent principles to be used as instruments of investigation than as convenient theories, flowing themselves from the general law of force and equilibrium, to be first proved and then remembered as compact statements in a form fit for use. The demonstration of the principle of virtual velocities is so easy and direct in Laplace that I cannot imagine anything capable of rendering it plainer than he has done. But a good deal more explanation of what is virtual velocity, &c., would be advantageous—and virtual velocities should be kept quite distinct from the arbitrary variations represented by the sign [Greek: d].

With regard to the principle of d'Alembert—take my advice and explode it altogether. It is the most awkward and involved statement of a plain dynamical equation that ever puzzled student. I speak feelingly and with a sense of irritation at the whirls and vortices it used to cause in my poor head when first I entered on this subject in my days of studentship. I know not a single case where its application does not create obscurity—nay doubt. Nor can a case ever occur where any such principle is called for. The general law that the change of motion is proportional to the moving force and takes place in its direction, provided we take care always to regard the reaction of curves, surfaces, obstacles, &c., as so many real moving forces of (for a time) unknown magnitude, will always help us out of any dynamical scrape we may get into. Laplace, page 20, Mec. Cel. art. 7, is a little obscure here, and in deriving his equation (f) a page of explanation would be well bestowed.

One thing let me recommend, if you use as principles either this, or that of virtual velocities, or any other, state them broadly and in general terms.... You will think me, I fear, a rough critic, but I think of Horace's good critic,

Fiet Aristarchus: nec dicet, cur ego amicum Offendam in nugis? Hae nugae seria ducent In mala,

and what we can both now laugh at, and you may, if you like, burn as nonsense (I mean these remarks), would come with a very different kind of force from some sneering reviewer in the plenitude of his triumph at the detection of a slip of the pen or one of those little inaccuracies which humana parum cavit natura....

Very faithfully yours, J. HERSCHEL.

* * * * *

[About the same time my father received a letter from Dr. Whewell, afterwards Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, dated 2nd November, 1831, in which he says:—]

"I beg you to offer my best thanks to Mrs. Somerville for her kind present. I shall have peculiar satisfaction in possessing it as a gift of the author, a book which I look upon as one of the most remarkable which our age has produced, which would be highly valuable from anyone, and which derives a peculiar interest from its writer. I am charged also to return the thanks of the Philosophical Society here for the copy presented to them. I have not thought it necessary to send the official letter containing the acknowledgment, as Mrs. Somerville will probably have a sufficient collection of specimens of such character. I have also to thank her on the part of our College for the copy sent to the library. I am glad that our young mathematicians in Trinity will have easy access to the book, which will be very good for them as soon as they can read it. When Mrs. Somerville shows herself in the field which we mathematicians have been labouring in all our lives, and puts us to shame, she ought not to be surprised if we move off to other ground, and betake ourselves to poetry. If the fashion of 'commendatory verses' were not gone by, I have no doubt her work might have appeared with a very pretty collection of well-deserved poetical praises in its introductory pages. As old customs linger longest in places like this, I hope she and you will not think it quite extravagant to send a single sonnet on the occasion.

"Believe me, "Faithfully yours, "W. WHEWELL."

TO MRS. SOMERVILLE,

ON HER "MECHANISM OF THE HEAVENS."

Lady, it was the wont in earlier days When some fair volume from a valued pen, Long looked for, came at last, that grateful men Hailed its forthcoming in complacent lays: As if the Muse would gladly haste to praise That which her mother, Memory, long should keep Among her treasures. Shall such usage sleep With us, who feel too slight the common phrase For our pleased thoughts of you, when thus we find That dark to you seems bright, perplexed seems plain, Seen in the depths of a pellucid mind, Full of clear thought, pure from the ill and vain That cloud the inward light? An honoured name Be yours; and peace of heart grow with your growing fame.

[Professor Peacock, afterwards Dean of Ely, in a letter, dated February 14th, 1832, thanked my mother for a copy of the "Mechanism of the Heavens."]

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR PEACOCK TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

"I consider it to be a work which will contribute greatly to the extension of the knowledge of physical astronomy, in this country, and of the great analytical processes which have been employed in such investigations. It is with this view that I consider it to be a work of the greatest value and importance. Dr. Whewell and myself have already taken steps to introduce it into the course of our studies at Cambridge, and I have little doubt that it will immediately become an essential work to those of our students who aspire to the highest places in our examinations."

[On this my mother remarks:—]

* * * * *

I consider this as the highest honour I ever received, at the time I was no less sensible of it, and was most grateful. I was surprised and pleased beyond measure to find that my book should be so much approved of by Dr. Whewell, one of the most eminent men of the age for science and literature; and by Professor Peacock, a profound mathematician, who with Herschel and Babbage had, a few years before, first introduced the calculus as an essential branch of science into the University of Cambridge.

In consequence of this decision the whole edition of the "Mechanism of the Heavens," amounting to 750 copies, was sold chiefly at Cambridge, with the exception of a very few which I gave to friends; but as the preface was the only part of the work that was intelligible to the general reader, I had some copies of it printed separately to give away.

