IX 



one of the earliest Fellows of the Royal Society) had, by her will, 

 dated 25th September, 1701, and proved 6th November, 1706, given 

 to the University an estate, which was to bo used as an endowment 

 of lectureships in algebra at nine of the colleges in Cambridge. These 

 posts were duly established. The great developments of analysis, 

 which took place at the end of the last century and during the first 

 half of the present century, gradually proved that the restriction 

 to algebra prevented the lectureships from being as adequate an 

 encouragement to the advancement of mathematics as they were 

 designed to be at the time of their establishment. Moreover, the 

 lecturers had ceased to attract undergraduates to their lectures : so 

 that the purpose of the foundation was not being fulfilled. Conse- 

 quently, in 1857, a proposal was made by the Council of the Senate 

 of the University that a new direction should be given to the endow- 

 ment by the establishment of a professorship, to be called the 

 Sadlerian Professorship of Pure Mathematics : the duty of the 

 professor was " to explain and teach the principles of pure mathe- 

 matics, and to apply himself to the advancement of that science." 

 The proposal was approved by the Senate on 3rd December, 1857, 

 and the new statute was sanctioned by an Order of the t^ueen in 

 Council on 7th March, 1860. Some time had to elapse before certain 

 provisional arrangements could be completed, and it was not until 

 after three years that the University was in a position to act. 



On 10th June, 1863, Cayley was elected Sadlerian professor : he 

 held the chair for the rest of his life. The stipend attached to the 

 professorship was modest, though it was improved in the course of 

 subsequent legislation ; these changes, however, could not have been 

 foreseen at the time when Cayley was elected. Yet he had no hesi- 

 tation about returning to Cambridge: for the post enabled him to 

 devote his life to the pursuit he liked best. He never felt the 

 slightest regret at having neglected the prospects of distinction at the 

 bar, or at having chosen to return to his University ; and he always 

 expressed perfect satisfaction and content with his life in Cambridge, 

 which was one of great happiness. 



His appointment as Sadlerian professor marks a turning point in 

 his life. Henceforward he lived, for the most part, in the quiet of 

 the University, though by no means in seclusion, for he took his 

 share in administration, which claims a part (often too large a part) 

 of the leisure of men fitted for this necessary duty. But he was not 

 burdened by heavy claims arising out of his official position : and he 

 was directed by the statutes governing him to do what was, as a 

 matter of fact, his ideal in life. No man could have been better 

 suited than Cayley was to fulfil the charge of the statutes : his know- 

 ledge and his power of research pointed him out as the obvious choice 

 of the electors. 



