e 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]

ON STEVIN.

The Secretary of the Admiralty was completely extinguished. I can recall
but two instances of demolition as complete, though no doubt there are many
others. The first is in

Simon Stevin[678] and M. Dumortier. Nieuport, 1845, 12mo.

M. Dumortier was a member of the Academy of Brussels: there w