I was astonished at the success of my book; all the reviews of it were highly favourable; I received letters of congratulation from many men of science. I was elected an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society at the same time as Miss Caroline Herschel. To be associated with so distinguished an astronomer was in itself an honour. Mr. De Morgan, to whom I am indebted for many excellent mathematical works, was then secretary of the society, and announced to us the distinction conferred. The council of the Society ordered that a copy of the "Greenwich Observations" should be regularly sent to me.

[The Academie des Sciences elected my mother's old friend M. Biot to draw up a report upon her "Mechanism of the Heavens," which he did in the most flattering terms, and upon my mother writing to thank him, replied as follows:—]

FROM M. BIOT TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

MADAME,

Revenu de Lyon depuis quelques jours, j'ai trouve a Paris les deux lettres dont vous avez daigne m'honorer, et j'ai recu egalement l'exemplaire de votre ouvrage que vous avez bien voulu joindre a la derniere. C'est etre mille fois trop bonne, Madame, que de me remercier encore de ce qui m'a fait tant de plaisir. En rendant compte de cet etonnant Traite, je remplissais d'abord un devoir, puisque l'Academie m'avait charge de le lire pour elle; mais ce devoir m'offrait un attrait que vous concevriez facilement, s'il vous etait possible de vous rappeler l'admiration vive et profonde que m'inspira il y a longtemps l'union si extraordinaire de tous les talens et de toutes les graces, avec les connaissances severes que nous autres hommes avions la folie de croire notre partage exclusif. Ce qui me charma alors, Madame, je n'ai pas cesse depuis de m'en souvenir; et des rapports d'amitie qui me sont bien chers, ont encore, a votre inscu, fortifie ces sentimens. Jugez donc, Madame, combien j'etais heureux d'avoir a peindre ce que je comprenais si bien, et ce que j'avais vu avec un si vif interet. Le plus amusant pour moi de cette rencontre, c'etait de voir nos plus graves confreres, par exemple, Lacroix et Legendre, qui certes ne sont pas des esprits legers, ni galans d'habitude, ni faciles a emouvoir, me gourmander, comme ils le faisaient a chaque seance, de ce que je tardais tant a faire mon rapport, de ce que j'y mettais tant d'insouciance et si peu de grace; enfin, Madame, c'etait une conquete intellectuelle complete. Je n'ai pas manque de raconter cette circonstance comme un des fleurons de votre couronne. Je me suis ainsi acquitte envers eux; et quant a vous, Madame, d'apres la maniere dont vous parlez vous-meme de votre ouvrage, j'ai quelque esperance de l'avoir presente sous le point de vue ou vous semblez l'envisager. Mais, en vous rendant ce juste et sincere hommage et en l'inserant au Journal des Savants, je n'ai pas eu la precaution de demander qu'on m'en mit a part; aujourd'hui que la collection est tiree je suis aux regrets d'avoir ete si peu prevoyant. Au reste, Madame, il n'y a rien dans cet extrait que ce que pensent tous ceux qui vous connaissent, ou meme qui ont eu une seule fois le bonheur de vous approcher. Vos amis trouveront que j'ai exprime bien faiblement les charmes de votre esprit et de votre caractere; charmes qu'ils doivent apprecier d'autant mieux qu'ils en jouissent plus souvent; mais vous, Madame, qui etes indulgente, vous pardonnerez la faiblesse d'un portrait qui n'a pu etre fait que de souvenir.

J'ai l'honneur d'etre, avec le plus profond respect,

Madame, Votre tres humble et tres obeissant serviteur, BIOT.

* * * * *

It was unanimously voted by the Royal Society of London, that my bust should be placed in their great Hall, and Chantrey was chosen as the sculptor. Soon after it was finished, Mr. Potter, a great ship-builder at Liverpool, who had just completed a fine vessel intended for the China and India trade, wrote to my friend, Sir Francis Beaufort, hydrographer of the Royal Navy, asking him if I would give him permission to call her the "Mary Somerville," and to have a copy of my bust for her figure-head. I was much gratified with this, as might be expected. The "Mary Somerville" sailed, but was never heard of again; it was supposed she had foundered during a typhoon in the China sea.

I was elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy at Dublin, of the Bristol Philosophical Institution, and of the Societe de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle of Geneva, which was announced to me by a very gratifying letter from Professor Prevost.

Our relations and others who had so severely criticized and ridiculed me, astonished at my success, were now loud in my praise. The warmth with which Somerville entered into my success deeply affected me; for not one in ten thousand would have rejoiced at it as he did; but he was of a generous nature, far above jealousy, and he continued through life to take the kindest interest in all I did.

I now received the following letter from Sir Robert Peel, informing me in the handsomest manner that he had advised the King to grant me a pension of 200l. a year:—

LETTER FROM SIR ROBERT PEEL TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

WHITEHALL GARDENS March, 1835.

MADAM,

In advising the Crown in respect to the grant of civil pensions, I have acted equally with a sense of public duty and on the impulse of my own private feelings in recognising among the first claims on the Royal favour those which are derived from eminence in science and literature.

In reviewing such claims, it is impossible that I can overlook those which you have established by the successful prosecution of studies of the highest order, both from the importance of the objects to which they relate, and from the faculties and acquirements which they demand.

