the Rev. John Flamsteed. \S^ 



duct was indeed unaccountable, and scarcely to be justified oa 

 any view of the case. 



Whilst employed, however, on this work, two events occur- 

 red, which in some measure changed the prospect of Flamsteed's 

 affairs. These were the death of Queen Anne, who died oa 

 August 1, 1714, and the death of the Earl of Halifax, the great 

 patron and supporter of Sir Isaac Newton, on May 19, 1715. 

 The officers at court were changed : the new Lord Chamber- 

 lain knew Flamsteed well ; and a hint was given to him that he 

 miglit, with very little trouble, get all the spurious copies of his 

 printed observations into his own hands. He accordingly drew 

 up a memorial and petition to the Lords of the Treasury (Sir- 

 Robert Walpole being the First Lord) ; whereupon 300 copies 

 of this obnoxious work, probably all that remained out of the 

 400 printed, after the presentation copies and a few sales were 

 deducted, were delivered up to him, which he immediately com" 

 mitted to the flames, " that none might remain to shew the in- 

 gratitude of two of his countrymen, who had used hira worse 

 than even the noble Tycho was used in Denmark.'"' Rejoiced at 

 this circumstance, he set himself in earnest to print his observa- 

 tions in the order in which they were made, and as they now 

 appear in the second volujpe of the Historia Ccelestis ; for 

 though, as he candidly states, " he was unwilling to impoverish 

 his nearest relations, whom he was bound in justice and con- 

 science to take care of, since they were in no capacity to provide 

 for themselves," yet he was determined that the labour of nearly 

 forty years should not be thrown away, and therefore resolved 

 to print them at his own expense. Fortunate, indeed, has it been 

 for the astronomer that Flamsteed was so resolute and pertina- 

 cious on this point ; and that he had courage and public spirit 

 enough to bear up against his two powerful opponents, whose 

 views upon this subject are by no means in accordance with 

 those of modern astronomers. ; lui 



It should here be remarked, that when Flamsteed obtained' 

 the 300 copies of his printed work from the Lords of the Trea- 

 sury, he destroyed only the catalogue and the spurious part of 

 the work which professed to be his observations made with the 

 mural arc. That portion of it which contained his observations 

 with the sextant was separated from the rest, and (together with 



