Page:History of the Royal Astronomical Society (1923).djvu/233

 1870-80] ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 203 With this account, you will perceive why I thought it proper that the Society should be furnished with all the vouchers for the observations.* Airy appeared not to be particularly concerned about the attack on the Bedford Catalogue, because this consisted of specific charges that could be answered, but he objected to the loose and unsupported criticism of the " Reference Catalogue," and felt that the Council should have been more careful in publishing the paper. The matter was naturally the subject of much discussion privately. It appears that Mr. Sadler's paper had been referred in the usual manner to two Members of the Council ; but one of these referees did not see the paper, and the other gave it merely a cursory examination. At the meeting in March, Mr. Talmage was allowed to read " Remarks on Mr. Sadler's paper in the January number," consisting mainly of a letter addressed to him by Professor C. Piazzi Smyth, son of Admiral Smyth, in which the Professor naturally protested against Mr. Sadler's strictures. This gave an opportunity for several persons to state their views. A number of Fellows spoke vigorously against Mr. Sadler, and imputed to him a feeling of malignity and the desire to throw discredit on an honourable man. Others took a different line and were inclined to make excuses for Mr. Sadler, on the ground that his remarks were nothing more than fair criticism, and that it was advisable to correct errors in a published work. Mr. Sadler was not prepared to withdraw anything. He said that he had not imputed dis- honesty to Admiral Smyth, that his remarks were legitimate criticism, and that he had the right to point out errors. On being pressed by Mr. Common to withdraw any imputation of bad faith, he said that it was impossible to deny the imputations for which he had given grounds in his paper. Mr. Sadler's assertion that he had not imputed dishonesty to Captain Smyth is scarcely consistent with the fact that he had in his paper spoken of cases where Smyth " has presumably copied the measures of others." There also was in the English Mechanic on the day of this meeting (March 13) a letter by him, in which he spoke of the Bedford Catalogue in these words : "A stupendous fraud, as one of the first of double-star observers has happily termed it." The obnoxious phrase had been applied to the work by Mr. Burnham in a communication to the English Mechanic, which Mr. Proctor at a later stage endeavoured to soften by pointing out that the American use of the word " fraud " is of his observations should be presented to the Society for reference. They were soon after deposited in the library.
 * In presenting the medal, Airy had asked Captain Smyth that the MSS.