Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville Part 15

FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE TO WORONZOW GREIG, ESQ.

VENICE, _21st July, 1843_.

I most sincerely rejoice to hear that Agnes and you have gone to the Rhine, as I am confident a little change of air and scene will be of the greatest service to you both.... We are quite enchanted with Venice; no one can form an idea of its infinite loveliness who has not seen it in summer and in moonlight. I often doubt my senses, and almost fear it may be a dream. We are lodged to perfection, the weather has been charming, no oppressive heat, though the thermometer ranges from 75 to 80, accompanied by a good deal of scirocco; there are neither flies nor fleas, and as yet the mosquitoes have not molested us. We owe much of our comfort to the house we are in, for there are scarcely any furnished lodgings, and the hotels are bad and dear, besides situation is everything at this season, when the smaller ca.n.a.ls become offensive at low water, for, though there is little tide in the Mediterranean, there are four feet at new and full moon here, which is a great blessing. We have now seen everything, and have become acquainted with everybody, and met with kindness and attention beyond all description. Many of the great ducal families still exist, and live handsomely in their splendid palaces; indeed, the decay of Venice, so much talked of, is quite a mistake; certainly it is very different from what it was in its palmy days, but there is a good deal of activity and trade. The abolition of the law of primogeniture has injured the n.o.ble families more than anything else. We rise early, and are busy indoors all morning, except the girls, who go to the Academy of the _Belle Arti_, and paint from ten till three. We dine at four, and embark in our gondola at six or seven, and row about on the gla.s.sy sea till nine, when we go to the Piazza of San Marco, listen to a very fine military band, and sit gossiping till eleven or twelve, and then row home by the Grand Ca.n.a.l, or make a visit in one of the various houses that are open to us. One of the most remarkable of these is that of the Countess Mocenigo's, who has in one of her drawing-rooms the portraits of six doges of the Mocenigo name. I was presented by her to the Duc de Bordeaux, the other evening, a fat good-natured looking person. I was presented also to the Archduke--I forget what--son of the Archduke Charles, and admiral of the fleet here; a nice youth, but not clever. We meet him everywhere, and Somerville dined with him a few days ago. The only strangers of note are the Prince of Tour and Taxis, and Marshal Marmont. The Venetian ladies are very ladylike and agreeable, and speak beautifully. We have received uncommon kindness from Mr. Rawdon Brown; he has made us acquainted with everybody, as he is quite at home here, having been settled in Venice for several years, and has got a most beautiful house fitted up, in _rococo_ style, with great taste; he is an adept at Venetian history. He supplies us with books, which are a great comfort.... The other evening we were surprised by a perfect fleet of gondolas stopping under our windows, from one of which we had the most beautiful serenade; the moonlight was like day, and the effect was admirable. There was a _festa_ the other night in a church on the water's edge; the sh.o.r.e was illuminated and hundreds of gondolas were darting along like swallows, the gondoliers rowing as if they had been mad, till the water was as much agitated as if there had been a gale of wind: nothing could be more animated. You will perceive from what I have said that the evening, till a late hour, is the time for amus.e.m.e.nt, in consequence of which I follow the Italian custom of sleeping after dinner, and am much the better for it. This place agrees particularly well with all of us, and is well suited for old people, who require air without fatigue....

Most affectionately, MARY SOMERVILLE.

FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE TO WORONZOW GREIG, ESQ.

VENICE, _27th August, 1843_.

MY DEAR WORONZOW,

Your excellent letter, giving an account of your agreeable expedition up the Rhine, did not arrive till nearly a month after it was written.... I regret exceedingly you could not stay longer, and still more that you could not come on and pay us a visit, and enjoy the charm of summer in Venice, so totally unlike every other place in every respect. I wished for you last night particularly. As we were leaving the Piazza San Marco, about eleven, a boat came up, burning blue lights, with a piano, violins, flutes, and about twenty men on board, who sang choruses in the most delightful manner, and sometimes solos. They were followed by an immense number of gondolas, and we joined the _cortege_, and all went under the Bridge of Sighs, where the effect was beautiful beyond description. We then all turned and entered the Grand Ca.n.a.l, which was entirely filled with gondolas from one side to the other, jammed together, so that we moved _en ma.s.se_, and stopped every now and then to burn blue or red Bengal lights before the princ.i.p.al palaces, singing going on all the while. We saw numbers of our Venetian friends in their gondolas, enjoying the scene as much as we did, to whom it was almost new. I never saw people who enjoyed life more, and they have much the advantage of us in their delicious climate and aquatic amus.e.m.e.nts, so much more picturesque than what can be done on land. However, we have had no less than three dances lately. The Grand Duke of Modena, with his son and daughter-in-law, were here, and to them a _fete_ was given by the Countess de Thurn. The palace was brilliant with lights; it is on the grand ca.n.a.l, and immediately under the balcony was a boat from which fireworks were let off, and then a couple of boats succeeded them, in which choruses were sung. The view from the balcony is one of the finest in Venice, and the night was charming, and there I was while the dancing went on.... I never saw Somerville so well; this place suits us to the life, constant air and no fatigue; I never once have had a headache.... Now, my dear W., tell me your tale; my tale is done.

