the Rev. John Flamsteed. 145 



that the catalogue was not complete ; that it would eventually 

 contain a great many more stars than he had yet observed and 

 rectified ; that it at present contained only about 1500, but that 

 he hoped to make it up to 2500 stars ; that these were the re- 

 sult of all his labours, in which he had spent above L.2000 more 

 than his salary ; and that it would not be either prudent or safe 

 to trust a copy of it out of his own keeping. He at length, 

 however, found himself obliged to comply, or else to give up the 

 prospect and advantage of having the work printed at the 

 Prince's expense ; and the catalogue, imperfect and incomplete 

 as it was, was accordingly sealed up in the presence of Sir Chris- 

 topher Wren, and delivered into Sir Isaac Newton's possession* 

 New difficulties, however, were afterwards started, oftentimes 

 frivolous and vexatious, and it was May 16. 1706, before the 

 first sheet was struck off; and it was Christmas 1707 (three 

 years after the first undertaking) ere the whole of the first vo^ 

 lume only was finished ; during which time the press was fre- 

 quently stopped by Sir Isaac, without any assignable cause. 

 The whole details of these proceedings are given by Flamsteed 

 in the following history of his own life, and supported by various 

 documents which are inserted in the appendix. 



This Jirst volume, which contained only his sextant observa- 

 tions, being thus completed, arrangements were entered into for 

 proceeding with the second volume, which was intended to con- 

 tain the observations made with the mural arc. After a great 

 deal of unnecessary procrastination on the part of Sir Isaac 

 Newton, a meeting with the referees was appointed to take place 

 on March 20, 1707-8, when Flamsteed took up with him the 

 whole of the observations made with the mural arc, from Sep- 

 tember 1689 to December 1705, fairly copied out on 175 sheets 

 of large paper, together with a more extensive and perfect copy 

 of his catalogue of the fixed stars. At this meeting new articles 

 were suggested, and finally imposed upon Flamsteed ; for he 

 was not only obliged to leave the whole of the 175 sheets of 

 manuscript in Newton's hands, but also bound himself to com- 

 plete, and return within sixteen days, the catalogue which had 

 previously been delivered, sealed up, to him ; Sir Isaac retain- 

 ing the one which Flamsteed had brought with him, as a pledge 



VOL. XX. NO, XXXIX.-— JANUARY 1836. K 



