| Administrative History | Adam Sedgwick (1785–1873), Geologist
Henry Peter Brougham (1778 - 1868), Lord Chancellor
George Biddell Airy (1801 - 1892), Astronomer
Isaac Taylor (1787 - 1865), Writer on Theology, artist and inventor |
| Description | Letter from Duncan Farquharson Gregory, Trinity College, Cambridge, to his sister, Mrs Margaret Alison, regarding Sedgwick being given a [prebendal] stall at Norwich by Brougham which allows him to keep his fellowship at Trinity College and pays him £400 to £500 a year; in return, he has to live in Norwich for two months a year and preach only one sermon; breakfasted with Sedgwick during which they discussed different ways of cooking ham; tells her not to let [Harriman] be alarmed at their destroying the theory of geology, Sedgwick had seen them (possibly referring to fossils) before and they are harmless. He states that they are of the same kind as Dr [Freill's] that [Agassez] had seen; Brougham had also given Shilwall a good living and as a consequence he had to resign his fellowship; Gregory remarks that the liberal men must be greatly disappointed and that the undergraduates were planning a mark of respect; He tells her about the upcoming visit of Halley's Comet having consulted the 'Planetary Coach Office Book Keeper', Professor George Biddell Airy. The comet will approach earth near the end of November but will then proceed into a region of the sun where it will become invisible before it can then be seen by the naked eye 'but by the August coach, he will arrive with all his train leaving the regions of light but the existence of an ether making him drunk may quicken his motions somewhat'. He also remarks that Halley's comet appears to be losing portions of his tail; he mentions that he will send her Sewell's 'Cultivation of the Mind' and Sedgwick's Discourse; he has seen Cator who is not drowned but asks him to tell [Harriman] that he delivered the parcel to George Gregory; tells her that the author of the 'Natural History of Enthusiasm' was Isaac Taylor who also wrote 'The Elements of Thought' and recommends [her friend] Lady S Hastings to read 'The Elements of Thought'; discusses another member of her circle of friends - 'I dare say Lady P is a good sort, were she not so very lazy'; remarks that he is surprised at Sedgwick not asking after the Hastings as they had made such a strong impression on him; suggests she made an error as to the offence Sedgwick caused in Edinburgh and suggests that it was perhaps caused by jealousy of the other ladies that he was spending so much time with her; remarks that everyone here is getting married and requests that she send him a wife, stating that he will trust to her judgement, 24 November 1834. |