Sunday, 21 August 2016
Darwinism : A Metaphysical Research Programme
"Darwinism is not a testable scientific theory, but a metaphysical research programme.
Statements or systems of statements in order to be ranked as scientific must be capable of conflicting with possible or conceivable observations."
"Since we should call empirical or scientific only such theories as can be empirically tested, we may conclude that it is the possibility of an empirical refutation which distinguishes empirical and scientific theories... Those which are non-testable are of no interest to empirical scientists.
They may be described as metaphysical."
Karl Popper, Conjectures and Refutation (London: Routledge & Keegan Paul, 1972),
Karl Popper's Challenge
By Russell Kranz
Is the theory of evolution scientific?
Not according to the eminent philosopher of science, Professor Karl Popper This is all the more interesting because Charles Darwin was an Englishman and Dr Karl Popper is an adopted Englishman with a string of scientific accomplishments that fill half a column in the International Who’s Who. After a hundred years of evolution, what does this respected scientist think of his countryman's theory?
Not much that Darwin would like.
"Darwinism is not a testable scientific theory," Popper says, `but a metaphysical research programme."1
Popper's views are widely respected in Europe and particularly in England, where he has come to be regarded as one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. Sir Peter Medawar rates him as "incomparably the greatest philosopher of science that has ever been."2 Another well-known mathematician and astronomer says, "There is no more to science than to its method and there is no more to its method than Popper has said." Popperian influence can be seen in medicine, in art even in politics and theology. Leading politicians have expressed their indebtedness to him.
Not a Law
Professor Popper is severely critical of attempts to turn evolution theory into scientific fact. "There can never be a law of evolution," he wrote in one of his earlier works.3 "The idea of a law which determines the direction and character of evolution is a typical 19th century mistake arising out of the general tendency to ascribe to the natural law the functions traditionally ascribed to God."4
What happened then, he says, was this: "The earlier, naturalistic revolution against God replaced the name God by the name Nature. Almost everything else was left unchanged. Theology. the science of God, was replaced by the science of nature. God’s laws by the laws of nature. God's will and power by the will and power of nature (the natural forces) and later God's design and God's judgment by natural selection. Theological determinism was replaced by naturalistic determinism, that is. God's omnipotence and omniscience were replaced by the omnipotence of nature and the omniscience of science."5
Demarcation
Why has Popper separated evolution from science and assigned it to the realm of metaphysics? According to Popper's principle of demarcation, only those theories which are open to empirical falsification are scientific. That is, unless there is a way to prove a theory wrong there is no way to prove it is right. As he puts it: "Statements or systems of statements in order to be ranked as scientific must be capable of conflicting with possible or conceivable observations."6 Science deals with matters that can be tested empirically and are potentially falsifiable. "Since we should call empirical or scientific only such theories as can be empirically tested, we may conclude that it is the possibility of an empirical refutation which distinguishes empirical and scientific theories."7 (By empirical, Professor Popper means that which can be tested by the senses - weighing, seeing, touching, tasting, measuring, etc.)
Now, philosophical or metaphysical theories are empirically irrefutable by definition, There is simply no way to test them in laboratory conditions, Popper is prepared to admit that the line of demarcation is not absolutely sharp. There are degrees of demarcation - well-tested theories, hardly testable theories and nontestable theories. The latter, he insists, do not belong to science: "Those which are non-testable are of no interest to empirical scientists. They may be described as metaphysical."8
And it is in this "non-testable" category that Popper places evolution, Science is just not equipped to deal with the question of origins. "The search for the law of "unvarying order' in evolution cannot possibly fall within the scope of scientific method, whether in biology or sociology."9
Why?
Simply because if the evolution of life on earth did occur, it was a unique historical process which cannot be tested because it is unrepeatable. "We cannot hope to test a universal hypothesis nor find a natural law acceptable to science ifwe are forever confined to the observation of one unique process. Nor can this observation of one unique process help us to foresee its future development."10
Repeating Itself
In several of his later lectures Professor Popper finds fault with the theory of evolution on the grounds that it is tautological; it repeats itself.
Natural selection explains evolution in terms of the survival of the fittest, But he points out that this is really no more than saying, "Those that survive are those that survive. Darwinism, therefore, "is by no means a perfect theory."11 When all is said and done, "neither Darwin nor any Darwinian has so far given an actual causal explanation of the adaptive evolution of any single organism or any single organ. All that has been shown is that such explanations might exist (that is, to say) they are not logically impossible."12
Evolutionists often try to rescue their theory by adopting a device which makes it irrefutable. By pushing back the frontiers of time, anything becomes probable. Dr. Popper objects strongly.
"Statistical explanation must operate in the last analysis with very high probabilities. But if our high probabilities are merely low probabilities which have become high because of the immensity of the available time, then we must not forget that in this way it is possible to explain almost everything. Even so, we have little enough reason to conjecture that any explanation of this sort is applicable to the origin of life."13
Popper also returns to his argument about the tautological nature of Darwinism. "At first sight, natural selection appears to explain the evolution of variety - and in a way it does; but hardly in a scientific way."" Adaptation or fitness is defined by modern evolutionists as survival value and can be measured by actual success in survival: there is hardly any possibility of testing a theory as feeble as this."14
Metaphysical Differences of Opinion
Yet, despite his criticism Popper thinks Darwin's theory has been valuable in encouraging some very real and practical researches. That is why it has been so widely accepted. There could be another reason too. It was the first non-theistic theory that was convincing. "Theism was worse than an open admission of failure, for it created the impression that an ultimate explanation had been reached."15
At this juncture, Karl Popper makes a very interesting comment. "Now to the degree that Darwinism creates the same impression it is not very much better than the theistic view of adaptation." "It is therefore important to show that Darwinism is not a scientific theory, but metaphysical."'6
So what for the last hundred years has appeared as a conflict between religion and science is simply a difference of metaphysical opinion. No doubt Popper's insistence on the nonscientific nature of evolution will come as a surprise to those who cling to outmoded definitions of science, You don't settle metaphysical disputes in the laboratory. On the issue of origins the last word definitely does not belong to the scientists.
It now looks as if the whole evolution/creation question will have to be reappraised in the light of purpose and meaning. I, for one, am convinced that when it comes to providing man with a metaphysical framework in which to view his living experience, the simple biblical explanation of human existence does much greater justice to freedom, moral responsibility, equality. the dignity of man, conscience, truth and other values than any explanation based upon the survival of the fittest.
REFERENCES
1 Karl Popper, Unended Quest (Glasgow: Fontana, Collins. 1976), p.151.
2 BBC Radio 3, July 28, 1972.
3 Karl Popper, The Poverty of Historicism (London: Routledge & Keegan Paul, 1972), p. 108.
4 Karl Popper, Conjectures and Refutation (London: Routledge & Keegan Paul, 1972), p. 340.
5 Ibid., p. 347.
6 Ibid., pp. 38.39.
7 Ibid., p. 197.
8 Ibid., p. 257.
9 Popper, The Poverty of Historicism, p.108.
10 Ibid.
11 Karl Popper, Objective Knowledge (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975) p. 242.
12 Ibid., p. 267.
13 Popper, Unended Quest, p. 169.
14 Ibid., p.171.
15 Ibid., p.172.
15 Ibid.
"Karl Popper's Challenge"
<http://www.creationism.org/csshs/v02n4p20.htm>
Project Iguana, Corbyn and BreXit
I love that man - I really, truly do.
Iguana Project
The Iguana Project is as good a name as any other for this volatile thing that we're into. Why not? And so much for labels. The potential of the thing is so vast that we can't possibly define the ends-so all we can talk about for now is the "potential," the "goals," the possibility of massive "leverage," and the entirely reasonable idea that any body or bloc who can speak for twenty million voters will emerge - by mathematical definition - as a primary force in American politics.
The original discussions - in Aspen, during late June and early July of 1971 - have all been agreeably resolved to the same ends: One, that the ugly realities of 1971 America leave us no choice but to involve ourselves in basic politics on the national level-beginning with the presidential campaign of 1972, then to the congressional campaigns of 1974, and finally the presidential campaign of 1976. This scenario should be kept in mind by everybody involved with this project.
The likelihood of mounting an Aspen-style "Freak Power" campaign on the national level is a far-fetched joke for 1972-at least that's what it looks like, for now. We should keep in mind, however, that in July of 1970 we all (in Aspen) considered it a "far-fetched joke" that I might run for sheriff three months later. Yet in November of 1970 I got something like 44 percent of the total vote in a three- way race with two establishment candidates-the incumbent sheriff and the under-sheriff-backed by the local Democratic and Republican parties. Even with my head shaved completely bald and running full-bore on the "Mescaline Ticket", I forced a coalition of the establishment parties that resulted in total humiliation for the G.O.R candidate. He got about 250 votes, compared to my 1,065 or so, and the incumbents 1,500. (These figures and percentages are approximate, but no matter how they're cut or interpreted, a bald-headed "dope fiend" (admitted) got at least 40 percent of the vote in a three-way race which suggests to me that I was right (in Rolling Stone 10/1/70) when I said that the electorate here was far more (potentially) radical than anyone knew.)
Whether this is true on a national level is another question. I think not. At least not until somebody runs a genuinely Weird campaign on a national level-to put the Freak Vote together and let them see their strength. This is what the "Joe Edwards for Mayor" campaign accomplished in Aspen in the fall of '69. We came out of nowhere and lost that one by only six votes. And it was easy, a year later, to mount a heavy Freak Power registration campaign.
There is a possibility that the McCarthy campaign of '68-which formed the death-aborted R.F.K. effort-could provide us with the frustrated momentum and unfocused power base for a full-bore power move in 1972. If so, this would be a disastrous thing to ignore -because it might not exist in 1976.
This is a crucial and perhaps fatal question. Can we afford to nurse our momentum along for another four years? Personally, I can't be sure--but I tend to think we have to establish a national equivalent of Back to Freak Power in '72, before we can work off a genuine power base in '74 and especially '76. Everything in the history of political base-building points in this direction- especially with regard to getting on the ballot.
On the other hand, I remember that month I spent covering the Nixon campaign in New Hampshire in '68: I spent a lot of time around McCarthy headquarters, but only because they were in the same motor inn as George Romney 's HQ . . and Romney, at the time, was considered the main challenger.
I also remember that we began the "Thompson for Sheriff' campaign in Aspen as a joke and a smokescreen-only to find, too late, that we'd tapped a latent firestorm of political energy that none of us had ever anticipated ... and in the final analysis, this failure to take ourselves seriously, soon enough, was what cost us the whole campaign.
We can afford this kind of loss on a local level, but we can't afford it nationally. If the momentum exists in '72, it should be used in '72. (According to Carl Oglesby's analysis of American politics and the prevailing winds in the Pentagon "H ring," there will be no elections in 1976.)
But Oglesby is a fool-an S.D.S. refugee who got hired by M.I.T. to explain "radical politics" to old liberals. He makes a good living doing this, but as far as we're concerned he's absolutely useless.
And so much for all that. In the first three pages of this memo I have tried to define the main question we're faced with-whether to mount a flat-out Alternative Campaign/Candidate in 1972, or use this coming year to build a base for a total shot in 1976. We should also consider the notion that if we mount anything serious in 1972-and if Nixon wins, which is likely-anybody identified with our `72 campaign will be living in a fishbowl for the next four years. There will be IR.S. harassment, phone taps, drug surveillance. all the normal bullshit that comes with menacing a high-stakes establishment.
So, where do we go from here? Mike is fully convinced that realpolitik is inevitable, even for Essalen. Jann agrees with a vengeance-to the point that he feels only a Freak Power-type candidate (a "Free" Democrat, entering Democratic primaries) will accomplish what we're after. Jann, from a journalistic viewpoint, is opposed to running a Freak Power or Free Democratic candidate, he favors the original idea/mechanics of a "summit conference," out of which will come a "Platform Statement" that will speak for the twenty to thirty million potential voters who will not go to the polls unless they're convinced that at least one of the candidates (in November or even the primaries) is representing them.
In other words, if we can put together a platform that speaks not only for the new eighteen-to-twenty-one vote but also the eleven million or so who turned twenty-one since '68, and also the Rock Vote, the Drug Vote, the Vet Vote, the Hippie Vote, the Beatnik Vote, the Angry Liberal Vote - if we can do all this, we can force at least one candidate for the Democratic nomination to endorse out position and sink or swim with it.
My own point of view (somewhat reluctantly) is basically in tune with Jann's. I think the best we can hope for in '72 is the creation of a general platform and a cohesive voting bloc for 1976. (Jesus, this is such an obviously dull and foredoomed notion that I don't have much stomach for it, myself ... and frankly I doubt if we could generate much stomach for it in anybody else, once the word got out that we were only greasing the rails for a run in '76.)
This visceral reaction just occurred to me, about eighteen seconds ago. And now, after eighty more seconds of further reflection, I can see where I couldn't possibly involve myself in any kind of political effort, next year, that wouldn't focus on TOTAL VICTORY OR DEFEAT in November 1972. Anything less than that would deprive us, I think, of that energy edge that comes with running an honest, full-bore campaign... and the loss of that edge would be fatal to the only advantage we have.
What we have to decide, then, is what exactly would constitute a flat-out run for a "victory" in '72. Would we have to run a candidate? Or could we win by constructing a platform that would speak for a minimum of twenty million potential voters ... and then use this platform as a bargaining vehicle for that massive voting bloc?
What would McGovern, for instance, say to a platform that included
(1) Total amnesty for all draft dodgers, deserters, etc.
(2) Legalization of all drugs (without dropping the "by Rx only" concept, which would place the responsibility on doctors, where it should be, instead of cops)
... and (3) a mandatory cut of 25 percent in the Pentagon budget in fiscal '73, followed by a mandatory cut of 50 percent in fiscal '74. Then another cut of 25 percent in '75, and back to 50 percent in '76.
My own feeling is that if we could force this sort of a radical position on any serious candidate in '72, it would constitute the sort of victory we could work from in '76 ... but this could work only (according to the scenario that Jann and I worked out) if the Demo nomination were still up for grabs by June of '72, with Lindsay and Kennedy (or Bayh and McGovern) going into the California primary head to head.
At this point-and especially in California-a dramatic bid for the Youth/Freak vote might make the crucial difference. But, as Jann has pointed out, you can't just wander into the California primary like an acid-freak with a manifesto in his hand. To have any leverage in California, we will need the exposure that can come only from a skillfully orchestrated participation in at least a few other primaries ... and this, unfortunately, would require at least a dummy candidate. But the idea of a "dummy" is sick.
If we entered Ken Kesey in the Alaska primary, for instance, we'd play hell dumping Kesey for Nick Johnson if our gig looked good by the time California came around. The idea that almost anybody can run on our platform is a nice, idealistic sort of notion-but the savage realities of running any political campaign would croak the idea of switching candidates in midstream, no matter what the rationale.
Maybe we should settle, from the start, on a Kesey/Ramsey Clark ticket. Or Nick Johnson and Jerry Garcia. Any combination of these four names would be good for twenty million votes, I think, if we could get on homebody's ballot.
We might even consider the possibility of letting George Wallace light the battle to put the American Independent Party on the ballot in all fifty states, then suddenly forcing him into a primary race for the A.I.P nomination. He is, after all, a Populist-and so are we. The only difference is that Wallace hates niggers and Radicals, but I think we could turn that shit back on him. His main trip is anti-establishment, and we can beat him like a gong on that one.
I think we should consider this angle. It's so incredibly bizarre that it makes sense only when you remember that the polls in April/May of '68 showed that Robert Kennedy was the only candidate who also appealed to the Wallace voters. A lot of people called this "weird," but it wasn't. Both R.F.K. and Wallace appealed to the "Fuck the Bosses" vote-and Wallace will be going the same racist/populist route in '72. His people are already working twenty-five hours a day to get the A.I.P. on the ballot--on the assumption that Wallace is that party's only candidate.
This is admittedly a lunatic idea, but if we let Wallace get the A.I.P party on the ballot in all fifty states -then took the nomination away from him- we'd be in a hell-heavy position by November of '72. And even if we lost, we'd have generated enough national publicity to consolidate that vote-bloc we're talking about-which means we could wield it as honest leverage between Nixon and the Demo candidate. The other way to go, of course, is to run a traditional race against all comets in the Democratic primaries. But this would require a hell of a lot of money-and with our prospects of victory almost nil, big money would be a hard thing to come by.
