<4 
NATURE 
11y 
THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1873 
FEREMIAH HORROX 
i I, 
e (3 national glory can ever be connected with a natural 
phenomenon, the transit of Venus over the sun’s disc 
may be said to bring peculiar distinction to England. It 
is in a manner inscribed upon one of the most brilliant 
pages of our naval history ; it led to some of the most 
remarkable discoveries for which mankind is indebted to 
our geographical enterprise, and made the renown of our 
most famous navigator. A hundred and thirty years be- 
fore Cook, the phenomenon itself was, for the first time in 
human history, accurately observed in a corner of Eng- 
land, by an English youth, self-taught, and provided with 
few of the appliances of scientific research. Now that 
the spectacle, so striking in itself, so sublime in the infre- 
quent regularity of its recurrence, so important as the key 
to numerous astronomical problems, is again attracting 
the attention of civilised mankind, now that the expanse 
of ocean from Honolulu to Kerguelen’s Land is about to 
_ be dotted with watchers from the other side of the earth, 
the occasion appears favourable for recalling the memory 
of the original observer, Jeremiah Horrox, curate of 
_ Hoole, near Preston, in his day one of the most insignifi- 
cant of English hamlets. 
_ The little that is known respecting Horrox’s family and 
circumstances at least suffices to reveal the difficulties 
_ with which he had to contend. The place of his birth 
was Toxteth, near Liverpool. We cannot discover that 
the date usually assigned, 1619, rests on any good autho- 
rity, while it is rendered improbable by the fact that in 
this case he must have been matriculated at thirteen, and 
ordained at twenty. The first letter of his that has been 
_ preserved, dated in the summer of 1636, indicates, more- 
q Over, a compass of astronomical knowledge, as well as a 
general maturity of mind, hardly conceivable in a youth 
of seventeen; while his references to the discourage- 
ments which, previous to his acquaintance with his sym- 
_ pathising correspondent, had almost induced him to 
renounce astronomical study, bespeak a more protracted 
period of investigation than would have been possible in 
such early years. The date 1616, though unauthenticated 
by any external testimony, may very well be correct. 
Notwithstanding a doubtful report which traces his 
family to Scotland, his thoroughly Lancastrian patro- 
nymic denotes a local origin. His father’s profession is 
unknown ; we suspect him to have been a schoolmaster. 
_ The family dwelling is usually identified with a house 
_ pulled down a few years since to make room for 
the railway station. The family was numerous, and 
although it cannot have been indigent, Jeremiah’s 
matriculation as a sizar at Cambridge, and short 
stay at the University, prove that it was not rich, 
His entrance at Emmanuel College, then a stronghold of 
Puritanism, is conclusive as to the auspices which pre- 
sided over his bringing-up. This matriculation took 
place on July 5, 1632; he certainly left the university 
nomical observation, June 7, 1635, having been made at 
-Toxteth, is an almost certain testimony of his recession 
No, 189—VOL, viii, 
‘without a degree, and the fact of his first-recorded astro- | 
having taken place before that date. Want of means, 
and the necessity for contributing to the support of his 
family, are the only assignable reasons for a step which 
must have thrown the young student on his own resources, 
as regarded books, instruments, and intellectual com- 
panionship, The first glimpse we obtaia of him is fron 
the above-mentioned letter to Crabtree, dated June 2r, 
1636, From this and subsequent letters we gather that 
he has been for at least a year an observer of the 
heavens ; that his circumstances are narrow, and prevent 
him from obtaining the books and instruments he desires ; 
some, however, of the books he incidentally mentions must 
have been expensive, and can hardly have been procured 
by him elsewhere than at Cambridge. A list of these in 
his own handwriting is preserved, and has been noticed 
by Prof. De Morgan, who (“Companion to the Al- 
manac” 1837) points out that not one was the work of an 
English mathematician, or printed in this country. It 
further appears that his time was much engrossed 
by other pursuits, which no doubt bore reference 
to his preparation for orders, and to his exertions to 
support himself in the interim. He was, in all probability, 
engaged in tuition, to which land-surveying, or some 
similar occupation, may have been added. Thus three 
years passed by, at the end of which time we find him 
curate of Hoole, a village about five miles to the south of 
Preston, the church of which was at that period a chapel 
of ease to the adjoining parish of Croston. The patron 
was Sir Robert Thorall, the incumbent the Rev. James 
Hyatt. Horrox may be assumed to have been recom- 
mended to the latter by their common Puritanism, Mr. 
Hyatt having been one of the ousted ministers of 1662. 
He did not, however, retain his curacy much above a 
year ; the cause of his resignation is unknown. 
It is now time to treat more specifically of Horrox’s 
correspondence with Crabtree, the source of almost all 
our information respecting him. Crabtree, a clothier of 
Broughton, near Manchester, was one of a small band 
of worthies by whom astronomy was cultivated in the 
northern counties in those days, some particulars respect- 
ing whom will be found in the notes to Sherburne’s transla- 
tion of Manilius. These letters survive in the Latin version 
of Prof. Wallis, who naturally omitted whatever had no 
immediate bearing on science. A re-examination of the 
originals, should these still be extant in the Bodleian 
| Library or elsewhere, might probably result in the retrieval 
of some interesting biographical particulars. As it is, 
we obtain many glimpses of the scientific circumstances of 
the day. Errors were inevitable in the comparative infancy 
of astronomical science, and the mistakes of the master 
were naturally a snare to the pupil. Horrox was for a 
time not only misled, but induced to distrust the accu- 
racy of his own observations by their incompatibility with 
those of Lansbergius. Crabtree opened his eyes to the 
errors of the latter, and thus indirectly rendered him the 
still higher service of leading him to recognise the great- 
ness of Kepler, which Lansbergius had disparaged. His 
study of Kepler led, as we shall see, to his own great 
discovery : before entering upon this, however, it will be 
convenient to dispatch the minor matters of scientific in- 
terest contained in the correspondence. It is curious to 
learn that Horrox’s telescope cost him only 2s. 6d@., and 
was nevertheless better than some more expensive ones 
H 
