concludethislastchapter,Ihavetorelateperhapsthemostextraordinarystoryofall——thatofanotherastronomerinhumblelife,inthepersonofaslatecounteratPortPenrhyn,Bangor,NorthWales。
WhileatBirnam,IreceivedaletterfrommyoldfriendtheRev。
CharlesWicksteed,formerlyofLeeds,callingmyattentiontothiscase,andinclosinganextractfromtheletterofayounglady,oneofhiscorrespondentsatBangor。Inthatlettershesaid:“WhatyouwriteofMr。ChristmasEvansremindsmeverymuchofavisitIpaidafeweveningsagotoanoldmaninUpperBangor。HeworksontheQuay,buthasaverydecidedtasteforastronomy,hisleisuretimebeingspentinitsstudy,withagreatpartofhisearnings。Iwenttherewithsomefriendstoseeanimmensetelescope,whichhehasmadealmostentirelywithoutaid,preparingtheglassesasfaraspossiblehimself,andsendingthemawaymerelytohavetheirconcavitychanged。Heshowedusallhistreasureswiththegreatestdelight,explaininginEnglish,butsubstitutingWelshwhenataloss。Hehasscarcelyeverbeenatschool,buthaslearntEnglishentirelyfrombooks。AmongotherthingsheshoweduswereaGreekTestamentandaHebrewBible,bothofwhichhecanread。Hislargesttelescope,whichisseveralyardslong,hehasnamed’Jumbo,’andthroughithetoldushesawthesnowcaponthepoleofMars。Hehadanothersmallertelescope,madebyhimself,andhadaspectroscopeinprocessofmaking。Heisnowquiteold,buthisdelightinhisstudiesisstillunboundedandunabated。
Itseemssosadthathehashadnorightopportunityfordevelopinghistalent。“
Mr。Wicksteedwasverymuchinterestedinthecase,andcalledmyattentiontoit,thatImightaddthestorytomyrepertoryofself-helpingmen。WhileatYorkIreceivedacommunicationfromMissGraceEllis,theyoungladyinquestion,informingmeofthenameoftheastronomer——JohnJones,AlbertStreet,UpperBangor——andintimatingthathewouldbegladtoseemeanyeveningaftersix。Asrailwayshavehadtheeffectofbringingplacesveryclosetogetherinpointoftime——makingofBritain,asitwere,onegreattown——andastheautumnwasbrilliant,andtheholidayseasonnotatanend,Ihadnodifficultyindivergingfrommyjourney,andtakingBangoronmywayhomeward。
StartingfromYorkinthemorning,andpassingthroughLeeds,Manchester,andChester,IreachedBangorintheafternoon,andhadmyfirstinterviewwithMr。Jonesthatveryevening。
Ifoundhim,asMissGraceEllishaddescribed,active,vigorous,andintelligent;hisstatureshort,hisfacewell-formed,hiseyeskeenandbright。Iwasfirstshownintohislittleparlourdownstairs,furnishedwithhisbooksandsomeofhisinstruments;Iwasthentakentohistinyroomupstairs,wherehehadhisbigreflectingtelescope,bymeansofwhichhehadseen,throughthechamberwindow,thesnowcapofMars。HeissofondofphilologythatIfoundhehadnofewerthantwenty-sixdictionaries,allboughtoutofhisownearnings。“Iamfondofallknowledge,“hesaid——“ofReuben,Dan,andIssachar;butI
haveafavourite,aBenjamin,andthatisAstronomy。IwouldsellallofthemintoEgypt,butpreservemyBenjamin。“Hisstoryisbrieflyasfollows:——
“IwasbornatBryngwynBach,Anglesey,in1818,andIamsixty-fiveyearsold。IgotthelittleeducationIhave,whenaboy。OwenOwen,whowasacousinofmymother’s,keptaschoolatachapelinthevillageofDwyrain,inAnglesey。ItwassaidofOwenthatheneverhadmorethanaquarterofayear’sschooling,sothathecouldnotteachmemuch。Iwenttohisschoolatseven,andremainedwithhimaboutayear。Thenheleft;andsometimeafterwardsIwentforashortperiodtoanoldpreacher’sschool,atBrynsieneynchapel。ThereIlearntbutlittle,theteacherbeingnegligent。Heallowedthechildrentoplaytogethertoomuch,andhepunishedthemforslightoffences,makingthemobstinateanddisheartened。ButIrememberhisoncesayingtotheotherchildren,thatIranthroughmylittlelesson’likeacoach。’However,whenIwasabouttwelveyearsold,myfatherdied,andinlosinghimIlostalmostallthelittleIhadlearntduringtheshortperiodsIhadbeenatschool。ThenI
wenttoworkforthefarmers。