On the other hand, I suspect it might be cheap-at least in terms of dollars-to beat Wallace out of the A.I.P nomination. This would, after all, be a sudden/savage return to the Power Coalition that led to the breakup of S.D.S.... and beyond that, it's so crazy, so intolerably weird, that the very idea would probably attract a laughing, wild-eyed swarm of dropout S.D.S. organizers.
The only serious problem with this plan-provided it's mechanically feasible--is that it would require the full-time salaried services of at least a dozen Kennedy-style, state-level political operatives. The Hrst moves would have to be made quietly ... or we would lose the advantage of total surprise. But once we got the basic organizing machinery working, I think the excitement and crazy adrenalin of the thing would take care of the rest.
For the first steps, however, we need somebody who understands that kind of local machinery, and who is also not committed right now to any other candidate. I think we can get the mechanics/type information we need for this move by brain-picking radical/lib Demos on the pretense that we want to "take over" the New Party--or maybe Peace and Freedom; whatever's on the ballot. The idea is to learn all the local A.B.C. steps (that's A-B-C) of taking over the state-level machinery of a party that's getting on the statewide ballot for the first [or second) time. Then, once we get this information, I think we could move in and grab the A.I.P nomination just about the time they get themselves on the ballot.
Woody Creek, 1971
Saturday, 20 August 2016
The Fundamental Interconnectedness of All Things
"Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable, let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all."
Auguries Of Innocence
By William Blake
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
A Robin Red breast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
A dove house fill'd with doves & Pigeons
Shudders Hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his Master's Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State.
A Horse misus'd upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fibre from the Brain does tear.
A Skylark wounded in the wing,
A Cherubim does cease to sing.
The Game Cock clipp'd and arm'd for fight
Does the Rising Sun affright.
Every Wolf's & Lion's howl
Raises from Hell a Human Soul.
The wild deer, wand'ring here & there,
Keeps the Human Soul from Care.
The Lamb misus'd breeds public strife
And yet forgives the Butcher's Knife.
The Bat that flits at close of Eve
Has left the Brain that won't believe.
The Owl that calls upon the Night
Speaks the Unbeliever's fright.
He who shall hurt the little Wren
Shall never be belov'd by Men.
He who the Ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by Woman lov'd.
The wanton Boy that kills the Fly
Shall feel the Spider's enmity.
He who torments the Chafer's sprite
Weaves a Bower in endless Night.
The Catterpillar on the Leaf
Repeats to thee thy Mother's grief.
Kill not the Moth nor Butterfly,
For the Last Judgement draweth nigh.
He who shall train the Horse to War
Shall never pass the Polar Bar.
The Beggar's Dog & Widow's Cat,
Feed them & thou wilt grow fat.
The Gnat that sings his Summer's song
Poison gets from Slander's tongue.
The poison of the Snake & Newt
Is the sweat of Envy's Foot.
The poison of the Honey Bee
Is the Artist's Jealousy.
The Prince's Robes & Beggars' Rags
Are Toadstools on the Miser's Bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the Lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for Joy & Woe;
And when this we rightly know
Thro' the World we safely go.
Joy & Woe are woven fine,
A Clothing for the Soul divine;
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
The Babe is more than swadling Bands;
Throughout all these Human Lands
Tools were made, & born were hands,
Every Farmer Understands.
Every Tear from Every Eye
Becomes a Babe in Eternity.
This is caught by Females bright
And return'd to its own delight.
The Bleat, the Bark, Bellow & Roar
Are Waves that Beat on Heaven's Shore.
The Babe that weeps the Rod beneath
Writes Revenge in realms of death.
The Beggar's Rags, fluttering in Air,
Does to Rags the Heavens tear.
The Soldier arm'd with Sword & Gun,
Palsied strikes the Summer's Sun.
The poor Man's Farthing is worth more
Than all the Gold on Afric's Shore.
One Mite wrung from the Labrer's hands
Shall buy & sell the Miser's lands:
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole Nation sell & buy.
He who mocks the Infant's Faith
Shall be mock'd in Age & Death.
He who shall teach the Child to Doubt
The rotting Grave shall ne'er get out.
He who respects the Infant's faith
Triumph's over Hell & Death.
The Child's Toys & the Old Man's Reasons
Are the Fruits of the Two seasons.
The Questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to Reply.
He who replies to words of Doubt
Doth put the Light of Knowledge out.
The Strongest Poison ever known
Came from Caesar's Laurel Crown.
Nought can deform the Human Race
Like the Armour's iron brace.
When Gold & Gems adorn the Plow
To peaceful Arts shall Envy Bow.
A Riddle or the Cricket's Cry
Is to Doubt a fit Reply.
The Emmet's Inch & Eagle's Mile
Make Lame Philosophy to smile.
He who Doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you Please.
If the Sun & Moon should doubt
They'd immediately Go out.
To be in a Passion you Good may do,
But no Good if a Passion is in you.
The Whore & Gambler, by the State
Licenc'd, build that Nation's Fate.
The Harlot's cry from Street to Street
Shall weave Old England's winding Sheet.
The Winner's Shout, the Loser's Curse,
Dance before dead England's Hearse.
Every Night & every Morn
Some to Misery are Born.
Every Morn & every Night
Some are Born to sweet Delight.
Some ar Born to sweet Delight,
Some are born to Endless Night.
We are led to Believe a Lie
When we see not Thro' the Eye
Which was Born in a Night to Perish in a Night
When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light.
God Appears & God is Light
To those poor Souls who dwell in the Night,
But does a Human Form Display
To those who Dwell in Realms of day.
"He died … in a most glorious manner. He said He was going to that Country he had all His life wished to see & expressed Himself Happy, hoping for Salvation through Jesus Christ – Just before he died His Countenance became fair. His eyes Brighten’d and he burst out Singing of the things he saw in Heaven"
"What was the Sherlock Holmes principle?
'Once you have discounted the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'
I reject that entirely. The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks.
How often have you been presented with an apparently rational explanation of something that works in all respects other than one, which is just that it is hopelessly improbable?
Your instinct is to say 'Yes, but he or she simply wouldn't do that.' "
Murder at 1600
Fox Mulder lives in an apartment of the same number in Alexandria, Va.
"I don't know my father's entire sexual résumé" - Kyle Neal / Neil Bush
That's very ironic - because if you are alumni of Skull & Bones at Yale, that would be precisely what you know.
The applicable term in intelligence community circles, notably MI5 and SIS is "Positive Vetting" - the insane and irrational principle whereby individuals are expected to disclose and share all of their secrets to render them unblackamailable and double-seal them to the fraternity.
Friday, 19 August 2016
Flamsteed : Suppressed Preface to the Historia CÅ“lestis Britannica
I had been acquainted with Mr. I.N. ever since the year 1674. had given him the diameters of the planets observed by me at Derby in the years 1671. 72 & 73 as also the greatest elongations of Jupiter's satellites of both which he made use in his Principia & since I came to London, the line of the great Comet of the year 1680 & 81. affirming that the Comet which was seen in November before was the same with that I observed {the} following December which he would not then grant, but contended earnestly that they were two different ones, as appears by a couple of very long letters of his to me, dated ffeb. 28, 1680-1, & Aprill 16, 1681 in which opinion he persisted till Sept 1685 when in a letter dated the 19 of that moneth, he writes 'I have not yet computed the orbit of a Comet, but am now going about it & takeing that of 1680 into fresh consideration it seems very probable that those of November & December were the same comet.' this is what he before contended against with some virulency but he had no mind to remember it, & at that time I took no great notice of it, till I found when his Principia were published in year 1687. & therein a draught of the comet's orbit, he was pleased to acknowledge that I had disputed that the Comets seen in November & December were one & the same & that I had given him the line of its Way not much different from his parabolicall one there described, whereas himself had disputed against their being one, & consequently against that one describing any parabolical line as he now asserted & will appear by his owne forementioned letters to me. ffrom this time till the yeare 1695, we corresponded civilly. especially the yeares 1694 & 95 when on his repeated requests I imparted to him about 150 places of the Moon deduced from observations made with the Arch & compared with my own tables fitted to Mr Horrocks his Theory but covenanted at the same time that he should not impart them to any body without my leave for I told him & he knew it very well that I had made use of an old Catalogue of the fixed stars, made to the begining of the year 1686, from Observations taken with the Sextant that I was busy now with a better & more convenient Instrument; & that as soon as I had got the New Catalogue I intended perfected all those places of the moon should be calculated over again & imparted to him but the hopes he had of makeing that Theory his own, & the Glory of restoring the Moones Motions, would not suffer him to stay so long for.
It was not a full year after but I was told that he had perfected the Lunar Theory. & Dr. Gregory gave out that there was no need of further Observations; for his Numbers would answer all my Observations within two or three minutes, or lesse. I had covenanted with him to have his emendations first imparted to me, because I imparted to him the observations from which they were derived. but his promise was overlookt or forgot, at last it came to my hands I found the Solar Numbers were the same I had freely given him. & the Lunar but little altered save that he had added a parcell of very small æquations which whether the heavens would bear or not was onely to be found by compareing of his Numbers with good Observations I therefore made New lunar Tables exactly agreeable to his sentiment but when I compared the Moones places calculated from them, with her places deduced from the Observations, I found {illeg} that those Numbers which were said to agree with the Observations within two 3 minutes would very seldome come so neare, but often differed 8. 9. or 10 minutes which I did not admire it then at all being very sensible that the persons who so loudly on all occasions cried up his performances in amending the Lunar Theory & Tables did it to oblige his friendship, who had then a great Interest in a Great Courtier, and considering also that {they} were persons of very ordinary skill in that parte of Mathematicks which is concerned with the heavens & lunar Theorys.
But Mr. Newton was not displeased with their flatterys nor ever that I could hear of endeavoured to correct them. We conversed civilly as oft as we met accidentally and he failed not (as if he were a great Master of my methods), allwayes to aske how the Catalogue went on to which I alwayes gave him sincere answers telling him how far I had proceeded & that I wanted more hands both to carry on the Observations & calculations that were necessary but this I could not get him to take notice of. In the mean time some freind of mine (that was frequently in company with me & saw how the work went on with such assistance as I hired & payd my selfe & was informed what the charge would be of printing the Observations of 30 yeares & engraveing the Maps of the Constellations I had prepared) acquainted Prince George of Denmarke with my performances Mr Newton lived near the Court I, allwayes at a distance. he was then President of the Royal Society & had a Great Courtier for his friend & one who was frequently at his Office required at Court & attending on the Prince so that he could not but hear of the Princes Inclinations to make me easier in my work nor could Mr. Newton fayle to be informed of it so on the 11th of Aprill 1704 he came down to Greenwich, visited me on my request stayd & dined with me, at his first comeing he desired to see what I had ready for the presse I shewed him the books of Observations togeather with so much of the Catalogue as was then finished. which was about one halfe & a fayre copy of it. And with it the Maps of the Constellations drawn both by My Amanuensis {illeg} & Van Somer, which haveing lookt over carefully he desired me to let him have the recommending of them to the prince, I was surprised at this proposition I had formerly tried his temper and allways found him insidious, ambitious & excessively covetous of praise & impatient of contradiction. I had taken notice of some faults in the 4th book of his principia which instead of thanking me for, he resented ill yet was presumtuous of his Interest that he sometimes dared to ask why I did not hold my tongue. I considered that if I granted what he desired I should put my selfe wholly into his power & be at his Mercy who might spoyle all that came into his hands or put me to unnecessary trouble & vexation about my owne labors & all the while pretend that he did it to amend faults. where none were but what were unavoydable, or easily to be corrected & therefore excusable. I had further irritated him by not concealeing some Truths that are since published in print & notoriously knowne: & therefore civilly refused what hee desired but still he told me he would recommend them to the Prince, & parted with me in the evening with a short expression of very good advice, [1] which it would have been very happy for him if he had followed himself t'has been the Rule of my life from my Infancy tho I doe not know that it ever has been of his.
But I heard no more of his Recommendations. on the contrary. his flatterers & such small Mathematicians about London as hoped to get themselves esteemed very skillfull men by Crying up his book began to ask why I did not print as if I were obliged to publish my workes just when they pleased tho they understood no more of my workes than they did of his book which they so much cryed up. To obviate this Clamor I examined all my books of Observations & took an account what Number of folio pages they might fill when printed & found it Much greater than I expected; whereupon I drew my Estimate into a short paper wherein I both shewed what the Number of pages were but also in what order the press was to worke them off & Cheifly urged that the Mapps of the Constellation shoud be first of all set upon that being carried on apart they might be finisht by that time the Observations were printed off: Van Somer, an excellent designer who had drawn about a dozen figures for me was then alive & ready to goe on with the rest. my Amanuensis had not yet left me & might have been hired againe to continue in my {service} Mr Hodgsons help might also have been purchased Some of my acquaintance falln into a suspition that my labors answered not what might reasonably be expected from me, That I might cure them of their Mis-prehensions which had been impressed upon by the false & malitious suggestions of some few busy arrogant & self designing people, I gave a copy or two of this Estimat to an acquaintance of myne desiring him to shew it to those of my freinds who had been possest with these unjust suspitions. At one of the Meetings of the R.S., some of them were present he got my paper handed to one of them who sate at a distance (for then their meetings were throngd with company however thin they are at present) who opening the paper & finding the contents, delivered it to the Secretary who read it, at the Board. this convinc't the Members present that I had been unjustly aspersed & it was moved that the printeing of the Whole should be recommended to Prince George by the Society:
Accordingly a Committy was appointed, who with Mr. Newton waited on the Prince. But, who they were when they wated on him & how they made their recommendation, I was never Informed nor did they vouchsafe to consult me about it or take me along with them. all that I can tell of is that the Estimate was wrote in November 1704 the Prince chosen into the Society November 30, a letter from the Prince's Secretary, Mr. George Clarke directing Mr. Roberts, Sir C. Wren, Dr. Gregory & Dr. Arbuthnot, with Mr. N. to inspect my papers dated Dec. 11, 1704, which they did & somtime after gave in their report of the charge of prepareing & printing the observations & Catalogues mentioned in the Estimate, about 863ld.
< insertion from f 78v >| ld | s | d | |
| 283 Rheme of paper for 400 copies at 20sh. per Rhem | 283 | 0 | 0 |
| Composition & press-Worke for 300 sheets at 20sh. per sheet | 300 | 0 | 0 |
| Charges of an Amanuensis for copying comparing correcting and exammining the papers | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| to compute the Planets' places, for 2 Calculators | 180 | 0 | 0 |
| ---- | ---- | ----- | |
| in all | 863ld | 0 | 0 |
But the last particular of the charge (180ld for the two calculators) was not mentioned in it but added in a note under it for what reason those know best who drew it up.
Nor the charge of designeing & engraveing about 50 plates of the Constellations: tho this was likely to be the heaviest parte of the Charge, & the Observations could not be understood without them. I had further proposed them to be the first taken care of & begun. I had them all drawn; & 12 of them anew designed by a skillfull workeman by me. These were the most sumptuous part of the worke and had it not been for them I had had no or little need to crave the Prince's help to print, why they were neglected, Sir Isaac Newton best knows. betwixt March 22 1704-5 & aprill 21, 1705 Mr Newton was knighted by the Queen at Cambridge.
Hereby I was plainly convinced that Sir I.N. was no freind to {my} worke. & every step hee tooke afterwards proved planely that whatever he pretended his designe was either to gaine the honor of all my paines to himselfe, to make me come under him as Dr Arbuthnot some time after expresst it, or to spoyle or sinke it, which it was my chiefe concern & businesse, if possible to prevent. I therefore printed my Estimat & gave it to my friends that they might see what my workes were & how I thought it best to proceed in printing them.
