142 HISTORY OF THE [1860-70 and was never once able to preside at a meeting of the Society. Airy, Main, and Baden Powell each acted as Chairman three times; and Lee, six times. De Morgan's friends naturally besought him to remain upon the Council. He was, however, firm in his resolve, and he never served again upon the Council. When, however, towards the end of the year he was asked by the Council to lend them his friendly services, as in past years, in the preparation of the Annual Report, he undertook the work and carried it through. His combination of rigid principles with good nature and sense of humour is well known to those who are acquainted with his " Budget of Para- doxes "; and we could not have anticipated a refusal to help in a good cause from a man who, when called upon to defend the De in his name, could say that as he had seen in catalogues his own name between those of De Moivre and De Mosthenes, he was constantly tempted to make the same mistake in the Greek name. John Lee (1783-1866), who was thus elected President in 1861, was the eldest son of John Fiott, and of Harriett, daughter of William Lee, of Totteridge Park, Herts. He had graduated at Cambridge as fifth wrangler in 1806, and was elected to a Fellowship at St. John's College. Having obtained a Travelling Scholarship, he visited Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land, and amassed a valuable collection of antiquities. His antiquarian studies seem to have been the main interest of his life. In 1815 he had assumed the name of Lee by royal licence, in compliance with the will of his maternal uncle. On the death of Sir George Lee, Bart., in 1827, the whole of the family property devolved upon Dr. Lee, and he then became Lord of the Manors of Hartwell, Stone, and Bishopstone, and patron of two livings, to which reference has been made in a previous chapter. At Hartwell House he had an observatory built, where for many years astronomical and meteoro- logical observations were carried on. Admiral W. H. Smyth (1788-1865) was an enthusiastic instigator of Dr. Lee's astronomical efforts. He was the son of an American Loyalist, entered the navy in 1805, and was actively engaged until 1815 in the Indian Seas and on the coasts of Spain and Italy, where he had his full share of adventure and danger. From 1817 to 1824 he was engaged in the great survey of the Mediterranean, which has been described as " the greatest scientific survey ever planned and completed by one individual." After the end of his naval career he settled at Bedford in 1828, and there his duties as a magistrate brought him in frequent association with Dr. Lee. A great friendship arose between them, stimulated by common interests; and their
