tion of which has, I believe, intirely cooled Dr. Watts, and all his Friends Zeal in that Controversy. My Friend lodged with Mr. Barber, the then Diffenting Minifter at Burntwood, who invited him fometimes to preach for him there. The Reason of my introducing Mr. Barber into thefe Memoirs is this. One of Mr. Barber's Ancestors, in the Days of bloody Queen Mary, was become a Proteftant, and was condemned to be burnt in Smithfield; the Faggots were accordingly laid about the Stake, to which poor Mr. Barber was tied, and were about to be fet on Fire, when the News came that Queen Mary was dead, upon which all knew that her Sifter Elizabeth was to fucceed: This took away all the Power of such Officers as were to fee the Execution, and faved Mr. Barber. In Memory of which moft providential Delivery, Mr. Barber had a Picture of Queen Elizabeth, that faved him, made with Ornaments about it, and as he faid, " he hoped Almighty "God would accept of this his Will for the Deed, and allow him to be a Martyr for Religion." So he ordered by his Will, that the fame Image should be tranfmitted down, in the eldest Branch of his Family, for a Memorial to all Generations; and there it is preferved to this Day. When I was there I either did not know of it, or quite forgot to defire to fee it. Nor did I ever remember to inform Queen Caroline of it, or procure her the Sight of it, as it highly deserved; it being, in my Opinion, a nobler Monument to the Honour of that Family, than any Monument of the military Atchievements of Alexander the Great, or Julius Cæfar, or the U 4 like like murderers of Men, could be theirs. Mr. Fox having omitted this most eminent Cafe of a Protestant Martyrdom, I thought it by no means improper to preserve it in this Place, About this or the next Year, upon the Death of Mr. Flamsteed, which I did not hear of till two or three Days afterward, my Friends would needs perfuade me to put in for that Place; as requiring no Subscriptions against my Confcience, tho' somewhat against my Inclination, as rather too old to begin Aftronomical Obfervations, and not having Mechanical Accuracy, nor the sharpness of Sight, which were requifite thereto. However I went to my very valuable Friend and Patron, the then Lord Chancellor Parker, and spake to him about it. His Answer was, that he was forry that I came fo late; for he had spoken already to the King for Dr. Halley. Whereupon, to make me eafy, and fhew his great Kindness to me, he prefented me with a Roll of fifty Guineas; highly to my Satisfaction: Nor could I avoid my Acknowledgements here for that, and his other generous Benefactions to me. In the Year 1721, I published The Longitude and Latitude found by the Inclinatory or Dipping Needle: Wherein the Laws of Magnetifm are alfo difcovered, To which is prefixed an Hiftorical Preface: And to which is fubjoin'd Mr. Robert Norman's New Attractive, or Account of the first Invention of the Dipping Needle, price 2 s. 6 d. N. B. After the Publication of this Treatife, I found fo much Encouragement from many Benefactors, factors, that I was enabled to procure fome New Obfervations of the Angle of Dip in feveral Parts of the World, in order to perfect this Difcovery, the Substance of which is printed at the End of my Calculation of Eclipfes, without Parallaxes; of which prefently. Which upon the whole coft me a very great deal of Pains, to contrive the Inftruments, and hang them in Ships, fo as to take the Dip, with an Exactnefs fufficient for my Purpofe; but found the Power of Magnetifm fo very weak, and the Concuffion of a Ship fo very troublefome, that I had little Hopes of fucceeding. And when I knew of Mr. George Graham's new Difcovery of an Ilerary uncertain Inequality, as I may call it, both in the Variation and Dip of Magnetick Needles, in No 383 of the Philofophical Tranfactions, and this as far as half or two thirds of a Degree, if not fometimes of a whole Degree (which laft Quantity I once obferv'd myself in a Dipping Needle of my own, of almoft four Feet long, in the Space of eight Hours) I perceived that all my Labour was in vain, and I was obliged to drop that Defign intirely. In the latter Part of Auguft, and the former Part of September, this Year 1721, I tranflated the Pfalms of David into English, from the beft Copy now known in the World, which is evidently that in the Roman Pfalter: Which almost always agrees with the Septuagint Verfion; but is still somewhat more correct, and more agreeable to the oldeft Quotations. This has not yet been printed; but pught to be not only printed, but ufed in all our Churches, Churches, instead of our other more imperfect Copies and Verfions. The Prefaces alfo to the Pfalms themselves ought to be taken out of my Authentick Records, Page 795-845, and prefixed to each Pfalm in a New Edition. In the latter Part of this Year 1721, a large Subfcription was made for the Support of my Family, and for the carrying on my Discovery of the Longitude by the Dipping Needle. It is dated November 20, 1721; and ought to be here exhibited, as a Memorial of the publick fpirited Men, and my particular Friends at that Time: And was by far the greatest Sum that was ever put into my Hands by my Friends, excepting the 500l. for the Survey of our Coafts, which yet did not pay the Disbursements for which it was allotted: Of which in my Hiftorical Preface to the Longitude discovered by Jupiter's Planets, Preface Page. 60, |