Lives of philosophers of the time of George III / by Henry, Lord Brougham.

  • Brougham and Vaux, Henry Brougham, Baron, 1778-1868.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lives of philosophers of the time of George III / by Henry, Lord Brougham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    omission in the Princlpia comes less within the scope of modern than ancient geometry. In the following letter, Mr. Garrick Moore has some doubt whether Mrs. M. was daughter of a brother or nephew of Dr. Simson. I have always heard my brother- in-law, the Admiral (Sir G-. Moore) state, that his mother was the professor’s niece;— “ Putney Villa, Sept. 28th, 1854. “ Deae Loed Beottgham, “ Some time ago you wrote to inquhe from me if I could recollect any particulars of Eobert Simson, the cele- brated geometrician. My mother’s name was Jane Simson, niece or great-niece of Eobert Simson, noted for being a very absent man. One day seeing her, he said, ‘ How do you do. Miss Fraser ? ’ misnaming his relative, which proceeded from his knowing that the Simsons were ori- ginally Frasers, being of that clan. It was known, that the room in which Eobert Simson lived was a den of confusion, he suffering no one to enter it to put it in order.^ My mother and another young lady had a violent curiosity to see this apartment, which he kept locked, and never opened but on hearing two Latin words pro- nounced : the ladies learned these words, and knocked at his door in_ the College — ‘ Who’s there?’ was cried from the interior; the Latin words were spoken, and the door was slowly opened, when my mother’s companion put in her arm, to prevent the professor shutting them out; so they got in, he being amused with the stratagem. They saw the room filled with books, papers, mathematical and carpenter’s tools, in inextricable confusion; but the professor got them at last a couple of chairs, from which he swept off the dust, and they sat down and chatted with him. The visit ended gaily. “ Another anecdote 1 recollect.—After a dinner given by one of the professors, amongst whom Eobert Simson was a guest, the ladies and gentlemen went to walk in the CoUeo-e garden. It happened that a pigeon pursued by a hawk flew into Mr. Simson’s bosom, who caught it; a gentleman seeing this cried, ‘ Throw the bird to the hawk,’ jestino-ly