On Sept. 19th I went to
Doncaster and Finningley Park to see Mr Beaumont's Observatory. On
Sept. 25th we posted in one day from Edensor to Cambridge.
"On Aug. 25th Mr Spring Rice (Lord Monteagle) wrote to me to enquire
whether I would accept the office of Astronomer Royal if it were
vacant. I replied (from Keswick) on Aug. 30th, expressing my general
willingness, stipulating for my freedom of vote, &c., and referring to
my letter to the Duke of Sussex. On Oct. 8th Lord Auckland, First Lord
of the Admiralty, wrote: and on Oct. 10th I provisionally accepted the
office. On Oct. 30th I wrote to ask for leave to give a course of
lectures at Cambridge in case that my successor at Cambridge should
find difficulty in doing it in the first year: and to this Lord
Auckland assented on Oct. 31st. All this arrangement was for a time
upset by the change of Ministry which shortly followed.
"Amongst miscellaneous matters, in March I had some correspondence
with the Duke of Northumberland about the Cauchaix Telescope. In
August I had to announce to him that the flint-lens had been a little
shattered in Cauchaix's shop and required regrinding: finally on
Dec. 17th I announced its arrival at Cambridge.
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