made the little speech, and the gentlemen escorted us to the
door, and then returned to their wine.

"We went back to the drawing-room and had coffee; after coffee new
guests began to come, and we went into the magnificent room with the
oriel windows.

"Professor Sedgwick came early--an old man of seventy-four, already a
little shattered and subject to giddiness. He is said to be very fond of
young ladies even now, and when younger made some heartaches; for he
could not give up his fellowship and leave Cambridge for a wife; which,
to me, is very unmanly. He is considered the greatest geologist in
England, and of course they would say 'in the world,' and is much loved
by all who know him. He came to Cambridge a young man, and the elms
which he saw planted are now sturdy trees. It is pleasant to hear him
talk of Cambridge and its growth; he points to the stately trees and
says, 'Those trees don't look as old as I, and they are not.'

"I did not see Professor Adams at that time, but I spent the whole of
Monday morning walking about the college with him. I asked him to show
me the place where he made his computations for Neptune, and he was
evidently well pleased to do so.

"We laughed over a roll, which we saw in the College library, containing
a list of the ancestors of Henry VIII.; among them was Jupiter.

"Professor Adams tells me that in Wales genealogical charts go so far
back that about half-way between the beginning and the present day you
find this record: 'About this time the world was created'!

"November 2. At lunch to-day Dr. Whewell was more interesting than I had
seen him before. He asked me about Laura Bridgman, and said that he knew
a similar case. He contended, in opposition to Mrs. Airy and myself,
that loss of vision was preferable to loss of hearing, because it shut
one out less from human companionship.

"Dr. Whewell's self-respect and immense self-esteem led him to
imperiousness of manner which touches the border of discourtesy. He
loves a good joke, but his jests are serious. He writes verses that are
touchingly beautiful, but it is difficult to believe, in his presence,
that he writes them. Mrs. Airy said that Dr. Whewell and I _riled_ each
other!

"I was at an evening party, and the Airy boys, young men of eighteen and
twenty, were present. They stood the whole time, occasionally leaning
against a table or the piano, in their blue silk gowns. I urged them to
sit. 'Of course not,' they sai