As my object is a public one, to encourage others to follow the bright example which you have set, and to prove that great scientific attainments are recognised among public claims, I prefer making a direct communication to you, to any private inquiries into your pecuniary circumstances, or to any proposal through a third party. I am enabled to advise His Majesty to grant to you a pension on the civil list of two hundred pounds per annum; and if that provision will enable you to pursue your labours with less of anxiety, either as to the present or the future, I shall only be fulfilling a public duty, and not imposing upon you the slightest obligation, by availing myself of your permission to submit such a recommendation to the King.

I have the honour to be, Madam, with the sincerest respect, ROBERT PEEL.

* * * * *

I was highly pleased, but my pleasure was of short duration, for the very next day a letter informed us that by the treachery of persons in whom we trusted, the last remains of our capital were lost. By the kindness of Lord John Russell, when he was Prime Minister, a hundred a-year was added to my pension, for which I was very grateful.

* * * * *

After the "Mechanism of the Heavens" was published, I was thrown out of work, and now that I had got into the habit of writing I did not know what to make of my spare time. Fortunately the preface of my book furnished me with the means of active occupation; for in it I saw such mutual dependence and connection in many branches of science, that I thought the subject might be carried to a greater extent.

There were many subjects with which I was only partially acquainted, and others of which I had no previous knowledge, but which required to be carefully investigated, so I had to consult a variety of authors, British and foreign. Even the astronomical part was difficult, for I had to translate analytical formulae into intelligible language, and to draw diagrams illustrative thereof, and this occupied the first seven sections of the book. I should have been saved much trouble had I seen a work on the subject by Mr. Airy, Astronomer-Royal, published subsequently to my book.

My son, Woronzow Greig, had been educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was travelling on the Continent, when Somerville and I received an invitation from the Principal, Dr. Whewell, to visit the University. Mr. Airy, then astronomer at Cambridge, now Astronomer-Royal at Greenwich, and Mrs. Airy kindly wished us to be their guests; but as the Observatory was at some distance from Cambridge, it was decided that we should have an apartment in Trinity College itself; an unusual favour where a lady is concerned. Mr. Sedgwick, the geologist, made the arrangements, received us, and we spent the first day at dinner with him. He is still alive[10]—one of my few coevals—either in Cambridge or England. The week we spent in Cambridge, receiving every honour from the heads of the University, was a period of which I have ever borne a proud and grateful remembrance.

[Professor Sedgwick wrote as follows to my father:—]

FROM PROFESSOR SEDGWICK TO DR. SOMERVILLE.

TRINITY COLLEGE, April, 1834.

MY DEAR SOMERVILLE,

Your letter delighted us. I have ordered dinner on Thursday at 6-1/2 and shall have a small party to welcome you and Mrs. Somerville. In order that we may not have to fight for you, we have been entering on the best arrangements we can think of. On Tuesday you will, I hope, dine with Peacock; on Wednesday with Whewell; on Thursday at the Observatory. For Friday, Dr. Clarke, our Professor of Anatomy, puts in a claim. For the other days of your visit we shall, D.V., find ample employment. A four-poster bed now (a thing utterly out of our regular monastic system) will rear its head for you and Madame in the chambers immediately below my own; and your handmaid may safely rest her bones in a small inner chamber. Should Sheepshanks return, we can stuff him into a lumber room of the observatory; but of this there is no fear as I have written to him on the subject, and he has no immediate intention of returning. You will of course drive to the great gate of Trinity College, and my servant will be in waiting at the Porter's lodge to show you the way to your academic residence. We have no cannons at Trinity College, otherwise we would fire a salute on your entry; we will however give you the warmest greeting we can. Meanwhile give my best regards to Mrs. S.

And believe me most truly yours, A. SEDGWICK.

* * * * *

La Place had a profound veneration for Newton; he sent me a copy of his "Systeme du Monde," and a letter, dated 15th August, 1824, in which he says: "Je publie successivement les divers livres du cinquieme livre qui doit terminer mon traite de 'Mecanique Celeste,' et dans cela je donne l'analyse historique des recherches des geometres sur cette matiere, cela m'a fait relire avec une attention particuliere l'ouvrage si incomparable des principes mathematiques de la philosophie naturelle de Newton, qui contient le germe de toutes ses recherches. Plus j'ai etudie cet ouvrage plus il m'a paru admirable, en me transportant surtout a l'epoque ou il a ete publie. Mais en meme tems que je sens l'elegance de la methode synthetique suivant laquelle Newton a presente ses decouvertes, j'ai reconnu l'indispensable necessite de l'analyse pour approfondir les questions tres difficiles que Newton n'a pu qu'effleurer par la synthese. Je vois avec un grand plaisir vos mathematiciens se livrer maintenant a l'analyse et je ne doute point qu'en suivant cette methode avec la sagacite propre a votre nation ils ne seront conduits a d'importantes decouvertes."

Newton himself was aware that by the law of gravitation the stability of the solar system was endangered. The power of analysis alone enabled La Grange to prove that all the disturbances arising from the reciprocal attraction of the planets and satellites are periodical, whatever the length of the periods may be, so that the stability of the solar system is insured for unlimited ages. The perturbations are only the oscillations of that immense pendulum of Eternity which beats centuries as ours beats seconds.

