University Of Oxford Faculty

"We must make [the Honour School of Chinese] sufficiently broad and humane to satisfy those whose interests are not narrowly philological [...] by presenting Chinese literature as a part of our total human heritage; [and] we must always insist that the Honour School should be based on the study of literature."

"Our task is not the training of interpreters, nor the indulgence of exotic tastes, nor the revelation of some arcane Truth which the Orient possesses but we do not, nor the mastery of a sterile Asiatic scholasticism, but literature. If universities are not to teach language by means of literature—by means of books which are intrinsically worth-while reading, I for one do not want to be a university teacher."

"It seems to me ridiculous to try to believe that Gao E sat down and wrote the last 40 chapters [of Dream of the Red Chamber]. I'm sure that's not true. Because you can see the way Gao E works. Gao E is trying I think just to reconcile – he's not altering, I think he doesn't feel he can alter what's been found. I think he tried to alter things occasionally to square one thing with another. If you're just making something up, forging something, you wouldn't be bothered about trying to reconcile inconsistencies. You'd make jolly well sure that they didn't occur."

"A translator has divided loyalties. He has a duty to his author, a duty to his reader and a duty to the text. The three are by no means identical and are often hard to reconcile."

"I'd thought that what I'd like to do is to a translation where I don't have to think about academic considerations. Scholarly considerations. I'll just think about how to present – this is Penguins, after all – how to present this book in such a way that I do the whole of it but at the same time it's enjoyable for the English reader, if possible, and they can get some of the pleasure out of it that I got myself."

"A may exercise power over B by getting him to do what he does not want to do, in quick succession, but he may also exercise power over him by shaping or determining his very wants. Indeed, is it not the supreme exercise of power to get another or others to have the desires you want them to have – that is, to secure their compliance by controlling their thoughts and desires?"

"We have, in our Slum Cities, manufactured a Poverty which, instead of bracing and disciplining our manhood into higher service, tends only to maim and stunt and discredit and degrade it."

"Here are poor who, far from discovering their true selves through the pressure of their poverty, find in it a cloud which for ever hides them from themselves."

"Do we suppose Jesus Christ laid His blessing on this unholy poverty? Do we really imagine that this is what He had in His eye, as He pronounced the benediction? Nay! This is the Poverty which blights and curses. This is the Poverty which God hates. This is the Poverty which is an outrage on man, and an insult to God. Far from accepting it as a preparation for the Kingdom of Heaven, we have, in the name of that Kingdom, to demand that it be swept off the face of the earth and be never again seen."

"Poverty ... allows them no room to breathe, to grow, to expand. It gives no time for spiritual interests. It chokes back the religious instincts. It offers no opportunities for the play of the higher energies. They are too tired to think, or to read, or to pray."

"[T]he Five Ways fail […] principally because it is much more difficult than at first appears to separate them from their background in medieval cosmology. Any contemporary cosmological argument would have to be much more different from the arguments of Aquinas than scholastic modernizations customarily are."

"The predicate of a sentence may tell you what kind of a thing something is, or how big it is, or where it is, or what is happening to it, and so on. We may say, for instance, of St Thomas Aquinas that he was a human being, and that he was fat, clever, and holier than Abelard; that he lived in Paris in the thirteenth century, that he sat when lecturing, wore the Dominican habit, wrote eight million words, and was eventuarlly poisoned by Charles of Anjou. The predicats we use in saying these things belong, Aristotle would say, in different categories: they belong in the categories of, respectively, substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, posture, vesture, action, and passion."

"There is no reason why someone who is in doubt about the existence of God should not pray for help and guidance on this topic as in other matters. Some find something comic in the idea of an agnostic praying to a God whose existence he doubts. It is surely no more unreasonable than the act of a man adrift in the ocean, trapped if a cave, or stranded on a mountainside, who cries for help though he may never be heard or fires a signal which may never be seen."

"Philosophy is not a matter of knowledge; it is a matter of understanding, that is to say, of organizing what is known."

"But now suppose the soul, when separate, Could live, and think, in a divided state: Yet what is that to us, who are the whole, A frame composed of body, joined with soul? Nay, grant the scattered ashes of our urn, Be joined again, and life and sense return: Yet how can that concern us, when 'tis done, Since all the memory of past life is gone? Now we ne'er joy, nor grieve, to think that we Were heretofore, nor what those things will be, Which framed from us, the following age shall see. When we revolve, how numerous years have run, How oft the east beheld the rising sun E'er we began, and how the atoms move, How the unthinking seed forever strove; 'Tis probable, and reason's laws allow, These seeds of ours were once combined as now; Yet now who minds, who knows his former state? The interim of death, the hand of fate, Or stopped the seeds, or made them all commence Such motions, as destroyed the former sense."