Yours affectionately, MARY SOMERVILLE.

FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE TO WORONZOW GREIG, ESQ.

ROME, PALAZZO LEPRI, VIA DEI CONDOTTI, _27th October, 1848_.

MY DEAREST WORONZOW,

... We had a beautiful journey to Rome, with fine weather and no annoyance, notwithstanding the disturbed state of the country. At Padua we only remained long enough to see the churches, and it was impossible to pa.s.s within a few miles of Arqua without paying a visit to the house of Petrarch. At Ferrara we had a letter to the Cardinal Legate, who was very civil. His palace is the ancient abode of the house of Este.... We had a long visit from him in the evening, and found him most agreeable; he regretted that there was no opera, as he would have been happy to offer us his box. Fourteen of those unfortunate men who have been making an attempt to raise an insurrection were arrested the day before; and the night before we slept at Lugo, the Carabineers had searched the inn during the night, entering the rooms where the people were sleeping. We should have been more than surprised to have been wakened by armed men at midnight. In travelling through Italy the _reliques_ and history of the early Christians and of the Middle Ages have a greater attraction for me than those of either the Romans or Etruscans, interesting though these latter be, and in this journey my taste was amply gratified, especially at Ravenna, where the church of San Vitale and the Basilica of St. Apollinare in Cla.s.sis, both built early in the 6th century, are the most magnificent specimens imaginable. Here also is the tomb of Theodore, a most wonderful building; the remains of his palace and numberless other objects of interest, too tedious to mention. Every church is full of them, and most valuable MSS. abound in the libraries. I like the history of the Middle Ages, because one feels that there is something in common between them and us; their names still exist in their descendants, who often inhabit the very palaces they dwelt in, and their very portraits, by the great masters, still hang in their halls; whereas we know nothing about the Greeks and Romans except their public deeds--their private life is a blank to us. Our journey through the Apennines was most beautiful, pa.s.sing for days under the shade of magnificent oak forests or valleys rich in wine, oil, grain, and silk. We deviated from the main road for a short distance to Gubbio, to see the celebrated Eugubian tables, which are as sharp as if they had been engraved yesterday, but in a lost language. We stopped to rest at Perugia, but all our friends were at their country seats, which we regretted. The country round Perugia is unrivalled for richness and beauty, but it rained the morning we resumed our journey. It signified the less as we had been previously at Citta della Pieve and Chiusi; so we proceeded to Orvieto in fine weather, still through oak forests. Orvieto is situated on the top of an escarped hill, very like the hill forts of India, and apparently as inaccessible; yet, by dint of numberless turns and windings, we did get up, but only in time for bed. Next morning we saw the sun rise on the most glorious cathedral. After all we had seen we were completely taken by surprise, and were filled with the highest admiration at the extreme beauty and fine taste of this remarkable building....

Your affectionate mother, MARY SOMERVILLE.

FROM MISS JOANNA BAILLIE TO MRS. SOMERVILLE

HAMPSTEAD, _December 27th, 1843_.

MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,

Besides being proud of receiving a letter from you, I was much pleased to know that I am, though at such a distance, sometimes in your thoughts. I was much pleased, too, with what you have said of the health and other gratifications you enjoy in Italy. I should gladly have thanked you at the time, had I known how to address my letter; and after receiving your proper direction from our friend Miss Montgomery, I have been prevented from using it by various things.... But though so long silent I have not been ungrateful, and thank you with all my heart. The account you give of Venice is very interesting. There is something affecting in still seeing the descendants of the former Doges holding a diminished state in their remaining palaces with so much courtesy. I am sure you have found yourself a guest in their saloons, hung with paintings of their ancestors, with very mixed feelings. However, Venice to the eye, as you describe it, is Venice still; and with its lights at night gleaming upon the waters makes a very vivid picture to my fancy. You no doubt have fixed it on canvas, and can carry it about with you for the delight of your friends who may never see the original.