< text from p 78 resumes >To skreen himselfe from the just imputions & blame that would probably follow such disingenuous & ungratefull practises he made use of these gentlemen to whom he had got the Inspection of my books of Observations ordered by the Prince, & called them the Prince's Referees. Of these, Sir Ch: Wren was then about 70 yeares of Age & tho he was a skillful person, yet being full of other business he was sure to have him who lived in his neighbourhood, to consent to all his orders, & subscribe them. Mr Roberts was an easy, good natured man but knew little of the businesse. Mr Aston had been fellow of the same Trinity colledge in Cambridge at the same time with him. knew nothing of the businesse, lived in the Court, had been my freind & Guest at the Observatory, was too much a Courtier to withstand any one that had a Noble patrone in the Ministry, and therefore was tooke into the Number of the Referrees sometimes for speciall purposes, Dr Gregory tho he published a peice of Astronomy knew but very little of that part of it that was cultivated here. nor was Dr Arbuthnot skilld in it but being one of the Princes physitians, he was taken in to Sir Isaac Newton's purposes. he saw what was designed & testified to me by some expressions, that he approved not such procedings. promised once to assist me in a particular affaire. and, tho he met with obstructions, performed it handsomly:
With these persons Sir Isaac Newton began to act his parte, & carry on his designes. I dealt honestly & openly with him as will appear by the Copys of some letters I wrote to him upon severall occasions; haveing no other designe but to have my works handsomely printed & as soone as possible for the Prince was very infirm but I soon perceived that he designed onely to hinder the work by delays or spoyle or sinke it. or force me to comply with his humour & flatter him & Cry him up as Dr. Gregory & Dr. Halley did. I was forced therefore to act with more Caution then I had done hitherto that I might give him no cause of pretensions to stop the progresse of the Work
To forward which I used my best diligence & honest endeavours. I hired one & employed him to copy specimens of the severall partes of the Work: 1°. the observations of the fixed stars made with the sextant : 2°. of the Moone made with the same Instrument: 3o. of observations made with the Murall Arch: 4o. of the New Catalogue which I sent him with a list that gave an account of them, dated Jan. 5, 170
; but could not get them printed of till March 22 following. In the mean time, Sir IN appointed a meeting of his referrees, March 5 following. Mr Churchill was not there but Sir Isack with Dr Arbuthnot, Dr Gregory & Mr Aston dined at Churchills & a forthnight after Mr Aston told me of it (for I dined not with them) & that all things he thought were then agreed but paper. Now I understood that Mr Churchill was to be the undertaker. he had beene recommended for the purpose by one that I tooke to be my freind without my knowledge for I did not conceive wee had any need of one, & so did some of the Gentlemen of the Royal Society: but Sir Isaac Newton was resolved to make friends at my Cost for, as he ordered the matter the Undertaker was here to reap the sole Advantage of all my Labors & great expenses & he was so confident of it, that when I intimated it to him he answered boldly The Prince would reward me for them.
However there was no recedeing: for then Sir I.Ns cryers-up would have clamored that I hindered the Printing of my owne Works my selfe: to avoyd that Imputation I was silent. tho I complained oft to some freinds in private but never did any thing whereby it might appear I allowed him
At this meeting on the 5th of March the Specimens of the Undertakers printing were produced but found to be ill done I got others done very well & paid the Printers myselfe.
June the 11 following Dr Gregory & my selfe with Mr Churchill, dined at Sir Isaac Newtons where they agreed to give Mr. Churchill 1lb 14s. per sheet. They signed the Agreement but I would not, tho they urged me much. I desired to be excused: for it was now plane to me that he designed not the good of the Impression or my Advantage but to make him a freind of a great Name: by obliging a person I never had any Acquaintance with & enriching him at my Cost. The point being over I was in hopes that the presse should have been set to work Immediately: for I had about 50 Sheets of Observations made with the Sextant, redy copied, & the rest of that sort would easily be finished before these could be printed off. but I found my selfe deceived: we were as far of from printing as if no such bargain had been made.
At Midsummer following I payd my Amanuensis & Calculators a quarters pay my selfe; & Sir Is. to encourage me to doe it, talked often of drawing the Princes money, but, when I waited on him July the 4th following & told him that I must goe into Surry to reap my harvest (as I usually did every year about this time), he put me of again, before I could say any thing to him of it, by telling me that Dr Arbuthnots daughter was ill & that the Dr could doe nothing till her recovery, that it was not fit we should begin to print till we had receaved his Royal Highness's monys & that it would be soon enough at my return. I had put 12 sheets, ready for the presse, into his hands a week before, He thought to work me to his ends by putting me to extraordinary charges in maintaining & paying an Amanuensis & calculators at my own charges. But, I resolved to bear this expense patiently, & defeat his designes.
<81>After this I caused my Amanuensis & Calculators to goe on diligently with their worke & carried on the Observations for compleating the Catalogue & others according as I had opportunitys but Nn became dayly more perverse & sought by severall vexatious pretences to discourage me & weary me if possible. I paid My Calculators & Amanuensis 3 quarters without any present prospect of being any wayes reimbursed but yet I had hopes, if once the press began to work they would not find any new tricks or pretences to delay repayeing me but herein too I found my self mistaken those that have begun to do ill things never blush to do worse & worse to secure themselves. Sir N had still more to doe, & was ready at coyning new excuses & pretexts to cover his disingenuous & malitious practices I had none but very honest & honorable designes in my mind I met his cunning forecasts with sincere & honest answers & thereby frustrated not a few of his malitious designs.
finding that I persisted unwearied in my purposes he demanded to have my first Night Notes put into his hands that hee might compare them with my Copy. These were wrote in 4to Volumes & from them were commonly transcribed correctly into large folios next morning from which the Copies were taken. I knew that he would be mistaken & that they would not serve his designe about the winter of feb. 170
they were put into his hands: ffeb 23 1705-6. Mr. Hodgson acquainted me that Sir Is: had showed him 3 or 4 pages of errata that were committed in transcribeing as he supposed & a Table made by Dr Gregory for turning the Revolves of the Screw into degrees, ′ & ″ wherein he wisely had supposed the revolve everywhere equall & equable: I smiled at this & promised to send them my own Tables for that purpose & shewed them their mistakes & that there were no materiall errors committed: this was some small mortification to them: but they had learnt not to be ashamed.
Tho I had refused to handle any of the Princes money but what was to repay my proper disbursements, & Sir IN had granted that then it was not necessary I should sign any agreements with the Referees yet now he became very positive for Articles he had sayd to some of his Confidants that he would hamper me with Articles: it had come to my ears & therefore on his Urging me I drew up some for the Undertaker to signe. as that he should print onely 400 Copies. that he should have no interest in the Originall, &c. but these were not to his purpose. I would not Court him; to bring about his low designes he makes Articles himselfe in which some things of mine were inserted & in them he covenants the Undertaker should print 5 sheets a week & for reprinting of faulty sheets. & that I should have 125lb paid me when ten sheets were printed of. these were read to me once. & I was required to signe them immediately else the worke was at a stand. no time would be allowed to consider of them. or mend any thing I thought amisse in them I was then near 140lb out of pocket all my Copy was ready for the presse, or soon would be. If I refused the worke would be broke of imediately. & the fault would be thrown upon mee. for Sir I.N. lived in the Neighbourhood of the Court I at 6 miles distance. he had his close freind the Lord Halifax to support him ther with the Princes Physitian I had nothing but my sincerity & Gods blessing to depend upon. Trusting on these alone I signed them not doubting but now the press would begin.[2]
But herein I soone found my self deceaved This would not satisfie: I would not yet cry up Sir Is. as others did to bring me to that basenesse now he has gotten my books of night notes he wants a Copy of so much of the Catalogue as I had gone through with to be trusted into his hands he therfore demanded it I answered that it was not then perfected that I believed it would conteine a good Number more than I had yet observed and rectified. that the stars allready in it were about 1500 but probably I should make them 2500. that these were the result of all my labors in which haveing spent above 2000lb of my owne money above my Allowances it would neither be prudent nor safe to trust a Copy of them out of my owne keeping he answered that I might then put them into his hands sealed up. whereby I understood that they were to be so kept by him till I had finished the whole. & was ready to print it. I considered also that this half of my Catalogue would be of no advantage to him & consented; I therefore deliverd the copy of so much of the Catalogue as was finished into Mr. Hodgsons hands, with orders to seal it up in Sir C Wrens presence & deliver it to Sir Isaac Newton when 10 sheets were printed, & 125lb (which would then be payable by the Articles) should be paid me; this was April 8th, 1706: but this direction I waived afterwards: & it was put into his hands the week after without receaving a farthing for the board or pay of my Amanuensis, or Calculators. for honest Sir Is: N. would (to use his owne words) have all things in his own power, to spoyle or sink them. that he might force me to second his designes, & applaud him which no honest man would not nor could doe. &, God be thanked. I lay under no necessity of doeing.
<83>This business being over a week after meeting me in London he told me he would now draw 800lb of the Princes money: but sayd nothing of payeing me what I had disburst however we must now put the Worke into the press for after such unreasonable concessions on my part his pretences for further delay were all taken away & he had no excuse for further delayes.
April 4, being in London, I was told all the errors which he by mistake thought he had found in my Copy were quitted & that the first sheets would goe to the presse this week
April the 19. I waited upon him again he told me gravely that the Prince having subscribed a great summe to the Emperors loan the mony could not be receaved, but that he had taken up monys for Mr Churchill, this was to provoke me but he failed of his designe. whatever I had hitherto expended I was content to adventure a little more. Mr Churchill was put upon me had never been at any expense, must have monys put into his hands beforehand to buy paper & pay the printer. Whereby he was sure to have him at his command & tho it was covenanted that hee should print but 400 Copyes might take as many as he pleased: for I never heard nor found that he had given any bond or security for his faire dealeing however it was highly reasonable he should
But this was not all the printer being to be paid by the Undertaker and not by me, was likely to be careless of his worke. which I urged but to no purpose
It was May 16 ere the first Sheet was printed of; & June the 3rd ere we got a second; & the 3d on the 7 of June so here was a whole moneth since the first was wrought of & not two sheets yet printed in the roome of 20 that by the Articles ought to have been printed in a moneths time. I complained boldly of the dilatorinesse but in vain all the Answer I got was from Sir Is:s own mouth, that wee must proceed slowly at first, & make more dispatch after.
This was one of the fruites of our haveing an Undertaker & leaveing the printer to be paid by him who neglected the Historia CÅ“lestis if they had but a sorry pamphlet to print
Wee had got two Alphabets that is about 46 sheets out of the presse by Christmas 1706. & the whole (5 E) or 97, before Dec 21. 1707: that is 97 sheets. in about 89 weeks in which had they printed 5 sheets per week, according to their Articles, all the observations made . all the observations made with the Murall Arch from 1689 to 1706 might have been easily printed, as well as those made with Sextant
<84>In the mean time Sir Is. N. sometimes stopt the presse without assigneing a reason for it or any occasion given by me but upon my complaint at the first & afterward without any sollicitation of mine at all, let it goe on again I hapned once to visit the press when he was there & took the opportunity to show him how ill the Compositor had placed the types of the figures & how much awry to the lines to which they belonged. Sh Kkk, pag 224 he put his head a little nearer to the paper, but not near enough to see the fault for he is very short sighted & Makeing a sleighting motion with his hand said Methinks they are well enough; this encouraged the Printer in his carelessnesse, the sheet was printed of & the fault not mended; & caused me to be more watchfull over the printer for now it was plane to me that the Referee as he called himselfe was not displeasd with the faults he committed & the Undertaker never concerned himselfe about them he was sure of certein gaines by the paper & presse work & somethinge More probably than we were aware of
The printeing of the sextant observations being finished I expected the presse should have gone on after Christmas with the Volume of Observations made with the Murall Arch which were double the Number of the Other. but, Sir I.N. had put a full stop to the presse tho hee knew very well that the Copy was ready fayre transcribed on 175 sheets : what excuse he made for it I know not; for none of his confidents would acquaint me [but upon complaineing of his behaviour I had an Order subscribed by himselfe & four more of his Referrees sent me whereby he endeavored to throw the fault of himself on me. twas dated July 13. 1708. on the 18th of the same month I wrote a letter to Sir Ch: Wren concerneing it which after the order I shall here insert whereby it will appear that {illeg} he onely hindred the worke {illeg} whilest I forwarded it all I could & had got the 2d Volume ready to follow it to the Press … I never receaved any answer to this letter In the meane time I had complayned to one of the Referees, who was often at Court & waited frequently on the Prince, of my ill usage that care was taken of the Undertaker & printer but that none was taken to reimburse me what it had cost me in the entertainment & pay of three calculators & in transcribeing of the Copy for the presse which came to more than 173ld. tho I accounted nothing for my own & servants attendant on the press. he was ashamed of it promised it should be redressed & I am apt to thinke procured a meeting to be appointed on the 20th of March following which was Notified to me. & I was then desired to bring with me what I had more by me ready for the presse.
<85>The presse had now stood three moneth by Sir I.N. onely procurement for to keep all things wholly in his own power he had brought in an Undertaker who was useless to the businesse & served onely to spoyle the Worke or worse, & a printer whom I beleive he paid. I am sure he never consulted me about the payment of either tho there was sufficient cause all the Articles that related to them haveing been broken, but by this management hee had them wholly at his devotion, On the day appointed March the 20. 1707-8 I tooke up with me to London all the Observations here made betwixt September 1689 & December 1705, fairely copyed in 175 sheets of large paper: Six sheets were of the planets' places calculated from the Observations made with the Sextant, which ought to have been printed next after the said Observations as also a faire copy of the places of the stars in the Eclipticall & as many of the Southerne constellations as I had then rectified. The referees viewd them & Sir Is. N. after some time withdrew & calleing Dr Arbuthnot out to him produced the following paper which the other referrees as I remember signed. he would not deliver it to mee but gratiously permitted me to take a copy of it, which I have here inserted.
London, March 20, 1707-8
It is agreed between Sir Isaac Newton & Mr. John Flamsteed,
1st. That the 2d Volume of the Astronomical Observations, with the figures of the first Volume, shall be presently delivered into Sir Isaac Newtons hands
2d. That the Catalogue of the fixed Stars, here present, shall likewise be delivered into Sir Isaac Newton's hands.
3d. That the catalogue of the fixed stars, now in Sir Isaac Newton's hands, shall be delivered to Mr. Flamsteed in order to have the magnitudes inserted, & to be returned with the Magnitudes after Sixteen days.
4t. That upon the Redelivery of that Catalogue, Sir I.N. shall pay to Mr. Flamsteed, one Hundred & twenty-five pounds on the Prince's account.
5t. That upon the delivery of the Catalogue of the Fixed Stars, as far as it can be completed at this time, Mr Flamsteed shall have the rest of the Money Stipulated betwixt him & the Referrees: he Undertaking to Correct the Press, & appointing Correctors who live in Town, that the Work may not be retarded. Memorandum, That at the Same time the 2d Volume of Observations (with the figures mentioned here) was delivered into Sir Issac Newtons Hands together with a Corrected Copy of the Eclipticall Constellations & all the Southern of the Catalogue but that I Covenanted that the said 2d copy should be returned to Me to be again Revised & delivered to the Press, as the Printers should work it off; & the Copy of the Eclipticall Constellations returned me, as soon as I should return the Copy now in Sir Isa Newton's hands, with the Magnitudes Inserted.
There were present at the Meeting at the Castle Tavern, in Pater Noster Row March 20 1707/8 Mr Roberts, Sir Isa Newton, Dr Arbuthnot, DrGregory, Mr Churchill, Mr James Hodgson myself & Isaac Wolferman.
The Conditions on which I was to deliver this 2d Volume & the Catalogue were very hard & unjust for the observations contained {there}in were most of them made with the New Murall Arch which I had built at my own cost & lay me in above 120ld out of my own pocket, my other Instruments were all my own too & my Assistants were paid and maintained at my own charge. I had layd out moreover above 173ld in carrying on the works of which I had given a bill both to Sir. I.N. & severall of the referrees. I considered that if I should not consent to this order, Sir Is. N. would say that I had hindered the printing of my own works my selfe which would serve to justify a report, spread by his partisans very industriously that I was averse to the publishing of them. whereas I had allways endeavored to carry them on as advantageously as I could & he had done all he could to hinder me in order to make me comply with them & cry him up at the same rate they did further I saw that if I did not lay hold of this opportunity, I could not hope to be reimburst any part of the 173l. I had spent in prepareing the copy for the press, & performed my part of the agreement in the time agreed. but the 125 was not paid me till above 2 moneths after & then I was still above 48ld out of purse for which I had nothing but 3 copyes one that I gave Mr. Sharp & another in which I have corrected the faults of the press with my own hand & a 3d not complete.
