556 Royal Astronomical Society. 



Reform Bill. In this new employment Capt. Drummond exerted 

 himself with his usual zeal and ability, which led to a more intimate 

 connexion with the ministers then in power ; and he was, in April 

 1832, appointed private secretary to Lord Althorp, then Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer. In this situation he aided the cause of this So- 

 ciety, and was the principal means of our obtaining the grant of the 

 present apartments which we now occupy. In July 1835, he was 

 appointed under-'secretary to the Earl of Mulgrave, Lord Lieute- 

 nant of Ireland. The arduous duties of his office, united with other 

 employments which he undertook, more especially as first commis- 

 sioner of the Irish Railway Commission, in which his usual good 

 sense and indefatigable exertions were manifest, proved too much 

 for his physical strength. His constitution gradually gave way, and 

 it was soon apparent that the scene was about to close upon him 

 for ever. At length, ' in the plentitude of mental power and the 

 maturity of knowledge, beloved in private and esteemed in public 

 life,' he expired on the 15th of April last, and was followed to the 

 grave by thousands who revered his memory and mourned his loss. 



" Dr. Olinthus Gregory was one of the earliest members of the 

 Society, and for some time held the office of secretary. Though 

 educated in the old English school of mathematics, his acquaint- 

 ance with the continental methods was much more extensive than 

 would have appeared from his writings, which were almost alto- 

 gether intended for those who had studied the older English writers. 

 He knew generally what was going on abroad, particularly in the 

 extensions of geometry made by the school of Monge. As editor of 

 the well-known Ladies' and Gentleman's Diaries, he was brought 

 into communication with young students who were desirous of dis- 

 tinguishing themselves in the exact sciences. The protection and 

 encouragement which he afforded to those who were pursuing the 

 path which he himself had trodden, will be gratefully remembered 

 by many; and the period of his superintendence of those useful 

 works will be remembered as that in which every contributor of 

 merit found a friend in the editor. His manners were altogether in 

 accordance with what might have been expected from the preceding 

 account ; all he did and said was dictated by benevolence of feeling. 



" Dr. Gregory's occupations were numerous and engrossing, and 

 his power of application was very great. About thirteen years ago 

 he was attacked with severe illness, from which it was hardly ex- 

 pected that he would finally recover. Although more or less of an 

 invalid from that time till his death, he continued his numerous 

 avocations with all but, if not altogether, his accustomed energy. 

 On the removal of the tax on almanacs, he was the first to see that 

 the publications which he superintended might be made still more 

 useful in diffusing the spirit of scientific inquiry ; and, from that 

 time till his death, original treatises, or useful reprints, were made 

 to form part of them. 



" The writing by which he is best known to the public at large is 

 his letters on the evidences of Christianity, a work of large circu- 

 lation. His treatise on mechanics had a considerable celebrity, and 