In return to your kind inquiries after us, I have, all things considered, a very good account to give. Ladies of four score and upwards cannot expect to be robust, and need not be gay. We sit by the fire-side with our books (except when those plaguy notes are to be written) and receive the visits of our friendly neighbours very contentedly, and, I ought to say, and trust I may say, very thankfully.... This morning brought one in whom I feel sure that you and your daughters take some interest, Maria Edgeworth. She has been dangerously ill, but is now nearly recovered, and is come from Ireland to pa.s.s the winter months with her sisters in London: weak in body, but the mind as clear and the spirits as buoyant as ever.

You will be glad to hear that she even has it in her thoughts to write a new work, and has the plan of it nearly arranged. There will be nothing new in the story itself, but the purpose and treating of it will be new, which is, perhaps, a better thing. In our retired way of living, we know little of what goes on in the literary world.... I was, however, in town for a few hours the other day, and called upon a lady of rank who has _fas.h.i.+onable_ learned folks coming about her, and she informed me that there are new ideas regarding philosophy entertained in the world, and that Sir John Herschel was now considered as a slight, second-rate man, or person.

Who are the first-rate she did not say, and, I suppose, you will not be much mortified to hear that your name was not mentioned at all.

So much for our learning. My sister was much disappointed the other day when, in expectation of a ghost story from Mr. d.i.c.kens, she only got a grotesque moral allegory; now, as she delights in a ghost and hates an allegory, this was very provoking.

Believe me, My dear Mrs. Somerville, Yours with admiration and esteem, J. BAILLIE.

FROM MISS JOANNA BAILLIE TO MRS. SOMERVILLE

HAMPSTEAD, _January 9th, 1851_.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

My dear Mary Somerville, whom I am proud to call my friend, and that she so calls me. I could say much on this point, but I dare not. I received your letter from Mr. Greig last night, and thank you very gratefully. If my head were less confused I should do it better, but the pride I have in thinking of you as philosopher and a woman cannot be exceeded. I shall read your letter many times over. My sister and myself at so great an age are waiting to be called away in mercy by an Almighty Father, and we part with our earthly friends as those whom we shall meet again. My great monster book is now published, and your copy I shall send to your son who will peep into it, and then forward it to yourself. I beg to be kindly and respectfully remembered to your husband; I offer my best wishes to your daughters....

Yours, my dear Friend, Very faithfully, JOANNA BAILLIE.

My sister begs of you and all your family to accept her best wishes.

FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

_18th March, 1844._

MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,

To have received a letter from you so long ago, and not yet to have thanked you for it, is what I could hardly have believed myself--if the rapid lapse of time in the uniform retirement in which we live were not pressed upon me in a variety of ways which convince me that as a man grows older, his sand, as the grains get low in the gla.s.s, slips through more glibly, and steals away with accelerated speed. I wish I could either send you a copy of my Cape observations, or tell you they are published or even in the press. Far from it--I do not expect to "go to press" before another year has elapsed, for though I have got my catalogues of Southern nebulae and Double stars reduced and arranged, yet there is a great deal of other matter still to be worked through, and I have every description of reduction entirely to execute myself. These are very tedious, and I am a very slow computer, and have been continually taken off the subject by other matter, forced upon me by "pressure from without." What I am now engaged on is the monograph of the _princ.i.p.al_ Southern Nebulae, the object of which is to put on record every ascertainable particular of their actual appearance and the stars visible in them, so as to satisfy future observers whether _new stars_ have appeared, or changes taken place in the nebulosity. To what an extent this work may go you may judge from the fact that the catalogue of visible stars actually mapped down in their places within the s.p.a.ce of less than a square degree in the nebula about [Greek: e] Argus which I have just completed comprises between 1300 and 1400 stars. This is indeed a stupendous object. It is a vastly extensive branching and looped nebula, in the centre of the densest part of which is [Greek: e] Argus, itself a most remarkable star, seeing that from the fourth magnitude which it had in Ptolemy's time, it has risen (by _sudden starts_, and not gradually) to such a degree of brilliancy as _now_ actually to surpa.s.s Canopus, and to be second only to Sirius. One of these _leaps_ I myself witnessed when in the interval of ceasing to observe it in one year, and resuming its observation in two or three months after in the next, it had sprung over the heads of _all the stars of the first_ magnitude, from Fomalhaut and Regulus (the two least of them) to [Greek: a] Centauri, which it then just equalled, and which is the brightest of all but Canopus and Sirius! It has since made a fresh jump--and who can say it will be the last?

