88 HISTORY OF THE [1840-50 a few years ago. But it would be pedantic to measure Baily mainly by such a scale. There is hardly space here to draw a fitting picture of him ; reference may be made to HerschePs memorial. Suffice it to say that he was born in 1774, made an extended voyage to the United States, then a somewhat adven- turous undertaking ; joined a firm of stockbrokers about 1801, and, having accumulated a fortune sufficient for his desires, retired from the Stock Exchange at the age of 51. He was an original member of the Society, and after his retirement from business in 1825, astronomy and the interests of the Society were the undivided objects of his life. He acted as Secretary for the first three years of the Society, prepared all the reports of Council up to the year of his death, and was elected President on four occasions. " To term Mr. Baily a man of brilliant genius or great invention," Herschel writes, " would in effect be doing him wrong." It was his character that left its mark ; "its impressiveness was more felt on reflection than on the instant, for it consisted in the absence of all that was obtrusive or imposing, without the pos- sibility of that absence being misconstrued into a deficiency. Equal to every occasion which arose, either in public or private life, yet when not called forth or when others occupied the field, content to be unremarked ; ... his temper, always equable and cheerful, . . . was a bond of kindness and union to all around him, and inspired an alacrity of spirit into every affair in which the co-operation of others was needed, . . . and brought out the latent warmth of every disposition. Order, method, and regularity are the essence of business, and these qualities pervaded all proceedings in which he took a part, and, indeed, all his habits of life. . . . This was not so much the result of acquired habits as a man of business, as a natural consequence of his practical views, and an emanation of that clear, collected spirit of which even his ordinary handwriting was no uncertain index." One could continue to quote for the pleasure of it, but these extracts are enough. One sees the man he was, and why the Society could find no language to express what it owed to him. The Society's Outlook. But to return to the general policy of the Society. While the Society showed such a proper concern to draw all its members, even the less expert, into active participation, it regarded its own duties to astronomy as of the widest and most responsible kind. It was an international exchange and assessor of values, particularly in questions of the award of the Gold Medal. It performed this duty generally in an attitude of judicial imparti- ality. In regard to the Neptune question, the Council refers to the necessity of " guarding against the undue influence of national feeling," and adds that in this question where a French and an
