FOOTNOTES:
[9] Afterwards Sir Ralph Abercromby, later Lord Dunfermline, minister first at Florence, then at Turin.
CHAPTER XI.
LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM—WRITES "MECHANISM OF THE HEAVENS"—ANECDOTE OF THE ROMAN IMPROVISATRICE—LETTERS FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL AND PROFESSOR WHEWELL—ELECTED HON. MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY—NOTICE IN THE ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES, AND LETTER FROM M. BIOT—PENSION—LETTER FROM SIR ROBERT PEEL—BEGINS TO WRITE ON THE CONNECTION OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES—VISIT TO CAMBRIDGE—LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR SEDGWICK AND LAPLACE.
After my mother's return home my father received the following letter from Lord Brougham, which very importantly influenced the further course of my mother's life. It is dated March 27th, 1827:—
LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM TO DR. SOMERVILLE.
My dear Sir,
I fear you will think me very daring for the design I have formed against Mrs. Somerville, and still more for making you my advocate with her; through whom I have every hope of prevailing. There will be sent to you a prospectus, rules, and a preliminary treatise of our Society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge, and I assure you I speak without any flattery when I say that of the two subjects which I find it most difficult to see the chance of executing, there is one, which—unless Mrs. Somerville will undertake—none else can, and it must be left undone, though about the most interesting of the whole, I mean an account of the Mécanique Céleste; the other is an account of the Principia, which I have some hopes of at Cambridge. The kind of thing wanted is such a description of that divine work as will both explain to the unlearned the sort of thing it is—the plan, the vast merit, the wonderful truths unfolded or methodized—and the calculus by which all this is accomplished, and will also give a somewhat deeper insight to the uninitiated. Two treatises would do this. No one without trying it can conceive how far we may carry ignorant readers into an understanding of the depths of science, and our treatises have about 100 to 800 pages of space each, so that one might give the more popular view, and another the analytical abstracts and illustrations. In England there are now not twenty people who know this great work, except by name; and not a hundred who know it even by name. My firm belief is that Mrs. Somerville could add two cyphers to each of those figures. Will you be my counsel in this suit? Of course our names are concealed, and no one of our council but myself needs to know it.
Yours ever most truly,
H. Brougham.
My mother in alluding to the above says:—
This letter surprised me beyond expression. I thought Lord Brougham must have been mistaken with regard to my acquirements, and naturally concluded that my self-acquired knowledge was so far inferior to that of the men who had been educated in our universities that it would be the height of presumption to attempt to write on such a subject or indeed on any other. A few days after this Lord Brougham came to Chelsea himself, and Somerville joined with him in urging me at least to make the attempt. I said, "Lord Brougham, you must be aware that the work in question never can be popularized, since the student must at least know something of the differential and integral calculi, and as a preliminary step I should have to prove various problems in physical mechanics and astronomy. Besides, La Place never gives diagrams or figures, because they are not necessary to persons versed in the calculus, but they would be indispensable in a work such as you wish me to write. I am afraid I am incapable of such a task: but as you both wish it so much, I shall do my very best upon condition of secrecy, and that if I fail the manuscript shall be put into the fire." Thus suddenly and unexpectedly the whole character and course of my future life was changed.
I rose early and made such arrangements with regard to my children and family affairs that I had time to write afterwards; not, however, without many interruptions. A man can always command his time under the plea of business, a woman is not allowed any such excuse. At Chelsea I was always supposed to be at home, and as my friends and acquaintances came so far out of their way on purpose to see me, it would have been unkind and ungenerous not to receive them. Nevertheless, I was sometimes annoyed when in the midst of a difficult problem some one would enter and say, "I have come to spend a few hours with you." However, I learnt by habit to leave a subject and resume it again at once, like putting a mark into a book I might be reading; this was the more necessary as there was no fire-place in my little room, and I had to write in the drawing-room in winter. Frequently I hid my papers as soon as the bell announced a visitor, lest anyone should discover my secret.
