PROMOTION OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 63 



as were thought best, for determining the longitude of the Capitol from Green- 

 wich, or some other known meridian in Europe. Mr. Lambert appointed Mr. 

 Elliot of this place to take the observations ; which he did, by means of a transit 

 instrument, — a well regulated clock, and meridional line extended about a mile 

 and a quarter, on which was placed a board, with a circle and line passing 

 through the centre, by which the transit instrument could be correctly adjusted. 

 The result from the mean of 24 transit observations of the moon over the 

 meridian (the clock having been regulated by alternate observations on the 

 sun and certain fixed stars) was the determination of the longitude from Green- 

 wich to be . Nothing now remains to confirm the results of these observa- 

 tions but building an observatory here, and having corresponding observations 

 made in Europe. 



Nothing, perhaps, would so effectually accomplish the object of fixing the 

 first meridian at Washington, as the erection of an observatory, supplied with 

 suitable instruments, from which corresponding observations with other places 

 could be made; and Washington would, of course, be considered the first 

 meridian for America. 



William Lambert, who was an Englishman by birth and who me- 

 morialized Congress as early as 1809 on the subject of determining 

 the meridian of Washington, was a clerk in the Pension Office. In 

 another connection reference will be found to his numerous astro- 

 nomical and mathematical papers submitted to the Institute. In his 

 Chorographical and Statistical Description of the District of Co- 

 lumbia, published in 1816, David B. Warden says, 



In 1809, Mr. Lambert presented a memorial to the House of Representatives 

 on the establishment of a first meridian for the United States at the city of 

 Washington. The year following, this memorial was submitted to a select com- 

 mittee of Congress, of which Dr. Mitchill was chairman, who recommended that 

 provision should be made by law for determining, with the greatest accuracy, 

 the distance between the city of Washington and Greenwich in England, and 

 that proper instruments should be procured. This committee observed, " that 

 situated as we are in this western hemisphere, more than three thousand miles 

 from any fixed or known meridian, it would be proper, in a national point of 

 view, to establish a first meridian for ourselves; and that measures should be 

 taken for the eventual establishment of such a meridian in the United States ; 

 that no place perhaps is more proper than the seat of government." This sub- 

 ject was referred to the Secretary of State, who, in a report, addressed to the 

 House of Representatives in July, 1812, strongly recommended the establishment 

 of a first meridian, and an observatory, at Washington ; " that the former has 

 become, by the usage of nations, an appendage, if not an attribute, of sov- 

 ereignty." 



William Elliot, also from England, was a teacher of mathematics, 

 and for some years a clerk in the Patent Office. Of diversified talents 

 and interests, he was the founder of the Washington City Gazette 

 in 1813, the publisher of Washington guide books, and from 1832 to 

 1837, city surveyor. He was a charter member of the Botanical So- 

 ciety of Washington, a writer on plants, and, as stated by the Na- 

 tional Intelligencer of January 1, 1838, in the announcement of his 

 death and burial, " He was one of the earliest and most zealous mem- 



