, headed by the Duke of Edinburgh.
One of the pleasant things to recall was that, during the fifteen
years of our connection, there was never the slightest dissension
or friction between us.

I may add that the computations which he made on the theory of
Jupiter and Saturn are all preserved complete and in perfect form
at the Nautical Almanac Office, so that, in case any question should
arise respecting them in future generations, the point can be cleared
up by an inspection.

In 1874, three years before I left the observatory, I was informed
by Dr. Henry Draper that he had a mechanical assistant who showed
great fondness for and proficiency in some work in mathematical
astronomy. I asked to see what he was doing, and received a
collection of papers of a remarkable kind. They consisted mainly
of some of the complicated developments of celestial mechanics.
In returning them I wrote to Draper that, when I was ready to begin
my work on the planetary theories, I must have his man,--could he
possibly be spared? But he came to me before the time, while I was
carrying on some investigations with aid afforded by the Smithsonian
Institution. Of course, when I took charge of the Nautical Almanac
Office, he was speedily given employment on its work. His name
was John Meier, a Swiss by birth, evidently from the peasant class,
but who had nevertheless been a pupil of Professor Rudolph Wolf at
Zurich. Emigrating to this country, he was, during the civil war,
an engineer's mate or something of that grade in the navy. He was
the most perfect example of a mathematical machine that I ever had
at command. Of original power,--the faculty of developing new methods
and discovering new problems, he had not a particle. Happily for his
peace of mind, he was totally devoid of worldly ambition. I had only
to prepare the fundamental data for him, explain what was wanted,
write down the matters he was to start with, and he ground out
day after day the most complicated algebraic and trigonometrical
computations with untiring diligence and almost unerring accuracy.

But a dark side of the picture showed itself very suddenly and
unexpectedly in a few years. For the most selfish reasons, if for
no others, I desired that his peace of mind should be undisturbed.
The result was that I was from time to time appealed to as an
arbitrator of family dissensions, in which it was impossible to
say which side was right and which wrong. Then, as