ADDRESS 



THE VERY REV. GEORGE PEACOCK, D.D., 



DEAN OF ELY, F.R.S., F.B.A.S., &C. 



Gentlemen,— The Noble Lord to whose office I succeed, and who has 

 introduced me to your notice, has spoken of me in terms which, however 

 flattering to my pride, I can only accept as the expression of his friendship 

 and good will ; and I hope he will permit me to add, that whilst there are few 

 persons for whose characteF and attainments I feel a more sincere respect, 

 there is none whose favourable opinion I should be more anxious to merit. 

 The Members of the Association who were present at the Meeting at Cork, 

 can bear witness to the courteous, dignified and able manner in which he 

 discharged the duties of his office ; whilst others who, like myself, had the 

 opportunity of seeing them, could not fail to be deeply impressed with the 

 magnificent works which are accomplished, or in progress, at his noble resi- 

 dence at Birr Castle. Whatever met the eye was upon a gigantic scale : 

 telescopic tubes, through which the tallest man could walk upright ; tele- 

 scopic mirrors, whose weights are estimated not by pounds but by tons, 

 polished by steam power with almost inconceivable ease and rapidity, and, 

 with a certainty, accuracy and delicacy exceeding the most perfect produc- 

 tion of the most perfect manipulation; structures of solid masonry for the 

 support of the telescope and its machinery more lofty and massive than 

 those of a Norman keep; whilst the same arrangements which secure the sta- 

 bility of masses which no ordinary crane could move, provide likewise for their 

 obeying the most delicate impulse of the most delicate finger, or for following 

 the stars in their course, through the agency of clockwork, with a movement 

 so steady and free from tremors, as to become scarcely perceptible when in- 

 creased one thousand-fold by the magnifying powers of the eye-glass. 



The instruments, which were mounted and in operation at the time of my 

 visit, exceeded in optical power and in the clearness and precision of their defi- 

 nition of celestial objects, the most perfect productions of the greatest modern 

 artists ; and though much had been then accomplished, and great difficulties 

 had been overcome by a rare combination of mechanical, chemical and ma- 

 thematical skill and knowledge in the preparation for mounting the great tele- 

 scope of six feet diameter and fifty-four feet focal length, yet much remained 

 to be done ; but I am quite sure that the Members of the Association will learn 

 with unmixed satisfaction that the Noble Lord has entirely succeeded in his 

 great undertaking; that the great telescope has already made its first essay, 

 and that its performance is in every way satisfactory ; and that he proposes to 

 communicate to the Mathematical and Physical Section, in the course of the 

 present Meeting, an account of the process which he has followed in the pre- 

 paration and polishing of his mirrors, and of the expedients which he has 



