240 Mary Somerville. 



Our house was in a very centra] position, and when 

 not engaged I gladly received anyone who liked to 

 come to us in the evening, and we had a most agree-: 

 able society, foreign and English, for we were not 

 looked upon as strangers, and the English society 

 was much better during the years we spent in Rome 

 than it was afterwards. 



I had an annual visit of an hour from the astro- 

 nomer Padre Vico, and Padre Pianciani, Professor of 

 Chemistry in the Collegio Romano. I was invited 

 to see the Observatory ; but as I had seen those of 

 Greenwich and Paris, I did not think it worth 

 while accepting the invitation, especially as it re- 

 quired an order from the Pope. I could easily 

 have obtained leave, for we were presented to 

 Gregory XVI. by the President of the Scotch 

 Catholic College. The Pope received me with 

 marked distinction ; notwithstanding I was dis- 

 gusted to see the President prostrate on the 

 floor, kissing the Pope's foot as if he had been 

 divine. I think it was about this time that I 

 was elected an honorary associate of the Accademia 

 Tiberiana. 



I had very great delight in the Campagna of 

 Rome ; the fine range of Apennines bounding the 

 plain, over which the fleeting shadows of the passing 

 clouds fell, ever changing and always beautiful, 



