In preparing this
telescope, nearly everything, from its extraordinary size, had to
be specially arranged.[10] The great anxiety involved in these
arrangements, and the constant study and application told heavily
upon Mr. Cooke, and though the instrument wanted only a few
touches to make it complete, his health broke down, and he died
on the l9th of October, 1868, at the comparatively early age of
sixty-two.
Mr. Cooke's death was felt, in a measure, to be a national loss.
His science and skill had restored to England the prominent
position she had held in the time of Dollond; and, had he lived,
even more might have been expected from him. We believe that the
Gold Medal and Fellowship of the Royal Society were waiting for
him; but, as one of his friends said to his widow, "neither worth
nor talent avails when the great ordeal is presented to us." In
a letter from Professor Pritchard, he said: "Your husband has
left his mark upon his age. No optician of modern times has
gained a higher reputation; and I for one do not hesitate to call
his loss national; for he cannot be replaced at present by any
one else in his own peculiar line. I shall carry the
recollection of the affectionate esteem in which I held Thomas
Cooke with me to my grave. Alas! that he should be cut off just
at the moment when he was about to reap the rewards due to his
unrivalled excellence.
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