HISTOKY OF PHYSICAL ASTKONOMY.
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commenced his observations, they assigned to him “ a surly labourer ” tomanage the sextant, hut they seemed to imagine that the salary of a hun-dred pounds a year which he received was amply sufficient to ensure hisown performance of all the other duties connected with the observatory* * * § .To execute such a task, however, was manifestly impossible. Underthese circumstances he was compelled to procure an assistant, by payinghim a small salary out of his own pocket. To meet the expenses whichthe illiberal treatment of the Government thus entailed upon him, he wasfor some time reduced to the necessity of adding the profession of teacherto his usual avocation. Well might he remark that he earned the salarydoled out to him by labour harder than thrashing f. The difficulties ofhis situation were further aggravated by the possession of a feeble frameof body, and the periodical attacks of a painful malady to which he wasconstitutionally subject.
The illustrious Newton was the first person who availed himself of theobservations made at the Royal establishment of Greenwich. In theyears 1694-5 he obtained from Flamsteed a considerable number of ob-served places of the moon, which proved very serviceable in guiding himto a knowledge of some of the more hidden inequalities in the motion ofthat body, and thereby affording a seasonable confirmation of the theory ofuniversal gravitation J.
Notwithstanding the numerous disadvantages against which he had tostruggle, Flamsteed continued with unremitting assiduity to labour in thedischarge of his duties, and he confidently looked forward to the prospectof being one day enabled to present the results of his observations to theworld in a satisfactory form, although he clearly saw that, if left wholly tohis own resources, it would be impossible for him to obtain a speedyrealisation of his wishes in this respect. Unlike many astronomers, hedid not content himself with merely accumulating a mass of observations,leaving to others the task of reducing them to a form which might renderthem available for any useful purpose. Much of his time was occupiedwith the formation of his great catalogue of the stars, and with calculatingfrom his observations, the places of the moon and planets ; and it was hisdesire not to commence the publication of the observations until both theseobjects were fully accomplished, so as at the same time to be enabled toplace within the reach of the public not merely the observations them-selves, but also the results directly deducible from them §.
* The paltry salary which he received was subject to a tax of £ 10, so that in reality itdid not amount to more than .£90 a year. Even this pittance, however, seemed to theGovernment to be more than an adequate remuneration for his labours, for at one lime inthe early part of his career they annexed to his duties the task of instructing in nauticalastronomy two boys of Christ Church Hospital.
f Baiiy’s Life of Flamsteed , p. 117.
7 For the correspondence which took place between Newton and Flamsteed on thisoccasion, see Baily’s Life of Flamsteed, pp. 133-160.
§ That Flamsteed seriously contemplated the publication of his observations at somefuture period, even although he should obtain no assistance from any quarter, is evidentfrom the following passage of a letter dated October 26, 1700, addressed by him to Dr.Smith of Oxford:—“ Briefly, sir, I am ready to put the observations into the press, assoon as they that are concerned shall afford me assistants to copy them and finish the cal-culations.. But if none be afforded, both they and I must sit down contented, till I canfinish them with such hands as I have; when 1 doubt not but to publish them, as theyought to be, handsomely and in good order, and to satisfy the world, whilst I have beenbarbarously traduced by base and silly people, that I have spent my time much betterthan I should have done if, to satisfy them, I had published anything sooner and imper-fect.”—(Bruly's Life of Flamsteed, p. 746.)