La Place, and all the great mathematicians of that period, had scarcely passed away when the more powerful Quaternion system began to dawn.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 10: Professor Sedgwick died shortly after my mother.]



CHAPTER XII.

PARIS—ARAGO, LAFAYETTE, MM. BOUVARD, POISSON, LACROIX, &c., MARQUISE DE LA PLACE, DUPIN, F. COOPER—LEGITIMISTE SOCIETY—MAJENDIE—VISIT BARON LOUIS—LETTER FROM LAFAYETTE.

My health was never good at Chelsea, and as I had been working too hard, I became so ill, that change of air and scene were thought absolutely necessary for me. We went accordingly to Paris; partly, because it was near home, as Somerville could not remain long with us at a time, and, partly, because we thought it a good opportunity to give masters to the girls, which we could not afford to do in London. When we arrived, I was so weak, that I always remained in bed writing till one o'clock, and then, either went to sit in the Tuileries gardens, or else received visits. All my old friends came to see me, Arago, the first. He was more engaged in politics than science, and as party spirit ran very high at that time, he said he would send tickets of admission to the Chambers every time there was likely to be an "orage." When I told him what I was writing, he gave me some interesting memoirs, and lent me a mass of manuscripts, with leave to make extracts, which were very useful to me. General de La Fayette came to town on purpose to invite Somerville and me to visit him at La Grange, where we found him living like a patriarch, surrounded by his family to the fourth generation. He was mild, highly distinguished, and noble in his manners; his conversation was exceedingly interesting, as he readily spoke of the Revolution in which he had taken so active a part. Among other anecdotes, he mentioned, that he had sent the principal key of the Bastile to General Washington, who kept it under a glass case. He was much interested to hear that I could, in some degree, claim a kind of relationship with Washington, whose mother was a Fairfax. Baron Fairfax, the head of the family, being settled in America, had joined the independent party at the Revolution.

The two daughters of La Fayette, who had been in prison with him at Olmuetz, were keen politicians, and discussed points with a warmth of gesticulation which amused Somerville and me, accustomed to our cold still manners. The grand-daughters, Mesdames de Remusat and de Corcelles, were kind friends to me all the time I was in Paris.

M. Bouvard, whom we had known in London, was now Astronomer-Royal of France, and he invited us to dine with him at the Observatory. The table was surrounded by savants, who complimented me on the "Mechanism of the Heavens." I sat next M. Poisson, who advised me in the strongest manner to write a second volume, so as to complete the account of La Place's works; and he afterwards told Somerville, that there were not twenty men in France who could read my book. M. Arago, who was of the party, said, he had not written to thank me for my book, because he had been reading it, and was busy preparing an account of it for the Journal of the Institute. At this party, I made the acquaintance of the celebrated astronomer, M. Pontecoulant, and soon after, of M. La Croix, to whose works I was indebted for my knowledge of the highest branches of mathematics. M. Prony, and M. Poinsot, came to visit me, the latter, an amiable and gentlemanly person; both gave me a copy of their works.

We had a long visit from M. Biot, who seemed really glad to renew our old friendship. He was making experiments on light, though much out of health; but when we dined with him and Madame Biot, he forgot for the time his bad health, and resumed his former gaiety. They made us promise to visit them at their country-house when we returned to England, as it lay on our road.

To my infinite regret, La Place had been dead some time; the Marquise was still at Arcueil, and we went to see her. She received us with the greatest warmth, and devoted herself to us the whole time we were in Paris. As soon as she came to town, we went to make a morning visit; it was past five o'clock; we were shown into a beautiful drawing-room, and the man-servant, without knocking at the door, went into the room which was adjacent, and we heard her call out, "J'irai la voir! j'irai la voir!" and when the man-servant came out, he said, "Madame est desolee, mais elle est en chemise." Madame de La Place was exceedingly agreeable, the life of every party, with her cheerful gay manner. She was in great favour with the Royal Family, and was always welcome when she went to visit them in an evening. She received once a week, and her grand-daughter, only nineteen, lovely and graceful, was an ornament to her parties. She was already married to M. de Colbert, whose father fell at Corunna.

No one was more attentive to me than Dr. Milne-Edwards, the celebrated natural historian. He was the first Englishman who was elected a member of the Institute. I was indebted to him for the acquaintance of MM. Ampere and Becquerel. I believe Dr. Edwards was at that time writing on Physiology, and, in conversation, I happened to mention that the wild ducks in the fens, at Lincolnshire, always build their nests on high tufts of grass, or reeds, to save them from sudden floods; and that Sir John Sebright had raised wild ducks under a hen, which built their nests on tufts of grass as if they had been in the fens. Dr. Edwards begged of me to inquire for how many generations that instinct lasted.

Monsieur and Madame Gay Lussac lived in the Jardin des Plantes. Madame was only twenty-one, exceedingly pretty, and well-educated; she read English and German, painted prettily, and was a musician. She told me it had been computed, that if all the property in France were equally divided among the population, each person would have 150 francs a-year, or four sous per day; so that if anyone should spend eight sous a-day, some other person would starve.

