“In concluding this long report, I have been uniformly supported by the _confidence of the government_.”—_Astron. Royal, Rep. June 1844_, p. 20. The following extract of a letter from the Astronomer Royal to the late Sir Robert Peel, shows that his time was so occupied with the labours of the Railway Gauge Commission, that he was unable to draw up a memorial which he had himself proposed, even though it related to an astronomical subject—our colonial observatories. * * * * “I have been so closely employed on the papers of the Railway Gauge Commission, that it has been impossible for me to draw up a memorial before the present time. * * * * “April 16th, 1846. To the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., &c.” “By the giving opinions on subjects of railways and _other mechanical matters referred to me by Government_, it has appeared that our energies are not wholly absorbed in the mere Astronomy of the Observatory.”—_Astron. Royal, Rep. June 1846_, p. 10. (N.B. The italics do not occur in the original quotations.) Now it is evident from these extracts from Reports of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors and from other facts, that he wishes himself to be considered the general referee of Government in all scientific questions. The office of Astronomer Royal is one of great importance: it requires the undivided energy and talents of one person, and great as Mr. Airy’s abilities undoubtedly are, yet it is highly injudicious to divert them from their legitimate object,—the direction of the many arduous duties of the establishment over which he presides. During many years I have frequently found, in my communications with members of Government on subjects connected with the Calculating Engines, difficulties on their part which remained entirely unexplained;—unseen obstacles which were never alluded to, but whose existence could not be doubted. Although frequently warned by personal friends that it was unwise to neglect such machinations as those which I have, at length, been reluctantly compelled to expose; yet I was unwilling for a long time to believe that they were directed against myself. I have now traced the connexion of the Rev. R. Sheepshanks, (who had avowed his determination “_to discredit me_,” and also to “_attack me on another subject at a future time_,”) through his friend the Astronomer Royal, with the Government. According to the Astronomer Royal’s own statement, he was their adviser on all scientific subjects. The Government had no other official adviser, and would scarcely have ventured to decide upon points connected with some of the most profound questions of mathematics, on their own responsibility. There are, I am aware, other channels than those of official reports, by which the Government may have been influenced. I do not, therefore, expect to find any formal report denying the practical utility of the Calculating Engines, or the possibility of constructing them.