have exercised upon the positions of the stars in his horoscope, he has not left his opinion in writing; but the circumstance of his having been at some pains to ascertain and set them down among his other "Observations," may be taken as presumptive that this great astronomer practised astrology. In another folio manuscript in calf binding, containing also one hundred and thirty-two pages of his "Observations," there is a document of more general importance; namely, a series of notices or memoranda also in his own hand-writing of circumstances in his life which he deemed most worthy of committing to paper. The most curious portion of this fabour relates to a difference which is well known to have existed between himself, and sir Isaac Newton. The whole of these memoirs, with the astrological scheme, a scientific gentleman was permitted by Dr. Maskelyne, the late astronomer-royal, to transcribe from the MSS. at the Observatory. Until now, they have been unprinted, and having been obligingly communicated to the Editor of the Every-Day Book, the latter conceives that the public will be gratified by their perusal, and therefore preserves them in the pages of this work without comment. Without any view of detracting sir Isaac Newton, or Mr. Flamsteed, by their publication, he offers the singular statements as Flamsteed wrote them. His birth is stated at their commencement; he died at Greenwich, on the 31st of December, 1719. Memoirs of Mr. John Flamsteed, by himself. I was borne At Denby, 5 miles from Derby, August 19, 1646-my father having removed his family thither because the Sickness was then in Derby. Educated in the free school at Derby till 16 years old. At 14 years of Age 1660, Got a great cold-was followed by 5 years sicknessa Consumption. Recovered, by God's blessing, on a journey into Ireland 1665, in the months of August and Sept. Began to study Mathematics in 1662. The first book I read was Sacrobusco de Sphæra, which I turned into English. In 1665 Calculated Eclipses and the planets, places from Street's Caroline tables, and wrote my Treatise of the æquation of Days. In 1666 observed the Eclipse of ye Sun. In 1669 observed a Solar Eclipse and some appulses, and presented the prædictions of more for the year 1670 to the R.S. this brought on a Correspondence with Mr. Oldenburg-Collins. Mr. Oldenburg's first letter to me is dated Jan. 14. 1669-70. Mr. Collins 2o Feb. 3. 1669-70. 80. Feb. 19. 1671-2. I was in London after Whitsuntide 1670; came acquainted with Sir. Jo. [Royal Society.] Moor; bought telescope glasses, and had Mr. Townly's Micrometer presented to me by Sir Jonas Moor. Set a Pole up to raise my glasses, March 21, 1671, at Derby. Began to measure distances in the heavens, Octo. 17, 1672. Continued them there till Jan. 1671672. Sept. Observed -deduced his parellax from the Observations to his diameter. 1674. May the 2d. came to London. June the 5th. My degree. 1674. First acquaintance with Sir I. N. there the Microscope, which he could at Cambridge, occasioned by my fixing not; the object glass being forgot by him. 1675. feb. 2. Came to London Again. Mar. 4. Warrant for my Sallary. Longitude by Observations of the Ds. Sieur de St. Piex proposes to find the * * Letters hereon.* 1675. June 22. Warrant dated for building the Royl. Observatory. August 10. foundation layd. 1676. July 10. entred into it to inhabit wth T. Smith, and Cutler Denton Servant. Sept. 19. began to measure distances in the heavens wth the sextant. 76. Sir Jonas Moor gave me the sextant, some books, and glasses, with charge * [Distances of the stars?] to dispose of them by my Will: all the other instruments and tubes provided at my own charge. 1679. Aug. 17. Sir Jonas Moor died. His Sonn Sir J. M. thrown from his horse, died. 1680. Made the Voluble [?] Quadrant at my own Charge. 1680. Dec. 12. ved ye great Comet; 5, (80-81.) first saw and obser- observations made with the Sextant, 1680. Mr. Newton's first Letter to me Nevertheless he imparted what he derived from them both to Dr. Gregory and [be] derived from them. may 85 or 86. gave him the diameters of the planets in all Positions of the earth, and them in their orbits: got it back with much difficulty after 2 years deten tion. He disputed against the comets of Nov. and Dec. being the same, in 2 long letters in Feb. and March 81°; now, in 85, he owned they might be so as I had asserted, and slightly mentioned me as disputing for their being the same as in ye 4th book of his principles; whereas I affirmed it, and himself disputed against it. 1687. his principles published: little notice taken of her Maties. Observatory. 1688 & 9. made the New large Arch and Staff *** Sharp. 89. Began my observations of the ** distances from our vertex with it. S Sept. 12. & 13 s got the Clock removed by Nov. 15 9: 89. Dec. 10. first observation of the D's place compared with my lunar Tables in ye 4th book of calculations, pag. 5. After this I observed the and planets frequently with the New Arch; examined the lunar observations, commonly the morning after they were got, and compared them with my Tables, till April, 1692, whereby I saw the faults of the Tables sometimes were near one-third of a degree. 