one would in a great degree apply to the other. Indeed, I felt that most persons would be better prepared for the study of Natural History generally, by the study of Natural Philosophy in its various Branches, than if they were in ignorance of the latter, but there were other considerations connected with the desire I have entertained to deliver these Lectures, not so much allied to the subject of Astronomy as matters of private feeling. I have been personally long connected, not with the town of Ipswich precisely, but with the neighbourhood. I remember, with gratitude, that the first time I was shown an astronomical object of any great interest, it was exhibited to me by the founder of the mechanical and manufacturing Institution which has now risen to such great importance in the town of Ipswich. It was by the elder Mr. Ransome that I was first shown the planet Saturn, with a telescope manufactured by his own hands. And I may add, that the first Nautical Almanac I possessed, was received as a present from a gentleman then residing in Ipswich, who has now risen to great eminence in the Metropolis as an engineer. From these and other circumstances I was desirous, when the opportunity should occur, of offering to the members of the Museum, or to any other similar body in the town of Ipswich, a course of Lectures on Astronomy.
In offering them to the authorities of the Museum, I made but one remark—that I understood it would be perfectly agreeable to the members of the Institution, and that if such were the case, it would be also exceedingly agreeable to myself, that the regulations for the attendance upon the Lectures should be framed in such a way as to give facilities of introduction to persons concerned in the mechanical operations of
