and Russian
consul for Britain, came to pay us a visit, and ultimately became my
husband. Fortune I had none, and my mother could only afford to give me
a very moderate trousseau, consisting chiefly of fine personal and
household linen. When I was going away she gave me twenty pounds to buy
a shawl or something warm for the following winter. I knew that the
President of the Academy of Painting, Sir Arthur Shee, had painted a
portrait of my father immediately after the battle of Camperdown, and I
went to see it. The likeness pleased me,--the price was twenty pounds;
so instead of a warm shawl I bought my father's picture, which I have
since given to my nephew, Sir William George Fairfax. My husband's
brother, Sir Alexis Greig, who commanded the Russian naval force in the
Black Sea for more than twenty years, came to London about this time,
and gave me some furs, which were very welcome. Long after this, I
applied to Sir Alexis, at the request of Dr. Whewell, Master of Trinity
College, Cambridge, and through his interest an order was issued by the
Russian Government for simultaneous observations to be made of the tides
on every sea-coast of the empire.

LETTER FROM DR. WHEWELL TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

UNIVERSITY CLUB, _Jan. 5, 1838_.

MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,

I enclose a memorandum respecting tide observations, to which
subject I am desirous of drawing the attention of the Russian
Government. Nobody knows better than you do how much remains to be
done respecting the tides, and what important results any advance in
that subject would have. I hope, through your Russian friends, you
may have the means of bringing this memorandum to the notice of the
administration of their navy, so as to lead to some steps being
taken, in the way of directing observations to be made. The Russian
Government has shown so much zeal in promoting science, that I hope
it will not be difficult to engage them in a kind of research so
easy, so useful practically, and so interesting in its theoretical
bearing.

Believe me, dear Mrs. Somerville,
Very faithfully yours,
W. WHEWELL.

* * * * *

My husband had taken me to his bachelor's house in London, which was
exceedingly small and ill ventilated. I had a key of the neighbouring
square, where I used to walk