My mother had a singular power of abstraction. When occupied with some difficult problem, or even a train of thought which deeply interested her, she lost all consciousness of what went on around her, and became so entirely absorbed that any amount of talking, or even practising scales and solfeggi, went on without in the least disturbing her. Sometimes a song or a strain of melody would recall her to a sense of the present, for she was passionately fond of music. A curious instance of this peculiarity of hers occurred at Rome, when a large party were assembled to listen to a celebrated improvisatrice. My mother was placed in the front row, close to the poetess, who, for several stanzas, adhered strictly to the subject which had been given to her. What it was I do not recollect, except that it had no connection with what followed. All at once, as if by a sudden inspiration, the lady turned her eyes full upon my mother, and with true Italian vehemence and in the full musical accents of Rome, poured forth stanza after stanza of the most eloquent panegyric upon her talents and virtues, extolling them and her to the skies. Throughout the whole of this scene, which lasted a considerable time, my mother remained calm and unmoved, never changing countenance, which surprised not only the persons present but ourselves, as we well knew how much she disliked any display or being brought forward in public. The truth was, that after listening for a while to the improvising, a thought struck her connected with some subject she was engaged in writing upon at the time and so entirely absorbed her that she heard not a word of all that had been declaimed in her praise, and was not a little surprised and confused when she was complimented on it. I call this, advisedly, a power of hers, for although it occasionally led her into strange positions, such as the one above mentioned, it rendered her entirely independent of outward circumstances, nor did she require to isolate herself from the family circle in order to pursue her studies. I have already mentioned that when we were very young she taught us herself for a few hours daily; when our lessons were over we always remained in the room with her, learning grammar, arithmetic, or some such plague of childhood. Any one who has plunged into the mazes of the higher branches of mathematics or other abstruse science, would probably feel no slight degree of irritation on being interrupted at a critical moment when the solution was almost within his grasp, by some childish question about tense or gender, or how much seven times seven made. My mother was never impatient, but explained our little difficulties quickly and kindly, and returned calmly to her own profound thoughts. Yet on occasion she could show both irritation and impatience—when we were stupid or inattentive, neither of which she could stand. With her clear mind she darted at the solution, sometimes forgetting that we had to toil after her laboriously step by step. I well remember her slender white hand pointing impatiently to the book or slate—"Don't you see it? there is no difficulty in it, it is quite clear." Things were so clear to her! I must here add some other recollections by my mother of this very interesting portion of her life.
I was a considerable time employed in writing this book, but I by no means gave up society, which would neither have suited Somerville nor me. We dined out, went to evening parties, and occasionally to the theatre. As soon as my work was finished I sent the manuscript to Lord Brougham, requesting that it might be thoroughly examined, criticised and destroyed according to promise if a failure. I was very nervous while it was under examination, and was equally surprised and gratified that Sir John Herschel, our greatest astronomer, and perfectly versed in the calculus, should have found so few errors. The letter he wrote on this occasion made me so happy and proud that I have preserved it.
LETTER FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
Dear Mrs. Somerville,
I have read your manuscript with the greatest pleasure, and will not hesitate to add, (because I am sure you will believe it sincere,) with the highest admiration. Go on thus, and you will leave a memorial of no common kind to posterity; and, what you will value far more than fame, you will have accomplished a most useful work. What a pity that La Place has not lived to see this illustration of his great work! You will only, I fear, give too strong a stimulus to the study of abstract science by this performance.
I have marked as somewhat obscure a part of the illustration of the principle of virtual velocities.... Will you look at this point again? I have made a trifling remark in page 6, but it is a mere matter of metaphysical nicety, and perhaps hardly worth pencilling your beautiful manuscript for.
Ever yours most truly,
J. Herschel.
In publishing the following letter, I do not consider that I am infringing on the rule I have followed in obedience to my mother's wishes, that is, to abstain from giving publicity to all letters which are of a private and confidential character. This one entirely concerns her scientific writings, and is interesting as showing the confidence which existed between Sir John Herschel and herself. This great philosopher was my mother's truest and best friend, one whose opinion she valued above all others, whose genius and consummate talents she admired, and whose beautiful character she loved with an intensity which is better shown by some extracts from her letters to be given presently than by anything I can say. This deep regard on her part he returned with the most chivalrous respect and admiration. In any doubt or difficulty it was his advice she sought, his criticism she submitted to; both were always frankly given without the slightest fear of giving offence, for Sir John Herschel well knew the spirit with which any remarks of his would be received.
FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
Slough, Feb. 23rd, 1830.
My dear Mrs. Somerville,
... As you contemplate separate publication, and as the attention of many will be turned to a work from your pen who will just possess quantum enough of mathematical knowledge to be able to read the first chapter without being able to follow you into its application, and as these, moreover, are the very people who will think themselves privileged to criticise and use their privilege with the least discretion, I cannot recommend too much clearness, fulness, and order in the exposé of the principles. Were I you, I would devote to this first part at least double the space you have done. Your familiarity with the results and formulæ has led you into what is extremely natural in such a case—a somewhat hasty passing over what, to a beginner, would prove insuperable difficulties; and if I may so express it, a sketchiness of outline (as a painter you will understand my meaning, and what is of more consequence, see how it is to be remedied).
You have adopted, I see, the principle of virtual velocity, and the principle of d'Alembert, rather as separate and independent principles to be used as instruments of investigation than as convenient theories, flowing themselves from the general law of force and equilibrium, to be first proved and then remembered as compact statements in a form fit for use. The demonstration of the principle of virtual velocities is so easy and direct in Laplace that I cannot imagine anything capable of rendering it plainer than he has done. But a good deal more explanation of what is virtual velocity, &c., would be advantageous—and virtual velocities should be kept quite distinct from the arbitrary variations represented by the sign δ.
With regard to the principle of d'Alembert—take my advice and explode it altogether. It is the most awkward and involved statement of a plain dynamical equation that ever puzzled student. I speak feelingly and with a sense of irritation at the whirls and vortices it used to cause in my poor head when first I entered on this subject in my days of studentship. I know not a single case where its application does not create obscurity—nay doubt. Nor can a case ever occur where any such principle is called for. The general law that the change of motion is proportional to the moving force and takes place in its direction, provided we take care always to regard the reaction of curves, surfaces, obstacles, &c., as so many real moving forces of (for a time) unknown magnitude, will always help us out of any dynamical scrape we may get into. Laplace, page 20, Méc. Cél. art. 7, is a little obscure here, and in deriving his equation (f) a page of explanation would be well bestowed.
One thing let me recommend, if you use as principles either this, or that of virtual velocities, or any other, state them broadly and in general terms.... You will think me, I fear, a rough critic, but I think of Horace's good critic,
Fiet Aristarchus: nec dicet, cur ego amicum
Offendam in nugis? Hæ nugæ seria ducent
In mala,
and what we can both now laugh at, and you may, if you like, burn as nonsense (I mean these remarks), would come with a very different kind of force from some sneering reviewer in the plenitude of his triumph at the detection of a slip of the pen or one of those little inaccuracies which humana parum cavit natura....
Very faithfully yours,
J. Herschel.
About the same time my father received a letter from Dr. Whewell, afterwards Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, dated 2nd November, 1831, in which he says:—
"I beg you to offer my best thanks to Mrs. Somerville for her kind present. I shall have peculiar satisfaction in possessing it as a gift of the author, a book which I look upon as one of the most remarkable which our age has produced, which would be highly valuable from anyone, and which derives a peculiar interest from its writer. I am charged also to return the thanks of the Philosophical Society here for the copy presented to them. I have not thought it necessary to send the official letter containing the acknowledgment, as Mrs. Somerville will probably have a sufficient collection of specimens of such character. I have also to thank her on the part of our College for the copy sent to the library. I am glad that our young mathematicians in Trinity will have easy access to the book, which will be very good for them as soon as they can read it. When Mrs. Somerville shows herself in the field which we mathematicians have been labouring in all our lives, and puts us to shame, she ought not to be surprised if we move off to other ground, and betake ourselves to poetry. If the fashion of 'commendatory verses' were not gone by, I have no doubt her work might have appeared with a very pretty collection of well-deserved poetical praises in its introductory pages. As old customs linger longest in places like this, I hope she and you will not think it quite extravagant to send a single sonnet on the occasion.
"Believe me,
"Faithfully yours,
"W. Whewell."
