“Ibegantohaveawishforatelescope，bymeansofwhichI
mightbeabletoseealittlemorethanwithmynakedeyes。ButIfoundthatIcouldnotgetanythingofmuchuse，shortof20L。
Icouldnotforalongtimefeeljustifiedinspendingsomuchmoneyformyownpersonalenjoyment。Mychildrenwerethenyounganddependentuponme。Theyrequiredtoattendschool——foreducationisathingthatparentsmustnotneglect，withaviewtothefuture。However，abouttheyear1875，myattentionwascalledtoacheapinstrumentadvertisedbySolomon——whathecalledhis’5L。telescope。’Ipurchasedone，andittantalisedme；forthepoweroftheinstrumentwassuchastoteachmenothingofthesurfaceoftheplanets。Afterusingitforabouttwoyears，Isoldittoastudent，andthenfoundthatIhadaccumulatedenoughsavingstoenablemetobuymypresentinstrument。Willyoucomeintothenextroomandlookatit？“
Iwentaccordinglyintotheadjoiningroom，andlookedatthenewtelescope。Itwastakenfromitscase，putuponitstripod，andlookedinbeautifulcondition。Itisarefractor，madebyCookeandSonsofYork。Theobjectglassisthreeinches；thefocallengthforty-threeinches；andthetelescope，whendrawnout，withthepancraticeyepieceattached，isaboutfourfeet。ItwasmadeafterMr。Robertson’sdirections，andisasortofcombinationofinstruments。
“Eventhatinstrument，“heproceeded，“goodasitisforthemoney，tantalisesmeyet。Alookthroughafixedequatorial，suchaseverylargeobservatoryisfurnishedwithisagloriousview。IshallneverforgetthesightthatIgotwhenatDunechtObservatory，towhichIwasinvitedthroughthekindnessofDr。