Autobiography of Sir George Biddell Airy Part 16

I have to acknowledge your letter of yesterday: and I advert to that part of it in which it is stated that the Fees on Knighthood amount to about _30_.

Twenty-seven years ago the same rank was offered to me by Lord John Russell and Mr Spring Rice (then Ministers of the Crown), with the express notice that no fees would be payable. I suppose that the usage (whatever it be) on which that notice was founded still subsists.

To a person whose annual income little more than suffices to meet the annual expenses of a very moderate establishment, an unsought honour may be an inc.u.mbrance. It appears, at any rate, opposed to the spirit of such an honour, that it should be loaded with Court Expenses in its very creation.

I hope that the principle stated in 1835 may serve as precedent on this occasion.

I am, dear Sir, Your very faithful servant, G.B. AIRY.

_The Right Honourable Sir G. C. Lewis, Bart., &c. &c. &c._

No intimation however was received that the fees would be remitted on the present occasion, and after consideration the proposed Knighthood was declined in the following letter:

ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH, S.E.

_1863, April 15_.

DEAR SIR,

I have frequently reflected on the proposal made by you of the honour of Knighthood to myself. I am very grateful to you for the favourable opinion which you entertain in regard to my supposed claims to notice, and for the kindness with which you proposed publicly to express it. But on consideration I am strongly impressed with the feeling that the conditions attached by established regulation to the conferring of such an honour would be unacceptable to me, and that the honour itself would in reality, under the circ.u.mstances of my family-establishment and in my social position, be an inc.u.mbrance to me. And finally I have thought it best most respectfully, and with a full sense of the kindness of yourself and of the Queen's Government towards me, to ask that the proposal might be deferred.

There is another direction in which a step might be made, affecting my personal position in a smaller degree, but not tending to incommode me, which I would ask leave to submit to your consideration. It is, the definition of the Rank of the Astronomer Royal. The singular character of the office removes it from ordinary rules of rank, and sometimes may produce a disagreeable contest of opinions. The only offices of similar character corresponding in other conditions to that of the British Astronomer Royal are those of the Imperial Astronomers at Pulkowa (St Petersburg) and Paris. In Russia, where every rank is clearly defined by that of military grade, the Imperial Astronomer has the rank of Major-General. In France, the definition is less precise, but the present Imperial Astronomer has been created (as an attachment of rank to the office) a Senator of the Empire.

I am, dear Sir, Your very faithful servant, G.B. AIRY.

_The Rt Hon. Sir George C. Lewis, Bart., &c. &c. &c._

Sir G. C. Lewis died before receiving this letter, and the letter was afterwards forwarded to Lord Palmerston. Some correspondence followed between Lord Palmerston and Airy on the subject of attaching a definite rank to the office of Astronomer Royal, as proposed in the above letter. But the Home Office (for various reasons set forth) stated that the suggestion could not be complied with, and the whole subject dropped.

