t I gave an oral
account of them to the Cambridge Philosophical Society. The date of my
Paper for the Astronomical Society is April 12th. The result of my
investigations (which was subsequently confirmed by Bessel) entirely
removed the difficulty among Astronomers; and the mass which I
obtained has ever since been received as the true one.

"On Apr. 9th my wife's two sisters, Elizabeth and Georgiana Smith,
came to stay with me.--On Apr. 22nd I began lectures, and finished on
May 21st: there were 54 names. During the course of the lectures I
communicated a Paper to the Philosophical Society 'On the calculation
of Newton's experiments on Diffraction.'--I went to London on the
Visitation of the Greenwich Observatory: the dinner had been much
restricted, but was now made more open.--It had been arranged that the
meeting of the British Association was to be held this year at
Cambridge. I invited Sir David Brewster and Mr Herschel to lodge at
the Observatory. The meeting lasted from June 24th to 30th. We gave
one dinner, but had a breakfast party every day. I did not enter much
into the scientific business of the meeting, except that I brought
before the Committee the expediency of reducing the Greenwich
Planetary Observations from 1750. They agreed to represent it to the
Government, and a deputation was appointed (I among them) who were
received by Lord Althorp on July 25th. On Aug. 3rd Herschel announced
to me that _L500_ was granted.

"On Aug. 7th I started with my wife for Edensor. At Leicester we met
Sedgwick and Whewell: my wife went on to Edensor, and I joined
Sedgwick and Whewell in a geological expedition to Mount Sorrel and
various parts of Charnwood Forest. We were received by Mr Allsop of
Woodlands, who proved an estimable acquaintance. This lasted four or
five days, and we then went on to Edensor.--On Aug. 15th Herschel
wrote to me, communicating an offer of the Duke of Northumberland to
present to the Cambridge Observatory an object-glass of about 12
inches aperture by Cauchaix. I wrote therefore to the Duke, accepting
generally. The Duke wrote to me from Buxton on Aug. 23rd (his letter,
such was the wretched arrangement of postage, reaching Bakewell and
Edensor on the 25th) and on the 26th I drove before breakfast to
Buxton and had an interview with him. On Sept. 1st the Duke wrote,
authorizing me to mount the telescope entirely, and he subsequently
approved of Cauchaix's terms: there was much correspondence,