Happy Birthday Mr. Babbage

This birthday tribute to Charles Babbage incorporates a few extracts from his, and his friends', private letters in the hope of illuminating something of Babbage the man, rather than Babbage the scientist. The major portion of this tribute is a transcript of a 23 page letter (certainly one of the longest Babbage ever wrote) which, although it could be classified as a semi-formal document, is very illuminating as to the feelings and thought processes of Babbage in his later years.