1864

The following remarks are extracted from the Report of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors.--"In a very heavy squall which occurred in the gale of December 2 of last year, the stay of the lofty iron pillar outside of the Park Rails, which carried our telegraph wires, gave way, and the pillar and the whole system of wires fell."--"An important alteration has been made in the Magnetic Observatory. For several years past, various plans have been under consideration for preventing large changes of temperature in the room which contains the magnetic instruments. At length I determined to excavate a subterraneous room or cellar under the original room. The work was begun in the last week in January, and in all important points it is now finished."--"In the late spring, some alarm was occasioned by the discovery that the Parliamentary Standard of the Pound Weight had become coated with an extraneous substance produced by the decomposition of the lining of the case in which it was preserved. It was decided immediately to compare it with the three Parliamentary Copies, of which that at the Observatory is one. The National Standard was found to be entirely uninjured."--"On November 16 of last year, the Transit Instrument narrowly escaped serious injury from an accident. The plate chain which carries the large western counterpoise broke. The counterpoise fell upon the pier, destroying the ma.s.sive gun-metal wheels of the lifting machinery, but was prevented from falling further by the iron stay of the gas-burner flue."--"The Prismatic Spectrum-Apparatus had been completed in 1863. Achromatic object-gla.s.ses are placed on both sides of the prism, so that each pencil of light through the prism consists of parallel rays; and breadth is given to the spectrum by a cylindrical lens. The spectral lines are seen straighter than before, and generally it is believed that their definition is improved."--"For observation of the small planets, a convention has been made with M. Le Verrier. From new moon to full moon, all the small planets visible to 13h are observed at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich. From full moon to new moon, all are observed at the Imperial Observatory of Paris. The relief gained in this way is very considerable."--"In determining the variations in the power of the horizontal-force and vertical-force magnets depending on temperature, it was found by experiment that this depended materially on whether the magnet was heated by air or by water, and 'The result of these experiments (with air) is to give a coefficient for temperature correction four or five times as great as that given by the water-heatings,'"--"With regard to the discordances of the results of observations of dip-needles, experiments had been made with needles whose breadth was in the plane pa.s.sing through the axis of rotation, and it appeared that the means of extreme discordances were, for an ordinary needle 11' 45", and for a flat needle 3' 27"," and the Report continues thus: "After this I need not say that I consider it certain that the small probable errors which have been attributed to ordinary needles are a pure delusion."--The Report states that in the various operations connected with the trials and repairs of chronometers, and the system of time-signals transmitted to various time-b.a.l.l.s and clocks, about one-fourth of the strength of the Observatory is employed, and it continues thus: "Viewing the close dependence of Nautical Astronomy upon accurate knowledge of time, there is perhaps no department of the Observatory which answers more completely to the original utilitarian intentions of the Founder of the Royal Observatory."--"With regard to the proposal of time-signals at the Start Point, it appears that communications referring to this proposal had pa.s.sed between the Board of Admiralty and the Board of Trade, of which the conclusion was, that the Board of Trade possessed no funds applicable to the defraying of the expenses attending the execution of the scheme. And the Admiralty did not at present contemplate the establishment of these time-signals under their own authority."--Amongst other Papers in this year, Airy's Paper ent.i.tled "First a.n.a.lysis of 177 Magnetic Storms," &c., was read before the Royal Society.

Of private history: "There was the usual visit to Playford in the beginning of the year.--From June 8th to 23rd I made an excursion with my son Hubert to the Isle of Man, and the Lake District.--From Sept. 7th to 14th I was on a trip to Cornwall with my two eldest sons, chiefly in the mining district.--In August of this year my eldest (surviving) daughter, Hilda, was married to Mr E.J. Routh, Fellow of St Peter's College, Cambridge, at Greenwich Parish Church. They afterwards resided at Cambridge."