I was now in hope that the Presse would begin againe to work with the 2d Volume: but when after 3 or 4 moneth delay I found that for all my Instances, there was not the least step made towards it I complained of this behaviour of Sir I.N. both payeing me short of what I had disburst & of his keeping the 175 sheet of copy for the 2d Volume in his hands. this I beleive was as intended carried to him whereupon to throw all the fault upon me, 8 moneth after he had stopt the presse, hee sent me the following Order dated July 13 1708:
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: & that if Mr Flamsteed do not take care that the press be well corrected, & go on with the dispatch, another Corrector be employed.
| Whitehall, July 13, 1708 | F. ROBERTS |
| CHR. WREN | |
| Vera Copia | IS. NEWTON |
| D. GREGORY | |
| IS. NEWTON | FRAN. ASHTON |
To prevent the designed effect of this malitious order or agreement, I wrote a letter to Sir Christopher Wren who I believed hated such practises & sent it him in a few dayes after I declined writing to Sir I N. because he might suppress it. & I doubted not but Sir Cristopher would impart it both to him & the other Referees
I tooke a copy of it myselfe, to show my acquaintance friends & some gentlemen that had an opinion of Sir I N before & could not thinke he could be guilty of such collusion as this order & my letter proved upon him. the Copy follows:
The Observatory, Monday, July 19, 1708
SIR,
The Copy of the Agreement made by the Gentlemen Referrees on Tuesday last, reflecting upon me as if by my dilatoriness I had obstructed the progress of the Press, I find myself obliged, that I may clear myself of so unjust an insinuation, with Your Leave to Acquaint you.
That tho I had got 50 Sheets of the first Volume ready copied for the Press on May the 2d 1705, yett upon severall pretences, the printing was Obstructed; and it was May 1706, before the first Sheet was printed off
That tho by the Agreement, the Undertaker was to print off five Sheets a Week, yett it was from May 1706 to October 1707 before we could gett 100 Sheets, comprehending the Observations of the first Volume, wrought of; that is near 75 weeks, So that taking altogether, the Printer dispatched not a Sheet and a halfe per Week.
Tho I did all I could to hasten and expedite the Work, as will appear by the Copies of my letters to Mr Churchill, Mr Mathews & Mr. Hodgson, that I have by me: I offerd to discharge the expense of the Pennypost Letters that brought the Proofs; if the post brought them in the Evening, I returned them next Morning: if in the Morning, they were sent back that evening after, without fayle; except once, on May the 1. 1706, when the great Eclipse of the Sun hapning, company hindered me from correcting & returning that proof till the Morning following & no longer.
The greatest dispatch, was made, both this year 1706 & the following 1707, in Autumn; when I was Absent in Surrey, yett that was less than the 5 Sheets per Week and then the Work was allways worst done.
At my Return after the last Years Harvest, I found a whole Sheet had been Omitted by the Printer, who had either lost or mislayd it: I copied it immediately from my Manuscripts, & sent it to him, with directions to print it, & reprint the next. I caused also Sir Isaac Newton to be acquainted with it: & informed both Sir Isaac and the Printer that I had about halfe a dozen Sheets more, comprehending the Planetts places derived from the Observations made with the Sextant, contain'd in this Volume, to be added to it; but this was not taken notice of, The 6 sheets were not call'd for; and the Press has stood still ever since
March 12th last I received a letter from Mr Roberts, Your Self, and Sir I Newton desiring me to meet them in London on the 20th & bring with me what Papers I had ready for the Press. I Attended them with the 2d Volume containing the Observations made betwixt Sept. 1689 and 1705 compleat in about 175 sheets of Paper, I exhibited also at the same time the aforementioned six Sheets that were to be added to the first Volume; desired that the dropt Sheet might be printed & the next following reprinted, or at least the two first Pages of it, which I thought had been Accorded. The 2d Volume by Agreement was put into the Referrees' Hands. I desired the Press, after the first Volume was compleat, might go on with it. At this meeting also I had 125 lib ordered to be paid me in part of above 170 lib it had Cost me in repayeing & entertaining three Calculators & Copiers whom I had dismisst for want of it at Midsummer 1706. Sir Isaac Newton required that I should insert the Magnitudes of the fixed Stars into a Copy of so much of the Catalogue, as I had gone through with, that I had deposited in his hands; which was done for him, and part of a 3d more perfect copy left in his hands as a gage for returning it.
At this Meeting the Undertaker Urged to have a Corrector appointed in London; this I lookt upon only as a Contrivance to throw the delays of the press, caused partly by his own and his Printers Neglect, upon me: & therefore having Answered it then, as I have done in this Paper, to the Satisfaction, as I thought, of the Referrees present, I took no further Notice of it.
Since You now know that the Printer has had the dropt Sheet in his hands full Nine Months; that he may have six Sheets more whenever the Referrees please; that they have also 175 Sheets of the second Volume in their hands; that I never delayed Correcting and returning the proof Sheets as usually; I hope you are satisfied I have not been guilty of any dilatoriness or Neglect, & that you will not suffer me to be supposed or insinuated to have been guilty of any
But if Sir Isaac Newton insists upon proceeding to print the Catalogue imediately before the 2d Volume. I cannot at present consent to it: for, since the Press has Stopt, I have set my Self to compleat it; and having gotten two payr of hands to help me, have perfected some Constellations, that were not compleat before: I have begun the most difficult, and am going into the Country, as I use allways to do at this time of the Year, to look after my Occasions; there, I hope to perfect a good part of what remains, and the whole in a few Months after my Return. Now You will say your Self, were it your own Case, 'tis not fitt to sett to printing the Catalogue before it be as compleat as I can render it at present, I must say further, that 'tis altogether improper to print it before the Observations of the 2d volume: because 'tis almost wholly derived from them. The Observations of the Planetts in this are much more Numerous than in the first and I will add, much Exacter, & if any One be of another Opinion, for want of experience I shall bring such Proofs of it, as no Equall and Candid Person shall ever reject.
As for Correcting the Press, I am altogether unwilling that the last Sheet shall be printed off in the remaining Volume, till I have seen them my Self, but the Catalogue is of that Importance that I shall never consent that any Page of it should be printed off till I have fully corrected and received from the Press a Proof without faults. I am not only willing but desirous that the Press should proceed to finish the first Volume of Observations, I have spoke to Mr Hodgson to take Care of correcting the 2d Proofs, and with him I shall leave the six sheets to be Added; which when they are wrought off, Sir Isaac Newton has 175 sheets of the 2d Volume in his hands, that the Press may proceed with whilest I am Compleating the Catalogue, So there need be no stop on my Account as there never was, nor hereafter shall be, God spareing me Life & Health & prospering, as I firmly believe he will, my Sincere Endeavours.
I think to send a copy of this letter to Mr Roberts & doubt not but you will imparte the contents of it to Sr Isaack Newton
I am with all due respect Sir for all your favours
JOHN FLAMSTEED, M.R.
Then this letter was delivered & imparted to Sir I N as I desired it should be. yet I never receaved any answer to it, but the presse was stopt, & no more talke of it this year: In the latter end of which the Prince of Denmarke died, on Oct 28th, 1708 in whom the Observatory lost one that would have been a great & Noble patron, had hee not been prevented by one of his Physitians who was influenced & gouverned by Sir I.N.
Being now not disturbed by him any more at present, I set my selfe to carry on such observations as I wanted & made good advances in it adding many stars to some constellations that I had gone threw before.
But when I least expected it I was afresh disturbed by another peice of Sir Is. N. ingenuitys: after the Princes death, the old Ministry was changed a New one intro duced. his patrone was well with the cheif of them the Queen's Physitian was in his interest, and the New Secretary of States. it was not enough that Sir I.N. had gotten my Observations made with the Murall Arch into his hands by surprise togeather with above halfe the Catalogue Whatever my expenses had been or paines in makeing it, so long as I would not leave my selfe and paines wholly at his disposall: and therefore he procures by the Meanes of the Physitian Minister & Secretary Saint John an Order constituting the President (Sir. I.N.) of the Royal Society the Vice President & whom else they should think fit of the said Society. the Visitors of the Observatory: tis dated Dec 12. 1710 & was sent me by the Office Messenger on the 14 with the Queens letter intimating it {illeg} Copys whereof I have here inserted.
To our trusty and well-beloved the President of our Royal Society for the time being.
ANNE REGINA
Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well. Whereas we have been given to understand that it would contribute very much to the improvement of Astronomy and Navigation, if we should appoint constant Visitors of our Royal Observatory at Greenwich, with sufficient powers for the due execution of that trust, We have therefore thought fit, in consideration of the great learning, experience and other necessary qualifications of our Royal Society, to constitute and appoint, as we do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you, the President, and in your absence the Vice-President of our Royal Society for the time being, together with such others of the Council as our said Royal Society shall think fit to join with you, to be constant Visitors of our said Royal Observatory at Greenwich: authorising and requiring you to demand of our Astronomer and Keeper of our said Observatory, for the time being, to deliver to you within six months after every year shall be elapsed, a true and fair copy of the annual observations he shall have made. And our further Will and Pleasure is that you do likewise, from time to time, order and direct our said Astronomer and Keeper of our said Royal Observatory to make such astronomical observations as you in your judgment shall think proper. And that you do survey and inspect our instruments in our said Observatory; and as often as you shall find any of them defective that you do inform the principal Officers of our Ordnance thereof; that so the said instrument may be either exchanged or repaired. And so we bid you farewell. Given at our Court of St. James's, the 12th day of December, 1710, in the ninth year of our reign. By Her Majesty's command,
H. ST. JOHN
SIR, Whitehall, December 12, 1710
Her majesty commands me to acquaint you that she has thought fit, for the improvement of astronomy and navigation, to appoint the President, and in his absence the Vice-President of the Royal Society for the time being, together with such other as the Council of the said Society shall think fit to join with them, to be constant Visitors of the Royal Observatory. And for the better enabling you to make the necessary observations for these ends, directions are likewise given for repairing, erecting, or changing Her Majesty's instruments in the said Observatory, as well as for purchasing those that belong to you.
The Queen does not doubt but you will readily comply with the instructions the said Visitors shall think to give you. However I am commanded to signify Her Majesty's pleasure to you that you do deliver to them, within six months after every year shall be expired, a fair and true copy of the annual observations you shall have made: and you do also make such astronomical observations as the said Visitors in their judgment shall at any time think to direct you. I am, Sir, your most humble Servant,
H. ST. JOHN
The next morning after I receaved this, I waited on Mister Secretary Saint John & told him that I was injured and should be hindred by this new constitution of Visitors. that I wanted no new Instruments & that if I did the Visitors were not skillful enough to contrive them. that for my repairs of the Observatory the Office of the Ordinance had hitherto taken care of them & would now as soone as the weather should be fit, that the Instruments & clocks in the house were all my owne that I had hitherto repayred them all at my own charge that I had expended above 2000lmore than my appointments in instruments & assistants & that it would be very unjust to goe about to deprive mee both of the honor & benefit of my own labor & expenses & confer them on those who had done nothing but obstruct & hinder me all they Could & wanted to boast of their Merits in preserving my labors because they had Nothing of their own worth the publick view. Mr Secretary seemd Not to regard what I said, but answered me haughtily The Queen would be obeyd The Lord Rochester the Queen Unkle, liveing near the Secretary's office I also waited upon him & shewed him what tricks & disingenuous usage were put upon me by Sir. I.N. & tho I found no immediate advantage by it, yet I am apt to beleive it was of use to me afterwards.
Sir. I.N. valued himselfe very much upon the suggestion that it would contribute very much to the improvement of Astronomy & Navigation if there were constant Visitors appointed of the Observatory, &c & one of the principall of the Councell of the Royal Society could not forbear to speake of it to me in publick company: whereas the contrary is evident from what hapned to the Noble Tycho, who had no Visitors of his Observatory appointed over him during the Reign of his patron King ffrederic the 2 & when some persons were appointed in the following reigne of King Christian, they were such as were very unfit for that purpose, much lesse skillful than himselfe, & made use of purposely to asperse him onely, to make him uneasy & withdraw. that the Courtiers might get his appointments (which were 2000 dollars a year allowd him from the Tresury, a ffee in Norway, worth 1000 dollars per year more, & the prebend of Roschild, of 1000 more) into the kings hand againe which they did & soon, by him, were conferd on Templars. My appointments, tho very small in comparison of his, were also designed by Sir I N for other persons that would be dependent on him; & this expedient of Visitors was to performe strange things. but the good providence of God so ordered it that I received but little damage by it. & he got little but shame & disgrace for his ingratitude to me in disturbing me in my businesse which he was bound by his Oath to assist me in, as President of the Royal Society & as cheife (as he had made himself) of the Princes Referrees, or indeed the all of them
But now that he got another pretence of authority to make me sensible of it a report was spread that a letter was comeing to me from the Royal Society this was in the beginning of Dec 1710 & was occasiond I beleive, by their knowing of Mr. Secretary Saint John's letter that was brought to my hands on the 14. I heard nothing of any letter from them if they then designed any, I beleive on better thoughts it was layd by. but in March following I was surprised when it was privately told me that my Catalogue (which I was then workeing upon to compleat it as far as I then could) was in the presse: but more with a letter of Dr. Arbuthnot dated the 14 of March 1711, wherein he very confidently required of me the Copy of the stars places of 6 Constellations, viz. of Draco, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cepheus, Cassiopea, & Hercules: That had not been delivered into Sir I N hand when he got the rest into his possession by tricks & pretences. This I beleive was one of the boldest thinges that ever was attempted none that had lesse dexterity & boldness & Art then the Doctor would have had the confidence to have mentiond such a demand. I had made my instruments and mainteined my assistants at my own charge, without complaint of it so long as I could be quiet & undisturbed by the small people that cried him up. I had put a Copy of that parte of my Catalogue which was in order into his hands, to be preserved in case of my mortality & to prevent it from being lost by accidents, & to let him see that I could goe on with it as soon as I had determined the Right ascensions & distances from the Pole of other stars in other constellations. I gave him also copys of them; never designeing or intending that he or any but my self should publish them; nor indeed could anyone else. for More observations were still wanteing to compleate it. & I was addeing or correcting something in it every day: some letters passed betwixt me & the Doctor Arbuthnot wherein he still urged me to give them the Copys of the constellations onely, wanteing, as he thought, to compleate my Catalogue: which I allways answered civilly with such just excuses as are before suggested. desireing still that I might see him either at the Observatory or in London, where at last he met me on March the 29, & when I enquired of him whether the Catalogue were printed or no, he assured me, not a sheet of it was printed I answered him not, for I was sure it was, because he then offered (in the hearing of M Hodgson & another gentleman I had taken with me to be a witnesse of our Conversation & discourse) to pay me 10l for every press fault I should find in it. & within 4 days after a freind sent me the constellations of 
& 
fairely printed & a day or 2 after that of 
. So that I was now convinced that the presse was at worke & that the Doctor had told me what he knew was not true. I learnt at the same time (what had been intimated before) that Dr. Hally tooke care of the presse & pretended that he had found many faults in my Catalogue, shewed some sheets of it publickly in Child's Coffeehouse at St. Paul's. & boasted what paines he had been at in correcting them.
I had told Dr. Arbuthnot in one of my letters[3] that one of Dr. Hallys best freinds & the wisest of them had sayd of him that the onely way to have my businesse spoyled effectually was to trust it to his management Now the truth of this expression was proved for I found not onely the names of the starrs in my Catalogue altered, but the numbers also in many places changed and others put in their roomes that were sometimes 15 minutes false. & therefore it was very effectually spoyled
And by boasting of these corrections, as he cald them he would insinuate to the World that they were more obliged to him for his paines in correcting than they Were to me for above 30 yeares spent in composeing it. the Cost of makeing Instruments & hireing assistants at my owne charge, for by altering the names (to make them agree with his own faulty hemisphere) he had made himself in some sort, but a very bad one, a proprietor in that Catalogue he printed, without my name to it, or ever consulting me about it: which I would never consent to, as they well knew by my letter to Sir Ch: Wren which had been imparted to Sir I N & Halley was not ignorant of.
On June 23, 1711, he delivered to My niece, Mrs Hodgson, a fayre copy of all the sheets of the Catalogue but without any preface to it. when I examined it I found more faults in it & greater than I imagined the lazy tho Impudent Editor either could, or durst have committed he had taken no care to put those into their proper order which I had left digested to his hands; because I had not yet got situation to complete the constellations to which they belonged: particularly the stars of Hevelius his new constellations with Hercules Cassiopea & the two beares, in some places hee had altered the stars right ascentions & distances from the pole & made them false which were true before & in the Constellation of Draco there was not above 6 or 8 stars that he had not corrupted besides, I had added above 30 stars to this Constellation as many to Hercules & so many on others, that the total number of them in my Own Catalogue would be near 400 more than ther were in those papers I had intrusted Sir I N. with to preserve in case of accidents: & which he had betrayed into Hallys hands when he had been told of his qualifications before. Therefore finding no other remedy, I resolved to reprint it at my own charge. I procured a couple of expert calculators Mr Ab. Ryley & Mr. Crosthwait corrected his faults & blunders got the places of the stars lately observed calculated by both of them for greater certainty made a new Copy in which the ancient names were restored Hevelius his Constellations inserted amongst the rest in their proper places, & in the order I first designed. But paper was exceding scarce & dear, because of the War with France not yet over which delayed the printing my intended edition corrected & enlarged.