“InthisstateofignoranceIremainedforyears,untilthetimecamewhenonSundayIusedtosaddletheoldblackmareforCadwalladrWilliams,theCalvinistMethodistpreacher,atPenCeint,Anglesey;andafterhehadriddenaway,Iusedtohideinhislibraryduringthesermon,andthereIlearntalittlethatI
shallnotsoonforget。InthatwayIhadmanyadraughtofknowledge,asitwere,bystealth。Havingastrongtasteformusic,Iwasmuchattractedbychoralsinging;andonSundaysandintheeveningsItriedtocopyoutairsfromdifferentbooks,andaccustomedmyhandalittletowriting。Thistendencywas,however,chokedwithinmebytoomuchworkwiththecattle,andbyotherfarmlabour。Inaword,Ihadbutlittlefairweatherinmysearchforknowledge。Onethingenticedmefromanother,tothedetrimentofmyplans;somefairEveoftenstandingwithanappleinhand,temptingmetotasteofthat。
“Theoldpreacher’sbooksatPenCeintwereinWelsh。IhadnotyetlearnedEnglish,buttriedtolearnitbycomparingonelineintheEnglishNewTestamentwiththesamelineintheWelsh。
ThiswastheHamiltonianmethod,andthewayinwhichIlearntmostlanguages。Ifirstgotanideaofastronomyfromreading’TheSolarSystem,’byDr。Dick,translatedintoWelshbyEleazarRobertsofLiverpool。ThatbookIfoundonSundaysinthepreacher’slibrary;andmanyasublimethoughtitgaveme。Itwascomparativelyeasytounderstand。
“WhenIwasaboutthirtyIwastakenveryill,andcouldnolongerwork。IthenwenttoBangortoconsultDr。Humphrys。
AfterIgotbetterIfoundworkatthePortat12s。aweek。I
wasemployedincountingtheslates,orloadingtheshipsintheharbourfromtherailwaytrucks。IlodgedinFwnDeg,nearwhereHughWilliams,Gatehouse,thenkeptanavigationschoolforyoungsailors。Ilearntnavigation,andsoonmadeconsiderableprogress。Ialsolearntalittlearithmetic。Atfirstnearlyalltheyoungmenweremoreadvancedthanmyself;butbeforeI
leftmattersweredifferent,andtheScripturewordsbecameverified——“thelastshallbefirst。“IremainedwithHughWilliamssixmonthsandahalf。DuringthattimeIwenttwicethroughthe’Tutor’sAssistant,’andamonthbeforeIleftIwastaughtmensuration。ThatisalltheeducationIreceived,andthegreaterpartofitwasduringmyby-hours。
“IgottoknowEnglishprettywell,thoughWelshwasthelanguageofthoseaboutme。FromeasybooksIwenttothosemoredifficult。IwashelpedinmypronunciationofEnglishbycomparingthewordswiththephoneticalphabet,aspublishedbyThomasGeeofDenbigh,in1853。WithmyspareearningsIboughtbooks,especiallywhenmywagesbegantorise。Mr。Wyatt,thesteward,wasverykind,andraisedmypayfromtimetotimeathispleasure。IsupposeIwaswilling,correct,andfaithful。I
improvedmyknowledgebyreadingbooksonastronomy。Igot,amongstothers,’TheMechanismoftheHeavens,’byDenisonOlmstead,anAmerican;averyunderstandablebook。LearningEnglish,whichwasaforeignlanguagetome,ledmetolearnotherlanguages。Itookpleasureinfindingouttherootsorradixesofwords,andfromtimetotimeIaddedforeigndictionariestomylittlelibrary。ButItookmostpleasureinastronomy。
“TheperusalofSirJohnHerschel’s’OutlinesofAstronomy,’andofhis’TreatiseontheTelescope,’setmymindonfire。I
conceivedtheideaofmakingatelescopeofmyown,forIcouldnotbuyone。WhilereadingtheMechanics’MagazineIobservedtheaccountsofmenwhomadetelescopes。WhyshouldnotIdothesame?Ofcourseitwasamatterofgreatdifficultytoonewhoknewcomparativelylittleoftheuseoftools。ButIhadawillingmindandwillinghands。SoIsettowork。IthinkI
mademyfirsttelescopeabouttwentyyearsago。Itwasthirty-sixincheslong,andthetubewasmadeofpasteboard。I
gottheglassesfromLiverpoolfor4s。6d。CaptainOwens,oftheshipTalacra,boughtthem。Healsoboughtforme,atabookstall,theGreekLexiconandtheGreekNewTestament,forwhichhepaid7s。6d。WithmynewtelescopeIcouldseeJupiter’sfoursatellites,thecratersonthemoon,andsomeofthedoublestars。Itwasawonderfulpleasuretome。