"A second name I want to mention is that of Keith Thomas. I still recall reading his essay on the social origins of Hobbes’s political theory, which was published shortly after I began research on Hobbes’s philosophy myself. I was amazed by its sheer learning, and exhilarated by its success in situating Hobbes’s thinking within its ideological context."

"If it is necessary that each sentient being must have the possibility of achieving an overwhelming good, then it is clear that there must be some form of life after earthly death. Despite the many pointers to the existence of God, theism would be falsified if physical death was the end, for then there could be no justification for the existence of this world. However, if one supposes that every sentient being has an endless existence, which offers the prospect of supreme happiness, it is surely true that the sorrows and troubles of this life will seem very small by comparison. Immortality, for animals as well as humans, is a necessary condition of any acceptable ; that necessity, together with all the other arguments for God, is one of the main reasons for believing in immortality."

"The last quarter of 's life was spent on projects that grew out of his earlier work at Greenwich Observatory as assistant observer to Astronomer Royal Bradley. From studies of Bradley's records Mason prepared tables for and he was able to improve Mayer's Tables of the Moon by comparing them with the Greenwich records. was established by in 1767, immediately after his appointment as Astronomer Royal, and it has appeared annually ever since. In the first issue the latitude and longitude of are given as found by Mason and Dixon in 1761. The comment follows that "it is probable that the Situation of few Places is better determined." To the Almanac for 1773 Mason contributed a catalogue of stars. The preface, written by Maskelyne, states: To this are annexed... a Catalogue of 387 fixed Stars.... adapted to the beginning of the year 1760... calculated from the late Dr. Bradley's Observations by Mr. Charles Mason, formerly his Assistant. ...After the Catalogue follow some Memoranda... communicated by the same Mr. Mason."

"The issue [of the Nautical Almanac] for 1774 first introduces Mason's improvements of Mayer's Lunar Tables. The preface written by Maskelyne on July 2, 1772, states: To this Ephemeris are annexed 1220 Longitudes and Latitudes of the Moon deduced from the late Dr. Bradley's Observations. ...The greater part of these calculations were made during Dr. Bradley's Lifetime by himself and his Assistant Mr. Charles Mason; and what was left unfinished has been completed by Mr. Mason since, at the Instance and at the Expense of the Board of Longitude. A Series of Observations this for Number and Exactness far excelling anything of the kind which the World ever saw before... Accordingly the Board of Longitude have thought proper to employ Mr. Mason farther in making the necessary calculations for improving Mayer's printed Tables under my Direction..."

"The observations made with the zenith sector at Kew and Wanstead, by the intercomparison of which Bradley was conducted to the discovery of aberration, were at one time supposed to be lost; but having been found among the papers of the late Dr. Hornsby, they were published by Professor Rigaud, in 1832, at the expense of the University, of which the immortal author of the discovery forms one of the brightest ornaments."

"laid the foundation of his career at Greenwich where he worked from 1756 to 1760 as assistant observer to the Reverend James Bradley, Astronomer Royal. Bradley was then near the end of his career... As a young man he had discovered the aberration of light and the nutation of the axis of the Earth and had founded a new era of precise observations. He had enlarged the Greenwich Observatory and equipped it with new instruments. Mason acquired some of the spirit and the ideals of his preceptor and learned from him the use of instruments of precision and the art of observing. At Greenwich Mason made the acquaintance of the Reverend , a young astronomer who was assisting the Astronomer Royal in a study of atmospheric refraction. This association of Mason and Maskelyne continued as long as Mason lived."

"And at Greenwich Mason first learned to know Mayer's Tables of the Moon. ...Bradley first reported on Mayer's Tables on February 10, 1756, and finally on April 14, 1760. With the assistance of Charles Mason, Bradley had compared positions of the Moon as predicted in the Tables with positions as observed at Greenwich. Eleven hundred comparisons led to the comment: So far as it will depend upon the lunar tables the true longitude of a ship at sea may in all cases be found within about half a degree and generally much nearer. It remained to be examined within what limits the errors arising from observations actually taken at sea could be contained. This test was carried out for Bradley by Captain Campbell, of H.M.S. Royal George, on cruises near Ushant in 1758 and 1759. A sextant was made especially for the trials by John Bird, instrument maker for Greenwich Observatory. Bradley's final comment reads: However great the difficulties of finding the longitude by this method seem to be, they are not insuperable, or such as ought to deter those whom it most nearly concerns from attempting to remove them. James Bradley was now nearing the end of his days. His hand was faltering. Nevil Maskelyne and Charles Mason received the torch he had carried. They made the development of the method of lunar distances for finding the longitude at sea a major concern of the rest of their lives."

