278 THE SEA. 



Ha\vke; the conqueror with Rodney lived to welcome the heroes of Trafalgar not as bed- 

 ridden or imbecile men, though they might be somewhat shattered but still able to enjoy life 

 .and to give the vividness of reality to the narratives of the past. All phases of naval service 

 were represented. One of the ' saucy AretJmsa' s ' smoked his pipe with an old Agamemnon, 

 -and men who had first smelt powder on the Canadian lakes listened reverently to the recollec- 

 tions of those who had seen L' Orient, explode in thunder at the Nile. Greenwich Hospital 

 will always be a great and useful institution a mighty boon, whether to the sick nursed 

 within or to the poor pensioned without its walls." 



Before leaving Greenwich we must certainly pay a visit to the Observatory, a building 

 which has such intimate relations with the sea. The account which follows is that of M. 

 Esquiros, * who particularly studied all our institutions connected with maritime interests : 



" I entered/' says he, " a well-lighted apartment, the walls of which were covered with 

 charts, engravings, photographic portraits of the moon, and Donati's famous comet of 1858. 

 Mr. [now Sir George] Airy, the Astronomer Royal, is a man who has grown grey in the 

 study of the stars; his energetic features indicate the incessant activity of the strong intellect 

 which for more than a quarter of a century has upheld the reputation of Greenwich Obser- 

 vatory. On his writing-table were heaped a quantity of papers covered with calculations, and 

 a maze of letters as to a thousand matters of business. A large iron cupboard contains all 

 the precious documents which will, no doubt, one day serve to trace out the scientific history 

 of the nineteenth century. Here, for instance, are preserved the letters and authentic docu- 

 ments which are destined to modify certain received opinions as to the discovery of the 

 planet Neptune. In this cupboard may also be found the records of bygone errors 

 and chimerical ideas, which one wonders to find reappearing in this enlightened age. 



" It is difficult to believe that many amongst the English still confound astronomy 

 with judicial astrology; but Mr. Airy preserves a very curious collection letters that 

 he has received from all classes of persons, asking what his terms are for drawing a 

 horoscope. Sometimes it is a young man wishing to know ' who will be his wife / 

 at others it is a lady, on the eve of embarking in the great business of life, who 

 desires to consult the stars. Postage-stamps are occasionally sent with these missives, 

 and he or she who consults the oracle promises to make known, if necessary, the true 

 day and hour of their birth. The fact is, that a great many people can scarcely 

 understand how the astronomers can contemplate the vault of heaven by day and 

 night without endeavouring to trace out the secret of human destiny. Some years 

 back a young lady dressed in good taste applied at the door of the Observatory; 

 she felt interested in one of her near relations, a sailor in the Pacific Ocean, from 

 whom no news had been received for several years. After she had had a few minutes' 

 conversation with one of the assistants, she went away bathed in tears, because the 

 stars were not able to tell her if the object of her affections were still alive/' 



On the ground that Greenwich Park now occupies there once stood an ancient tower, 

 built about the year 1440, by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, and uncle to King Henry VI. 

 In the time of Elizabeth it was called Mireflcur. In 1G42 the name of Greenwich Castle was 



* " English Seamen and Divers." 



