the Rev. John Flamstced. 133 



sently have an opportunity of judging) of having committed, 

 about this time, a highway robbery^ for which he was tried, 

 convicted, and sentenced to be hanged ! ! ! Leaving this sub- 

 ject, however, for the present, and passing over many things 

 tliat will be found fully detailed in Flamsteed's autobiography, 

 in a subsequent part of this volume, I shall proceed to state, 

 that he pursued his mathematical and astronomical studies at 

 home, and became celebrated in the neighbourhood for his ta- 

 lents ; till at length he attracted the notice of several Fellows of 

 the Royal Society in the year 1609 ; and in the following year 

 he paid a visit to London, where he became acquainted with 

 many scientific persons, but more especially with Sir Jonas 

 Moore, who proved one of his best friends and greatest admir- 

 ers ; and who afterwards (in 1674) proposed to establish him in 

 a private observatory, which he intended to erect at Chelsea 

 College ; and, indeed, invited him to London, in order to con- 

 sult with him on the subject. Whilst in London, he resided at 

 Sir Jonas Moore's house in the Tower, where he carried on his 

 astronomical observations, which are all duly recorded in his 

 manuscript books, and (together with those made at Derby) 

 printed in the first volume of the Historm Coelestis. About 

 this time a circumstance occurred, which induced his Majesty 

 Charles II., to found an observatory at Greenwich ; Sir Jonas 

 Moore's proposal of the private observatory at Chelsea was 

 therefore abandoned, and Flamsteed was, through his interest, 

 appointed Astronomer-Royal on March 4, 1674-5. From this 

 period we date the commencement of modern astronomy. The 

 invention of the telescope, and the introduction of the clock, then 

 first used for astronomical purposes, were vast improvements on 

 the ancient mode of observing ; and their beneficial effects were 

 immediately apparent. Hitherto the catalogue of Tycho Brake, 

 meagre and imperfect as it was, had been the only help and 

 guide to the astronomer fur the places of the stars ; and the 

 Rudolphine Tables (or corrections of the same) for those of the 

 sun, moon, and planets ; but Flamsteed resolved to reform and 

 amend the whole system, and he has * ^ t a noble example for fu- 

 ture astronomers. 



Whilst the repairs and fittmg up of the observatory were in 

 progress, Flamsteed carried on his observations at the Quecn'*s 



