558 Royal Astronomical Society. 



of the Mathematical Repository ~— a publication which made its ap- 

 pearance at irregular intervals, and of which the object was to afford 

 a channel for giving publicity to lucubrations of greater length, 

 and to the solutions of problems of a higher order of difficulty, than 

 could be admitted into the Diaries. At that time he was employed 

 as land-agent on the estate of a nobleman in Wales. In 1802 he 

 was appointed, on the recommendation of Dr. Hutton, one of the 

 mathematical instructors in the Military College then recently esta- 

 blished at Great Marlow — an office which he continued to fill with 

 much ability and advantage to the institution, until within a few 

 months before his death, which took place in March 1840. 



" The first series of the Mathematical Repository terminated in 

 1802, when the work had extended to five duodecimo volumes. 

 Another series was begun in 1803, which was continued, though 

 with some long intermissions, until 1835, when it had extended to 

 six volumes 8vo. To this publication some of the most distinguished 

 mathematicians of the country were occasional contributors ; and 

 although, as in all other periodicals, the contributions are of very 

 unequal merit, the work is on the whole valuable to the student of 

 geometry, particularly the earlier volumes of it, which contain many 

 very beautiful specimens of the application of the ancient geome- 

 trical analysis. Besides the Mathematical Repository, Mr. Ley- 

 bourn was editor of the ' Questions proposed in the Ladies' Diary,' 

 published in 1817, in four vols. 8vo ; and of the Gentleman's Diary 

 from 1824 till his death. To these several works he contributed 

 little of his own ; but his merit in bringing them forward, and the 

 liberality he showed in defraying the expense of their publication 

 (for, with the exception of the Gentleman's Diary, they were all 

 attended with a considerable pecuniary sacrifice), will secure for his 

 name the respect of those who wish well to the propagation of use- 

 ful knowledge. 



"Mr. Leybourn's distinguishing merit, however, consisted in the 

 ability and zeal with which, during the long period of thirty-seven 

 years, he discharged his laborious public duties in the Military 

 College. As an instructor he was highly respected and esteemed by 

 the governors of the institution, and much beloved by his pupils, 

 in whose progress and advancement he took the warmest interest. 

 He was a man of a kind and benevolent disposition ; ready at all 

 times to extend a helping hand to those who stood in need of assist- 

 ance, more especially if they came recommended to him as possess- 

 ing a taste for the mathematics. 



•'Richard Best, Esq. was one of the earliest members of this So- 

 ciety, and, while his health permitted, he was a regular attendant 

 at the monthly meetings. He had a sort of hereditary connexion 

 with our science through his mother, who was a niece of Dr. Brad- 

 ley, being the daughter of his sister Rebekah, the wife of Mr. John 

 Dallaway ; and he possessed some books and instruments which 

 had once been the property of that distinguished astronomer. The 



Eopular branches of astronomy were to him a source of amusement ; 

 e was a diligent observer of telescopic phsenomena, and he occa- 



