Ada, the Enchantress of Numbers:Poetical Science

by Toole, Betty Alexandra

  To Charles Babbage

  Tuesday, 2 September [1845]

  Brighton

  My Dear Babbage. I enclose you a note I have had from Mr John Crosse the author of the Article in the Westminster. He is in great distress at the infamous manner in which it has been printed.

  I have leave to mention his name to you, – & indeed to forward the enclosed to you, – for he is annoyed rather about your note which you, so kindly furnished. It seems to have been inserted in a way that does not do it justice, & that makes it irrelevant.

  He has been out of Town, & is out of Town, or he would I dare say have called on you on the subject. –

  I am recovering gradually, & well; – but have had a devil of a job. I hope I may be the better for it eventually. I intend if I continue to prosper, to go to Horsley about Weddy of nextweek, for a few days only. I shall then return here again till Octr. . .

  Let me hear please, soon from you. –

  To Woronzoiv Greig

  Monday, 24 November [1845]

  East Horsley Park, Ripley Surrey

  My Dear Greig. I do not exactly know what you allude to about my similitude to the wild Ostrich (I think it is the Ostrich that hides its’ head); – but I suppose it is that you think I could not preserve an incognito. Yet I had the next positive proofs that I did. –

  Perhaps you misunderstand the extent of what I attempted. I simply meant that nobody knew where I was in Brighton, & then I was unknown at my lodgings. I so managed that I certainly was unknown; – neither did I seem to attract the least curiousity in the lodging-house people.

  My habits were too quiet & unobtrusive to do so, – & on the contrary I was the worst served, from being supposed the least important.

  I know that you will not believe me; – Yet I know the fact that I certainly was thought a simple Mr Two-Shoes, – & scarcely noticed in any way.

  Mrs Jameson & others in vain endeavoured to find me out at Brighton. But I had far more conclusive proofs than that, that no one suspected me. –

  Yours

  A.L.

  To William, Lord Lovelace

  1/2 past 9 o’clock, Thursday [ 1845 or 1846]

  Dearest. What a kind kind mate ou is. Your sweetest letter (just received) has almost made me cry. It is so wise, & yet so tender.

  I am going on more comfortably than expected. The head improves every 6 hours & Locock was so impressed with the change when he paid his yesterday’s second visit the last thing at night, that he did not administer the dose of Laudanum which he had come expressly to give me himself. . .

  My dear, I hope ou won’t let people ride that horse. I suppose ou satisfied ou self first that Lord W [?] is a very good rider. . . Give that message to Lord W – It will amuse him that the Avis is so chary of her animal. . .

  To Lady Byron

  [Before Dec. 1845, Undated fragment]

  . . . person not yet 30, (& with all my sufferings, I am yet vigorous enough I am sure), may do anything, if they will but go to school. It is no bad epoch of life to begin education from.

  Are we d’accord now do you think, about poetry & music & philosophy? – I don’t consider that as yet I have made anything like full use of music; and often much foolish abuse indeed.

  You will not concede me philosophical poetry. Invert the order! Will you give me poetical philosophy, poetical science? –

  Poetical science is Ada’s greatest strength—her metaphysical ability to see wholeness, to take disparate approaches of poetry and science and integrate them. Psychologically, it was not that easy for her. She could be “obedient with safety.” She was resigned to her fate and that those “independent cracks & dreams” were very “juvenile performances,” but then couldn’t she be allowed “poetical science?”

  There was no response from her mother to that plea. Her mother was constantly pressuring her to achieve intellectual feats; yet, Ada had to cope with everyday needs and demands of her mother, husband, and children. She focused on these real-life tasks, but dreams and curiosity about her father and his life were easily revived.

  Ada sent Babbage cryptic notes, which biographers of Babbage and Ada have analyzed ad nauseam. A few of these notes included references to a woman thought to be Countess Teresa Guiccioli, Lord Byron’s last mistress. That these notes were written to Babbage is no surprise. When Ada was seventeen, she went to lectures that Dionysius Lardner gave on Babbage’s Analytical Engine. Lardner was not only Babbage’s friend but a friend of Teresa Guiccioli’s. Babbage had probably met the Countess Guiccioli. Unlike Lady Byron, he would not be concerned about Ada’s meeting Teresa. In the following letters, Ada is probably referring to Teresa when she mentions Countess “Italia-Italia.”