The Duchesse de Broglie, Madame de Stael's daughter, called, and invited us to her receptions, which were the most brilliant in Paris. Every person of distinction was there, French or foreign, generally four or five men to one woman. The Duchess was a charming woman, both handsome and amiable, and received with much grace. The Duke was, then, Minister for Foreign Affairs. They were remarkable for their domestic virtues, as well as for high intellectual cultivation. The part the Duke took in politics is so well known, that I need not allude to it here.

At some of these parties I met with Madame Charles Dupin, whom I liked much. When I went to return her visit, she received us in her bedroom. She was a fashionable and rather elegant woman, with perfect manners. She invited us to dinner to meet her brother-in-law, the President of the Chamber of Deputies. He was animated and witty, very fat, and more ugly than his brother, but both were clever and agreeable. The President invited me to a very brilliant ball he gave, but as it was on a Sunday I could not accept the invitation. We went one evening with Madame Charles Dupin to be introduced to Madame de Rumford. Her first husband, Lavoisier, the chemist, had been guillotined at the Revolution, and she was now a widow, but had lived long separated from her second husband. She was enormously rich, and had a magnificent palace, garden, and conservatory, in which she gave balls and concerts. At all the evening parties in Paris the best bedroom was lighted up for reception like the other rooms. Madame de Rumford was capricious and ill-tempered; however, she received me very well, and invited me to meet a very large party at dinner. Mr. Fenimore Cooper, the American novelist, with his wife and daughter, were among the guests. I found him extremely amiable and agreeable, which surprised me, for when I knew him in England he was so touchy that it was difficult to converse with him without giving him offence. He was introduced to Sir Walter Scott by Sir James Mackintosh, who said, in presenting him, "Mr. Cooper, allow me to introduce you to your great forefather in the art of fiction"; "Sir," said Cooper, with great asperity, "I have no forefather." Now, though his manners were rough, they were quite changed. We saw a great deal of him, and I was frequently in his house, and found him perfectly liberal; so much so, that he told us the faults of his country with the greatest frankness, yet he was the champion of America, and hated England.

None were kinder to us than Lord and Lady Granville. Lady Granville invited us to all her parties; and when Somerville was obliged to return to England, she assured him that in case of any disturbance, we should find a refuge in the Embassy. I went to some balls at the Tuileries with Madame de Lafayette Lasteyrie and her sister. The Queen Amelie was tall, thin, and very fair, not pretty, but infinitely more regal than Adelaide, Queen of England, at that time. The Royal Family used to walk about in the streets of Paris without any attendants.

Sir Sydney Smith was still in Paris trying to renew the order of the Knights Templars. Somerville and I went with him one evening to a reception at the Duchesse d'Abrantes, widow of Junot. She was short, thick, and not in the least distinguished-looking, nor in any way remarkable. I had met her at the Duchesse de Broglie's, where she talked of Junot as if he had been in the next room. Sir Sydney was quite covered with stars and crosses, and I was amused with the way he threw his cloak back to display them as he handed me to the carriage.

I met with Prince Kosloffsky everywhere; he was the fattest man I ever saw, a perfect Falstaff. However, his intellect was not smothered, for he would sit an hour with me talking about mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and what not. He was banished from Russia, and as he had been speaking imprudently about politics in Paris, he was ordered to go elsewhere; still, he lingered on, and was with me one morning when Pozzo di Borgo, the Russian Ambassador called. Pozzo di Borgo said to me, "Are you aware that Prince Kosloffsky has left Paris?" "Oh yes," I said, "I regret it much." He took the hint, and went away directly.

I had hitherto been entirely among the Liberal set. How it came that I was invited to dine with M. Hericourt de Thury, I do not remember. M. de Thury was simple in his manners, and full of information; he had been Director of the Mines under Napoleon, and had charge of the Public Buildings under Louis XVIII. and Charles X., but resigned his charges at the Revolution of July. At this time the Duchesse de Berry was confined in the citadel of Blaye. She had a strong party in Paris, who furiously resented the treatment she met with. M. de Thury was a moderate Legitimiste, but Madame was ultra. When I happened to mention that we had been staying with Lafayette, at La Grange, she was horrified, and begged of me not to talk politics, or mention where we had been, or else some of her guests would leave the room. The ladies of that party would not dance or go to any gay party; they had a part of the theatre reserved for themselves; they wore high dark dresses with long sleeves, called "Robes de Resistance," and even the Legitimiste newspapers appeared with black edges. They criticised those who gave balls, and Lady Granville herself did not escape their censure. The marriage of the Duchesse de Berry to the Marchese Lucchesi Palli made an immense sensation; it was discussed in the salons in a truly French manner; it was talked of in the streets; the Robes de Resistance were no longer worn, and the Legitimiste newspapers went out of mourning.

All parties criticised the British Administration in Ireland. A lady sitting by me at a party said, "No wonder so many English prefer France to so odious a country as England, where the people are oppressed, and even cabbages are raised in hotbeds." I laughed, and said, "I like England very well, for all that." An old gentleman, who was standing near us, said, "Whatever terms two countries may be on, it behoves us individuals to observe good manners;" and when I went away, this gentleman handed me to the carriage, though I had never seen him before.

