“Sheepshanks had thought that something might be done to advance the interests of myself or the Observatory by the favour of Lord Brougham (then Lord Chancellor), and had urged me to write an article in the Penny Cyclopaedia, in which Lord Brougham took great interest.  I chose the subject ‘Gravitation,’ and as I think wrote a good deal of it in this Autumn:  when it was interrupted by my illness.

“On Dec. 9th 1833, having at first intended to attend the meeting of the Philosophical Society and then having changed my mind, I was engaged in the evening on the formulae for effects of small errors on the computation of the Solar Eclipse of 1833.  A dizziness in my head came on.  I left off work, became worse, and went to bed, and in the night was in high fever with a fierce attack of scarlet fever.  My wife was also attacked but very slightly.  The first day of quitting my bedroom was Dec. 31st.  Somewhere about the time of my illness my wife’s sister, Susanna Smith, who was much reduced in the summer, died of consumption.

“Miscellaneous notes in 1833 are as follows:  Henderson (at the Cape) could not endure it much longer, and on Oct. 14th Stratford writes that Maclear had just sailed to take his place:  Henderson is candidate for the Edinburgh Observatory.—­Stratford writes on Dec. 2nd that the Madras observations have come to England, the first whose arrangement imitates mine.—­On Nov. 3rd Herschel, just going to the Cape, entrusted to me the revisal of some proof sheets, if necessary:  however it was never needed.—­In November I sat for my portrait to a painter named Purdon (I think):  he came to the house and made a good likeness.  A pencil portrait was taken for a print-seller (Mason) in Cambridge:  it was begun before my illness and finished after it.—­I applied through Sheepshanks for a copy of Maskelyne’s Observations, to be used in the Reduction of the Planetary Observations:  and on Dec. 24th (from my bedroom) I applied through Prof.  Rigaud to the Delegates of the Clarendon Press for a copy of Bradley’s Observations for the same.  The latter request was refused.  In October I applied to the Syndics of the University Press for printed forms for these Reductions:  the Syndics agreed to grant me 12,000 copies.”

1834

“On Jan. 11th 1834 I went with my wife to London for the recruiting of my strength.  We stayed at the house of our friend Miss Sheepshanks, and returned on Feb. 13th.—­I drew up a Paper of Questions for Smith’s Prizes, but left the whole trouble of examination and adjudication to Professor Miller, who at my request acted for me.—­While I was in London I began to look at the papers relating to Groombridge’s Catalogue:  and I believe that it was while in London that I agreed with Mr Baily on a Report condemnatory of H. Taylor’s edition, and sent the Report to the Admiralty.  The Admiralty asked for further advice, and on Feb. 28th I replied, undertaking to put the Catalogue in order.  On Mar. 17th Capt.  Beaufort sent me all the papers.  Some time however elapsed before I could proceed with it.