ournal
in 1846-49, will see nothing but the most respectful and even laudatory
mention. In May 1849 occurred the affair at the Astronomical Society, and
my share in forcing the withdrawal of the name of the alleged contributor
to the journal. In February 1850 occurred the opportunity of payment. The
_Companion to the Almanac_[261] had to be noticed, in which, as then usual,
was an article signed with my name. I shall give the review of this article
entire, as a sample of a certain style, as well as an illustration of my
point. The reader will observe that my name is not mentioned. This would
not have done; the readers of the Magazine would have stared to see a name
of not infrequent occurrence in previous years all of a sudden fallen from
the heaven of respect into the pit of contempt, like Lucifer, son of the
morning. But before {147} giving the review, I shall observe that Mr.
Adams, in whose _favor_ the attack on the Astronomer Royal was made, did
not appreciate the favor; and of course did not come forward to shield his
champion. This gave deadly offence, as appear from the following passage,
(February 16, 1850):

"It was our intention to enter into a comparison of the contents of our
Nautical Almanack with those of its rival, the _Connaissance des Temps_;
but we shall defer it for the present. The Nautical Almanack for 1851 will
contain Mr. Adams's paper 'On the Perturbation of Uranus'; and when it
comes, in due course, before the public, we are quite sure that that
gentleman will expect that we shall again enter upon the subject with
peculiar delight. Whilst we have a thorough loathing for mean, cowardly,
crawlers--we have an especial pleasure in maintaining the claims of men who
are truly grateful as well as highly talented: Mr. Adams, therefore, will
find that he cannot be disappointed--and the occasion will afford us an
opportunity for making the comparison to which we have adverted."

This passage illustrates what I have said on the editorial function (Vol.
I, p. 15). What precedes and follows has some criticism on the Government,
the Astronomer Royal, etc., but reserved in allusion, oblique in sarcasm,
and not fiercely uncourteous. The coarseness of the passage I have quoted
shows editorial insertion, which is also shown by its blunder. The inserter
is waiting for the Almanac of 1851 that he may review Mr. Adams's paper,
which is to be contained in it. His own contributor, only two sentences
before the insert