178 Mary Somerville. 



availing myself of your permission to submit such a 

 recommendation to the King. 



I have the honour to be, 

 Madam, with the sincerest respect, 



EGBERT PEEL. 



I was highly pleased, but my pleasure was of short 

 duration, for the very next day a letter informed 

 us that by the treachery of persons in whom we 

 trusted, the last remains of our capital were lost. 

 By the kindness of Lord John Eussell, when he 

 was Prime Minister, a hundred a-year was added to 

 my pension, for which I was very grateful. 



***** 



After the " Mechanism of the Heavens " was pub- 

 lished, I was thrown out of work, and now that I 

 had got into the habit of writing I did not know 

 what to make of my spare time. Fortunately the 

 preface of my book furnished me with the means 

 of active occupation ; for in it I saw such mutual 

 dependence and connection in many branches of 

 science, that I thought the subject might be carried 

 to a greater extent. 



There were many subjects with which I was only 

 partially acquainted, and others of which I had no 

 previous knowledge, but which required to be care- 

 fully investigated, so T had to consult a variety of 