In the meane time Sir I.N. summons me to meet him at the house of the Royal Society in Crane Court October 26 1711 where I found him with Dr Sloane Dr Mead & one more that I knew not but I believe was his or their Clark at the time. he cald these three, with himselfe a Committee & told me they had sent for me to know what repayres I wanted, or Instruments. I told him that the Office of the Ordnance took care of my repayres that it was now too late in the year to set about them but that as soon as the Spring came I should have that done which was necessary, & as for my Instruments they were all my own either given me by Sir Jonas Moor, or made by myselfe at my own charge, & always repayred at my own expense & further that I would not suffer any one to concern themselves about repayring of my owne instruments, in which & necessary assistance I had spent above 2000lb.
The impetuous gentleman hereupon said, As good have no Observatory as No Instruments & soon, conceiveing that I apprehended his design & obviated it by my Answers, broke out into a passion & used me as I was never used before in my life: I gave no answers; but onely desired him to be calmer, & moderate his passions, thankd him for the many honorable names he gave me & told him God had blest my endeavours hitherto, that his Wisdom was beyond the Wisdom of men & that I committed my all to him. Dr Mead seconded him unprovokt in his ill language but DrSloane held his peace I thankt him for his civility permitted him to help me down stairs, & at the door met Hally who had not been far of all the time & I believe had heard Sir I.N. shew his best guests, It would be too long to give an account of it all, there is a longer in my old book of Letters, pag 104. 105 A where those that come after me will find it: I pray God forgive him I do.
I doe not remember that I ever saw the observations of mine printed at the same press with my corrupted Catalogue till 3 yeares after when when there were 300 Copies of the printed edition of the observations given me (as they were designed) by King George the whole were Intended for me by the Prince George of Denmark but I was forced to be content with this part of them & took them with thanks; I found them as much corrupted as the Catalogue but if God spares me life I hope to present the World with a perfect edition of them the editor haveing transcribed onely the observations of the planets & made a sorry & fallacious excuse for his omitting the observations of all the fixed stars that were not employed for finding of the planets' places.
On the 18 of June 1712 the Impudent editor with his wife, son & daughters attending him & a neighbouring Clergiman in his company came hither. I sayd little to him he offered to burne his Catalogue (so hee called his corrupted & spoyled copy of mine, of which I had now a correct & enlarged edition in the presse & the 2d sheet printing of) if I would print mine. I am apt to think he knew it was so & was endeavoring to prevent it; but to render his design ineffectual I said little to him of it: so he went away not much wiser than he came.
August 1, 1712, Sir I.N. came himself, accompanied with his Editor Dr Thorp Mr Machin, Mr Rowley & Mr Hodgson who had given me notice of their comeing beforehand. I had provided Mr Clark & Mr Ryley to attend our Conversation & accompany them to View house & 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 Isaack promised to return me a Greek Ptolemy he had borrowed of me & 4 Volumes in 4o of the first night notes, which he had kept in his hands now about six yeares to no other purpose but to show his Authority & good Nature & returned not till more than four yeares after, when I had commenced a suite against him for them.
This businesse being over, & Sir I.N. finding that his Visitation had not the effect he promised to himselfe, hee tooke care to let mee know, by the Secretarys letter as soon as the yeare 1711 was expired that the Royal Society (my Visitors) expected the copy of the observations of that year I returned an answer to him that they should have them in the time prescribed by the Order. & accordingly caused my Amanuensis, Jos. Crosthwaite to transcribe & leave them at their house in Crane court some dayes before midsummer 1712. I expected that they should have sent me a receipt for them: but Civil & just Sir I.N. 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 & the next year 1713-1714 I found them both printed, abridged, & so spoyled by the Editor of my Catalogue that I would no longer owne them, for mine the most materiall observations were omitted, & the rest so managed that it seemed to me he had designed to spoyle them; out of Spight, he had inserted some that were imperfect, & given the Right Ascentions & distances of the Planets from the pole, deduced from the Observations but not their longitudes & latitudes this was too much drudgery for his acuteness{illeg}and who was used to procure what he published as his owe at easyer rates.
<92>Apr 19 1717 After the same manner he got My observations of the yeare 1713 into his hands abridged, spoyled, and printed them in his Transactions for the year 1715 Numb 344. But the Queens deceasing before they could lay any claime to the next yeares, & their authority ceaseing I declined answering their further demands for tho their Authority ceased, yet their confidence did not; & the Editor who now was one of their Secretarys sent Me a bold letter to demand them, as if he had never done me any injury; which I layd by me & kept thereby that yeares from being spoyled. how unfaithfull he was in his copy I hope the skillful may see ere long for my Amanuensis J. Cr is now Copying the Volume of Observations that Sir IN. got by surprize into his hands, has nearly finished it. & I hope I may live through the blessing of God to see it published with the Observations of 12 following yeares, but if his good providence shall not continue my life so long I trust my executors will doe it according to the directions of my Will.
The last sheet of my corrected & enlarged Catalogue was printed of, Dec 5 1712 after which I designed to have had the presse to proceed with the Observations from which it was derived made with the Murall Arch but what ever Instances I made to Sir Is. Newton to have the Copy I had trusted into his hands in order to be printed I could not prevayle with him to returne it. So I set my self to continue my Observations at such times as were fit for them, & to calculate the planets places from such observations as I had made with it & to correct the tables of the planets motions In which I blesse God for it though I had not the success I expected yet I had such as gave me light & will be of use to those that come after me & may serve to perfect our knowledg of the heavens wherein the height of Wisdom is shewn of our creator if after me there shall be any found that will prosecute these studies with the same sedulity patience & sincere love of Truth that I have now for above these five & fifty years.
August 1 1714. King George succeeded to the Crown of Great Brittain. Soon after a Noble peer died who dureing his life, had supported Sir I.N. the Officers at Court were changed the new Lord Chamberlin knew me well and one that was frequently employed by him, wrote to me that through his meanes I might get the printed Copy of my Observations that had been designed for me by the Prince Georg of Denmark, into my hands with little trouble the Lord Chamberline haveing by his Office the Care of his Librarys. I thankt God for so good an opportunity my friend with the Duke of Bolton did his best but after all we find that Lords of the Treasury had the power of disposeing of them. Mr Walpole was first commissioner: Mr Methuen unaskt became my freind Mr Newport (now Lord Torrington) I had been acquainted with long since I caused a petition wherein my case was truely represented to them to be drawn up & delivered. Whereupon 300 Copys were orderd to be delivered to me by the Undertaker Mr Churchill who by his Articles was bound to print but 400 I brougt them down to Greenwich and finding both Hallys corrupted edition of my Catalogue, & abridgment of my observations no lesse spoyled by him I seperated them from my Observations & some few dayes after I made a Sacrifice of them to heavenly Truth as I should doe of all the rest of my Editors paines of the like Nature if the Author of Truth should hereafter put them into My power that none of them but what he has given away & sent into forreign Countries may remaine to shew the ingratitude of two of my Countrymen who had been obliged by me more on particular Occasions than any other Mathematicall acquaintance, & who had used me Worse then ever the Noble Tycho was used in Denmark. & I should have felt the effects of their Malice & envy more had not the good providence of Almighty God prevented them.
Whilest I was solliciting this affair in the Exchequer Sir I.N. was passeing his accounts ther. concerneing the disbursement of the princes monys. he would never own to me what the prince allowed for that charge of printing. least he should quit any part of that power he pretended & he would gladly have me have thought him to have had. I have heard that the Prince designed 1200 pound for the printing Dr. Keile told me 2500 Which I am apt to beleive is true the other 1300 being not less than the Engraveing of the Maps of the Constellations & other figures will Cost but here I learnt that Sir I.N accounts specyfied 150l given to Dr. Hally for the paines he had been at in correcting, as he calls it, & publishing my Catalogue & to one of his servants for assisting him in his calculateing the places of the stars, 30l. so that Sir I.N. had wasted 180 in spoyling of it besides he told me that he had given 20l more to the poore ffrench man that drew {&} engraved the flattering figures for the frontispieces of Capitalls {up}on his complaint that the first agreement was too hard a {b}argain. So that here was 200l of the Princes mony {th}rown away onely to shew his liberality unnecessarily {whi}ch evidently proves his ignorance of the businesse for, {th}e catalogue was very correct, before his Editor {correc}ted it & the designer or engraver of the frontispiece & Capi{tals} knew no doubt how to make a bargaine for his paines {Th}e Editor & his calculator were both Indigent {and he} found this way of releiving them without any expense {to} himselfe, & makeing 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: whilest my amanuensis J: Crosthwait was at more paines in {correcting} their faults & calculateing 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 gotten my owne printed yearly observations & Catalogue into my own hands I caused some of the Observations of MrGascoigne & Mr Crabtree made in Yorkshire & Lancashire in the yeares 1638. 39. 40. 41. 42, togeather with my owne made at Derbyshire betwixt the yeares 1669 & 1675, which I have mentioned in My Estimate, as those that were to comprise a part of my first Volume of Observations, to be printed in Latin, togeather with a smal Table for turneing the partes measured, by the Micrometer either in the longer or the lesser tube into minutes & seconds of a degree. I also sent to Sir I.N. to returne me the 175 sheets trusted into his hands {on} March 20. 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 togeather with the Catalogue in their proper order which I had first proposed in my said Estimate & which I endeavored allways to preserve: whilest Sir I.N. as pertinaciously contended to obstruct & break that he might thereby force me to some mean submission to procure his consent. tho the Worke was nothing of it his, he had concerned himselfe with the Prince G. of Denmark without my consent in the Edition & was so bold as by his Creatures to intimate to me what he wanted: but this Cunning failed him the sheets will be copied in a short time. & I hope if God spares me health one year more, I may see them all printed & fit to be published.
I had been acquainted with \Mr. I.N./ ever since ye year 1674. had given him the diameters of ye planets observed by me at Derby in ye years 1671. 72 & 73 at Derby as also ye greatest elongations of Jupiter's satellites \of both which he made use in his Principia/ & since I came to London, ye line of the great Comet of ye year 1680 & 81. affirming that the Comet which was seen in November before was the same wth yt I observed {the} following December which he would not then grant, but contended earnestly that they were two different ones, as appears by a couple of very long letters of his to me, dated ffeb. 28, 1680-1, & Aprill 16, 1681 in w\h/ich opinion he persisted till Sept 1685 when in a letter dated ye19th of that moneth, he writes 'I have not yet computed the way \orbit/ of a Comet, but am now geoing {sic} about it & takeing that of 1680 into fresh consideration it seems very probable yt those of November & December were ye same comet.' this is what \he/ before contended against \wth some virulency/ but he had no mind to remember it, & at that time I took no great notice of it, till I found when his Principa {sic} were published in yr 1687. & therein a draught of the comet's orbit, he was pleased to acknowledge yt I had contended \disputed/ that the Comets seen in November & December were one & the same & that I had given him ye line of its Way not much different from his parabolicall one their {sic} described, whereas himself had disputed against their being one, & consequently against that one describing any pbolical line as he now asserted & will appear by his owne forementioned letters to me. ffrom this time till ye yeare 1695, we corresponded civilly. especially about ye yeares 1694 & 95 when on his repeated requests I imparted to him about 150 places of the Moon deduced from observations made with ye Murall Arch & compared with my own tables fitted to Mr Horrocks his Theory but covenanted at the same time that he should not impart them to any body without my leave for I told him & he knew it very well yt I had made use of an old Catalogue of the fixed stars, made to the begining of the year 1686, from Observations taken with ye Sextant that I was busy now with a better & more convenient Instrumt; & that as soon as I had got ye New Catalogue I intended pfected all those places of ye moon should be calculated over again \& imparted to him/ but the hopes he had of makeing that Theory his own, & the Glory of restoring ye Moones Motions, would not suffer him to stay so long for.
It was not a full year after but I was told that he had pfected ye Lunar Theory. & Dr. Gregory gave out that there was no need of further Observations; for his Numbers would answer all my Observations within two or three minutes, or lesse. I had covenanted with him to have his emendations \first/ imparted to me, because I imparted to him the observations from which they were derived. but his promise was overlookt or forgot, at last it came to my hands I found ye Solar Numbers were the same I had freely given him. & the Lunar but little altered save {sic} that he had added a parcell of very small æquations which whether ye heavens would bear or not was onely to be found by compareing of his Numbers with good Observations I therefore made New lunar Tables \exactly/ agreeable to his sentiment but when I compared the Moones places calculated from them, with her places deduced from ye Observations, I found {illeg} that those Numbers which were sd to agree with yeObservations within two 3 minutes would very seldome come so neare, but often differed 8. 9. or 10 minutes which I did not admire it then at all being very sensible that the psons which who so loudly on all occasions cried up his pformances in amending ye Lunar Theory & Tables did it to oblige his friendship, who had then a great Interest in a Great Courtier, and \considering also/ that {they} were psons of very ordinary skill in that pte of Mathematicks which is concerned wth the heavens & lunar Theorys.
But Mr. Newton was not displeased with their flatterys nor ever yt I could hear of endeavoured to correct them. We conversed civilly as oft as we met accidentally but and he failed not (as if he were a great Master of my methods), allwayes to aske how the Catalogue went on to which I alwayes gave him sincer {sic} answers telling him how far I had proceeded & that I wanted more hands both to carry on ye Observations & calculations yt were necessary but this I could not get him to take notice of. In the mean time some freind of mine (yt was frequently in company with me & saw how ye work went on with such assistance as I hired & payd my selfe & was though informed what the charge would be of printing the Observations of 30 yeares & engraveing ye Maps of the Constellations I had prepared) acquainted Prince George of Denmarke with my pformances Mr Newton lived near ye Court I, allwayes at a distance. he was then Pr. of ye R.S. & had a Great Courtier for his friend & one who was frequently at his Office required at Court & attending on the Prince so that he could not but hear of the Princes Inclinations to make me easier in my work nor could Mr. N. fayle to be informed of it so on ye 11th of Aprill 1704 he came down to Greenwich, visited me on my request stayd & dined with me, at his first comeing he desired to see what I had ready for ye presse I shewed him the books of Observations togeather with so much of the Catalogue as was then finished. which was about one halfe & a fayre copy of it. And with it ye Maps of yeConstellations drawn both by My Amanuensis {illeg} & Van Somer, which haveing lookt over carefully he desired me to let him have the recommending of them to ye prince, I was surprised at this proposition I had formerly tried his temper and allways found him insidious, ambitious \& excessively/ covetous of praise & impatient of contradiction. I had taken notice of some faults in ye 4th book of his principia which instead of thanking me for, he resented ill yet was presumtuous of his Interest that he sometimes dared to ask why I did not hold my tongue. I considered that if I granted what he desired I should put my selfe wholly into his power & be at his Mercy who might spoyle all that came into his hands or put me to unnecessary trouble & vexation about my owne labors & all the while pretend that he did it to amend faults. where none were but what were unavoydable, or easily to be corrected & therefore excusable. I had further irri\ta/ted him by not concealeing some Truths that are since published \in print/ & notoriously knowne: & therefore civilly refused what hee desired but still he told me he would recommend them to ye Prince, & parted with me in ye evening with a short expression of very good advice, [1] which it would have been very happy for him if he had followed himself t'has been ye Rule of my life from my Infancy tho I doe not know yt it ever has been of his.
