"On Jan. 30th, 1823, I returned to Cambridge. I had already heard that I had gained the 1st Smith's Prize, and one of the first notifications to me on my return was that the Walker's good-conduct prize of £10 was awarded to me.
"I remember that my return was not very pleasant, for our table in hall was half occupied by a set of irregular men who had lost terms and were obliged to reside somewhat longer in order to receive the B.A. degree. But at the time of my completing the B.A. degree (which is not till some weeks after the examination and admission) I with the other complete bachelors was duly invited to the table of the B.A. scholars, and that annoyance ended.
"The liberation from undergraduate study left me at liberty generally to pursue my own course (except so far as it was influenced by the preparation for fellowship examination), and also left me at liberty to earn more money, in the way usual with the graduates, by taking undergraduate pupils. Mr Peacock recommended me to take only four, which occupied me four hours every day, and for each of them I received 20 guineas each term. My first pupils, for the Lent and Easter terms, were Williamson (afterwards Head Master of Westminster School), James Parker (afterwards Q.C. and Vice-Chancellor), Bissett, and Clinton of Caius. To all these I had been engaged before taking my B.A. degree.
"I kept up classical subjects. I have a set of notes on the [Greek: Ploutos] and [Greek: Nephelai] of Aristophanes, finished on Mar. 15th, 1823, and I began my daily writing of Latin as usual on Feb. 8th. In mathematics I worked very hard at Lunar and Planetary Theories. I have two MS. books of Lunar Theory to the 5th order of small quantities, which however answered no purpose except that of making me perfectly familiar with that subject. I worked well, upon my quires, the figure of Saturn supposed homogeneous as affected by the attraction of his ring, and the figure of the Earth as heterogeneous, and the Calculus of Variations. I think it was now that I wrote a MS. on constrained motion.
"On Mar. 17th, 1823, I was elected Fellow of the Cambridge
Philosophical Society. On May 9th a cast of my head was taken for Dr
Elliotson, an active phrenologist, by Deville, a tradesman in the
Strand.
"I had long thought that I should like to visit Scotland, and on my once saying so to my mother, she (who had a most kindly recollection of Alnwick) said in a few words that she thought I could not do better. I had therefore for some time past fully determined that as soon as I had sufficient spare time and money enough I would go to Scotland. The interval between the end of Easter Term and the usual beginning with pupils in the Long Vacation offered sufficient time, and I had now earned a little money, and I therefore determined to go, and invited my sister to accompany me. I had no private introductions, except one from James Parker to Mr Reach, a writer of Inverness: some which Drinkwater sent being too late. On May 20th we went by coach to Stamford; thence by Pontefract and Oulton to York, where I saw the Cathedral, which then disappointed me, but I suppose that we were tired with the night journey. Then by Newcastle to Alnwick, where we stopped for the day to see my birthplace. On May 24th to Edinburgh. On this journey I remember well the stone walls between the fields, the place (in Yorkshire) where for the first time in my life I saw rock, the Hambleton, Kyloe, Cheviot and Pentland Hills, Arthur's Seat, but still more strikingly the revolving Inch Keith Light. At Edinburgh I hired a horse and gig for our journey in Scotland, and we drove by Queensferry to Kinross (where for the first time in my life I saw clouds on the hills, viz. on the Lomond Hills), and so to Perth. Thence by Dunkeld and Killicrankie to Blair Athol (the dreariness of the Drumochter Pass made a strong impression on me), and by Aviemore (where I saw snow on the mountains) to Inverness. Here we received much kindness and attention from Mr Reach, and after visiting the Falls of Foyers and other sights we went to Fort Augustus and Fort William. We ascended Ben Nevis, on which there was a great deal of snow, and visited the vitrified fort in Glen Nevis. Then by Inverary to Tarbet, and ascended Ben Lomond, from whence we had a magnificent view. We then passed by Loch Achray to Glasgow, where we found James Parker's brother (his father, of the house of Macinroy and Parker, being a wealthy merchant of Glasgow). On June 15th to Mr Parker's house at Blochairn, near Glasgow (on this day I heard Dr Chalmers preach), and on the 17th went with the family by steamer (the first that I had seen) to Fairly, near Largs. I returned the gig to Edinburgh, visited Arran and Bute, and we then went by coach to Carlisle, and by Penrith to Keswick (by the old road: never shall I forget the beauty of the approach to Keswick). After visiting Ambleside and Kendal we returned to Cambridge by way of Leeds, and posted to Bury on the 28th June. The expense of this expedition was about £81. It opened a completely new world to me.
