accompany him to any distance in the fields, and hunt the hedges
and hedgerows for him. Never feeling that I could have too much of
his company, I frequently made him my companion in long country
walks, during which he incessantly asked for information. For the
science of astronomy he evinced an early taste. When a very little
boy, I began to teach him the names and positions of the principal
constellations, the revolutions of the earth on its axis, and the
fixity of the polar star. I believe we were the first to notice a
comet in 1845, which was only a short time visible here, having a
south declination, and which we afterwards knew to have been a fine
object in the Southern hemisphere.

At the age of eleven he went to school at Ashburton. Although the
distance was not more than six miles from the cottage of Ipplepen,
my then general place of residence, it was with much reluctance
that I consented to the separation. Several friends urged on me
that I was not doing him justice by keeping him at home; that a
public seminary where he could mix with other boys was an
advantage, even though he might not learn more. It also happened
that, at this time, a gentleman with whom I had been long
acquainted, and of whose talents I held a high opinion, was elected
to the head-mastership of that school, which held its chief
endowments from Gifford, the satiric poet, and Dr. Ireland, the
late Dean of Westminster. I remember how I returned in gloomy
spirits after leaving him there. As I had four other children, it
may be said that I showed undue partiality for this one, but my
conscience clears me from the charge. I deeply felt the loss of his
companionship. He was so suggestive that he set me thinking; and
whilst I was endeavouring to teach, I acquired more knowledge than
I imparted. There was nothing remarkable in his progress at school.