70 THE LIFE OF JAMES D^ FORBES, [CHAP. 



notes, especially on the temple of Jupiter Serapis. He 

 has a very fine telescope. Saw his mother and daughter. 

 Got a letter to Professor Whewell of Cambridge. 



' June 5th. Had an appointment at one o'clock to 

 meet Mr. Babbage at his house. Thence we went to see 

 his calculating machine with Mr. Harris, at the place 

 where the machine is making, near the Bethlehem Hospital, 

 St. George's Road. A man of the name of Clement has 

 the entire direction of it, and the mechanism is most 

 splendid : it is almost entirely made by the turning lathe, 

 which he has in high perfection. . . . Mr. Babbage asked 

 me to go and dine with him. I had occasion to see a 

 good deal of his character, which is very peculiar, and 

 particularly interested me. ... It was with the greatest 

 difficulty that I escaped from him at two in the morning 

 after a most delightful evening/ 



The following are some notices of the visit to Cam- 

 bridge : 



'May I7f&. Set off for Cambridge. Called on Pro- 

 fessors Sedgwick and Whewell, and Mr. Ramsay. Walked 

 about the charming grounds behind Trinity and King's 

 College. The day delightful, and the groves looking 

 truly academic. Under the circumstances could not fail 

 to muse a little upon the knife edges upon which a man's 

 fate in life may turn at a critical period, 



' Strolling through Trinity Court met Sedgwick, and 

 went with him to dine in Hall, when I met Whewell. 

 Two very interesting, indeed fascinating men. Took 

 wine in the Combination room. Had a remarkable proof 

 of Sedgwick's temper, kind feeling, and personal for- 

 bearance in a miserable juggler's exhibition. Strolled 

 through King's College by moonlight, and returned with 

 Sedgwick to his rooms, and with difficulty escaped from 

 his delightful conversation after midnight some time. 

 He is a man of great and varied talent, of true self- 

 estimation, of most liberal spirit to his contemporaries, of 

 most kind and conciliatory manners. 



'May 18th. Breakfasted with Mr. Peacock, tutor of 