1865

"Our telegraphic communications of every kind were again destroyed by a snow-storm and gale of wind which occurred on Jan. 28th, and which broke down nearly all the posts between the Royal Observatory and the Greenwich Railway Station.--The Report to the Visitors states that 'The only change of Buildings which I contemplate as at present required is the erection of a fire-proof Chronometer Room. The pecuniary value of Chronometers stored in the Observatory is sometimes perhaps as much as _8000_.'--The South Eastern and London Chatham and Dover scheme for a railway through the Park was again brought forward. There was a meeting of Sir J. Hanmer's Committee at the Observatory on May 26th. Mr Stone was sent hastily to Dublin to make observations on Earth-disturbance by railways there. I had been before the Committee on May 25th. On Sept. 1st I approved of an amended plan. In reference to this matter the Report states that 'It is proper to remark that the shake of the Altazimuth felt in the earthquake of 1863, Oct. 5th, when no such shake was felt with instruments nearer to the ground (an experience which, as I have heard on private authority, is supported by observation of artificial tremors), gives reason to fear that, at distances from a railway which would sufficiently defend the lower instruments, the loftier instruments (as the Altazimuth and the Equatoreals) would be sensibly affected.'--Some of the Magnets had been suspended by steel wires, instead of silk, of no greater strength than was necessary for safety, and the Report states that 'Under the pressure of business, the determination of various constants of adjustment was deferred to the end of the year. The immediate results of observation, however, began to excite suspicion; and after a time it was found that, in spite of the length of the suspending wire (about 8 feet) the torsion-coefficient was not much less than 1/6. The wires were promptly dismounted, and silk skeins subst.i.tuted for them. With these, the torsion-coefficient is about 1/210.'--The Dip-Instrument, which had given great trouble by the irregularities of the dip-results, had been compared with two dip-instruments from Kew Observatory, which gave very good and accordant results. 'It happened that Mr Simms, by whom our instruments now in use were prepared, and who had personally witnessed our former difficulties, was present during some of these experiments. Our own instrument being placed in his hands (Nov. 10th to 19th) for another purpose, he spontaneously re-polished the apparently faultless agate-bearings. To my great astonishment, the inconsistencies of every kind have nearly or entirely vanished. On raising and lowering the needles, they return to the same readings, and the dips with the same needle appear generally consistent.' Some practical details of the polishing process by which this result had been secured are then given.--After numerous delays, the apparatus for the self-registration of Spontaneous Earth Currents was brought into a working state in the month of March. A description of the arrangement adopted is given in the Report.--'All Chronometers on trial are rated every day, by comparison with one of the clocks sympathetic with the Motor Clock. Every Chronometer, whether on trial or returned from a chronometer-maker as repaired, is tried at least once in the heat of the Chronometer-Oven, the temperature being usually limited to 90 Fahrenheit; and, guided by the results of very long experience, we have established it as a rule, that every trial in heat be continued through three weeks.'--'The only employment extraneous to the Observatory which has occupied any of my time within the last year is the giving three Lectures on the Magnetism of Iron Ships (at the request of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education) in the Theatre of the South Kensington Museum. The preparations, however, for these Lectures, to be given in a room ill-adapted to them, occupied a great deal of my own time, and of the time of an a.s.sistant of the Observatory.'--'Referring to a matter in which the interests of Astronomy are deeply concerned, I think it right to report to the Visitors my late representation to the Government, to the effect that, in reference to possible observation of the Transit of Venus in 1882, it will be necessary in no long time to examine the coasts of the Great Southern Continent.'"

Of private history: "There were the usual visits to Playford at the beginning and end of the year.--From June 18th to 26th I was on a trip in Wales with my sons Hubert and Osmund.--From Sept. 6th to Oct. 2nd I was staying with most of my family at Portinscale near Keswick: we returned by Barnard Castle, Rokeby, &c."

CHAPTER VIII.

AT GREENWICH OBSERVATORY--1866 TO 1876.

1866

In this year the cube of the Transit Circle was pierced, to permit reciprocal observations of the Collimators without raising the instrument. This involved the construction of improved Collimators, which formed the subject of a special Address to the Members of the Board of Visitors on Oct. 21st 1865.--From the Report to the Visitors it appears that "On May 23rd 1865, a thunderstorm of great violence pa.s.sed very close to the Observatory. After one flash of lightning, I was convinced that the princ.i.p.al building was struck. Several galvanometers in the Magnetic Bas.e.m.e.nt were destroyed. Lately it has been remarked that one of the old chimneys of the princ.i.p.al building had been dislocated and slightly twisted, at a place where it was surrounded by an iron stay-band led from the Telegraph Pole which was planted upon the leads of the Octagon Room."--"On consideration of the serious interruptions to which we have several times been exposed from the destruction of our open-air Park-wires (through snow-storms and gales), I have made an arrangement for leading the whole of our wires in underground pipes as far as the Greenwich Railway Station."--"The Committee of the House of Commons, to whom the Greenwich and Woolwich Line of the South Eastern Railway was referred, finally a.s.sented to the adoption of a line which I indicated, pa.s.sing between the buildings of the Hospital Schools and the public road to Woolwich."--"The Galvanic Chronometer attached to the S. E. Equatoreal often gave us a great deal of trouble. At last I determined, on the proposal of Mr Ellis, to attempt an extension of Mr R. L. Jones's regulating principle. It is well known that Mr Jones has with great success introduced the system of applying galvanic currents originating in the vibrations of a normal pendulum, not to drive the wheelwork of other clocks, but to regulate to exact agreement the rates of their pendulums which were, independently, nearly in agreement; each clock being driven by weight-power as before. The same principle is now applied to the chronometer.... The construction is perfectly successful; the chronometer remains in coincidence with the Transit Clock through any length of time, with a small constant error as is required by mechanical theory."--"The printed volume of Observations for 1864 has two Appendixes; one containing the calculations of the value of the Moon's Semi-diameter deduced from 295 Occultations observed at Cambridge and Greenwich from 1832 to 1860, and shewing that the Occultation Semi-diameter is less than the Telescopic Semi-diameter by 2"; the other containing the reduction of the Planetary Observations made at the Royal Observatory in the years 1831-1835; filling up the gap, between the Planetary Reductions 1750-1830 made several years ago under my superintendence, and the Reductions contained in the Greenwich Volumes 1836 to the present time: and conducted on the same general principles."--"Some trouble had been found in regulating the temperature of the Magnetic Bas.e.m.e.nt, but it was antic.i.p.ated that in future there would be no difficulty in keeping down the annual variation within about 5 and the diurnal variation within 3.--Longitudes in America were determined in this year by way of Valencia and Newfoundland: finished by Nov. 14th."

