First Astronomer- Royal. 1 3 



rate they did. Further, I saw that if I did not lay hold of 

 this opportunity I could not hope to be re-imbursed any of 

 the £173 I had spent in preparing the copy for the press, 

 and performed my part of the agreement in the time agreed. 

 But the £125 was not paid me till about two months after, 

 and then I was still above £48 out of purse, for which I 

 had nothing but three copies, one that I gave Mr. Sharp, 

 and another in which I have corrected the faults of the 

 press with my own hand, and a third not complete. 



I was now in hopes that the press would begin again to 

 work with the second volume; but when, after three or 

 four months delay, I found that for all my instances there 

 was not the least step made towards it. I complained of 

 this behaviour of Sir Isaac Newton, both paying me short 

 of what I had disbursed, and of his keeping the 175 sheets 

 of copy for the second volume in his hands. This I believe 

 was (as intended) carried to him. Whereupon, to throw 

 all the fault upon me, eight months after he had stopt the 

 press, he sent me the following order : — 



" At a meeting of the gentlemen to whom his Royal Highness, the Prince, 

 hath referred the care of printing Mr. Flamsteed's astronomical papers, it was 

 agreed that the press should go on without further delay : and that, if Mr. Flam- 

 steed do not take care thai the press he well corrected, and go on with dispatch, 

 another corrector he employed. 

 Whitehall, July 13, 1708." 



To prevent the designed effect of this malicious order, or 

 agreement, I wrote a letter to Sir Christopher Wren, (who, 

 I believe, hated such practices), and sent it him in a few 

 days after. I declined writing to Sir Isaac Newton, because 

 he might suppress it; and I doubted not Sir Christopher 

 would impart it both to him and the other referees. T took 

 a copy of it to myself, to show my acquaintance, friends, 

 and some gentlemen that had an opinion of Sir Isaac New- 

 ton before, and could not think he could be guilty of such 

 collusion as this order, and my letter proved upon him. The 

 letter was delivered, and imparted to Sir Isaac Newton 

 as I desired it should be : yet I never received any answer 

 to it. But the press was stopt, and no more talk of it this 

 year; in the latter end of which the Prince of Denmark 

 died, on October 28, 1708 ; in whom the Observatory lost 

 one that would have been a great and noble patron, had he 