  To Charles Babbage

  Thursday, 12 February [1846]

  East Horsley

  The Militia vacancy Lord Torrington alludes to has been already filled up by Lovelace. –

  I am in bed with a very severe cold, & can scarcely speak.- I have had so many severe colds this last 4 months that I consider myself very ill used. –

  I hope you are better. –

  Ever yours

  A.L.

  I have mislaid Lord T’s letter, – which I meant to send you back. –

  To Charles Babbage

  Tuesday [18 March 1846]

  Ockham

  My Dear Babbage. You will breakfast with me in Town on Satdy morning I expect, as near to nine as possible. –

  The Drummond visit stands thus: He comes, but neither wife nor daughter.

  Still, I think it would be very desirable for you to make his acquaintance; & it might lead to an invitation to Albury even, if you manage well. – It is on Tuesday 25th. – Let me hear directly from you. – Ever yours, Most filially &c &c

  To Charles Babbage

  Thursday 12 1/2 o’clock [18 June 1846]

  I am at 52 George St, & shall be with you in a very short time. Lovelace wants you to take me to call on Countess Italia-Italia; so I hope you know her address. –

  Some one has told L – that Faustina is like me, which has quite delighted him. –

  Yours &c

  A.L.

  To Charles Babbage

  Thursday 3 o’clock, 18 June [1846]

  My Dear Babbage. I am in despair about not finding you this morning. –

  In the first place do you dine with us on Monday? – I asked you this, – last Tuesday.

  In the next place, I don’t know what to do about Countess Italia-Italia & Co. Lovelace is dying to know her, – and for me to know her, – & desires me to ask her to dinner on Monday. – But is it not a great liberty, unless someone introduced me?

  Then what am I to do about Baron B – ? – Neither I nor L – have any objection to countenancing him; – but will it get me into a scrape with my other lady- guests, or with society in general? –

  In short I want to have 5 minutes talk with you. But there is no time to lose, – & that is the difficulty. –

  I send you cards (of all kinds), – & if you could leave them for us this afternoon, it would perhaps do. L – thought that you, being so great a friend of mine, might take upon yourself to chaperone me, (or my cards), to Countess Italia’s – & to explain to her the strong wish of Lovelace & myself to make her acquaintance, – & that we have but 4 or 5 days more in Town, which must be our apology to her for this hasty proceeding. –

  Ever yours.

  A.L.

  At the end of November Ada wrote to her mother from Ashley Combe. Her relationship with William had improved. Perhaps it was her absence in London to take care of dental work which was “well timed” and fruitful. She wrote: “The simple na return is amusing & really touching. Just now I might do anything – absurd or ill tempered. I am perfect & really very much overrated...Just now there is a violent fit of petting & affection. “

  Poetical Science

  Poetical Science is the subtitle of this book. I found the letter, this fragment, after sitting for three years at the Bodle
ian Library at Oxford reading Ada’s letters. It was not catalogued. The minute I read it everything seemed to fit into place. Once again as Michael Swaine wrote: “Rigor and art, science and poetry: Human thought was being fiercely tugged at by these conflicting strains during Ada’s short life. And Ada’s life is a self-conscious archetype of this conflict and the synthesis that can grow out of it.”

  She wanted Poetical Science to be her solution. It meant integration to her.

  20

  A Transition State

  [1847-1848]

  Lady Byron offered to take care of the children’s education so that Ada could devote herself to her “profession,” but problems quickly developed. Annabella was upset about living with her grandmother at Esher, and Ada had reservations about Annabella’s governess, Miss Lamont. At Lady Byron’s suggestion, Byron had been put in the care of the Kings in Brighton. That arrangement did not last long because Byron was annoyed by King’s evangelical sermonizing. Byron was then sent to Lady Byron’s Leicestershire Estates at Peckleton run by Charles Noel. To Ada, there always seemed to be another child’s problem to deal with despite the help from her mother and the servants.

