In his reply Airy
stated that he regarded the honour just conferred upon him as the
greatest and proudest ever received by him. He referred to the fact
that the same honour had been previously conferred on the valued
friend of his youth, Thomas Clarkson, and said that the circumstance
of his succeeding such a man was to himself a great honour and
pleasure. He alluded to his having received a small exhibition from
one of the London Companies, when he was a poor undergraduate at
Cambridge, and acknowledged the great assistance that it had been to
him. With regard to his occupation, he said that he had followed it in
a great measure because of its practical use, and thought it fortunate
that from the first he was connected with an institution in which
utility was combined with science. The occasion of this presentation
was celebrated by a Banquet at the Mansion House on Saturday July 3rd,
1875, to Sir George Airy (Astronomer Royal) and the Representatives of
Learned Societies.
There is no doubt that Airy was extremely gratified by the honour that
he had received. It was to him the crowning honour of his life, and
coming last of all it threw all his other honours into the shade. To
his independent and liberal spirit there was something peculiarly
touching in the unsolicited approbation and act of so powerful and
disinterested a body as the Corporation of the City of London.
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