TO MRS. SOMERVILLE,
ON HER "MECHANISM OF THE HEAVENS."
Lady, it was the wont in earlier days
When some fair volume from a valued pen,
Long looked for, came at last, that grateful men
Hailed its forthcoming in complacent lays:
As if the Muse would gladly haste to praise
That which her mother, Memory, long should keep
Among her treasures. Shall such usage sleep
With us, who feel too slight the common phrase
For our pleased thoughts of you, when thus we find
That dark to you seems bright, perplexed seems plain,
Seen in the depths of a pellucid mind,
Full of clear thought, pure from the ill and vain
That cloud the inward light? An honoured name
Be yours; and peace of heart grow with your growing fame.
Professor Peacock, afterwards Dean of Ely, in a letter, dated February 14th, 1832, thanked my mother for a copy of the "Mechanism of the Heavens."
LETTER FROM PROFESSOR PEACOCK TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
"I consider it to be a work which will contribute greatly to the extension of the knowledge of physical astronomy, in this country, and of the great analytical processes which have been employed in such investigations. It is with this view that I consider it to be a work of the greatest value and importance. Dr. Whewell and myself have already taken steps to introduce it into the course of our studies at Cambridge, and I have little doubt that it will immediately become an essential work to those of our students who aspire to the highest places in our examinations."
On this my mother remarks:—
I consider this as the highest honour I ever received, at the time I was no less sensible of it, and was most grateful. I was surprised and pleased beyond measure to find that my book should be so much approved of by Dr. Whewell, one of the most eminent men of the age for science and literature; and by Professor Peacock, a profound mathematician, who with Herschel and Babbage had, a few years before, first introduced the calculus as an essential branch of science into the University of Cambridge.
In consequence of this decision the whole edition of the "Mechanism of the Heavens," amounting to 750 copies, was sold chiefly at Cambridge, with the exception of a very few which I gave to friends; but as the preface was the only part of the work that was intelligible to the general reader, I had some copies of it printed separately to give away.
I was astonished at the success of my book; all the reviews of it were highly favourable; I received letters of congratulation from many men of science. I was elected an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society at the same time as Miss Caroline Herschel. To be associated with so distinguished an astronomer was in itself an honour. Mr. De Morgan, to whom I am indebted for many excellent mathematical works, was then secretary of the society, and announced to us the distinction conferred. The council of the Society ordered that a copy of the "Greenwich Observations" should be regularly sent to me.
The Académie des Sciences elected my mother's old friend M. Biot to draw up a report upon her "Mechanism of the Heavens," which he did in the most flattering terms, and upon my mother writing to thank him, replied as follows:—
FROM M. BIOT TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
Madame,
Revenu de Lyon depuis quelques jours, j'ai trouvé à Paris les deux lettres dont vous avez daigné m'honorer, et j'ai reçu également l'exemplaire de votre ouvrage que vous avez bien voulu joindre à la dernière. C'est être mille fois trop bonne, Madame, que de me remercier encore de ce qui m'a fait tant de plaisir. En rendant compte de cet étonnant Traité, je remplissais d'abord un devoir, puisque l'Académie m'avait chargé de le lire pour elle; mais ce devoir m'offrait un attrait que vous concevriez facilement, s'il vous était possible de vous rappeler l'admiration vive et profonde que m'inspira il y a longtemps l'union si extraordinaire de tous les talens et de toutes les grâces, avec les connaissances sevères que nous autres hommes avions la folie de croire notre partage exclusif. Ce qui me charma alors, Madame, je n'ai pas cessé depuis de m'en souvenir; et des rapports d'amitié qui me sont bien chers, ont encore, à votre insçu, fortifié ces sentimens. Jugez donc, Madame, combien j'étais heureux d'avoir à peindre ce que je comprenais si bien, et ce que j'avais vu avec un si vif intérêt. Le plus amusant pour moi de cette rencontre, c'était de voir nos plus graves confrères, par exemple, Lacroix et Legendre, qui certes ne sont pas des esprits légers, ni galans d'habitude, ni faciles à émouvoir, me gourmander, comme ils le faisaient à chaque séance, de ce que je tardais tant à faire mon rapport, de ce que j'y mettais tant d'insouciance et si peu de grâce; enfin, Madame, c'était une conquête intellectuelle complète. Je n'ai pas manqué de raconter cette circonstance comme un des fleurons de votre couronne. Je me suis ainsi acquitté envers eux; et quant à vous, Madame, d'après la manière dont vous parlez vous-même de votre ouvrage, j'ai quelque espérance de l'avoir présenté sous le point de vue où vous semblez l'envisager. Mais, en vous rendant ce juste et sincère hommage et en l'insérant au Journal des Savants, je n'ai pas eu la précaution de demander qu'on m'en mit à part; aujourd'hui que la collection est tirée je suis aux regrets d'avoir été si peu prévoyant. Au reste, Madame, il n'y a rien dans cet extrait que ce que pensent tous ceux qui vous connaissent, ou même qui ont eu une seule fois le bonheur de vous approcher. Vos amis trouveront que j'ai exprimé bien faiblement les charmes de votre esprit et de votre caractère; charmes qu'ils doivent apprécier d'autant mieux qu'ils en jouissent plus souvent; mais vous, Madame, qui êtes indulgente, vous pardonnerez la faiblesse d'un portrait qui n'a pu être fait que de souvenir.
