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 he resolved to go to the bar, and entered Lincoln's Inn.

The university of London, which afterwards became University College, was just being started. De Morgan found law unpalatable, and on 23 Feb. 1828 was unanimously elected the first professor of mathematics, although the youngest applicant, on the strength of very high testimonials from Peacock, Airy, and other Cambridge authorities. He gave his introductory lecture, ‘On the Study of Mathematics,’ 5 Nov. 1828. Difficulties soon arose in the working of the new institution. The council claimed the right of dismissing a professor without assigning reasons. They acted upon this principle by dismissing the professor of anatomy, and De Morgan immediately resigned his post in a letter dated 24 July 1831. In October 1836 his successor, Mr. White, was accidentally drowned. De Morgan at once offered himself as a temporary substitute. He was then invited to resume the chair, and considering, after consulting Sir Harris Nicolas, that the regulations had been so altered as to give the necessary independence to the professors, he accepted the invitation. He was accordingly reappointed, and was professor for the next thirty years.

From the first De Morgan was a most energetic worker. In May 1828 he was elected a fellow of the Astronomical Society, and in 1830 was placed on the council. He was secretary from 1831 to 1838, and again from 1848 to 1854, and at other periods held office as vice-president and member of the council. He finally left the council in 1861 from dissatisfaction at the mode of electing a president (his offices are given in Memoirs, p. 270). He took a keen interest in its proceedings, edited its publications, and made many intimate friends at its meetings, among whom were Sir John Herschel, Admiral Smyth, Francis Baily, Sheepshanks, Bishop, De la Rue, and Professor Airy. A club which had social gatherings after the society's meetings provided him with one of his few opportunities of relaxation. He became a member of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, founded by Brougham and others in 1826. It published some of his early writings, and he contributed a great number of articles to its other publications, the ‘Penny Cyclopædia,’ of which he wrote nearly one-sixth (850 articles), the ‘Quarterly Journal of Education,’ and the unfortunately short-lived ‘Biographical Dictionary.’ He became a member of the committee in 1843. The society was dissolved in 1846. During his absence from the professorship De Morgan took private pupils, besides writing on his favourite topics. In 1831 he contributed the first of a series of twenty-five articles to the ‘Companion to the Almanac,’ and published his ‘Elements of Arithmetic’ (one of the S.D.U.K. tracts). In the autumn of 1831 he moved to 5 Upper Gower Street. Here he was a neighbour of [q. v.] In the vacation of 1837 De Morgan married Frend's daughter, Sophia Elizabeth, and settled at 69 Gower Street. His eldest daughter, Elizabeth Alice (whose death in 1853 permanently lowered his spirits), was born in 1838; his sons, William Frend, George Campbell, and Edward Lindsey, in 1839, 1841, and 1843. De Morgan was so much absorbed in various kinds of work as to have little leisure for domestic recreation. His lectures permitted him at first to return to his home at midday, though he had to abandon this practice upon moving to Camden Town in 1844. His evenings were always devoted to writing. After 1840 he gave up the practice of taking a holiday with his family in the country. He loved the town, and had a humorous detestation of trees, fields, and birds. He could not even bear Blackheath, calling the heath ‘desolation’ though he liked the steamboats. His lectures at University College attracted many men, afterwards distinguished, such as Sir G. Jessel, afterwards master of the rolls, Bagehot, Stanley Jevons, Jacob Waley, Mr. R. H. Hutton, and Mr. Sedley Taylor. The last two have described their recollections of his teaching (, pp. 97–101). He had the power of clear exposition, not always combined with learning and original genius, a quaint humour, and a thorough contempt for sham knowledge and low aims in study. He did much work with his pupils beyond the regular time of lecture, and occasionally took private pupils. His income as professor never reached 500l., and in later years declined, seldom exceeding 300l. Besides his professorial work he served for a short period as actuary; he often gave opinions upon questions of insurance, and contributed to the ‘Insurance Record.’ He took a lively part in scientific proceedings and in controversies such as that upon the rival claims of Adams and Leverrier. He never became a fellow of the Royal Society, and held that it was too much open to social influences to be thoroughly efficient as a working institution. His dislike to honorary titles led him to refuse the offer of the LL.D. degree from Edinburgh. For many years he did his best to promote the adoption of a decimal coinage. He contributed an article upon the subject to the ‘Companion to the Almanac’ for 1841.