The Marquise de La Place was commissioned by Dr. Majendie to invite me to meet her and Madame Gay Lussac at dinner. I was very unwilling to go; for I detested the man for his wanton cruelties, but I found I could not refuse on account of these ladies. There was a large party of savants, agreeable and gentlemanly; but Majendie himself had the coarsest manners; his conversation was horridly professional; many things were said and subjects discussed not fit for women to hear. What a contrast the refined and amiable Sir Charles Bell formed with Majendie! Majendie and the French school of anatomy made themselves odious by their cruelty, and failed to prove the true anatomy of the brain and nerves, while Sir Charles Bell did succeed, and thus made one of the greatest physiological discoveries of the age without torturing animals, which his gentle and kindly nature abhorred. To Lady Bell I am indebted for a copy of her husband's Life. She is one of my few dear and valued friends who are still alive.

* * * * *

While in Paris, I lost my dear mother. She died at the age of ninety, attended by my brother Henry. She was still a fine old lady, with few grey hairs. The fear of death was almost hereditary in the Charters family, and my mother possessed it in no small degree; yet when it came, she was perfectly composed and prepared for it. I have never had that fear; may God grant that I may be as calm and prepared as she was.

* * * * *

I was in better health, but still so delicate that I wrote in bed till one o'clock. The "Connexion of the Physical Sciences" was a tedious work, and the proof sheets had to be sent through the Embassy.

M. Arago told me that David, the sculptor, wished to make a medallion of me; so he came and sat an hour with me, and pleased me by his intelligent conversation and his enthusiasm for art. A day was fixed, and he took my profile on slate with pink wax, in a wonderfully short time. He made me a present of a medallion in bronze, nicely framed, and two plaster casts for my daughters.

* * * * *

I frequently went to hear the debates in the Chambers, and occasionally took my girls, as I thought it was an excellent lesson in French. As party spirit ran very high, the scenes that occurred were very amusing. A member, in the course of his speech, happening to mention the word "liberte," the President Dupin rang the bell, called out "Stop, a propos de liberte," ... jumped down from his seat, sprung into the tribune, pushed out the deputy, and made a long speech himself.

The weather being fine, we made excursions in the neighbourhood. At Sevres I saw two pieces of china; on one of them was a gnu, on the other a zebra. Somerville had told me that soon after his return from his African expedition, he had given the original drawings to M. Brongniart then director of the manufactory.

Baron Louis invited me to spend a day with him and his niece, Mademoiselle de Rigny, at his country house, not far from Paris. I went with Madame de la Place, and we set out early, to be in time for breakfast. The road lay through the Forest of Vincennes. The Baron's park, which was close to the village of Petit-Brie, was very large, and richly wooded; there were gardens, hot-houses, and all the luxuries of an English nobleman's residence. The house was handsome, with a magnificent library; I remarked on the table the last numbers of the "Edinburgh" and "Quarterly" Reviews. Both the Baron and his niece were simple and kind. I was greatly taken with both; the Baron had all the quiet elegance of the old school, and his niece had great learning and the manners of a woman of fashion. She lived in perfect retirement, having suffered much in the time of the Revolution. They had both eventful lives; for Baron Louis, who had been in orders, and Talleyrand officiated at the Champs de Mars when Louis the Sixteenth took the oath to maintain the constitution. Field-Marshal Macdonald, Duc de Tarante, and his son-in-law, the Duc de Massa; Admiral de Rigny, Minister of Marine; M. Barthe, Garde des Sceaux; and the Bouvards, father and son, formed the party. After spending a most delightful and interesting day, we drove to Paris in bright moonlight.

Our friends in Paris and at La Grange had been so kind to us that we were very sad when we went to express our gratitude and take leave of them. We only stayed two days at La Grange, and when we returned to Paris, Somerville went home and my son joined us, when we made a rapid tour in Switzerland, the only remarkable event of which was a singular atmospheric phenomenon we saw on the top of the Grimsel. On the clouds of vapour below us we saw our shadows projected, of giant proportions, and each person saw his own shadow surrounded by a bright circle of prismatic colours. It is not uncommon in mountain regions.

* * * * *

[General Lafayette and all his family were extremely kind to my mother. He was her constant visitor, and we twice visited him at his country house, La Grange. He wished to persuade my mother to go there for some days, after our return from Switzerland, which we did not accomplish. The General wrote the following letter to my father:—]

FROM LAFAYETTE TO DR. SOMERVILLE.

LA GRANGE, 31st October, 1833.

MY DEAR SIR,

I waited to answer your kind letter, for the arrival of Mr. Coke's[11] precious gift, which nobody could higher value, on every account, than the grateful farmer on whom it has been bestowed. The heifers and bull are beautiful; they have reached La Grange in the best order, and shall be tenderly attended to.... It has been a great disappointment not to see Mrs. Somerville and the young ladies before their departure. Had we not depended on their kind visit, we should have gone to take leave of them. They have had the goodness to regret the impossibility to come before their departure. Be so kind as to receive the affectionate friendship and good wishes of a family who are happy in the ties of mutual attachment that bind us to you and them.... Public interest is now fixed upon the Peninsula, and while dynasties are at civil war, and despotic or juste milieu cabinets seem to agree in the fear of a genuine development of popular institutions, the matter for the friends of freedom is to know how far the great cause of Europe shall be forwarded by these royal squabbles.