But I heard no more of his Recommendations. on the contrary. his flatterers & such small Mathematien {sic} about London as hoped to get themselves esteemed very skillfull men by Crying up his book began to Inquire \ask/ why I did not print as if I were obliged to publish my workes just when they pleased tho they understood no more \of my workes/ \than they did of/ his book which they so much cryed up. whilst they understood very little of it To obviate this Clamor I examined all my books of Observations & took an account what Number of folio pages they might fill \when printed/ & found it Much greater yn I expected; whereupon I drew my Estimate into a short paper wherein I both shewed what the Number of pages were but also in what order ye press was to worke them off & Cheifly urged yt ye Mapps of the Constellation shoud be first of all set upon that being carried on apart they might be finisht by that time the Observations were printed off: Van Somer, an excellent designer who had drawn about a dozen figures for me was then alive & ready to goe on with the rest. my Amanuensis {illeg} had not yet left me & might have been hired againe to continue in my {service} Mr Hodgsons help might also have been purchased Some of my acquaintance falln into a suspition that my labors answered not what might reasonably be expected from me, That I might cure them of their Mis-prehensions which had been impressed upon by the false & malitious suggestions of some few busy arrogant & self designing people, I gave a copy or two of this Estimat to an acquaintance of myne desiring him to shew it to those of my freinds who had been possest with these unjust suspitions. At one of the Meetings of ye R.S., some of them were present he got my paper handed to one of them who sate at a distance (for then their meetings were throngd with company however thin they are at present) who opening ye paper & finding ye contents, delivered it to the Secreatary {sic} who read it, at ye Board. this convinc't ye Members present that I had been unjustly aspersed & it was moved that ye printeing of the Whole should be recommended to Prince George by ye Society:
Accordingly a Committy was appointed, who with Mr. Newton waited on ye Prince. But, who they were when they wated on him & how they made their recommendation, I was never Informed nor did they vouchsafe to consult me about it or take me along with them. all that I can tell of is yt ye Estimate was wrote in November in Novembr 1704 ye Prince chosen into ye Society No: 30, a letter from ye Prince's Secretary, \Mr. George Clarke/ directing Mr. Roberts, Sr C. Wren, Dr. Gregory & Dr. Arbuthnot, with Mr. N. to inspect my papers dated Dec. 11, 1704, which they did & somtime after gave in their report of ye charge of \prepareing &/ printing ye observations & Catalogues mentioned in ye Estimate, about 863ld. viz.
< insertion from f 78v >| ld | s | d | |
| 283 Rheme of paper for 400 copies at 20sh. per Rhem | 283 | 0 | 0 |
| Composition & press-Worke for 300 sheets at 20sh. p sheet | 300 | 0 | 0 |
| Charges of an Amanuensis for copying comparing correcting and exammining ye papers | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| to compute ye Planets' places, for 2 Calculators | 180 | 0 | 0 |
| ---- | ---- | ----- | |
| in all | 863ld | 0 | 0 |
But \ye/ last pticular of ye charge (180ld for ye two calculators) was not mentioned in it but added in a note under it for what reason those know best who drew it up.
Nor the charge of designeing & engraveing ye about 50 plates of ye Constellations: tho this was likely to be the heaviest pte of ye Charge, & the Observations could not be understood without them. I had further proposed ym to be ye first taken care of & begun. I had them all drawn; & 12 of them anew designed by a skillfull workeman by me. These were ye most sumptuous pt of ye worke and had it not been for them I had had no \or little/ need to crave the Prince's help to print, why they were neglected, S.I.N. best knows. \betwixt March 22 1704-5 & aprill 21, 1705 M N was knighted by ye Q at Cambridge./
Hereby I was plainly convinced that Sr I.N. was no freind to {my} worke. & every step hee tooke afterwards proved planely that whatever he pretended his designe was either to gaine the honor of all my paines to himselfe, to make me come under him as Dr Arbuthnot some time after expresst it, or to spoyle or sinke it, which it was my chiefe concern & businesse, if possible to prevent. \I therefore printed my Estimat & gave it to my friends/ yt they might see what my workes were & how I thought it best to proceed in printing them.
< text from p 78 resumes >To skreen himselfe from ye just imputions & blame that would probably \follow/ such disingenuous & ungratefull practises he made use of these gentlemen to whom he had got the Inspection of my books of Observations ordered by the Prince, & called them the Prince's Referees. Of these, Sr Ch: Wren was then about 70 yeares of Age & tho he was a skillful pson, yet being full of other business he was sure to have him who lived in his neighbourhood, to consent to all his orders, & subscribe ym. Mr Roberts was an easy, good natured man but knew little of the businesse. Mr Aston had been fellow of ye same \Trinity/ colledge in Cambridge at ye same time with him. knew nothing of the businesse, lived in ye Court, had been my freind & Guest at ye Observatory, was too much a Courtier to withstand any one yt had a Noble patrone in yeMinistry, and therefore was tooke into ye Number of the Referrees sometimes for speciall purposes, Dr Gregory tho he published a peice of Astronomy knew but very \little/ of yt part of it that was cultivated here. nor was Dr Arbuthnot skilld in it but being one of the Princes physitians, he was taken in to serve S.I.N. purposes. he saw what was designed & testified to me by some expressions, that he approved not S.I.N. \such/ procedings. promised once to assist me in a pticular affaire. and, tho he met with obstructions, pformed it handsomly:
With these psons S.I.N. began to act his pte, & carry on his designes. I dealt honestly & openly wth him as will appear by ye Copys of some letters I wrote to him upon severall occasions; haveing no other designe but to have my works handsomely printed & as soone as possible for yePrince was very infirm but I soon pceived yt he designed onely to hinder ye work by delays or spoyle or sinke it. or force me to comply with his humour & flatter him & Cry him up as Dr. G. & Dr. H. did. I was forced therefore to act wth more Caution then I had done hitherto that I might give him no cause of pretensions to stop ye progresse of ye Work
To forward which I used my best diligence & honest endeavours. I hired {illeg} \one/ & employed him to copy specimens of the worke severall ptes of ye Work: 1°. the observations \of ye fixed stars/ made with ye sextant with ye M: 2°. of ye Moone made with {sic} ye same Instrument: 3o. of observations made wth ye Murall Arch: 4o. of ye New Catalogue which I sent him with a list yt gave an account of them, dated Jan. 5, 170; but could not get them printed of till March 22 following. In ye mean time, Sr IN appointed a meeting of his referrees, March 5 following. MrChurchill was not there but Sr Isack with Dr Arbuthnot, Dr Gregory & Mr Aston dined at Churchills & a forthnight after Mr Aston told me of it (for I dined not with them) & that \all/ things he thought were then agreed but paper. Now I understood yt Mr Churchill was to be the undertaker. he had beene recommended for ye purpose by one yt I tooke to be my freind without my knowledge for I did not conceive wee had any need of one, & so did some of ye Gentlemen of ye \R/ Society: but S.I.N. was resolved to make friend {sic} at my Cost for, as he ordered yematter the Undertaker was here to reap ye sole Advantage of all my Labors & great expenses & he was so confident of it, that when I intimated it to him he answered boldly The Prince would reward me for them.
However there was no recedeing: for then Sr I.Ns \cryers-up/ would have clamored that I hindered ye Printing of my owne Works my selfe: to avoyd that Imputation I was silent. tho I complained of {sic} to some freinds in private but never did any thing whereby it might appear I allowed him
At this meeting on ye 5th of March ye Specimens of the Undertakers printing were produced but found to be ill done I got others done very well & pd ye Printers myselfe.
June ye 11 following Dr Gregory & my selfe wth Mr Churchill, dined at S.I.Ns where they agreed to give Mr. Churchill 1lb 14s. p sheet. They signed ye Agreemt but I did \would/ not, tho they urged me much. I desired to be excused: for it was now plane to me yt he designed not the good of the Impression or my Advantage but to make him a freind of a great Name: by obliging a person I never had any Acquaintance with & enriching him at my Cost. The point being over I was in hopes that ye presse should have been set to work Immediately: but Sr I. thought that either I was not humble enough: there was for I had about 50 Sheets of Observations made with ye Sextant, redy copied, & ye rest of that sort would easily be finished before these could be printed off. but I found my selfe deceived: we were as far of from printing as if no such bargain had been made.
At Midsummer folloing {sic} I payd my Amanuensis & Calculators a quarters pay my selfe; & Sr Is. to encourage me to doe it, talked often of drawing ye Princes money, but, when I waited \on him/ July ye 4th following & told him yt I must goe into Surry to reap my harvest (as I usually did every year about this time), he put me of again, before I could say any thing to him of it, by telling me yt Dr Arbuthnots |daughter was ill &|yt the Dr could doe nothing till her recovery, that it was not fit we should begin to print till we had receaved his R.H.'s monys & that it would be soon enough at my return. I had put 12 sheets, ready for ye presse, into his hands a week before, He thought to work me to his ends by putting me to extraordinary charges in mainteing {sic} & paying an Amanuensis & {illeg} calculators myself \at my own charges/. But, I resolved to bear this expense patiently, & defeat his designes.
<81>After this I caused my Amanuensis & Calculators to goe on diligently with their worke & carried on ye Observations for compleating the Catalogue & others according as I had opportunitys but Nn became dayly more perverse & sought by severall vexatious pretences to discourage me & weary me if possible. I paid My Calculators & Amanuensis 3 quarters without any present prospect of being any wayes reimbursed but yet I had hopes, if once the press began to work they would not find any new tricks or pretences to delay repayeing me but herein too I found my self mistaken those that have begun to do ill things never blush to do worse & worse to secure themselves. Sr N had still more to doe, & was ready at coyning new excuses & pretexts to cover his disingenuous & malitious practices I had none but very honest & honorable designes in my mind I met his cunning forecasts with sincere & honest answers & thereby frustrated not a few of his malitious designs.
finding yt I psisted unwearied in my purposes he demanded to have my first Night Notes put into his hands that hee might compare them with my Copy. These were wrote in 4to Volumes & from them were commonly transcribed correctly into large folios next morning from which the Copies were taken. I knew that he would be mistaken & that they would not serve his designe about Xmas 1705 \about ye winter of feb. 170/they were put into his hands: ffeb 23 1705-6. Mr. Hodgson acquainted me that Sr Is: had showed him 3 or 4 pages of errata yt were committed in transcribeing as he supposed & a Table made by Dr Gregory for turning ye Revolves of ye Screw into degrees, ′ & ″ wherein he wisely had supposed ye revolve everywhere equall & equable: I smiled at this & promised to send them my own Tables for that purpose & shewed them their mistakes & that there were no materiall errors committed: this was some small mortification to them: but they had learnt not to be ashamed.
Tho I had refused to handle any of the Princes money but what was to repay my proper disbursmts, & Sr IN had granted yt yn it was not necessary I should sign any agreemts wth ye Referres {sic} yet now he became very positive for Articles he had sayd to some of his Confidants that he would hamper me with Articles: it had come to my ears & therefore on his Urging me I drew up some for the Undertaker to signe. as that he should print onely 400 Copies. that he should have no interest in the Originall, &c. but these were not to his his purpose. I would not Court him; to bring about his low designes he makes Articles himselfe in which some things of mine were \inserted/ & in them he covenants yeUndertaker should print 5 sheets \a week/ & for reprinting of faulty sheets. & that I should have 125lb paid me when ten sheets were printed of. these were read to me once. & I was required to signe them immediately else the worke was at a stand. no time would be allowed to consider of them. or mend any thing I thought amisse in them I was then near 140lb out of pocket all my Copy was ready for ye presse, or soon would \be/. If I refused the worke would be broke of imediately. & ye fault would be thrown upon mee. for Sr I.N. lived in ye Neighbourhood of the Court I at 6 miles distance. \he/ had his close freind ye Lord H to support him ther with ye Princes Physitian I had nothing but my sincerity & Gods blessing to depend upon. Trusting on these alone I signed them not doubting but now ye press would begin.[2]
But herein I soone found my self deceaved This would not satisfie: I would not yet cry up Sr Is. as others did to bring me to that basenesse now he has gotten my books of night notes he wants a Copy of so much of the Catalogue as I had gone throug {sic} with to be trusted into his hands he therfore demanded it I answered that it was not then pfected that believed {sic} it would conteine a good Number more yn I had yet observed and rectified. yt ye stars allready in it were about 1500 but probably I should make ym 2500. that these were ye result of all my labors in which haveing spent above 2000lb of my owne money above my Allowances it would neither be prudent nor safe to trust a Copy of them out of my owne keeping he answered that I might then put them into his hands sealed up. whereby I understood yt they were to be so kept by him till I had finished ye whole. & was ready to print it. but I considered also yt this half of my Catalogue would be of no advantage to him & consented; I therefore deliverd ye copy of so much of the Catalogue as was finished into Mr. Hodgsons hands, with orders to seal it up in Sir C Wrens presence & deliver it to S.I.N. when 10 sheets were printed, & 125lb (which would then be payable by ye Articles) should be paid me; this was April 8th, 1706: seven days: but this direction I waived afterwards: & it was put into his hands ye week afterwards without receaving a farthing for ye board or pay of my Amanuensis, or Calculators. for honest Sr Is: N. would (to use his owne words) have all things in his own power, to spoyle or sink them. \yt he might force me to second his designes, & applaud him which no honest man would not \nor/ could doe. &, God be thanked. I lay under no necessity of doeing./
<83>This business being over a week after meeting me in London he told me he {sic} would now draw 800lb of ye Princes money: but sayd nothing of payeing me what I had disburst however we must now put ye Worke into ye press for after such unreasonable concessions on my part his pretences for further delay were all taken away \&/ he had no excuse for further delayes.
April 4, being in London, I was told that all ye errors which he by mistake thought he had found in my Copy were quitted & yt ye first sheets would goe to the presse this week
April ye 19. I waited upon him again he told me gravely that ye Prince having subscribed a great summe to ye Emperors loan ye mony could not be receaved, but that that {sic} he had taken up monys for Mr Churchill, this was to provoke me but he failed of his designe. whatever I had hitherto expended I was content to adventure a little more. Mr Churchill was put upon me had never been at any expense, must have monys put into his hands before\hand/ to buy paper & pay ye printer. Whereby he was sure to have him at his command & tho it was covenanted that hee should print but 400 Copyes might take as many as pleased {sic}: for I never heard nor found that he had given any bond or security for his faire dealeing however it was highly reasonable he should
But this was not all the printer being to be paid by the Undertaker and not by me, was \likely to be/ careless of his worke. which I urged but to no purpose
It was May 16 ere ye first Sheet was printed of; & June ye 3rd ere we got a second; & ye 3d on ye 7 of June so here was a whole moneth since ye first was wrought of & not two sheets yet printed in ye roome of 20 that by the Articles ought to have been printed in a moneths time. I complained boldly of ye dilatorinesse but in vain all ye Answer I got was from Sr Is:s own mouth, yt wee must proceed slowly at first, & make more dispatch after.
This was one of the fruites of or haveing an Undertaker & leaveing the printer to be paid by him who neglected ye Historia CÅ“lestis if they had but a sorry pamplet {sic} to print
Wee had got two Alphabets yt is about 46 sheets out of the presse by Christmas 1706. & the whole (5 E) or 97, bef Dec 21. 1707: yt is 97 sheets. in about 89 weeks in which had they printed 5 sheets per week, according to their Articles, all the observations made with the murall Arch as well as made with ye sextant from 1689 to 1706 might easily have been printed. all the observations made with the Murall Arch from 1689 to 1706 might have been \easily/ printed, as well as those made with Sextant
<84>In ye mean time Sr Is. N. sometimes stopt the presse without assigneing a reason for it or any occasion given by me but upon my complaint at the first & afterward without any sollicitation of mine at all, let it goe on again \I hapned/ once to visit ye press when he was there & took yeopportunity to show him how ill the Compositor had placed ye types \of ye figs/ & how much awry to the lines to which they belonged. \Sh Kkk, pag 224/ he put his head a little nearer to the paper, |but near enough to ye fault (for he is very short sighted)| \but not near enough to see ye fault for he is very short sighted/ & Makeing a sleighting motion with his hand said Methinks they are well enough; this encouraged the Printer in his carelessnesse, the sheet was printed of & the fault not mended; & caused me to \be/ more watchfull over ye printer for now it was plane to me ytye Referee as he called himselfe was not displeasd with ye faults he committed & ye Undertaker never concerned himselfe about them he was sure of certein gaines by ye paper & presse work & somethinge More probably than we were aware of
The printeing was \of ye sextant observations being finished/ I expected ye presse should have gone on after Christmas with the Volume of Observations made with the Murall Arch which were double ye Number of the Other. but, Sr I.N. had put a full stop to ye presse tho hee knew very well that the Copy was ready fayre transcribed on 175 sheets of {sic}: what excuse he made for it I know not; for none of his confidents would acquaint me [but upon complaineing of his behaviour I had an Order subscribed by himselfe & four more of his Referrees sent me whereby he endeavored to throw ye fa\u/lt of himself on me. twas dated July 13. 1708. on ye 18th of the same month I wrote a letter to Sr Ch: Wren concerneing \it/ which after the order I shall here inserted whereby it will appear yt {illeg} he hin \onely/ hindred ye worke {illeg} whilest I forwarded it all I could & had got the 2d Volume ready to follow it \to ye Press/ … I never receaved any answer to this letter In ye meane time I had complayned to one of the Referees, who was often at Court & waited frequently on the Prince, of my ill usage that care was taken of yeUndertaker & printer but that none was taken to reimburse me what it had cost me in ye enterteinmt & pay of three calculators & in transcribeing of ye Copy for ye presse which came to more than 173ld. tho I accounted nothing for my own & servants attendant on the press. he was ashamed of it promised it should be redressed & I am apt to thinke procured a meeting to be appointed on the 20th of March following which was Notified to me. & I was then desired to bring with me what I had more by me ready for ye presse.