1694. Sept. 1 h Mr. Newton come to visit me; I shewed him these Collations drawn up in 3 large Synopses, and on his request gave him copys of them, he promising me not to impart or communicate them to any body; this promise I required of him because, as I then told him, I made use of some places of the fixed Stars which I had derived from * [Sir Isaac Newton. After he had got the 3 Synopses of D's observations to him he desired more of them, and this caused an Intercourse of letters betwixt us, wherein I imparted to him about 100 more of y D places, but finding this took up much time, and being now entered in my Rectification of the places of the fixed stars, and very busy in it, I was forced to leave off my correspondence wth him at that time, having found that his corrections of my numbers still gave ye Moon's places 8 or 9 minutes erroneous, tho' Dr. G. and Dr. Halley had boasted they would agree wth in 2 or 3'-I was ill of the stone very oft and had [illegible] ye head ach till Sept. when freed of it by a violent fit of ye stone and my usuall medicine Deo Laus. 1695 or 1696. Sir I. N.+ being made an Officer in the Mint came to London. I sometimes visited him there or at his own house in Jermin Street: we continued civil, but he was not so friendly as formerly, because I could Mr. H. and Dr. G. assertions concerning his corrections of ye Horroccian lunar theorys. 1696. A Correspondence begun with in Derbyshire and Mr. Luke Leigh a Mr. Bosseley an Apothecary of Bakewell Poor Kinsman of Mr. Halleys of the same clan, and myself. Mr. Bosseley wanted observation for correcting the planets places I furnished him, and set him on hand . Mr. Leigh I hired to calculate the places of the fixed Stars from their Right Ascentions and distances from the Northern Pole determined by myself. 1696. Dec. 11 I received from him the places of the Stars in the Constellations of II and , which whilst he had been doing the same, were done by my then servant Mr. Hodgson in y Observatory, so that I easily found the errors of either and corrected them. Jan. 22. 1696 the Volumes of Observations, so much of the Catalogue as was then finished, with the Charts of the Constellations both J. W's* and those copied by Vansomer: desired to have the recommending of them to ye Prince: I knew his temper, that he would be my fr. no further than to serve his own ends, and that he was spitefull and swayed by those that were worse than himself; this made me refuse him: however, when he went away he promised me he would recommend them, tho he never intended me any good by it, but to get me under him, that I might be obliged to boy him Aug. 19. 1699 up as EH† has done hitherto. Jan. 10 1698 July 25. 1700 Jan. 5 1701 Lyra & Cygnus Monsceros. ye Linx, Camelopardalus, In the mean time as often as I met with Sir I. N. he was very inquisitive how the Catalogues went on, I answered as it stood; and when he came here commonly shewed him how it stood in my books, not suspecting any design, but hoping he might serve me as kindly as I had assisted him freely with my pains when he desired me. 1698. At Michaelmas was at Derby and Bakewell. 1697-8. Feb. 6, ye CZAR first came to Greenwich. 1704. April 11. & Mr. Newton came 10 the Observat dined with me, saw 1704. Nov. 8. Wrote the Estimate, which was read without my knowledge at the R. S. The Members thought it ought to be recommended to the Prince; the President joynd with them, a Committee was appointed to attend his R. H. even without acquainting me with it, an estimate of the charges drawn up without my knowledge: the Prince allows it—Mr. N. says [illegible.] He concludes me now in his power, does all he can to hinder the work, or spoyls it by encouraging the printers to commit faults. We must print the Observations, tho I had shewed in my printed Estimate, that for very good reasons the Charts of the Constellations ought first to be set upon. Mr. N. told me he hoped I would give Prince's Money; this I knew was to a Note under my hand of security for the that I had, God be thanked, some estate oblige me to be his slave: I answered of my own which I hoped to leave for my wife's support, to her during her life, to my own Relations after; that therefore I would not cumber my own estate with imprests or securitys, but if they would their hands I would sign the workmen's please to take his R H moneys into bill to them, whereby they would see if they were reasonable at the same time. I was told I should have all the printed copys save what his R. H. should have to present to the Universitys. And Mr. N. granted that since I there was no need of securitys or Articles refused to handle any of his R. H. money -Nevertheless [J. Woolferman, Aut.] + [Dr. Edmund Halley.1 The preceding are all the memoranda by Mr. Flamsteed respecting himself: he breaks off with the word "Nevertheless." To conclude this article a fac-simile is added of Mr. Flamsteed's autograph from his copy of "Streete's Caroline Tables," mentioned in the preceding memoir, and now in the possession of the Editor of the Every-Day Book. It is to a memorandum made in that book by Mr. Flamsteed, in these words : "The greatest declination of ye sun is not more ya 23°. 29. 