The following letter, written in answer to a lady who had asked him to procure permission from Lord Rosse for her to observe with his telescope, is characteristic: 

ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH.
1854, September 20.

DEAR MADAM,

The state of things with regard to Lord Rosse’s Telescope is this.  If a night is fine, it is wanted for his use or for the use of professional astronomers.  If it is not fine, it is of no use to anybody.  Now considering this, and considering that the appropriation of the telescope on a fine night to any body but a technical astronomer is a misapplication of an enormous capital of money and intellect which is invested in this unique instrument—­it is against my conscience to ask Lord Rosse to place it at the service of any person except an experienced astronomer.  No introduction, I believe, is necessary for seeing it in the day-time.  The instrument stands unenclosed in the Castle Demesne, to which strangers are admitted without question, I believe...............

Faithfully yours,
G.B.  AIRY.

1855

“On May 9th it was notified to me (I think through the Hydrographer) that the Admiralty were not unwilling to increase my salary.  I made application therefore; and on Jan. 21st 1856 Sir Charles Wood notified to me that the Admiralty consented to have it raised from L800 to L1000.—­In the Report to the Board of Visitors it appears that ’At the instance of the Board of Trade, acting on this occasion through a Committee of the Royal Society, a model of the Transit Circle (with the improvement of perforated cube, &c. introduced in the Cape Transit Circle) has been prepared for the Great Exhibition at Paris.’—­Under the head of Reduction of Astronomical Observations it is stated that ’During the whole time of which I have spoken, the galvanic-contact method has been employed for transits, with the exception of a few days, when the galvanic apparatus was out of order.  From the clock errors, I have deduced the personal equations of the observers in our usual way....  The result is that the magnitude of the personal equations in the galvanic-touch method is not above half of that in the eye and ear method.’—­With regard to the Reduction of the Magnetical Observations, ’I have not yet felt sufficiently satisfied with any proposed method of discussing the magnetic results to devote any time to their further treatment.’—­’The Time-Signal Ball at Deal was brought into regular use at the beginning of the present year.  In a short time, however, its action was interrupted, partly by derangement of the apparatus, and partly by the severity of the weather, which froze the sulphuric acid to the state of jelly.  I sent an assistant and workman to put it in order, and since that time it has generally acted very well.—­Application has been made to me from one of the important offices of Government (the Post Office) for the galvanic regulation of their clocks.—­On considering the risks