Page:Lectures on Ten British Physicists of the Nineteenth Century.djvu/118

 equatoreally. South was not satisfied with the work, and refused to pay, and a lawsuit followed in which the English astronomers of the day were called on as expert witnesses. Airy and Sheepshanks were on the side of the contractors; Babbage on the side of South. The court appointed an arbitrator, who decided against South; whereupon he dismantled the telescope and issued the following notice:

This dispute occasioned by one who eventually proved to be insane, led to much quarreling among the astronomical scientists of the day. De Morgan as a friend of Airy and Sheepshanks was publicly insulted by South, and on asking an explanation from him received what was virtually a challenge to a duel. Babbage, on the other hand, by his support of South, inflicted much damage on his own career. South, who was on the board of visitors, attacked Airy's administration of the observatory in public.

In 1835 Airy received an exceptional favor from the British Government; a pension of £300 was settled on his wife. Airy was a liberal, the Government conservative. No personal or political obligation was imposed; it was given avowedly as an encouragement to science. Later in this year a liberal Government came into power; they offered him the appointment of astronomer royal at the Greenwich Observatory, which