his reason, “I take it, that interment possessing such a public character is a public recognition of benefits, political, literary, or philosophical, whose effects will be great and durable.  Now I doubt whether it can be stated that Mr Spottiswoode had conferred such benefits on Society.  “But he adds at length his cordial recognition of Mr Spottiswoode’s scientific services.—­Throughout his life Airy was a regular attendant at church, and took much interest in the conduct of the Church services.  In October of this year he wrote a long letter to the Vicar of Greenwich on various points, in which occurs the following paragraph:  “But there is one matter in the present form of the Church Service, on which my feeling is very strong, namely the (so-called, I believe) Choral Service, in the Confession, the Prayer, and the Creed.  I have long listened with veneration to our noble Liturgy, and I have always been struck with the deep personally religious feeling which pervades it, especially those parts of it which are for ‘The People.’  And an earnest Priest, earnestly pressing these parts by his vocal example on the notice of the People, can scarcely fail to excite a corresponding earnestness in them.  All this is totally lost in the choral system.  For a venerable persuasion there is substituted a rude irreverential confusion of voices; for an earnest acceptance of the form offered by the Priest there is substituted—­in my feeling at least—­a weary waiting for the end of an unmeaning form.”  He also objected much to singing the responses to the Commandments.

1884

From Apr. 29th to May 30th he was at Playford, concluding his Journal there with the note “So ends a pleasant Vacation.”—­On June 11th he went to Cambridge and attended the Trinity College Commemoration Service, and dined in Hall.—­From Aug. 14th to Sept. 11th he was at Playford.—­On Sept. 26th he made an expedition to Guildford and Farnham.—­During this year he was closely engaged on the Numerical Lunar Theory, and for relaxation was reading theology and sundry books of the Old Testament.

On June 7th he attended at the Visitation of the Royal Observatory.—­In a letter written in April to Lt.-Col.  Marindin, R.A., on the subject of wind pressure there occurs the following remark:  “When the heavy gusts come on, the wind is blowing in directions changing rapidly, but limited in extent.  My conclusion is that in arches of small extent (as in the Tay Bridge) every thing must be calculated for full pressure; but in arches of large extent (as in the Forth Bridge) every thing may be calculated for small pressure.  And for a suspension bridge the pressure is far less dangerous than for a stiff arch.”—­In January he had some correspondence with Professor Tyndall on the Theory of the “White Rainbow,” and stated that he thoroughly agreed with Dr Young’s explanation of this phaenomenon.  —­The following is extracted from a letter on May 1st to his old friend Otto Struve:  “I