20 Life of the Rev. John Flam steed, 



himself, accompanied with Dr. Thorp, Mr. Machin, Mr. 

 Rowley, and Mr. Hodgson, who had given me notice of 

 their coming before-hand. I had provided Mr. E. Clark, 

 and Mr. Ryley to attend our conversation, and accompany 

 them to view (the) house and my instruments, being a little 

 lame myself with the gout. They had a view of what they 

 pleased, except my library. I gave them a glass of wine. 

 Sir Isaac promised to return me a Greek Ptolemy he had 

 borrowed of me, and 4 vols, in quarto, of the First Night 

 Notes, which he had kept in his hands now about six years, 

 to no other purpose but to show his authority and good 

 nature ; and returned (them) not till more than four years 

 after, when I had commenced a suit against him for them. 



This business being over, and Sir Isaac Newton finding 

 that his visitation had not the effect he promised to himself, 

 he took care to let me know by the Secretary's letter as 

 soon as the year 1711 was expired, that the Royal Society 

 expected the copy of the Observations of that year. I re- 

 turned an answer to him that they should have them in the 

 time prescribed by the order ; and, accordingly, caused my 

 amanuensis, Jos. Crosthwait, to transcribe and leave them 

 at their house in Crane Court, some days before Midsummer 

 1712. I expected that they should have sent me a receipt 

 for them, but civil and just Sir Isaac Newton esteemed it 

 too great a favour for me. I did the same for the year 

 following, on a second letter from the Secretary of the 

 Royal Society. And in the year 1713-14, I found them 

 both printed, abridged, and so spoiled by the editor of my 

 Catalogue, that I would no longer own them for mine. 

 The most material observations were omitted, and the rest 

 so managed that it seemed to me he had designed to spoil 

 them, out of spite. He had inserted some that were im- 

 perfect ; and given the right ascensions and distances of 

 the planets from the pole deduced from the observations ; 

 but not their longitudes and latitudes. This was too much 

 drudgery for his acuteness, who was used to procure what 

 he published as his own at easier rates. 



After the same manner he got my observations of the 

 year 1713 into his hands ; abridged, spoiled, and printed 

 them in his Transactions for the year 1715, No. 344. But 

 the Queen deceasing before tbey could lay any claim to the 



