POND POSTS. 



753 



instrument used in the observatory; but the cor- 

 rectness of the chief part must be ascribed to a 

 mode of observing of which he was the sole in- 

 ventor. This consisted in the union of the two 

 circles, and the observing with one by direct 

 vision, with the other simultaneously by reflec- 

 tion ; thus correcting those errors which are inci- 

 dental to observations made by a single instru- 

 ment. A result, and, perhaps, the most impor- 

 tant, of the application of the mural circle, has 

 been the formation of a catalogue of the fixed 

 stars more perfect than any before or since pro- 

 duced. Here it may also be stated that the vast 

 superiority of the Greenwich transit observations 

 made by him has been publicly recognised by sev- 

 eral contemporary astronomers of the first rank. 

 To his earnest and reiterated solicitations our 

 national observatory is indebted tor many of the 

 new instruments which have, confessedly, rendered 

 it so pre-eminent and complete. His skill in the 

 use of these was very remarkable ; his talent for 

 observing quite unique; and it is a question whe- 

 ther any of even the most skilful of his country- 

 men are thoroughly, or at least practically, ac- 

 quainted with his mode of operation : but MM. 

 Arago, Biot, and Delambre, as well as MM. Bes- 

 sel and Schamacher, the great French and German 

 astronomers, have borne witness to the decided 

 merit and originality of his method. 



Mr Pond contributed many scientific articles to 

 " Rees' Cyclopaedia," and wrote the introduction 

 to astronomy prefixed to " Pinkerton's Geogra- 

 phy " but, by nature a retiring man, he unwillingly 

 appeared in print, and when called upon to take 

 up his pen, was as brief as the nature of his sub- 

 ject would allow; though neatness and perspicuity 

 characterise whatever he produced. Speaking of 

 his communications to the royal society, Sir Hum- 

 phry Davy, in a discourse delivered in 1828, on 

 presenting him with the Copley medal, awarded to 

 liim by the council of that learned body, "for his 

 various papers on astronomical subjects, expresses 

 himself in the following language : " The merits 

 of Mr Pond, as an indefatigable scientific observer, 

 are fully and justly estimated by all the fellows of 

 this society who have visited or taken any interest 

 in the royal observatory ; but, perhaps, the early 

 devotion of the astronomer royal to his favourite 

 science, the enthusiasm with which he pursued it, 

 and the sacrifices of time, health and money that 

 he made in consequence, may be less generally 

 known. Twenty-five years ago, Mr Pond, ani- 

 mated by his love of astronomy, carried, at a con- 

 siderable expense, some valuable instruments to 

 the coasts of the Mediterranean, hoping that a 

 purer atmosphere and a brighter sky would give 

 him advantages in pursuing continued observations 

 on the fixed stars not to be obtained in the variable 

 climate of this island ; and he passed some time 

 devoted to his scientific objects, at Lisbon, Malta, 

 and Alexandria ; but the state of his health obliged 

 him to return, and he established himself at West- 

 bury, in Somersetshire, where, in 1800, I had the 

 pleasure of visiting him, and when I was delighted 

 to witness the ardour with which he pursued his 

 inquiries, and saw with admiration the delicacy of 

 his observations with the astronomical circle of 

 Mr Troughton's construction. The researches 

 made by Mr Pond in the declinations of some of 

 the fixed stars in 1800, and published in the 

 'Philosophical Transactions' for 1806, fixed the 

 attention of astronamers by their accuracy and 



clearness of detail, and, probably, principally 

 caus,ed those scientific recommendations which in- 

 clined our august patron, the prince regent, to 

 appoint him to the distinguished office he .now 

 holds." 



Mr Pond's appointment as astronomer royal 

 arose out of his having, while residing in the 

 country, and but little known, communicated to 

 Dr Maskelyne who was a stranger to him sev- 

 eral corrections of errors in the Greenwich Ob- 

 servations, and in the Nautical Almanac. These 

 induced the latter within a very few months of 

 his decease, to mention him to the council of the 

 royal society, as the fittest man to succeed him. 

 An opinion from such a quarter necessarily had 

 great weight ; and having been strongly supported 

 by Dr Wollaston, Mr Pond was, on the death of 

 Dr Maskelyne, in 1810, appointed to the vacant 

 office, on the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, 

 to whose discernment and impartiality the govern- 

 ment of that period very wisely entrusted its sci- 

 entific patronage. The salary annexed to the sit- 

 uation of astronomer royal had been suffered to 

 remain miserably low the great importance and 

 responsibility of the office being considered for 

 to Dr Maskelyne, .a man of large fortune, an in- 

 crease was no object, therefore, never asked ; but 

 it received some augmentation on the appointment 

 of his successor; though the services required, 

 which so very few are qualified to perform, were 

 never liberally or even justly, remunerated, till 

 provision was made for the purpose, on Mr Airy's 

 acceptance of the office. 



PONTEFRACT OR POMFRET, a town in 

 the West Riding of Yorkshire, 178 miles from 

 London. It consists of three principal streets, 

 nearly parallel, which are intersected by smaller 

 ones. The streets are spacious and the houses 

 well-built. The trade of the town is inconsidera- 

 ble, but the place is noted for its extensive nur- 

 sery grounds, its large plantations of liquorice, 

 from the juice of which the medicine called Pom- 

 fret-cakes is made, and its great horse fairs. The 

 old castle of Pontefract, some of the ruins of which 

 still remain, occupied a large site upon an elevated 

 rock, and was the scene of several historical events. 

 It was defended during the civil wars by the par- 

 tizans of Charles I., but ultimately taken, and soon 

 after demolished. Pontefract is now governed by 

 a mayor, a recorder, four aldermen, and twelve 

 councillors, and it returns two members to parlia- 

 ment. Population of the borough in 1841, 4669; 

 of the parish, which includes five other townships, 

 10,688. 



POSTS, (a.) The first great reform in the 

 Post Office establishment in this country took 

 place in 1784, when Mr Palmer's celebrated plan 

 of conveying letters by mail coaches was intro- 

 duced. Before that period, letter-bags were en- 

 trusted to boys who were ill- paid, and frequently 

 of very doubtful characters. They travelled upon 

 miserable horses, and were equally unable to defend 

 themselves from the attacks of robbers, or to escape 

 by flight. In fact, the waylaying of these boys 

 for the purpose of robbery was at that time an 

 affair of constant occurrence, and often not with- 

 out suspicion of collusion on the part of the car- 

 riers. The principal feature in the improvement 

 suggested by Mr Palmer was the discontinuance of 

 this horse-post, and the employment of coaches, 

 which, in consideration of their liability to attack 

 from robbers, should each be provided with an 

 3u 



