II 
1820-30] ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 
of somewhat similar type. “ Application has been made to a 
nobleman, of nearly equal rank,” writes Baily to J. Herschel on 
March ii, “who is less dependent on the opinion of others, and 
who is more fitted for the situation.” But apparently the reply 
was unfavourable, for on March 19, Herschel wrote to Babbage 
asking, “ Has the Marquis of Abercorn been suggested ? I can’t 
say, Sir X.Y. seems to me a very proper man. Lord Lansdowne 
may do very well. If we want rank, why should not the Duke of 
Gordon, one of our members, be applied to ? Here is a queer 
problem of chances which leads to such diabolical series as resist 
hitherto all my attempts to find their law. A and B toss up— 
they play double or quits—In n games what is the probability 
that the stake will attain 2 1 x original stake.” And so the great 
and versatile man passes from the problems of the moment to those 
of more permanent interest. Ultimately it was decided not to elect 
a new President until the end of the year, and then Sir William 
Herschel, already a Vice-President as we have seen, accepted the 
higher Chair, though, on the understanding that he should not 
be called up for active service. A letter of John Herschel to 
Babbage shows that a tentative proposal of the same kind had been 
made by the Council in April 1920, but at that time his father 
was unwilling to take the office even under the conditions proposed. 
When, shortly afterwards, he died full of years and honours, 
Colebrooke, who had often represented him in the Chair, was 
elected his successor. 
The new Society being now fairly launched, let us see how they 
began work. 
The Meetings. 
For accounts of the meetings of the Society nowadays we 
should go to the Monthly Notices or to the more informal records 
of discussion in The Observatory magazine. But neither of these 
sources of information exist for the early years. The latter is 
a comparatively recent institution ; the Monthly Notices extend 
back only to 1827, and though something can be done to extend 
them to 1820, as will presently be shown, even then they are but 
meagre. We are thrown chiefly on the Minutes and a few brief 
contemporary references ; and the general impression created is 
one of admiration for the hardihood of those who lived through the 
early meetings. Apparently it was the custom to read the papers 
pitilessly through, and a long paper might extend over more than 
one meeting. The St. James's Chronicle of 1820 May 13-16, records 
(in a scrap preserved by Dr. Lee) as follows :— 
Astronomical Society .—The first meeting of this Society was 
held a few days ago at the house of the Geological Society, Bedford