Of private history: In April he made a short visit to Ventnor in the Isle of Wight.--From June 15th to July 23rd he was on an expedition in Norway with his son Osmund and his nephew Gorell Barnes.--There was probably a short stay at Playford in the winter.

In this and in the previous year (1865) the free-thinking investigations of Colenso, the Bishop of Natal, had attracted much notice, and had procured him the virulent hostility of a numerous section. His income was withheld from him, and in consequence a subscription fund was raised for his support by his admirers. Airy, who always took the liberal side in such questions, was a subscriber to the fund, and wrote the following letter to the Bishop:

ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH, S.E., _1865, July 24_.

MY LORD,

With many thanks I have to acknowledge your kind recollection of me in sending as a presentation copy the work on Joshua, Judges, and especially on the divided authorship of Genesis; a work whose investigations, founded in great measure on severe and extensive verbal criticism, will apparently bear comparison with your Lordship's most remarkable examination of Deuteronomy. I should however not do justice to my own appreciation if I did not remark that there are other points considered which have long been matters of interest to me.

On several matters, some of them important, my present conclusions do not absolutely agree with your Lordship's. But I am not the less grateful for the amount of erudition and thought carefully directed to definite points, and above all for the n.o.ble example of unwearied research and freedom in stating its consequences, in reference to subjects which scarcely ever occupy the attention of the clergy in our country.

I am, My Lord, Yours very faithfully, G.B. AIRY.

_The Lord Bishop of Natal_.

Here also is a letter on the same subject, written to Professor Selwyn, Professor of Divinity at Cambridge:--

ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH, LONDON, S.E., _1866, May 5_.

MY DEAR SIR,

The MS. concerning Colenso duly arrived.

I note your remarks on the merits of Colenso. I do not write to tell you that I differ from you, but to tell you why I differ.

I think that you do not make the proper distinction between a person who invents or introduces a tool, and the person who uses it.

The most resolute antigravitationist that ever lived might yet acknowledge his debt to Newton for the Method of Prime and Ultimate Ratios and the Principles of Fluxions by which Newton sought to establish gravitation.

So let it be with Colenso. He has given me a power of tracing out truth to a certain extent which I never could have obtained without him. And for this I am very grateful.

As to the further employment of this power, you know that he and I use it to totally different purposes. But not the less do I say that I owe to him a new intellectual power.

I quite agree with you, that the sudden disruption of the old traditional view seems to have unhinged his mind, and to have sent him too far on the other side. I would not give a pin for his judgment.

Nevertheless, I wish he would go over the three remaining books of the Tetrateuch.

I know something of Myers, but I should not have thought him likely to produce anything sound on such things as the Hebrew Scriptures. I never saw his "Thoughts."

I am, my dear Sir, Yours very truly, G.B. AIRY.

_Professor Selwyn_.