Association at York (Oct. 23rd,
1837) appointed a deputation (including myself) to place the matter
before the Government. I wrote on the matter to Mr Wood (Lord Halifax)
stating that it would be proper to raise the First Assistant's salary,
and to give me more indefinite power about employing computers. In all
these things I received cordial assistance from Mr Wood. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Spring Rice) received us on Dec. 20th:
statements were furnished by me, and the business was sanctioned
immediately.--During this year I was very much engaged in
correspondence with Lubbock and others on improvements of the Lunar
Theory.

"In the operations of 1836 and 1837 a great quantity of papers had
been accumulated. I had kept them in reasonably good order, tied up in
bundles: but this method began to fail in convenience, as the number
increased. The great lines of classification were however now well
understood. I believe it was in the latter part of the year 1837 that
I finally settled on the principle of arranging papers in packets and
subordinate packets, every paper being flat, by the use of four
punched holes in every paper. I have never seen any principle of
arrangement comparable to this. It has been adopted with the greatest
ease by every assistant, and is used to the present time (1871)
without alteration.

"On Jan. 3rd I was informed unofficially by Mr Wood (Admiralty
Secretary) that the addition of the Magnetic Ground was sanctioned. On
Feb. 16th Mr Rhodes (an officer of the Department of Woods and Works)
came to put me formally in possession of the ground. Between Apr. 26th
and May 13th the ground was enclosed, and my garden was completely
protected from the public. The plan of the building was settled, and
numerous experiments were made on various kinds of concrete: at last
it was decided to build with wood.

"After a dinner given by Lord Burlington, Chancellor, the first
meeting of the London University was held on Mar. 4th, and others
followed. On Apr. 18th I handed to the Chancellor a written protest
against a vote of a salary of _L1000_ to the Registrar: which salary,
in fact, the Government refused to sanction. Dissensions on the
question of religious examination were already beginning, but I took
little part in them.

"In 1833 Mr Henderson had resigned the superintendance of the Cape of
Good Hope Observatory, and Mr Maclear was appointed. I recommended the
same Official Instructions for him