J'ai l'honneur d'être, avec le plus profond respect,
Madame,
Votre très humble et très obéissant serviteur,
Biot.
It was unanimously voted by the Royal Society of London, that my bust should be placed in their great Hall, and Chantrey was chosen as the sculptor. Soon after it was finished, Mr. Potter, a great ship-builder at Liverpool, who had just completed a fine vessel intended for the China and India trade, wrote to my friend, Sir Francis Beaufort, hydrographer of the Royal Navy, asking him if I would give him permission to call her the "Mary Somerville," and to have a copy of my bust for her figure-head. I was much gratified with this, as might be expected. The "Mary Somerville" sailed, but was never heard of again; it was supposed she had foundered during a typhoon in the China sea.
I was elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy at Dublin, of the Bristol Philosophical Institution, and of the Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle of Geneva, which was announced to me by a very gratifying letter from Professor Prevost.
Our relations and others who had so severely criticized and ridiculed me, astonished at my success, were now loud in my praise. The warmth with which Somerville entered into my success deeply affected me; for not one in ten thousand would have rejoiced at it as he did; but he was of a generous nature, far above jealousy, and he continued through life to take the kindest interest in all I did.
I now received the following letter from Sir Robert Peel, informing me in the handsomest manner that he had advised the King to grant me a pension of 200l. a year:—
LETTER FROM SIR ROBERT PEEL TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
Whitehall Gardens
March, 1835.
In advising the Crown in respect to the grant of civil pensions, I have acted equally with a sense of public duty and on the impulse of my own private feelings in recognising among the first claims on the Royal favour those which are derived from eminence in science and literature.
In reviewing such claims, it is impossible that I can overlook those which you have established by the successful prosecution of studies of the highest order, both from the importance of the objects to which they relate, and from the faculties and acquirements which they demand.
As my object is a public one, to encourage others to follow the bright example which you have set, and to prove that great scientific attainments are recognised among public claims, I prefer making a direct communication to you, to any private inquiries into your pecuniary circumstances, or to any proposal through a third party. I am enabled to advise His Majesty to grant to you a pension on the civil list of two hundred pounds per annum; and if that provision will enable you to pursue your labours with less of anxiety, either as to the present or the future, I shall only be fulfilling a public duty, and not imposing upon you the slightest obligation, by availing myself of your permission to submit such a recommendation to the King.
I have the honour to be,
Madam, with the sincerest respect,
Robert Peel.
I was highly pleased, but my pleasure was of short duration, for the very next day a letter informed us that by the treachery of persons in whom we trusted, the last remains of our capital were lost. By the kindness of Lord John Russell, when he was Prime Minister, a hundred a-year was added to my pension, for which I was very grateful.
After the "Mechanism of the Heavens" was published, I was thrown out of work, and now that I had got into the habit of writing I did not know what to make of my spare time. Fortunately the preface of my book furnished me with the means of active occupation; for in it I saw such mutual dependence and connection in many branches of science, that I thought the subject might be carried to a greater extent.