  In addition to the children being in a state of transition, the Lovelaces’ three homes were in a constant turmoil. In late 1845 they moved to the 4000-square-foot home at East Horsley Towers, a home designed by Sir Charles Barry, who built the Parliament buildings. William found the dwelling an inspiration for his architectural talents, and he started rebuilding, adding towers and tunnels, doubling the size of the mansion. Books and household items were constantly packed and unpacked as the building progressed. They moved from their London residence at St James’ Square to temporary residences, at first Grosvenor Place, then Great Cumberland Street. With Babbage’s help they finally found a home on Great Cumberland Place, a crescent-shaped street several blocks from Marble Arch and Hyde Park.

  East Horsley Towers

  Both Ada and William were delighted with Babbage’s visits and discussions of the latest scientific developments of their mutual friends: Herschel, Faraday, Wheatstone, and Sir David Brewster, a pioneer in the field of optics. They encouraged Babbage to continue his work on calculating engines although Ada sometimes was frustrated that there was little acceptance of what Babbage regarded as his “imagined mission.” The letters between Babbage and Ada at this time were cryptic, similar to today’s e-mail.

  In December 1846 Ada received a letter from Richard Ford, Sir William Molesworth’s brother-in-law, mentioning that he sat next to Babbage at a party and the main subject of conversation was Ada and William. Ford asked Ada to read an article he wrote and mentioned that Babbage praised William’s architectural accomplishments. William was experimenting with making his own bricks as well as arching wooden beams by steam for the dining room at Horsley Towers. He wrote articles about some of his accomplishments, including an article on crop raising.

  For the next few months the letters were edged in black. Hester and her husband, Sir George Craufurd, had moved to Italy for his health. Hester died in April, very soon after she gave birth to a baby boy. Annabella was particularly upset. Later she recalled that the happiest moments of her childhood were spent with her Aunt Hester.

  Ada continued to be displeased with Annabella’s governess, Miss Lamont, whom Lady Byron liked. According to the bank books, Lady Byron had helped with Miss Lamont’s salary. Ada knew her mother well. If Lady Byron did not choose the governess, she would not cover the expense. Ada turned to a neighbor, a banker, for financial help.

  To Henry Currie

  1 May 1848

  19 Great Cumberland St

  Dear Mr Currie. I have received £500 safely, & sincerely thank you for this very kind assistance. In order to prevent the possibility of future misunderstanding I will here repeat the terms we have agreed upon;

  1st. I am to pay 5 percent Interest per ann: during the period that the loan shall continue; –

  2nd. I am to repay you £100 of the Capital (May 1st 1849), and £100 every six months subsequently.

  Thus the whole Loan will have been paid off this day three years hence (May 1st, 1851).

  My present embarrassments originate in a very small sum (considering my inheritance and position), which was settled on me upon marriage. This sum has been totally insufficient to meet the expenses incidental to my position as Lord Lovelace’s wife.

  Very heavy expenses which are at this moment entailed on Lord L by his Buildings & some other circumstances, have made me feel that I should be wrong if I adopted your suggestion of applying to him (at present) for so considerable a sum as that for which I am now indebted to yourself. But I have the fullest ground for expecting from him henceforward those increased means which will preclude difficulties in future.

  I believe you are fully aware that I have applied to you on two special grounds; Ist my conviction of your highly honorable character and generous feelings: 2nd It appeared to me very fitting to make such an application to a Banker, & in every way most proper & natural.

  Very faithfully yrs

  Augusta Ada Lovelace

  When Mr Currie loaned Ada money, which was repaid in full before she died, Ada used the money to hire Miss Wachter, a German woman, as the new governess for Annabella. In 1848 Ada loaned John Crosse money for furniture; however, the major financial burdens were finding the money for tuition for the children and William’s never-ending architectural improvements.

