d
I was at the same time informed that the Observations could be purchased
at the bookseller's. [This was a mistake; Mr. Murray has not copies
of the Greenwich Observations prior to 1823.] When I consider that
practical astronomy has not occupied a very prominent place in my
pursuits, I feel disposed, on that ground, to acquiesce in the propriety
of the refusal. This excuse can, however, be of no avail for similar
refusals to other gentlemen, who applied nearly at the same time with
myself, and whose time had been successfully devoted to the cultivation
of that science. [M. Bessel, at the wish of the Royal Academy of Berlin,
projected a plan for making a very extensive map of the heavens. Too
vast for any individual to attempt, it was proposed that a portion
should be executed by the astronomers of various countries, and
invitations to this effect were widely circulated. One only of the
divisions of this map was applied for by any English astronomer; and,
after completing the portion of the map assigned to him, he undertook
another, which had remained unprovided for. This gentleman, the Rev.
Mr. Hussey, was one of the rejected applicants for the Greenwich
Observations.]

There was, however, another ground on which I had weakly anticipated a
different result;--but those who occupy official situations, rendered
remarkable by the illustrious names of their predecessors, are placed
in no enviable station; and, if their own acquirements are confessedly
insufficient to keep up the high authority of their office, they
must submit to the mortifications of their false position. I am sure,
therefore, that the President and officers of the Royal Society must
have sympathized MOST DEEPLY with me, when they felt it their duty to
propose that the Society over which Newton once presided, should refuse
so trifling an assistance to the unworthy possessor of the chair he once
filled.

In reply to my application to the President and Council, to be allowed a
copy of the Greenwich Observations, I was informed that, "The number of
copies placed by government at the disposal of the Royal Society, was
insufficient to supply the demands made on them by various learned
bodies in Europe; and, consequently, they were unable, however great
their inclination, to satisfy the wishes of individual applicants."
Now I have spent some time in searching the numerous proceedings in the
council-books of the Royal Society, and I believe the following is the