An account of the Rev. John Flamsteed,[669] the First
Astronomer-Royal.... By Francis Baily,[670] Esq. London, 1835, 4to.
Supplement, London, 1837, 4to.
My friend Francis Baily was a paradoxer: he brought forward things counter
to universal opinion. That Newton was impeccable in every point was the
national creed; and failings of temper and conduct would have been utterly
disbelieved, if the paradox had not come supported by very unusual
evidence. Anybody who impeached Newton on existing evidence might as well
have been squaring the circle, for any attention he would have got. About
this book I will tell a story. It was published by the Admiralty for
distribution; and the distribution was entrusted to Mr. Baily. On the eve
of its appearance, rumors of its extraordinary revelations got about, and
persons of influence applied to the Admiralty for copies. The Lords were in
a difficulty: but on looking at the list they saw names, as they {310}
thought, which were so obscure that they had a right to assume Mr. Baily
had included persons who had no claim to such a compliment as presentation
from the Admiralty. The Secretary requested Mr. Baily to call upon him.
"Mr. Baily, my Lords are inclined to think that some of the persons in this
list are perhaps not of that note which would justify their Lordships in
presenting this work."--"To whom does your observation apply, Mr.
Secretary?"--"Well, now, let us examine the list; let me see;
now,--now,--now,--come!--here's Gauss[671]--_who's Gauss_?"--"Gauss, Mr.
Secretary, is the oldest mathematician now living, and is generally thought
to be the greatest."--"O-o-oh! Well, Mr. Baily, we will see about it, and I
will write you a letter." The letter expressed their Lordships' perfect
satisfaction with the list.
There was a controversy about the revelations made in this work; but as the
eccentric anomalies took no part in it, there is nothing for my purpose.
The following valentine from Mrs. Flamsteed,[672] which I found among
Baily's papers, illustrates some of the points:
"3 Astronomers' Row, Paradise: February 14, 1836.
"Dear Sir,--I suppose you hardly expected to receive a letter from me,
dated from this place; but the truth is, a gentleman from our street was
appointed guardian angel to the American Treaty, in which there is some
astronomical question about boundaries. He has got leave to go back to
fetch some instruments which he left behind, and I take this opportunity of
making your acquaintance. That America has become a wonderful place since I
was down among you; you have no idea how grand the fire at New York {311}
looked up here. Poor dear Mr. Flamsteed does not know I am writing a letter
to a gentleman on Valentine's day; he is walked out with Sir Isaac Newton
(they are pretty good friends now, though they do squabble a little
sometimes) and Sir William Herschel, to see a new nebula. Sir Isaac says he
can't make out at all how it is managed; and I am sure I cannot help him. I
never bothered my head about those things down below, and I don't intend to
begin here.
"I have just received the news of your having written a book about my poor
dear man. It's a chance that I heard it at all; for the truth is, the
scientific gentlemen are somehow or other become so wicked, and go so
little to church, that very few of them are considered fit company for this
place. If it had not been for Dr. Brinkley,[673] who came here of course, I
should not have heard about it. He seems a nice man, but is not yet used to
our ways. As to Mr. Halley,[674] he is of course not here; which is lucky
for him, for Mr. Flamsteed swore the moment he caught him in a place where
there are no magistrates, he would make a sacrifice of him to heavenly
truth. It was very generous in Mr. F. not appearing against Sir Isaac when
he came up, for I am told that if he had, Sir Isaac would not have been
allowed to come in at all. I should have been sorry for that, for he is a
companionable man enough, only holds his head rather higher than he should
do. I met him the other day walking with Mr. Whiston,[675] and disputing
about the deluge. 'Well, Mrs. Flamsteed,' says he, 'does old Poke-the-Stars
understand gravitation yet?' Now you must know that is rather a sore point
with poor dear Mr. Flamsteed. He says that Sir Isaac is as crochetty about
the moon as ever; and as to {312} what some people say about what has been
done since his time, he says he should like to see somebody who knows
something about it of himself. For it is very singular that none of the
people who have carried on Sir Isaac's notions have been allowed to come
here.
"I hope you have not forgotten to tell how badly Sir Isaac used Mr.
Flamsteed about that book. I have never quite forgiven him; as for Mr.
Flamsteed, he says that as long as he does not come for observations, he
does not care about it, and that he will never trust him with any papers
again as long as he lives. I shall never forget what a rage he came home in
when Sir Isaac had called him a puppy. He struck the stairs all the way up
with his crutch, and said puppy at every step, and all the evening, as soon
as ever a star appeared in the telescope, he called it puppy. I could not
think what was the matter, and when I asked, he only called me puppy.
"I shall be very glad to see you if you come our way. Pray keep up some
appearances, and go to church a little. St. Peter is always uncommonly
civil to astronomers, and indeed to all scientific persons, and never
bothers them with many questions. If they can make anything out of the
case, he is sure to let them in. Indeed, he says, it is perfectly out of
the question expecting a mathematician to be as religious as an apostle,
but that it is as much as his place is worth to let in the greater number
of those who come. So try if you cannot manage it, for I am very curious to
know whether you found all the letters. I remain, dear sir, your faithful
servant,
"MARGARET FLAMSTEED.
Francis Baily, Esq.
"P.S. Mr. Flamsteed has come in, and says he left Sir Isaac riding
cockhorse upon the nebula, and poring over it as if it were a book. He has
brought in his old acquaintance Ozanam,[676] who says that it was always
his maxim on {313} earth, that 'il appartient aux docteurs de Sorbonne de
disputer, au Pape de prononcer, et au mathematicien d'aller en Paradis en
ligne perpendiculaire.'"[677]