6 G R E 
in South Carolina, and chief town of Cheraws diftriCt ; 
fituated on the weft fide of Great Pedee river, in Dar¬ 
lington county. It contains a court-houfe, gaolpand 
academy : fifty-five mites eaft-north-eaft of Camden, 
ninety north-euft-by-eaft of Columbia, and 135 north-by- 
eaft of Charleftown.' 
GREEN'VILLE, a poft-town, and the chief town of 
Pitt county, belonging to the American States, in North 
Carolina; " fituated on the fouth bank of Tar river, dis¬ 
tant from Ocrecock Inlet no miles. It contains a 
court-houfe and gaol; alfo a feminary of learning, 
called the Pitt Academy: twenty-three miles from 
Waftiington, and twenty-five miles from Tarborough. 
GREEN'VILLE, a poft-town of the American States, 
in Greene county, in the ftate of TenelTee, fituated on 
the weft fide of the north-eafternmoft branch of Nola- 
chugky river, about fix miles north-by-eaft of Green¬ 
ville college : twenty-fix miles north-weft ®f Jonefbo- 
rough, feventy-five eaft of Knoxville, and 633 fouch- 
weft of Philadelphia. /. 
GREEN'VILLE, a fort and fettlement belonging to 
the American States, in the north-weftern territory, on 
the fouth fide of a north-weftern branch of the Great 
Miami, fix miles north-weft of Fort Jefferfon on the 
fame branch, and about twenty-three miles fouth-eaft 
of Fort Recovery. Here the American legion had their 
head-quarters in the late war with the Indians. It was 
eftablifhed by major-general A. Wayne, in 1793; and 
here he concluded a treaty of peace with the Indian 
nations, on the 3d of Auguft, 1795. 
GREEN'VILLE, or La Baye, a town and port of 
entry of the American States, on the eaft fide of the 
illand of Granada. The fituation is low, and rather 
unhealthy. 
GREEN'WICH, a beautiful town in the county of 
Kent, fituated on the margin of the Thames ; diftant 
five miles from London. Greenwich, in Saxon Grenavic, 
fignifies the White Town or Dwelling, the laft fyllable 
of the word being now, by corruption, written wick. 
In all deeds and writings it is called Eaft Greenwich, to 
diftinguifli it from Deptford, which was heretofore 
called Weft Greenwich. It was only a fiftiing-town, 
fo late as the reign of Henry V. In the fafe road which 
the river here affords for fhips,the whole Danifh fleet, 
in the time of king Ethelred, lay three or four years 
fucceflively, whilft the main body of the army was en¬ 
camped on the hill above the town, called Blackheath. 
This road is now the chief harbour for the royal yachts. 
From the ancient camp of the Danes, feveral places in 
the pariftt are ftill denominated combes ; comb, as well as 
comp, fignifying a camp, for they ufed both the words ; 
the former the Saxon term, the latter Danifh, or corrupt 
Saxon. 
Greenwich was the birth-plac'e of queen Mary and 
queen Elizabeth ; and here Edward VI. died. A pa¬ 
lace, ereCted here by Humphrey duke of Gloucefter, 
who named it Placentia, on account of its beautiful fitu¬ 
ation, was enlarged by Henry VII. and completed by 
Henry VIII. but, being afterward fuffered to go to 
ruin, was pulled down by Charles II. who began a new 
edifice, and lived to fee the firft wing finilhed. He alfo 
enlarged the park, walled it round, planted it, and 
ereCted a royal obfervatory on the top of the hill, for 
the ufe of the celebrated Flamftead, whofe name the 
hill retains. He likewife furnifhed it with mathematical 
inftruments for aftronomical obfervations, and a deep 
dry well for obferving the liars in the day-time. 