One of the most beautiful objects in the southern hemisphere is a pretty large, perfectly round, and very well-defined planetary nebula, of a fine, full _independent_ blue colour--the only object I have ever seen in the heavens fairly ent.i.tled to be called _independently_ blue, _i.e._, not by contrast. Another superb and most striking object is Lacaille's 30 Doradus, a nebula of great size in the larger nubicula, of which it is impossible to give a better idea than to compare it to a "true lover's knot," or a.s.semblage of nearly circular nebulous loops uniting in a centre, in or near which is an exactly circular round dark hole. Neither this nor the nebula about [Greek: e] Argus have any, the slightest, resemblance to the representations given of them by Dunlop.... As you are so kind as to offer to obtain information on any points interesting to me at Rome, here is one on which I earnestly desire to obtain the means of forming a correct opinion, _i.e._, the _real_ powers and merits of De Vico's great refractor at the Collegio Romano. De Vico's accounts of it appear to me to have not a little of the extra-marvellous in them. Saturn's _two_ close satellites regularly observed--eight stars in the trapezium of Orion! [Greek: a] Aquilae (as Schumacher inquiringly writes to me) divided into three! the supernumerary divisions of Saturn's ring well seen, &c., &c. And all by a Cauchoix refractor of eight inches? I fear me that these wonders are not for _female eyes_, the good monks are too well aware of the penetrating qualities of such optics to allow them entry within the seven-fold walls of their Collegio. Has Somerville ever looked through it? On his report I know I could quite rely. As for Lord Rosse's great reflector, I can only tell you what I hear, having never seen it, or even his three feet one. The great one is not yet completed. Of the other, those who _have_ looked through it speak in raptures. I met not long since an officer who, at Halifax in Nova Scotia, saw _the comet_ at noon close to the sun, and very conspicuous the day after the perihelion pa.s.sage.

Your account of the pictures and other _deliciae_ of Venice makes our mouths water; but it is of no use, so we can only congratulate those who are in the full enjoyment of such things.

Ever yours most truly, J. HERSCHEL.

On returning to Rome I was elected a.s.sociate of the College of Risurgenti, and in the following April I became an honorary member of the Imperial and Royal Academy of Science, Literature and Art at Arezzo.

I finished an edition of the Physical Sciences, at which I had been working, and in spring Somerville hired a small house belonging to the Duca Sforza Cesarini, at Genzano, close to and with a beautiful view of the Lake of Nemi; but as I had not seen my son for some time, I now availed myself of the opportunity of travelling with our friend Sir Frederick Adam to England. We crossed the Channel at Ostend, and at the mouth of the Thames lay the old "Venerable," in which my father was flag-captain at the battle of Camperdown. I had a joyful meeting with my son and his wife, and we went to see many things that were new to me.

One of our first expeditions was to the British Museum. I had already seen the Elgin marbles, and the antiquities collected at Babylon by Mr.

Rich, when he was Consul at Bagdad, but now the Museum had been enriched by the marbles from Halicarna.s.sus, and by the marvellous remains excavated by Mr. Layard from the ruins of Nineveh, the very site of which had been for ages unknown.

I frequently went to Turner's studio, and was always welcomed. No one could imagine that so much poetical feeling existed in so rough an exterior. The water-colour exhibitions were very good; my countrymen still maintained their superiority in that style of art, and the drawings of some English ladies were scarcely inferior to those of first-rate artists, especially those of my friend, Miss Blake, of Danesbury.

While in England I made several visits; the first was to my dear friends Sir John and Lady Herschel, at Collingwood, who received me with the warmest affection. I cannot express the pleasure it gave me to feel myself at home in a family where not only the highest branches of science were freely discussed, but where the accomplishments and graces of life were cultivated. I was highly gratified and proud of being G.o.dmother to Rosa, the daughter of Sir John and Lady Herschel. Among other places near Collingwood I was taken to see an excellent observatory formed by Mr. Dawes, a gentleman of independent fortune; and here I must remark, to the honour of my countrymen, that at the time I am writing, there are twenty-six private observatories in Great Britain and Ireland, furnished with first-rate instruments, with which some of the most important astronomical discoveries have been made.

[I received the following letter from my mother while we were at Genzano. It is one of several which record in her natural and unaffected words my mother's profound admiration for Sir John Herschel.]

MRS. SOMERVILLE TO MISS SOMERVILLE.

SYDENHAM, _1st September, 1844_.

_Sunday Night._

MY DEAR MARTHA,