20 
HISTORY OF THE 
[1820-30 
Before Colebrooke, however, before Sir W. Herschel, before 
even the Duke of Somerset, we had as effective President Mr. 
Daniel Moore, who was specially thanked for taking the Chair at 
the preliminary meetings. What manner of man was he ? He 
died in 1828 before it had become the custom to give many bio 
graphical details of our deceased Fellows. We read in the Council 
Report of “ our amiable and excellent trustee Mr. Daniel Moore, 
whose loss will be felt far beyond the limits of this body by many, 
as the privation of a benefactor, in whose ears the calls of distress 
never sounded in vain,” and that is all : but it is much. A casual 
reference in one of Sir John Herschel’s letters gives us almost the 
same picture. He is “ our friend Moore, whose money burns in 
his pocket,” and who might come to the rescue “ if the low state 
of [the Society’s] funds be talked of.” It is but a glimpse we get, 
but a very pleasant glimpse. 
Such were the men who took the Chair at the early meetings, 
either actually or nominally. But there is no question that for 
real initiative the Society owes almost everything to two men, 
the Rev. William Pearson and Francis Baily. Probably the 
combination of the two was really necessary. The dreamer 
Pearson had long had the project vaguely in mind, but required 
the help of Baily, a man of affairs, to put it into practical shape. 
The incidence of Baily can be traced in his Appendix * to a Memoir 
on a new and certain Method of ascertaining the Figure of the 
Earth by means of Occultations of the Fixed Stars. By A. 
Cagnoli. With Notes and an Appendix by Francis Baily. 
London, 1819. 8vo. 
He therein (p. 29) strongly urges the formation of an Astrono 
mical Society, with a library and a collection of observations, 
referring to Pingré’s Annales Célestes : and that the scheme took 
shape within a year strongly suggests that this new and vigorous 
influence was the determining cause. But Dr. Pearson had had 
the idea as early as 1812, and it was he who ultimately assembled 
those interested at a friendly dinner f in order to hatch out the 
project. The facts are given in two letters which were printed 
by De Morgan, and are bound up with some copies of the Monthly 
Notices ( 26 ), but not with all. It seems, therefore, desirable to 
reproduce them here : with the comment that (in spite of the 
* I am indebted to Dr. Dreyer for this reference, which he first found in 
the library of the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford. It is catalogued in the 
R.A.S. and Crawford libraries, but under Cagnoli, and in the former case with 
no cross-reference. 
f Until seeing the entry in the Diary of Sir John Herschel, I had always 
supposed that this dinner was on a date before January 12, and probably at 
Dr. Pearson’s house ; but the facts seem consistent with the dinner being that 
at Freemason’s Tavern, immediately preceding (or following) the meeting 
of January 12.