  Ada was particularly concerned by what she considered Annabella’s presumption and tried to overcome this by teaching her to verify ideas by experimentation. She also taught Annabella algebra and music. – and wrote “I think A–most wonderfully clever; – & her judgement as sound, as her perceptions rapid. A remarkable union of powers.” Ada was as inconsistent as many parents were and are, decrying she had no interest in them and then showing great concern and pride. Ada was particularly pleased with Annabella’s great love of dogs and horses, and how the animals reciprocated. She was also impressed with Annabella’s artistic ability, especially in drawing sketches of their new home at East Horsley Towers. William was disturbed that her sketches shrouded the towers because he regarded the towers more than “kith or kin.”

  Annabella’s Sketches of East Horsley Towers

  Ada then turned her attention to finding a permanent solution for Byron. He was not happy living with Charles Noel and in October 1848 it was determined that he would eventually join the Navy. Ada was worried that her children, no longer living together, would lose a sense of family, yet Lady Byron considered Ada’s children a bad influence on one another. To convince her mother that this was a misconception, Ada defended her children. She described each child’s individual personality with sensitivity and pride and showed that Annabella and Byron had a positive influence on one another. Ada’s main concern was Ralph, who was living with Lady Byron.

  Babbage voiced concern about that arrangement. Ada was concerned as well. She wrote her mother, “Ralph ought to write & thank me for the Book. He has not done so. – Indeed he has not written at all, for a very long time; tho’ I answered his last letter to me almost immediately.” Babbage was prescient because Ralph later proved to be such a stalwart defender of Lady Byron that he became alienated from his family.

  During the summer of 1848 William was working on an article about the effect of sunlight on the growing of crops. Ada added two technical footnotes to the article, based on information she received from writing Sir John Herschel about a nebulometer, a simple hand-made device used to determine the amount of daylight.

  Ada wrote to Babbage about Ryan, Babbage’s brother-in-law, and the Nightingales, friends of Babbage’s and Lady Byron’s. In 1847 the Lovelaces invited Florence Nightingale and her father for a visit. Gillian Gill in her biography The Nightingales, Florence and her Family wrote that Ada had a great passion and admiration for Florence. She wrote a poem heralding Florence’s “superior” quality.

  Charles Babbage visited the Lovelaces
at Ashley Combe and from the tone of Ada’s letters to him, they were better friends than ever. They gossiped about their mutual friends and spent time discussing games, notations for mathematical games, and Babbage’s idea for an automatic tic-tac-toe machine. Perhaps, he suggested, he would exhibit it at fairs to raise money for his calculating engines. Their friendship became even closer when Ada hired a personal maid, Mary Wilson, who had worked for Babbage’s family. Everywhere Ada, Mary Wilson, and Babbage went, they were surrounded by dogs. Sirius and Nelson were Ada’s favorites.

  To Charles Babbage

  Sunday, 27 August [1848]

  Ashley Combe

  Dear Babbage. I am delighted you have fixed Weddy, & your inside place from Bridgewater will be secured. –

  Could you bring down Herschel’s Astronomy? We have it at Horsley, but where it cannot be got at in our absence; & it would be rather useful just now.–

  Most truly yrs

  A.A. Lovelace

  To Charles Babbage

  Saturday, 30 September [1848]

  Ashley Combe

  Dear Babbage. The skies are weeping unceasingly over yr departure. The morg you went, it set in wet; – & it has scarcely intermitted for 10 minutes since. – You must have had a very wretched journey. You cannot think how we miss you. – Even the dogs, & the brace of Thrushes (Sprite & Harry), look as if there was something wanting. –

  My chief reason for writing so soon is to mention that Lovelace has been really quite unhappy because he was unfortunately just too late to see you on Thursdy Morg. He rushed after you to the Lodge & saw you driving on. He shouted, Mrs Court tried to run after the two Pegasi(i), the men on the lawn & terrace (seeing there was something wrong), all yelled & shouted. – But in vain. Neither you nor the beasts would hear; – tho’ I really wonder that the latter did not run away again, thro’ the fracas. – Lovelace is afraid you must think he neglected you. –. . .