There were many subjects with which I was only partially acquainted, and others of which I had no previous knowledge, but which required to be carefully investigated, so I had to consult a variety of authors, British and foreign. Even the astronomical part was difficult, for I had to translate analytical formulæ into intelligible language, and to draw diagrams illustrative thereof, and this occupied the first seven sections of the book. I should have been saved much trouble had I seen a work on the subject by Mr. Airy, Astronomer-Royal, published subsequently to my book.
My son, Woronzow Greig, had been educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was travelling on the Continent, when Somerville and I received an invitation from the Principal, Dr. Whewell, to visit the University. Mr. Airy, then astronomer at Cambridge, now Astronomer-Royal at Greenwich, and Mrs. Airy kindly wished us to be their guests; but as the Observatory was at some distance from Cambridge, it was decided that we should have an apartment in Trinity College itself; an unusual favour where a lady is concerned. Mr. Sedgwick, the geologist, made the arrangements, received us, and we spent the first day at dinner with him. He is still alive[10]—one of my few coevals—either in Cambridge or England. The week we spent in Cambridge, receiving every honour from the heads of the University, was a period of which I have ever borne a proud and grateful remembrance.
Professor Sedgwick wrote as follows to my father:—
FROM PROFESSOR SEDGWICK TO DR. SOMERVILLE.
Trinity College, April, 1834.
Your letter delighted us. I have ordered dinner on Thursday at 6-1/2 and shall have a small party to welcome you and Mrs. Somerville. In order that we may not have to fight for you, we have been entering on the best arrangements we can think of. On Tuesday you will, I hope, dine with Peacock; on Wednesday with Whewell; on Thursday at the Observatory. For Friday, Dr. Clarke, our Professor of Anatomy, puts in a claim. For the other days of your visit we shall, D.V., find ample employment. A four-poster bed now (a thing utterly out of our regular monastic system) will rear its head for you and Madame in the chambers immediately below my own; and your handmaid may safely rest her bones in a small inner chamber. Should Sheepshanks return, we can stuff him into a lumber room of the observatory; but of this there is no fear as I have written to him on the subject, and he has no immediate intention of returning. You will of course drive to the great gate of Trinity College, and my servant will be in waiting at the Porter's lodge to show you the way to your academic residence. We have no cannons at Trinity College, otherwise we would fire a salute on your entry; we will however give you the warmest greeting we can. Meanwhile give my best regards to Mrs. S.
And believe me most truly yours,
A. Sedgwick.
La Place had a profound veneration for Newton; he sent me a copy of his "Système du Monde," and a letter, dated 15th August, 1824, in which he says: "Je publie successivement les divers livres du cinquième livre qui doit terminer mon traité de 'Mécanique Céleste,' et dans cela je donne l'analyse historique des recherches des géomètres sur cette matière, cela m'a fait relire avec une attention particulière l'ouvrage si incomparable des principes mathématiques de la philosophie naturelle de Newton, qui contient le germe de toutes ses recherches. Plus j'ai étudié cet ouvrage plus il m'a paru admirable, en me transportant surtout à l'époque où il a été publié. Mais en même tems que je sens l'élégance de la méthode synthétique suivant laquelle Newton a présenté ses découvertes, j'ai reconnu l'indispensable nécessité de l'analyse pour approfondir les questions très difficiles que Newton n'a pu qu'effleurer par la synthèse. Je vois avec un grand plaisir vos mathématiciens se livrer maintenant à l'analyse et je ne doute point qu'en suivant cette méthode avec la sagacité propre à votre nation ils ne seront conduits à d'importantes découvertes."
Newton himself was aware that by the law of gravitation the stability of the solar system was endangered. The power of analysis alone enabled La Grange to prove that all the disturbances arising from the reciprocal attraction of the planets and satellites are periodical, whatever the length of the periods may be, so that the stability of the solar system is insured for unlimited ages. The perturbations are only the oscillations of that immense pendulum of Eternity which beats centuries as ours beats seconds.
La Place, and all the great mathematicians of that period, had scarcely passed away when the more powerful Quaternion system began to dawn.