First Astronomer- Royal. 23 



calculating the places of the stars, £30. So that Isaac 

 Newton had wasted £180 in spoiling of it. Besides, he told 

 me that he had given £20 more to the poor Frenchman 

 that drew and engraved the flattering figures for the frontis- 

 pieces or capitals ; upon his complaint that the first agree- 

 ment was too hard a bargain. So that there was £200 of 

 the Prince's money thrown away, only to show his liberality 

 unnecessarily, which evidently proves his ignorance of the 

 business. For the Catalogue was very correct before his 

 editor corrected it : and the designer or engraver of the 

 frontispiece, or capitals, knew, no doubt, how to make a 

 bargain for his pains. The editor and his calculator were 

 both indigent: (and he) found this way of relieving them, 

 without any expense to himself; and making them open 

 their mouths wide in crying him (up for) his liberality as 

 they had done before for his skill in what he is (no master) 

 of. Whilst my amanuensis, J. Crosthwait, was at more 

 pains in (correcting) their faults and calculating the places 

 of 400 stars (more) than were in my first copy, without any 

 allowance (more) than the yearly wages I gave him. 



Having thus got my own printed observations and Cata- 

 logue into my own hands, I caused the observations of Mr. 

 Gascoigne and Mr. Crabtree, made in Yorkshire and Lan- 

 cashire, in the years 1638-1642, together with my own 

 made at Derby, between the years 1669 and 1675, which I 

 had mentioned in my estimate (as these were to compose a 

 part of my first volume of observations), to be printed in 

 Latin : together with a small table for turning the parts 

 measured by the micrometer (either in the longer or the 

 lesser tube) into minutes and seconds of a degree. I also 

 sent to Sir Isaac Newton, to return me the 175 sheets trusted 

 into his hands, March 20th, 1708-9, to be printed. 



But, finding he delayed to restore, or even flatly denied 

 to do it, I set my amanuensis to copy them, in order to 

 have them printed ; that they might be published together 

 witli the Catalogue in their proper order, which I had first 

 proposed in my said estimate, ami which I endeavoured 

 always to preserve ; whilst Sir Isaac Newton as pertina- 

 ciously contended to obstruct and break, that he might 

 thereby force me to some mean submission, to procure his 

 consent. Though the work was nothing of it his, he had 