00 his horizontall parallax but 10 seconds; the semidiameters of ye Sunn in the Caroline tables less y" they ought to be by 12 seconds." Jeflamsteed 45 Sept 22.1698, FLORAL DIRECTORY. Common Balsam. Impatiens balsama. Dedicated to St. Lawrence. August 11 Sts. Tiburtius and Chromatius, A. D. 286. The sky was clear and the St. Susanna, 3rd Cent. St. Gery, or Gaugericus, Bp. A. D. 619. St. Equi tius, A. D. 540. The dog-days end on this day. This period in the year 1825, was remarkable for longer absence of rain and greater heat than usual. It was further remarkable for numerous conflagrations, especially in the metropolis and its environs. THE SEASON. Dr. Forster in his Perennial Calendar, breezes by day, and the delicious calms observes, that the gentle refreshing by night, at this time of year, draw a vast concourse of persons of leisure to the shores of Great Britain and France in the months of August and September. There is perhaps no period of the year when the seaside is more agreeable. Bathing, sailing, and other marine recreations, are at no time better suited to beguile the hours of the warm summer day than at present; and the peculiar stillness of a seaside evening scene, by moonlight, is now to be enjoyed in perfection, as Cynthia begins to ascend higher in her car after the termination of the nightless summer solstice, and when the unremitted heat of the dogdays at length gives place to the more refreshing dews of a longer period of nocturnal coolness. The peculiar beauties of a sea-scene by night are thus described by a cotemporary poet :breeze was still, The air was soft and the night was fine, And all was hush save the tinkling rill, While the moonbeams played on the sparkling brine; No longer responsive to whirlwinds' roar, But the imagery of a calm sea is more poetically described by Milton, perhaps, than by any other author when he tells us: མ That not a blast was from his dungeon strayed, The swift, hirundo apus, is missed, says Dr. Forster, in its usual haunts about this time. The great body of these birds migrate at once, so that we are struck with their absence about the old steeples of churches and other edifices which they usually inhabit, and from whence they sally forth on rapid wings each morning and evening in search of food, wheeling round and round, and ut tering a very loud piercing and peculiar cry, wherefore they are called squeakers. For the last month past, these birds may have been seen flying in lofty gyrations in the air, and seemingly exercising their wings and preparing for their aerial voyage. It is not precisely ascertained to what countries they go when they leave Europe. Insects, says Dr. Forster, still continue to swarm and to sport in the sun from flower to flower. It is very amusing to observe, in the bright sun of an August morning, the animation and delight of some of the lepidopterous insects. That beautiful little blue butterfly, papilio argus, is then all life and activity, flitting from flower to flower in the grass with remarkable vivacity: there seems to be a constant rivalship and contention between this beauty, and the not less elegant little beau, papilio phlæas. Frequenting the same station, attached to the same head of clover, or of harebell, whenever they approach, mutual animosity seems to possess them; and darting on each other with courageous rapidity, they buffet and contend until one is driven from the field, or to a considerable distance from his station, perhaps many hundred yards, when the victor returns to his post in triumph; and this contention is renewed, as long as the brilliancy of the sun animates their courage. When the beautiful evening of this season arrives, we again see the bat: The bat begins with giddy wing His circuit round the shed and tree; family of the Days. The candour with which you! attended to the expostulations of a poor relative of ours-a sort of cousin thrice removed encourages me to hope that you will listen to the complaint of a Day of rather more consequence. I am the Day, Sir, upon which it pleased the course of nature that your gracious Sovereign should be born. As such, before his Accession, I was always observed and honoured. But since that happy event, in which naturally none had a greater interest than myself, a flaw has been discovered in my title. My lustre has been eclipsed, and—to use the words of one of your own poets, "I fade into the light of common day." It seems, that about that time, an Impostor crept into Court, who has the effrontery to usurp my honours, and to style herself the King's-birth-Day, upon some shallow pretence that, being St. George's-Day, she must needs be KingGeorge's-Day also. All-Saints-Day we have heard of, and All-Souls-Day we are willing to admit; but does it follow that this foolish Twenty-third of April must be All-George's-Day, and enjoy a monopoly of the whole name from George of Cappadocia to George of Leyden, and from George-a-Green down to George Dyer? It looks a little oddly that I was discarded not long after the dismission of a set of men and measures, with whom I have nothing in common. I hope no whisperer has insinuated into the ears of Royalty, as if I were any thing Whiggishly inclined, when, in my heart, I abhor all these kind of Revolutions, by which I am sure to be the greatest sufferer. I wonder my shameless Rival can have the face to let the Tower and Park Guns proclaim so many big thundering fibs as they do, upon her Anniversary-making your Sovereign too to be older than he is, by an hundred and odd days, which is no great compliment one would think. Consider if this precedent for ante-dating of Births should become general, what confusion it must make in Parish Registers; what crowds of young heirs we should have coming of age before they are oneand-twenty, with numberless similar grievances. If these chops and changes are suffered, we shall have Lord-Mayor'sDay eating her custard unauthentically in Twenty-ninth Day of February. |