s in 1816.
"In December 1816, Dealtry's Fluxions was bought for me, and I read it
and understood it well. I borrowed Hutton's Course of Mathematics of
old Mr Ransome, who had come to reside at Greenstead near Colchester,
and read a good deal of it.
"About Ladyday 1817 I began to read mathematics with Mr Rogers
(formerly, I think, a Fellow of Sidney College, and an indifferent
mathematician of the Cambridge school), who had succeeded a Mr Tweed
as assistant to Mr Crosse in the school. I went to his house twice a
week, on holiday afternoons. I do not remember how long I received
lessons from him, but I think to June, 1818. This course was extremely
valuable to me, not on account of Mr Rogers's abilities (for I
understood many things better than he did) but for its training me
both in Cambridge subjects and in the Cambridge accurate methods of
treating them. I went through Euclid (as far as usually read), Wood's
Algebra, Wood's Mechanics, Vince's Hydrostatics, Wood's Optics,
Trigonometry (in a geometrical treatise and also in Woodhouse's
algebraical form), Fluxions to a good extent, Newton's Principia to
the end of the 9th section. This was a large quantity, but I read it
accurately and understood it perfectly, and could write out any one of
the propositions which I had read in the most exact form. My connexion
with Mr Rogers was terminated by _his_ giving me notice that he could
not undertake to receive me any longer: in fact I was too much for
him. I generally read these books in a garret in our house in George
Lane, which was indefinitely appropriated to my brother and myself. I
find that I copied out Vince's Conic Sections in February, 1819. The
first book that I copied was the small geometrical treatise on
Trigonometry, in May, 1817: to this I was urged by old Mr Ransome,
upon my complaining that I could not purchase the book: and it was no
bad lesson of independence to me."
During the same period 1817-1819 he was occupied at school on
translations into blank verse from the Aeneid and Iliad, and read
through the whole of Sophocles very carefully.
The classical knowledge which he thus gained at school and
subsequently at Cambridge was sound, and he took great pleasure in it:
throughout his life he made a practice of keeping one or other of the
Classical Authors at hand for occasional relaxation. He terminated his
schooling in June 1819. Shortly afterwards his father left Colchester
and went to reside at Bury S
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