<85>The presse had now stood three moneth by Sr I.N. onely procurement for to keep all things wholly in his own power he had brought in an Undertaker who was useless to the businesse & served onely to spoyle ye Worke or worse, & a printer whom I beleive he paid. I am sure he never consulted me about ye payment of either tho there was sufficient cause all the Articles that related to them haveing been broken, but by this management hee had them wholly at his devotion, On the day appointed March the 20. 1707-8 I tooke up with me to London all the Observations here made betwixt Septembr 1689 & December 1705, fairely copyed in 175 sheets of large paper: Six sheets were of ye planets' places calculated from ye Observations made with the Sextant, which \ought/ to have been printed next after ye said Observations as also a faire copy of the places of the stars in the Eclipticall & as many of ye Southerne constellations as I had then rectified. The referees viewd them & SrIs. N. after some time withdrew & calleing Dr Arbuthnot out to him produced the following \paper/ which the other referrees as I remember signed. he would not deliver it to mee but gratiously permitted \me/ to take a copy of it, which I have here inserted.
London, March 20, 1707-8
It is agreed between Sir Isaac Newton & Mr. John Flamsteed,
1st. That the 2d Volume of the Astronomical Observations, with the figures of the first Volume, shall be presently delivered into Sir Isaac Newtons hands
2d. That the Catalogue of the fixed Stars, here present, shall likewise be delivered into Sir Isaac Newton's hands.
3d. That the catalogue of the fixed stars, now in Sir Isaac Newton's hands, shall be delivered to Mr. Flamsteed in order to have the magnitudes inserted, & to be returned with the Magnitudes after Sixteen days.
4t. That upon the Redelivery of that Catalogue, Sir I.N. shall pay to Mr. Flamsteed, one Hundred & twenty-five pounds on the Prince's account.
5t. That upon the delivery of the Catalogue of the Fixed Stars, as far as it can be completed at this time, Mr Flamsteed shall have ye rest of yeMoney Stipulated betwixt him & the Referrees: he Undertaking to Correct the Press, & appointing Correctors who live in Town, that the Work may not be retarded. Memorandum, That at the Same time ye 2d Volume of Observations (with the figures mentioned here) was delivered into Sr Issac Newtons Hands together with a Corrected Copy of ye Eclipticall Constellations & all the Southern of ye Catalogue but that I Covenanted yt ye sd 2d copy should be returned to Me to be again Revised & delivered to ye Press, as the Printers should work it off; & yeCopy of the Eclipticall Constellations returned me, as soon as I should return the Copy now in Sr Isa Newton's hands, with the Magnitudes Inserted.
There were present at ye Meeting at ye Castle Tavern, in Pater Noster Row March 20 1707/8 Mr Roberts, Sr Isa Newton, Dr Arbuthnot, DrGregory, Mr Churchill, Mr James Hodgson myself & Isaac Wolferman.
The Conditions on which I was to deliver this 2d Volume & ye Catalogue were very hard & unjust for ye observations contained {there}in were most of them made with ye New Murall Arch which I had built at my own cost & lay me in above 120ld out of my own pocket, my other Instruments were all my own too & my Assistants were paid and maintained at my own charge. I had \layd out/ moreover above 173ld in carrying on ye works of which I had given a bill both to Sr. I.N. & severall of ye referrees. I considered yt if I should not consent to this order, S. Is. N. yt {sic} I had hindered ye printing of my own works my selfe which would serve to justify a report, spread by his his {sic} partisans very industriously that I was averse to ye publishing of them. whereas I had allways endeavored to carry them all \on/ as advantageously as I could & he had done all he could \to/ hinder me in order to make me comply with them & cry him up at the same rate they did further I saw yt if I did not lay hold of this opportunity, I could not hope to be reimburst any part of ye 173l. I had spent in prepareing ye copy for the press, & pformed my part of the agreemt in ye time agreed. but ye Mar 125 was not paid me till above 2 moneths after & then I was still above 48ld out of purse for which I had nothing but 3 copyes one yt I gave Mr. Sharp & another in which I have corrected ye faults of the press with my own hand & a 3d not complete.
I was now in hope yt ye Presse would begin againe to work with ye 2d Volume: but when after 3 or 4 moneth delay I found that for all my Instances, there was not the least step made towards it I complained of this behaviour of Sr I.N. both payeing me short of what I had disburst & of his keeping ye 175 sheet of copy for ye 2d Volume in his hands. this I beleive was as intended carried to him whereupon to throw all the fault upon me, 8 moneth after he had stopt the presse, hee sent \me/ the following Order dated July 13 1708:
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: & that if Mr Flamsteed do not take care that the press be well corrected, & go on with the dispatch, another Corrector be employed.
| Whitehall, July 13, 1708 | F. ROBERTS |
| CHR. WREN | |
| Vera Copia | IS. NEWTON |
| D. GREGORY | |
| IS. NEWTON | FRAN. ASHTON |
To prevent ye designed effect of this malitious order or agreement, I wrote a letter to Sr Christophr Wren who I believed hated such practises & sent it him in a few dayes after I declined writing to Sr I N. because he might suppress it. & I doubted not but Sr Cristopher would impart it both to him & the other Referees
I tooke a copy of it myselfe, to show my acquaintance friends & some gentlemen yt had an opinion \of Sr I N/ before & could not thinke he could be guilty of such collusion as this order & my letter proved upon him. the Copy follows:
The Observatory, Monday, July 19, 1708
SIR,
The Copy of the Agreemt made by the Gentlemen Referrees on Tuesday last, reflecting upon me as if by my dilatoriness I had obstructed the progress of the Press, I find myself obliged, that I may clear myself of so unjust an insinuation, with Your Leave to Acquaint you.
That tho I had got 50 Sheets of the first Volume ready copied for the Press on May ye 2d 1705, yett upon severall pretences, the printing was Obstructed; and it was May 1706, before the first Sheet was printed off
That tho by the Agreemt, the Undertaker was to print off five Sheets a Week, yett it was from May 1706 to October 1707 before we could gett 100 Sheets, comprehending the Observations of the first Volume, wrought of; that is near 75 weeks, So that taking altogether, the Printer dispatched not a Sheet and a halfe per Week.
Tho I did all I could to hasten and expedite the Work, as will appear by the Copies of my letters to Mr Churchill, Mr Mathews & Mr. Hodgson, that I have by me: I offerd to discharge the expense of the Pennypost Letters that brought the Proofs; if the post brought them in the Evening, I returned them next Morning: if in the Morning, they were sent back that evening after, without fayle; except once, on May ye 1. 1706, when the great Eclipse of the Sun hapning, company hindered me from correcting & returning that proof till the Morning following & no longer.
The greatest dispatch, was made, both this year 1706 & the following 1707, in Autumn; when I was Absent in Surrey, yett that was less than the 5 Sheets per Week and then the Work was allways worst done.
At my Return after ye last Years Harvest, I found a whole Sheet had been Omitted by the Printer, who had either lost or mislayd it: I copied it immediately from my Manuscripts, & sent it to him, with directions to print it, & reprint ye next. I caused also Sr Isaac Newton to be acquainted with it: & informed both Sr Isaac and ye Printer that I had about halfe a dozen Sheets more, comprehending the Planetts places derived from the Observations made with the Sextant, contain'd in this Volume, to be added to it; but this was not taken notice of, The 6 sheets were not call'd for; and the Press has stood still ever since
March 12th last I received a letter from Mr Roberts, Your Self, and Sr I Newton desiring me to meet them in London on ye 20th & bring with me what Papers I had ready for the Press. I Attended them with the 2d Volume containing ye Observations made betwixt Sept. 1689 and 1705 compleat in about 175 sheets of Paper, I exhibited also at the same time the aforementioned six Sheets that were to be added to the first Volume; desired that the dropt Sheet might be printed & the next following reprinted, or at least the two first Pages of it, which I thought had been Accorded. The 2d Volume by Agreemt was put into the Referrees' Hands. I desired the Press, after the first Volume was compleat, might go on with it. At this meeting also I had 125 lib ordered to be paid me in part of above 170 lib it had Cost me in repayeing & entertaining three Calculators & Copiers whom I had dismisst for want of it at Midsummer 1706. Sir Isaac Newton required that I should insert the Magnitudes of the fixed Stars into a Copy of so much of the Catalogue, as I had gone through with, that I had deposited in his hands; which was done for him, and part of a 3d more perfect copy left in his hands as a gage for returning it.
At this Meeting the Undertaker Urged to have a Corrector appointed in London; this I lookt upon only as a Contrivance to throw the delays of the press, caused partly by his own and his Printers Neglect, upon me: & therefore having Answered it then, as I have done in this Paper, to the Satisfaction, as I thought, of the Referrees present, I took no further Notice of it.
Since You now know that the Printer has had the dropt Sheet in his hands full Nine Months; that he may have six Sheets more whenever the Referrees please; that they have also 175 Sheets of ye second Volume in their hands; that I never delayed Correcting and returning the proof Sheets as usually; I hope you are satisfied I have not been guilty of any dilatoriness or Neglect, & that you will not suffer me to be supposed or insinuated to have been guilty of any
But if Sr Isaac Newton insists upon proceeding to print the Catalogue imediately before the 2d Volume. I cannot at present consent to it: for, since the Press has Stopt, I have set my Self to compleat it; and having gotten two payr of hands to help me, have perfected some Constellations, that were not compleat before: I have begun the most difficult, and am going into the Country, as I use allways to do at this time of the Year, to look after my Occasions; there, I hope to perfect a good part of what remains, and the whole in a few Months after my Return. Now You will say your Self, were it your own Case, 'tis not fitt to sett to printing the Catalogue before it be as compleat as I can render it at present, I must say further, that 'tis altogether improper to print it before the Observations of the 2d volume: because 'tis almost wholly derived from them. The Observations of the Planetts \in this/ are much more Numerous than in the first and I will add, much Exacter, & if any One be of another Opinion, for want of experience I shall bring such Proofs of it, as no Equall and Candid Person shall ever reject.
As for Correcting the Press, I am altogether unwilling that the last Sheet shall be printed off in the remaining Volume, till I have seen them my Self, but the Catalogue is of that Importance that I shall never consent that any Page of it should be printed off till I have fully corrected and received from the Press a Proof without faults. I am not only willing but desirous that the Press should proceed to finish the first Volume of Observations, I have spoke to Mr Hodgson to take Care of correcting the 2d Proofs, and with him I shall leave the six sheets to be Added; which when they are wrought off, Sr Isaac Newton has 175 sheets of the 2d Volume in his hands, that the Press may proceed with whilest I am Compleating the Catalogue, So there need be no stop on my Account as there never was, nor hereafter shall be, God spareing me Life & Health & prospering, as I firmly believe he will, my Sincere Endeavours.
I think to send a copy of this letter to Mr Roberts & doubt not but you will imparte the contents of it to Sr Isaack Newton
I am with all due respect Sr for all your favours
JOHN FLAMSTEED, M.R.
Then this letter was delivered & imparted to Sr I N as I desired it should be. yet I never receaved any answer to it, but the presse was stopt, & no more talke of it this year: In ye latter end of which the P. of Denmarke died, on Oct 28th, 16|7|08 in whom ye Observatory lost one yt would have been a great & Noble patron, had hee not been prevented by one of his Physitians who was influenced & gouverned by Sir I.N.
Being now not disturbed by him any more at present, I set my selfe to carry on such observations as I wanted & made good advances in it adding many stars to some constellations yt I had gone threw before.
But when I least expected it I was afresh disturbed by another peice of Sr Is. N. ingenuitys: after ye Princes death, ye old Ministry was changed a New one intro duced. his patrone was well with ye cheif of them the Qs Physitian and was \in his/ interest, and ye New Secretary of States. it was not enough that Sr I.N. had gotten my Observations made \with/ ye Murall Arch into his hands by surprise togeather with above halfe the Catalogue Whatever my expenses had been or paines in makeing it, so long as I would not leave my selfe and paines wholly at his disposall: and therefore he procures by ye Meanes of ye Physitian Minister & Secretary St. John an Order constituting the Presidnt (Sr. I.N.) of the R.S. the Vice President & whom else they should think fit of the sd Society. the Visitors of the Observatory: &|tis| dated Dec 12. 1710 & was sent me by the Office Messenger on ye 14 with the Queens letter intimating it {illeg} Copys whereof I have here inserted.
To our trusty and well-beloved the President of our Royal Society for the time being.
ANNE R.
Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well. Whereas we have been given to understand that it would contribute very much to the improvement of Astronomy and Navigation, if we should appoint constant Visitors of our Royal Observatory at Greenwich, with sufficient powers for the due execution of that trust, We have therefore thought fit, in consideration of the great learning, experience and other necessary qualifications of our Royal Society, to constitute and appoint, as we do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you, the President, and in your absence the Vice-President of our Royal Society for the time being, together with such others of the Council as our said Royal Society shall think fit to join with you, to be constant Visitors of our said Royal Observatory at Greenwich: authorising and requiring you to demand of our Astronomer and Keeper of our said Observatory, for the time being, to deliver to you within six months after every year shall be elapsed, a true and fair copy of the annual observations he shall have made. And our further Will and Pleasure is that you do likewise, from time to time, order and direct our said Astronomer and Keeper of our said Royal Observatory to make such astronomical observations as you in your judgment shall think proper. And that you do survey and inspect our instruments in our said Observatory; and as often as you shall find any of them defective that you do inform the principal Officers of our Ordnance thereof; that so the said instrument may be either exchanged or repaired. And so we bid you farewell. Given at our Court of St. James's, the 12th day of December, 1710, in the ninth year of our reign. By Her Majesty's command,
H. ST. JOHN
SIR, Whitehall, December 12, 1710
Her majesty commands me to acquaint you that she has thought fit, for the improvement of astronomy and navigation, to appoint the President, and in his absence the Vice-President of the Royal Society for the time being, together with such other as the Council of the said Society shall think fit to join with them, to be constant Visitors of the Royal Observatory. And for the better enabling you to make the necessary observations for these ends, directions are likewise given for repairing, erecting, or changing Her Majesty's instruments in the said Observatory, as well as for purchasing those that belong to you.
The Queen does not doubt but you will readily comply with the instructions the said Visitors shall think to give you. However I am commanded to signify Her Majesty's pleasure to you that you do deliver to them, within six months after every year shall be expired, a fair and true copy of the annual observations you shall have made: and you do also make such astronomical observations as the said Visitors in their judgment shall at any time think to direct you. I am, Sir, your most humble Servant,
H. ST. JOHN
The next morning after I receaved this, I waited on M Secretary St John & told him that I was injured and should be hindred by this new constitution of Visitors. that I wanted no new Instruments & that if I did the Visitors were not skillful enough to contrive ym. that for my repairs of the Observatory ye Office of ye Ordinance had hitherto taken care of them & would now as soone as the weather should be fit, that the Instrumts & clocks in ye house were all my owne that I had hitherto repayred them all at my own charge that I had expended above 2000l more yn my appointmts in instrumts & assistants & yt it would be very unjust to goe about to deprive mee both of the honor & benefit of my own labor & expenses & confer them on those who had done nothing but obstruct & hinder me all they Could & wanted to boast of their Merits in preserving my labors because they had Nothing of their own worth the publick view. Mr Secretary seemd Not to regard what I said, but answered me haughtily The Queen would be obeyd The Lord Rochester ye Queen Unkle, liveing near the Secretary's office I also waited upon him & shewed him what tricks & disingenuous usage were put upon me by Sr. I.N. & tho I found no immediate advantage by it, yet I am apt to beleive it was of use to me afterwards.