We shall remain at La Grange until the opening of the session, hoping that, notwithstanding your and the ladies' absence, your attention will not be quite withdrawn from our interior affairs—the sympathy shall be reciprocal.

With all my heart, I am Your affectionate friend, LAFAYETTE.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 11: Mr. Coke, of Holkham, afterwards Earl of Leicester.]



CHAPTER XIII.

RETURN TO ENGLAND—LETTER FROM HALLAM—TREATISE ON THE FORM AND ROTATION OF THE EARTH AND PLANETS—SECOND EDITION OF "CONNEXION OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES"—LETTERS FROM MARIA EDGEWORTH, MISS BERRY, LORD BROUGHAM, MRS. MARCET, ADMIRAL SMYTH—DOUBLE STARS—ECLIPSE OF DOUBLE STARS—LETTER FROM ADMIRAL SMYTH—SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL—NEBULAE—LETTER FROM LORD ROSSE—LETTER FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL—SIR JAMES SOUTH'S OBSERVATORY—MR. JOHN MURRAY—MISS BERRY—LORD DUDLEY—MR. BOWDITCH AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS—MRS. BROWNING WASHINGTON—LETTER FROM THE REV. DR. TUCKERMAN—SIR WILLIAM FAIRFAX ATTACKED BY HIGHWAYMEN.

As soon as we returned to Chelsea, the "Connexion of the Physical Sciences" was published. It was dedicated to Queen Adelaide, who thanked me for it at a drawing-room. Some time after Somerville and I went to Scotland; we had travelled all night in the mail coach, and when it became light, a gentleman who was in the carriage said to Somerville, "Is not the lady opposite to me Mrs. Somerville, whose bust I saw at Chantrey's?" The gentleman was Mr. Sopwith, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, a civil and mining engineer. He was distinguished for scientific knowledge, and had been in London to give information to a parliamentary committee. He travelled faster than we did, and when we arrived at Newcastle he was waiting to take us to his house, where we were hospitably received by Mrs. Sopwith. His conversation was highly interesting, and to him I was indebted for much information on mining generally, and on the mineral wealth of Great Britain, while writing on Physical Geography. Many years after he and Mrs. Sopwith came and saw me at Naples, which gave me much pleasure. He was unlike any other traveller I ever met with, so profound and original were his observations on all he saw.

* * * * *

On coming home I found that I had made an error in the first edition of the "Physical Sciences," in giving 365 days 6 hours as the length of the civil year of the ancient Egyptians. My friend Mr. Hallam, the historian, wrote to me, proving from history and epochs of the chronology of the ancient Egyptians, that their civil year was only 365 days. I was grateful to that great and amiable man for copies of all his works while he was alive, and I am obliged to his daughter for an excellent likeness of him, now that he is no more.

FROM HENRY HALLAM, ESQ., TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

WIMPOLE STREET, March 12th, 1835.

MY DEAR MADAM,

As you will probably soon be called upon for another edition of your excellent work on the "Connexion of the Physical Sciences," I think you will excuse the liberty I take in mentioning to you one passage which seems to have escaped your attention in so arduous a labour. It is in page 104, where you have this sentence:—

"The Egyptians estimated the year at 365 d. 6 h., by which they lost one year in every 14,601, their Sothiac period. They determined the length of their year by the heliacal rising of Sirius, 2782 years before the Christian era, which is the earliest epoch of Egyptian chronology."

The Egyptian civil year was of 365 days only, as we find in Herodotus, and I apprehend there is no dispute about it. The Sothiac period, or that cycle in which the heliacal rising of Sirius passed the whole civil year, and took place again on the same day, was of 1461 years, not 14,601. If they had adopted a year of 365 d. 6 h., this period would have been more than three times 14,601; the excess of the sidereal year above that being only 9' 9", which will not amount to a day in less than about 125 years.

I do not see how the heliacal rising of Sirius in any one year could help them to determine its length. By comparing two successive years they could of course have got at a sidereal year; but this is what they did not do; hence the irregularity which produced the canicular cycle. The commencement of that cycle is placed by ancient chronologers in 1322 A.C. It seems not correct to call 2782 A.C. "the earliest epoch of Egyptian chronology," for we have none of their chronology nearly so old, and in fact no chronology, properly so called, has yet been made out by our Egyptian researches. It is indeed certain that, if the reckoning by heliacal risings of Sirius did not begin in 1322, we must go nearly 1460 years back for its origin; since it must have been adopted when that event preceded only for a short time the annual inundation of the Nile. But, according to some, the year 1322 A.C. fell during the reign of Sesostris, to whom Herodotus ascribes several regulations connected with the rising of the Nile. Certainly, 2782 A.C. is a more remote era than we are hitherto warranted to assume for any astronomical observation.

