CHAPTER IX. 



SOCIETY IS LONDON CORONATION OF GEORGE IV. LETTER 

 TO DR. SOMERVILLE. 



WE went frequently to see Mr. Babbage while he 

 was making his Calculating-machines. He had a 

 transcendanc intellect, unconquerable perseverance, 

 and extensive knowledge on many subjects, besides 

 being a first-rate mathematician. I always found 

 him most amiable and patient in explaining the 

 structure and use of the engines. The first he made 

 could only perform arithmetical operations. Not 

 satisfied with that, Mr. Babbage constructed an 

 analytical engine, which could be so arranged as to 

 perform all kinds of mathematical calculations, and 

 print each result. 



Nothing has afforded me so convincing a proof of 

 the unity of the Deity as these purely mental con- 

 ceptions of numerical and mathematical science 

 which have been by slow degrees vouchsafed to 

 man, and are still granted in these latter times by 

 the Differential Calculus, now superseded by the 