Sr. I.N. valued himselfe very much upon ye suggestion that it had been usuall would contribute very much to the improvemt of Astronomy & Navigation if there were constant Visitors appointed of ye Observatory, &c & one of ye principall of ye Councell of ye RS could not forbear to speake of it to me in publick company: whereas the contrary is evident from what hapned to ye Noble Tycho, who had no Visitors of his Observatory appointed over him during the Reign of his patron King ffrederic ye 2 & when some persons were appointed in the following reigne of King Christian, they were such as were very unfit for that purpose, much lesse skillful yn himselfe, & made use \of purposely to asperse him/ onely, to make him \uneasy &/ withdraw. that the Courtiers might get his appointments (which were 2000 dollars a year allowd him from yeTresury, a ffee in Norway, worth 1000 dollars p year more, & ye prebend of Roschild, of 1000 more) into ye kings hand againe \which they did/& soon, by him, \were/ conferd on Templars. My appointmts, tho very small in comparison of his, were also designed by Sr I N for other persons yt would be dependent on him; & this expedient of Visitors was to pforme strange things. but the good providence of God so ordered it that I received but \little/ damage by it. & he got little but shame & disgrace for his ingratitude to me in disturbing me in my businesse which he was bound \by his Oath/ to assist me in, as Pr. of ye R S. & as cheife (as he had made himself) of ye Princes Referrees, or indeed ye all of them
But now \yt/ he got another pretence of authority to make me sensible of it a report was spread that a letter was comeing to me from ye R.S. this was in ye beginning of Dec 1710 & was occasiond I beleive, by their knowing of Mr. Sec. St John's letter that was brought to my hands on ye14. I heard nothing of any letter from ym if they then designed any, I beleive on better thoughts it was layd by. but in March folloing {sic} I was surprised when it was privately told me yt my Catalogue (which I was then workeing upon to compleat it as far as I then could) was in yepresse: but more with a letter of Dr. Arb: dated ye 14 of March 1711, w\h/erein he very confidently required of me the Copy of the stars places of 6 Constellations, viz. of Draco, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cepheus, Cassiopea, & Hercules: That had not been delivered into Sr I N hand when he got the rest into his possession by tricks & pretences. This I beleive was one of the boldest thinges yt ever was attempted none yt \had/ lesse dexterity & boldness & Art then ye Dr. would have have had the confidence to have mentiond such a demand. I had made my instrumts and mainteined my assistants at my own charge, without complaint of \it/ so long as I could be quiet & undisturbed by ye small people yt cried him up. I had put \a Copy of/ that pte of my Catalogue which was in order into his hands, to be preserved in case of my mortality & to prevent it from being lost by accidents, \&/ to let him see yt I could goe on wth it as soon as I had determined ye Right ascensions & distances from ye Pole of other stars in other constellations. I gave him also copys of them; never designeing or intending yt he or any but my self should publish them; nor indeed could anyone else. for More observations were still wanteing to compleate it. & I was adding to it {sic} addeing or correcting something in it every day: some letters passed betwixt me & the Dr. Arb: wherein he still urged me to give them the Copys of the constellations \onely,/ wanteing, as he thought, to compleate my Catalogue: which I allways answered civilly with such just excuses as are before suggested. desireing still that I might see him either at ye Observatory or in London, where at last he met me on March ye 29, & when I enquired of him whether ye Catalogue were printed or no, he assured me, not a sheet of it was printed I answered him not not {sic}, for I was sure it was, because he then offered (in the hearing of M Hodgson & another gentleman I had taken with me to be a witnesse of or Conversation & discourse) to pay me 10l for every press fault I should find in it. & within 4 days after a freind sent me ye constellations of & fairely printed & a day or 2 after yt of . So yt I was now convinced yt the presse was at worke & that ye Dr. had told me what he knew was not true. I learnt at ye same time (what had been intimated before) yt Mr.|Dr.| Hally tooke care of ye presse \&/ pretended that he had found many faults in my Catalogue, shewed some sheets of it publickly in \Child's/ Coffeehouse at St. Paul's. & boasted what paines he had been at in correcting them.
I had told Dr. Arbuthnot in one of my letters[3] that one of Dr. Hallys best freinds & ye wisest of them had sayd of him that the onely way to have my businesse spoyled effectually was to trust it to his managemt Now the truth of this expression was proved for I found not onely yenames of the starrs in my Catalogue altered, but the numbers also in many places changed and others put in their roomes yt were sometimes 15 minutes false. \& therefore it was very effectually spoyled/
And by boasting of these corrections, as he cald them he would insinuate to the World yt they were more obliged to him for his paines in correcting yn they Were to me for above above 30 yeares spent in composeing it. ye Cost of makeing Instruments & hireing assistants at my owne charge, for by altering ye names (to make ym agree with his own faulty hemisphere) he had mad {sic} himself in some sort, but a very bad one, a proprietor in that Catalogue he printed, without my name to it, or ever consulting me about it: which I would never consento {sic}, as they well knew by my letter to Sr Ch: Wren which had been imparted to Sr. I N & Halley was not ignorant of.
On June 23, 1715|1711|, he delivered to My niece, Mrs Hodgson, a fayre copy of all the sheets of the Catalogue but without any preface to it. the when I examined it I found more faults in it & greater than I imagined ye lazy tho Impudent Editor either either {sic} could, or durst have committed he had taken no care to put those into their proper order which I had left digested to his hands; because I had not yet got situation to complete ye constellations to which they belonged: pticularly ye stars of Hevelius his new constellations with Hercules Cassiopea & ye two beares, in some places hee had altered ye stars right ascentions & distances from ye pole & made them false which were true before & in ye Constellation of Draco there was not above 6 or 8 stars yt he had not corrupted besides, I had added above 30 stars to this Constellation as many to Hercules & so many on others, yt ye total number of them in my Own Catalogue would be near 400 more yn ther were in those papers I had intrusted Sr: I N. with to preserve in case of accidents: & which he had betrayed into Hallys hands when he had been told of of {sic} his qualifications before. Therefore finding no other remedy, I resolved to reprint it at my own charge. I procured a couple of expert calculators \Mr Ab. Ryley & Mr. Crosthwait/ corrected his faults & blunders got the places of the stars lately observed calculated by both of them for greater certainty made a new Copy in which the ancient names were restored Hevelius his Constellations inserted amongst the rest in thei {sic} proper places, & in the order I first designed. \But paper was exceding scarce & dear, because of ye War with France not yet over which delayed \ye printing/my intended edition \corrected & enlarged.//
In ye meane time Sr I.N. summons me to meet him at ye house of ye Royal Society in Crane Court Octobr 26 \1711/ where I found him with DrSloane Dr Mead & one more that I knew not but I believe was his or their Clark at ye time. he cald these three, with himselfe a Committee & told me they had sent for me to know what repayres I wanted, or Instrumts. I told him that ye Office of ye Ordnance took care of my repayres that ye office of ye that it was now too late in ye year to set about them but that as soon as ye Spring came I should have that done which was necessary, & as for my Instrumts they were all my own either given me by Sr Jonas Moor, or made by myselfe at my own charge, & always repayred at my own expense & further yt I would not suffer any one to concernen {sic} themselves about repayring of my owne instruments, in which & necessary assistance I had spent above 2000lb.
The impetuous gentleman hereupon said, As good have no Observatory as No Instruments & soon, conceiveing that I apprehended his design & obviated it by my Answers, broke out into a passion & used me as I was never used before in my life: I gave no answers; but onely desired him to be calmer, & moderate his passions, thankd him for the many honorable names he gave me & told him God had blest my endeavours hitherto, that his Wisdom was beyond the Wisdom of men & yt I committed my all to him. Dr Mead seconded him unprovokt in his ill language but DrSloane held his peace I thankt him for his civility pmitted him to help me down stairs, & at ye door met Hally who had not been far of all the time & I believe had heard Sr I.N. shew his best guests, \It would be/ too long to give an account of it all, there is a longer in my old book of Letters, pag 104. 105 A \where those yt come after me will find it: I pray God forgive him I do./
I doe not remember yt I ever saw the observations of mine printed at ye same press wth my corrupted Catalogue \till/ 3 yeares after when when there were 300 Copies of ye printed edition of the observations given me (as they were designed) by King George the whole were Intended for me by the Prince G: of Denmark but I was forced to be content with this part of them & took them with thanks; I found them as much corrupted as the Catalogue but if God spares me life I hope to present ye World with a perfect edition of them the editor haveing transcribed onely the observations of the planets & made a sorry & fallacious excuse for his omitting ye observations of all the fixed \stars/ ytwere not employed for finding of ye planets' places.
On ye 18 of June \1712/ ye Impudent \editor/ with his wife, son & daughters attending him & a neighbouring Clergiman in his company \came hither/. I sayd little to him he offered to burne his Catalogue (so hee called his corrupted & spoyled copy of mine, of which I had now a correct & enlarged edition in ye presse & ye 2d sheet printing of) if I would print mine. I am apt to think he knew it was so & was endeavoring to prevent it; but to render his design ineffectual \I/ said little to him of it: so he went away not much wiser yn he came.
August 1, \1712/, Sr I.N. came himself, accompanied with his Editor Dr Thorp Mr Machin, Mr Rowley & Mr Hodgson who had given me notice of their comeing beforehand. I had provided Mr Clark & Mr Ryley to attend or Conversation & accompany them to View house & my Instrumts, being a little lame myself wth ye Gout they had a view of what they pleased except my Library. I gave ym a glass of wine. Sr Isaack promised to return me a Greek Ptolemy \he had borrowed/ of me & 4 Volumes in 4o of ye first night notes, which he had kept in his hands now about six yeares to no other purpose but to show his Authority & good Nature & returned not till more yn four yeares after, when I had commenced a suite against him for them.
This businesse being over, & Sr I.N. finding yt his Visitation had not ye effect he promised to himselfe, hee tooke care to let mee know, by yeSecretarys letter as soon as the yeare 1711 was expired yt ye R.S. (my Visitors) expected ye copy of ye observations of yt year I returned an answer to him that they should have ym in ye time prescribed by ye Order. & accordingly caused my Amanuensis, Jos. Crosthwaite to transcribe & leave them at their house in Crane court some dayes before midsummer \1712/. I expected that they should have sent me a receipt for them: but Civil & just Sr I.N. esteemed it too great a favour for me. I did ye same for ye year following on a second letter, from the Secretary of yeR.S. & the next year following \1713-1714/ I found them \both/ printed, abridged, & so spoyled by the Editor of my Catalogue that I would no longer owne them, for \mine/ ye most materiall observations were omitted, & the rest so managed that it seemed to me he had designed to spoyle them; out of Spight, he had inserted \some that were/ impfect, & given ye Right Ascentions & distances of ye Panets {sic} from ye pole, deduced from ye Observations but not their longitudes & latitudes this was too much labour \drudgery/ for his acuteness \{illeg}\and/ who was used to procure what he published as his owe at easyer rates./
<92>\Apr 19 1717/ After ye same manner he got My observations of ye yeare 1713 into his \hands/ abridged, spoyled, and printed them in his Transactions for the year 1715 Numb 344. But the Queens deceasing before they could lay any claime to the next yeares, & their authority ceaseing I declined answering their further demands for tho their Authority ceased, yet their confidence did not; & the Editor who now was one of their Secretarys sent Me a bold letter to demand ym, as if he had never done me any injury; which I layd by me & kept theirby {sic} that yeares from being spoyled. how unfaithfull he was in his copy I hope the skillful may see ere long for my Aman. \J. Cr/ is now Copying yeVolume of Observations yt Sr IN. got by surprize into his hands, has nearly finished it. & I hope I may live through ye blessing of God to see it published with ye Observations of 12 following yeares, but if his good providence shall not continue my life so long I hope \trust/ my executors will doe it according to the directions of my Will.
The last sheet of my corrected & enlarged Catalogue was printed of, Dec 5 1712 after which I designed to have had the presse to proceed with ye Observations from which it was derived made with ye Murall Arch but what ever Instances I made to Sr Is. Newton to have the Copy I had trusted into his hands in order to be printed I could not prevayle with him to returne it. So I set my self to continue my Observations at such times as were fit for them, & to calculate the planets places from such observations as I had made with it & to correct ye tables of ye planets motions In which I blesse God for it though I had not the success I expected yet I had such as gave me light & will be of use to those that come after me & may serve to pfect our knowledg of the heavens wherein ye height of Wisdom is shewn of our creator if \after me/ there shall be \any/found that will prosecute these studies with ye same sedulity patience & sincere love of Truth yt I have now for above thes {sic} five & fifty years.
August 1 1714. King George succeeded to ye Crown of Great Brittain. Soon after a Noble peer died who dureing his life, had supported Sr I.N. the Officers at Court were changed the new Lord Chamberlin knew me well and one yt was frequently employed by him, wrote to me that through his meanes I might get ye printed Copy of my Observations yt had been designed for me by ye Prince Georg of Denmark, into my hands wth little trouble the Lord Chamberline haveing by his Office the Care of his Librarys. I thankt God for so good an opportunity my friend wth ye D of Bolton did his best but after all we find yt Lords of ye Treasury had the power of disposeing of them. Mr Walpole was first commissioner: Mr Methuen unaskt became my freind Mr Newport (now Lord Torrington) I been {sic} acquainted with long since I caused a Memoriall & {sic} petition wherein my case was truely represented to them to be drawn up & delivered. Whereupon 300 Copys were orderd to be delivered to me by ye Undertaker Mr Churchill who by his Articles was bound to print but 400 I brougt them down to Greenwich and finding both Hallys corrupted edition of my Catalogue, & abridgmt of my observations no lesse spoyled by him I seperated them from my Observations & some few dayes after I made a Sacrifice of them to heavenly Truth as I should doe of all the rest of my Editors paines of the like Nature if ye Author of Truth should hereafter put them into My power yt none of them but what he has given away & sent into forreign Countries may remaine to shew the ingratitude of two of my Countrymen who had been obliged by me more on pticular Occasions yn any other Mathematicall acquaintance, & who had used me Worse then ever the Noble Tycho was used in Denmark. & I should have felt the effects of their Malice & envy more had not the good providence of Almighty God prevented them.
Whilest I was solliciting this affair in ye Exchequer Sr I.N. was passeing his accounts ther. concerneing ye disbursemt of ye princes monys. he would never own to me what the prince allowed for yt charge of printing. least he should quit any pt of that power he pretended & he would gladly have me have thought him to have had. I have heard yt ye Prince designed 1200 pound for ye printing Dr. Keile told me 2500 Which I am apt to beleive is true the other 1300 being not less yn ye Engraveing of the Maps of the Constellations & other figures will Cost but here I learnt that Sr I.N accounts specyfied 150l given to my Editor Dr. Hally for the paines he had been at in correcting, as he calls it, & publishing my Catalogue & to Mr. Machin |one of his servants| for assisting him in his calculateing ye places of ye stars, 30l. so yt Sr I.N. had wasted 180 in spoyling of \it/ besides he told me that he had given 20l more to ye poore ffrench man that drew {&} engraved ye \flattering/ figures for yefrontispieces of Capitalls {up}on his complaint yt ye first agreement was too hard a {b}argain. So that here was 200l of the Princes mony {th}rown away onely to shew his liberality unnecessarily {whi}ch evidently proves his ignorance of the businesse for, {th}e catalogue was very correct, before his Editor {correc}ted it & the designer or engraver of ye frontispiece & Capi{tals} knew no doubt how to make a bargaine for his paines {Th}e Editor & his drudge calculator were both Indigent {and he} found this way of releiving them without any expense {to}himselfe, & makeing 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: whilest my amanuensis \J: Crosthwait/ was at more paines in {correcting} their faults & calculateing ye places of 400 stars {more} ynwere in my first copy, without any allowance {more} yn the \yearly/ Wages I gave him.
Having thus gotten my owne printed \yearly/ observations \& Catale/ into my own hands I caused \some {sic}/ ye Observations of MrGascoigne & Mr Crabtree made in Yorkshire & Lancashire in ye yeares 1638. 39. 40. 41. 42, togeather with my owne made at Derbyshire betwixt the yeares 1669 & 1675, which I have mentioned in My Estimate, as those yt were to comprise a part of my first Volume of Observations, to be printed in Latin, togeather with a smal Table for turneing ye ptes measured, by the Micrometer either in ye longer or yelesser tube into minutes & seconds of a degree. I also sent to Sr I.N. to returne me ye 175 sheets trusted into his hands {on} March 20. 1708-9, to be printed but finding he delayed to restore or even flatly denied to do it, I set my {illeg} \amanuensis/ to copy them, in order to have them printed that they might be published togeather with the Catalogue in their proper order which I had first proposed in my said Estimate & which I endeavored allways to prserve: whilest Sr I.N. as pertinaciously contended to obstruct & break that he might thereby force me to some mean submission to procure his consent. tho ye Worke was nothing of it his, he had concerned himselfe with ye Prince G. of Denmark without and my consent in ye Edition & was so bold as by his Creatures to intimate \to me/ what he wanted: but this Cunning failed him ye sheets will be copied in a short time. & I hope if God spares me health one year more, I may see them all printed & fit to be published.
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