“ButIwasnotsatisfiedwiththeinstrument。Iwantedabiggerandamoreperfectone。IsolditandgotnewglassesfromSolomonofLondon,whowasalwaysreadytotrustme。Ithinkitwasabouttheyear1868thatIbegantomakeareflectingtelescope。Igotaroughdiscofglass,fromSt。Helens,ofteninchesdiameter。Ittookmefromninetotendaystogrindandpolishitreadyforparabolisingandsilvering。Ididthisbyhandlabourwiththeaidofemery,butwithoutalathe。I
finallyusedrougeinsteadofemeryingrindingdowntheglass,untilIcouldseemyfaceinthemirrorquiteplain。Ithensentthe83/16inchdisctoMr。GeorgeCalver,ofChelmsford,toturnmysphericalcurvetoaparaboliccurve,andtosilverthemirror,forwhichIpaidhim5L。Imountedthisinmytimbertube;thefocuswastenfeet。WheneverythingwascompleteI
triedmyinstrumentonthesky,andfoundittohavegooddefiningpower。ThediameteroftheotherglassIhavemadeisalittleundersixinches。
“Youaskmeiftheirperformancesatisfiesme?Well;Ihavecomparedmysix-inchreflectorwitha41/4inchrefractor,throughmywindow,withapowerof100and140。Ican’tsaywhichwasthebest。ButifoutonaclearnightIthinkmyreflectorwouldtakemorepowerthantherefractor。Howeverthatmaybe,IsawthesnowcapontheplanetMarsquiteplain;anditissatisfactorytomesofar。Withrespecttothe83/16inchglass,Iamnotquitesatisfiedwithityet;butIammakingimprovements,andIbelieveitwillrewardmylabourintheend。“
BesidestheseinstrumentsJohnJoneshasanequatorialwhichismountedonatripodstand,madebyhimself。Itcontainstherightascension,declination,andazimuthindex,allneatlycarveduponslate。Inhisspectroscopehemakeshisprismsoutoftheskylightsusedinvessels。Thesehegrindsdowntosuithispurpose。Ihavenotbeenabletogointothecompletedetailofthemannerinwhichheeffectsthegrindingofhisglasses。
Itisperhapstootechnicaltobeillustratedinwords,whicharefulloffocuses,parabolas,andconvexities。Butenoughmaybegatheredfromtheaboveaccounttogiveanideaofthewonderfultenacityofthisagedstudent,whocountshisslatesintotheshipsbyday,anddevoteshiseveningstotheperfectingofhisastronomicalinstruments。Butnotonlyisheanastronomerandaphilologist;heisalsoabard,andhispoetryismuchadmiredinthedistrict。HewritesinWelsh,notinEnglish,andsignshimself“Ioan,ofBryngwynBach,“theplacewherehewasborn。
Indeed,heisstillatalossforwordswhenhespeaksinEnglish。HeusuallyinterlardshisconversationwithpassagesinWelsh,whichishismother-tongue。Afriendhas,however,donemethefavourtotranslatetwoofJohnJones’spoemsintoEnglish。Thefirstis’TheTelescope’:——
“ToHeavenitpoints,whererulestheSunIngoldengall’riesbright;
AndthepaleMooninsilverraysMakesdallianceinthenight。
“ItsweepswitheagleglancesThesky,itsmyriadthrong,ThatmyriadthrongtomarshalAndbringtoustheirsong。
“OrbuponorbitfollowsAsofttheyintertwine,AndworldsinvastprocessionsAsifinbattleline。
“Itlovesallthingscreated,Tofollowandtotrace;
AndneverfearstopenetrateThedarkabyssofspace。“
Thenextisto’TheComet’:-
“Amaidenfair,withlightofstarsbedecked,StartsoutofspaceatJove’scommand;
Withvisagewild,andlongdishevelledhair,Speedsshealongherstarrycourse;
Thehostsofheavenregardsshenot,——
FainwouldshescornthemallexceptherfatherSol,Whosemightyinfluenceherheadlongcoursedothallcontrol。“
Thefollowingtranslationmayalsobegiven:itshowsthatthebardisnotwithoutaspiceofwit。Afellow-workmanteasedhimtowritesomelines;whenJohnJones,inaseeminglyinnocentmanner,putsomequestions,andascertainedthathehadoncebeenatailor。Accordinglythisepigramwaswritten,andappearedinthelocalpapertheweekafter:“ToaquondamTailor,nowaSlate-teller“:——
“Tothreadandneedlenowgood-bye,WithslatesIaimatriches;
ThescissorswillIne’ermoreply,Normake,butorder,breeches。“[12]
Thebi-lingualspeechisthegreateducationaldifficultyofWales。TogetanentranceintoliteratureandsciencerequiresaknowledgeofEnglish;or,ifnotofEnglish,thenofFrenchorGerman。ButtheWelshlanguagestandsintheway。FewliteraryorscientificworksaretranslatedintoWelsh。Hencethegreateducationaldifficultycontinues,andismaintainedfromyeartoyearbypatriotismandEisteddfods。