Indeed, there were
no instruments, nor anything else that was movable; for such things,
being the property of Flamsteed, had been removed by his widow, and
though Halley attempted to purchase from that lady some of the
instruments which his predecessor had employed, the unhappy personal
differences which had existed between him and Flamsteed, and which,
as we have already seen, prevented his election as Savilian Professor
of Astronomy, proved a bar to the negotiation. Greenwich Observatory
wore a very different appearance in those days, from that which the
modern visitor, who is fortunate enough to gain admission, may now
behold. Not only did Halley find it bereft of instruments, we learn
besides that he had no assistants, and was obliged to transact the
whole business of the establishment single-handed.
In 1721, however, he obtained a grant of 500 pounds from the Board of
Ordnance, and accordingly a transit instrument was erected in the
same year. Some time afterwards he procured an eight-foot quadrant,
and with these instruments, at the age of sixty-four, he commenced a
series of observations on the moon. He intended, if his life was
spared, to continue his observations for a period of eighteen years,
this being, as astronomers know, a very important cycle in connection
with lunar movements.
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