The foundation of the obfervatory owed its origin to 
the following circumltance : St. Pierre, a Frenchman, 
who came to London in 1675, having demanded a re¬ 
ward from Charles II. for his difeovery of a method of 
finding the longitude by the moon’s diftance from a ftar, 
a commiflion was appointed to examine into his preten- 
fions. Mr.. t( glamftead, who was appointed one of the 
commiffioners, furnifhed St. Pierre with certain data of 
obfervation by which to calculate the longitude of a, 
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given place. This he was unable to do ; but excufed 
himfelf by afterting that the data were falfe ; Mr. Flam¬ 
ftead contended that they were true, but allowed that 
nothing certain could be deduced front them, for want 
of more exaCt tables of the moon, and more correct 
places of the fixed ftars, than Tycho’s obfervations, 
made with plain fight, afforded. This being made 
known to the king, he declared that his pilots and 
failors Ihould not want fuch an afftftance. He refolved 
therefore to found an obfervatory, for the purpofe of 
afeertaining the motions of the moon, and the places of 
the fixed ftars, as a means of difeovering that great de- 
fideratuin, the longitude at fea; and Flamftead, who 
was rqcommehded to his maj.-flyby fir Jonas Moor, was 
appointed aftronomer royal. Several places were talked 
of for the fite of the obfervatory, as Hyde-park, the 
Polemical College at Chelfea, (now the H'ofpital,) See - 
Mr. Flamftead went to fee Chelfea College, and ap¬ 
proved of it ; but fir Chriftopher Wren having recom¬ 
mended Greenwich Caftle, that fituation was preferred. 
The king allowed five hundred pounds in money towards 
the building; bricks from Tilbury-fort, where there 
was a fpare ftock, and materials from the caftle, which 
was pulled down ; promifing to grant any thing farther 
that fliould be necefiary. The foundation was laid 
Auguft 10, 1675; and in the month of Auguft the next 
year, Flamftead was put in pofteflion of the Obferva¬ 
tory, which, from him, has acquired the name of Flam- 
ftead-houfe. In September he began to make obferva¬ 
tions with a fextant of fix feet radius, contrived by him¬ 
felf, and fuch other inftruments as were then in ufe. 
He refided there many years, doing ample juftice to the 
royal choice ; and ftiewing himfelf fo eminently quali¬ 
fied for his office that, as has very juftly been obferved, 
he feemed born for it. Flamftead died at Greenwich,. 
Dec. 31, 1719 ; when he was fucceeded by Dr. Halley, 
who was an aftronomer alfo of greapemiiience. Find¬ 
ing, upon his appointment, the obfervatory bare both 
of inftruments and furniture, he began immediately to 
furnifti it anew, and to fix a tranfit inftrument. A mural 
quadrant of eight feet radius, conftruCted under the di¬ 
rection of Graham, was put up at,the public expence, 
in 1725. Dr. Halley’s obfervations were principally di¬ 
rected to the motions of the moon : he died at the ob¬ 
fervatory in 1742, aged 85, and was fucceeded by Dr. 
Bradley ; whofe difeoveries, already before the public, 
have juftly ranked him among the firft aftronomers of 
the prefent age. In the year 1750, fome very valuable 
additions were made to the inftruments at the obferva¬ 
tory ; a new mural brafs quadrant of eight feet radius, 
a tranfit inftrument of eight feet length ; and a move- 
able quadrant of forty inches radius, by Bird ; an aftro¬ 
nomical clock, by Shelton; a Newtonian reflecting te- 
lefcope of fix feet, focal length, by Short, See. Dr. 
Bradley died on the 13thof July, 1762. His immediate 
fucceflor at Greenwich was Nathaniel Blifs, M. A. who 
died in 1764; when he was fucceeded by the prefent 
aftronomer royal, Nevil Mafkelyne, D. D. who fills 
that fituation with gfeat ability. Since his appoint¬ 
ment, the obfervatory has been furnifhed with an ex¬ 
cellent achromatic telefcope of forty-fix inches focal 
length, with a treble objeCt-glafs, together with a di¬ 
vided achromatic objeCt-glafs micrometer, by Dollondj 
and the whole apparatus has been much improved by 
Dollond, Nairne, and Arnold. In 1767, his majefty if- 
fued an order that the obfervations made by the aftro¬ 
nomer royal at Greenwich fliould be publifhed annu¬ 
ally, under the infpeCtion of the Royal Society. 
That which is properly the palace, is an edifice of 
great extent, and is converted into a refidence for the 
ranger of the park ; in which the views from the ob¬ 
fervatory and the one-tree hill are beautiful beyond 
imagination, particularly the former. The projection 
of thefe hills is at Cnee fo bold, that we look down 
upon the tops of immenfe branching frees, which appear 
to grow in clumps out of deep hollows and imbrowning 