Believe me, dear Mrs. Somerville, Very truly yours, HENRY HALLAM.

I refer you to Montucla, if you have any doubt about the Egyptian year being of 365 days without bissextile of any kind.

* * * * *

I had sent a copy of the "Mechanism of the Heavens" to M. Poisson soon after it was published, and I had received a letter from him dated 30th May, 1832, advising me to complete the work by writing a volume on the form and rotation of the earth and planets. Being again strongly advised to do so while in Paris, I now began the work, and, in consequence, I was led into a correspondence with Mr. Ivory, who had written on the subject, and also with Mr. Francis Baily, on the density and compression of the earth. My work was extensive, for it comprised the analytical attraction of spheroids, the form and rotation of the earth, the tides of the ocean and atmosphere, and small undulations.

When this was finished, I had nothing to do, and as I preferred analysis to all other subjects, I wrote a work of 246 pages on curves and surfaces of the second and higher orders. While writing this, con amore, a new edition of the "Physical Sciences" was much needed, so I put on high pressure and worked at both. Had these two manuscripts been published at that time, they might have been of use; I do not remember why they were laid aside, and forgotten till I found them years afterwards among my papers. Long after the time I am writing about, while at Naples, I amused myself by repairing the time-worn parts of these manuscripts, and was surprised to find that in my eighty-ninth year I still retained facility in the "Calculus."

The second edition of the "Physical Sciences" was dedicated to my dear friend, Sir John Herschel. It went through nine editions, and has been translated into German and Italian. The book went through various editions in the United States, to the honour, but not to the profit, of the author. However, the publisher obligingly sent me a copy. I must say that profit was never an object with me: I wrote because it was impossible for me to be idle.

I had the honour of presenting a copy of my book to the Duchess of Kent at a private audience. The Duchess and Princess Victoria were alone, and received me very graciously, and conversed for half an hour with me. As I mentioned before, I saw the young Princess crowned: youthful, almost child-like as she was, she went through the imposing ceremony with all the dignity of a Queen.

[A few letters from some of my mother's friends, written at this period, may prove of interest. They are chiefly written to thank her for copies of the Preliminary Dissertation or of the "Physical Sciences." One from Lord Brougham concerns my mother's estimate of the scientific merit of Dr. Young, for whom she had the sincerest admiration, considering him one of the first philosophers and discoverers of the age.]

FROM MISS EDGEWORTH TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

EDGWORTHTOWN, May 31st, 1832.

MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,

There is one satisfaction at least in giving knowledge to the ignorant, to those who know their ignorance at least, that they are grateful and humble. You should have my grateful and humble thanks long ago for the favour—the honour—you did me by sending me that Preliminary Dissertation, in which there is so much knowledge, but that I really wished to read it over and over again at some intervals of time, and to have the pleasure of seeing my sister Harriet read it, before I should write to you. She has come to us, and has just been enjoying it, as I knew she would. For my part, I was long in the state of the boa constrictor after a full meal—and I am but just recovering the powers of motion. My mind was so distended by the magnitude, the immensity, of what you put into it! I am afraid that if you had been aware how ignorant I was you would not have sent me this dissertation, because you would have felt that you were throwing away much that I could not understand, and that could be better bestowed on scientific friends capable of judging of what they admire. I can only assure you that you have given me a great deal of pleasure; that you have enlarged my conception of the sublimity of the universe, beyond any ideas I had ever before been enabled to form.

The great simplicity of your manner of writing, I may say of your mind, which appears in your writing, particularly suits the scientific sublime—which would be destroyed by what is commonly called fine writing. You trust sufficiently to the natural interest of your subject, to the importance of the facts, the beauty of the whole, and the adaptation of the means to the ends, in every part of the immense whole. This reliance upon your reader's feeling along with you, was to me very gratifying. The ornaments of eloquence dressing out a sublime subject are just so many proofs either of bad taste in the orator, or of distrust and contempt of the taste of those whom he is trying thus to captivate.

I suppose nobody yet has completely mastered the tides, therefore I may well content myself with my inability to comprehend what relates to them. But instead of plaguing you with an endless enumeration of my difficulties, I had better tell you some of the passages which gave me, ignoramus as I am, peculiar pleasure.... I am afraid I shall transcribe your whole book if I go on to tell you all that has struck me, and you would not thank me for that—you, who have so little vanity, and so much to do better with your time than to read my ignorant admiration. But pray let me mention to you a few of the passages that amused my imagination particularly, viz., 1st, the inhabitant of Pallas going round his world—or who might go—in five or six hours in one of our steam carriages; 2nd, the moderate-sized man who would weigh two tons at the surface of the sun—and who would weigh only a few pounds at the surface of the four new planets, and would be so light as to find it impossible to stand from the excess of muscular force! I think a very entertaining dream might be made of a man's visit to the sun and planets—these ideas are all like dreamy feelings when one is a little feverish. I forgot to mention (page 58) a passage on the propagation of sound. It is a beautiful sentence, as well as a sublime idea, "so that at a very small height above the surface of the earth, the noise of the tempest ceases and the thunder is heard no more in those boundless regions, where the heavenly bodies accomplish their periods in eternal and sublime silence."