"I had little time to rest at Bury. In the preceding term Drinkwater, Buckle, and myself, had engaged to go somewhere into the country with pupils during the Long Vacation (as was customary with Cambridge men). Buckle however changed his mind. Drinkwater went to look for a place, fixed on Swansea, and engaged a house (called the Cambrian Hotel, kept by a Captain Jenkins). On the morning of July 2nd I left Bury for London and by mail coach to Bristol. On the morning of July 3rd by steamer to Swansea, and arrived late at night. I had then five pupils: Parker, Harman Lewis (afterwards Professor in King's College, London), Pierce Morton, Gibson, and Guest of Caius (afterwards Master of the College). Drinkwater had four, viz. two Malkins (from Bury), Elphinstone (afterwards M.P.), and Farish (son of Professor Farish). We lived a hard-working strange life. My pupils began with me at six in the morning: I was myself reading busily. We lived completely en famille, with two men-servants besides the house establishment. One of our first acts was to order a four-oared boat to be built, fitted with a lug-sail: she was called the Granta of Swansea. In the meantime we made sea excursions with boats borrowed from ships in the port. On July 23rd, with a borrowed boat, we went out when the sea was high, but soon found our boat unmanageable, and at last got into a place where the sea was breaking heavily over a shoal, and the two of the crew who were nearest to me (A. Malkin and Lewis), one on each side, were carried out: they were good swimmers and we recovered them, though with some trouble: the breaker had passed quite over my head: we gained the shore and the boat was taken home by land. When our own boat was finished, we had some most picturesque adventures at the Mumbles, Aberavon, Caswell Bay, Ilfracombe, and Tenby. From all this I learnt navigation pretty well. The mixture of hard study and open-air exertion seemed to affect the health of several of us (I was one): we were covered with painful boils.
"My Latin-writing began again on July 25th: I have notes on Demosthenes, Lucretius, and Greek History. In mathematics I find Chances, Figure of the Earth with variable density, Differential Equations, Partial Differentials, sketch for an instrument for shewing refraction, and Optical instruments with effects of chromatic aberration. In August there occurred an absurd quarrel between the Fellows of Trinity and the undergraduates, on the occasion of commencing the building of King's Court, when the undergraduates were not invited to wine, and absented themselves from the hall.
"There were vacant this year (1823) five fellowships in Trinity College. In general, the B.A.'s of the first year are not allowed to sit for fellowships: but this year it was thought so probable that permission would be given, that on Sept. 2nd Mr Higman, then appointed as Tutor to a third 'side' of the College, wrote to me to engage me as Assistant Mathematical Tutor in the event of my being elected a Fellow on Oct. 1st, and I provisionally engaged myself. About the same time I had written to Mr Peacock, who recommended me to sit, and to Mr Whewell, who after consultation with the Master (Dr Wordsworth), discouraged it. As there was no absolute prohibition, I left Swansea on Sept. 11th (before my engagement to my pupils was quite finished) and returned to Cambridge by Gloucester, Oxford, and London. I gave in my name at the butteries as candidate for fellowship, but was informed in a day or two that I should not be allowed to sit. On Sept. 19th I walked to Bury.
"I walked back to Cambridge on Oct. 17th, 1823. During this October term I had four pupils: Neate, Cankrein, Turner (afterwards 2nd wrangler and Treasurer of Guy's Hospital), and William Hervey (son of the Marquis of Bristol). In the Lent term I had four (Neate, Cankrein, Turner, Clinton). In the Easter term I had three (Neate, Cankrein, Turner).