"The vast mass of observations made by Bradley... two volumes... continued inapplicable to any useful purpose, in consequence of their not being reduced, until... Bessel undertook to execute this task... The results of his labours were published in 1818, at Königsberg, in one folio volume, entitled Fundamenta Astronomiæ pro anno 1755, deducta ea Observationibus viri incomparabilis James Bradley, in specula Astronomica Grenovicensi per annos 1750 1762 institutis. In this work Bessel has determined, by a series of elaborate investigations, the quantity and laws of refraction, the maximum value of aberration, and other fundamental points of astronomy, as deducible from Bradley s observations."

"James Bradley had not published his Greenwich observations. In law they proved to be his personal property, and after his death they were claimed successfully by his only child, a daughter, and her husband, the Reverend Samuel Peach. They in turn gave the records to Oxford University where Bradley had studied and had held the Savilian professorship of Astronomy. The first of Bradley's records to be published was the catalogue of stars that Mason prepared for the Nautical Almanac of 1773. The Clarendon Press of Oxford University undertook the publication of all the records. The first volume appeared in 1798 under the editorship of Professor . It includes Mason's star catalogue. Mason and Hornsby carried on an extensive correspondence about the Greenwich records that undoubtedly aided in preparing them for the press. The second volume, edited by Dr. Abram Robertson, appeared in 1805. Finally in 1832 there was published The Miscellaneous Works and Correspondence of Reverend James Bradley under the editorship of Professor S. P. Rigaud."

"James Bradley's successor as Astronomer Royal was , who lived only two years after his appointment. Maskelyne succeeded him early in 1765 and thus became the fifth Astronomer Royal at Greenwich."

"Bradley, aided by only one assistant, continued with indefatigable assiduity to prosecute his labours at the Royal Observatory, until at length, in the autumn of 1761, he was compelled by the increasing frailties of old age, to retire from the duties of active life. ...he shortly afterwards withdrew to Chalford, in Gloucestershire, where he continued to reside among his wife's relations till his death, which took place on the 13th of July, 1762, having attained the age of 70 years."

"Bradley being new in possession of instruments of unequalled perfection, proceeded to execute a series of preliminary observations for the purpose of ascertaining with greater accuracy the latitude of his observatory, the place of the equinox, the quantity and laws of refraction, and other fundamental points of astronomy. In pursuance of this design the brass quadrant was... employed in making observations of s. ...From them Bradley deduced the latitude of the observatory to be 51° 28′ 38½″. He also succeeded by means of them in constructing the elegant rule, so long used by astronomers, for finding the quantity of corresponding to any assigned zenith distance, and any observed readings of the barometer and thermometer. He determined the absolute right ascensions of a few of the principal stars, by means of observations made near the equinoxes, according to the method of Flamsteed."

"As soon as Bradley had established these fundamental points he removed the brass quadrant from the western face of the meridian wall, and permanently attached it to the eastern face, where it was afterwards employed in observing the stars that passed the meridian to the south of the zenith. At the same time the iron quadrant was removed from the eastern face of the wall, and, after being re-divided by Bird, was attached to the western face, for the purpose of making observations with the telescope turned towards the north. Bradley now commenced the series of admirable observations which have formed the groundwork of so much valuable research to future enquirers, and which would have assured to him an immortal reputation, even independently of those great discoveries with which his name is inseparably associated. The sun, moon, and principal stars, and the planets when situate in favourable positions, were regularly observed with the transit instrument and the mural quadrants. Moreover, a multitude of small stars, chiefly those of Flamsteed's catalogue were included in the plan of observation. From the year 1750 may be dated the commencement of a series of observations which in point of accuracy may bear a comparison with those of modern times. Henceforward the records of Greenwich Observatory embody a collection of materials, which have almost exclusively formed the groundwork of every investigation undertaken in modern times, for the purpose of improving the solar, lunar, or planetary tables."

"In 1751 a pension was granted to Bradley by George ll., not as an augmentation of salary, but as a gratuitous acknowledgment of his personal merit."

"Bradley's first object after his removal to Greenwich was to repair the instruments, and carefully to adjust their positions. Halley had confined himself to the use of the mural quadrant soon after its erection in 1725. Bradley, however, resolved to employ both the quadrant and the transit instrument in his observations. The former of these instruments was repaired by Graham, and the latter by Sisson, several important improvements being at the same time effected in their construction. Bradley's first observation with the quadrant was made on the 15th of June, 1742. His earliest transit observation is dated the 20th of July in the same year."

"The registers of Bradley's observations occupied thirteen folio volumes, and at his death were taken possession of by his executors. In 1767 the Government, under the impression of their being public property, commenced a law-suit with a view to their recovery, which, however, they abandoned in 1776. As soon as it was ascertained that the Government had relinquished their claim, the manuscripts were transmitted to Lord North, who was then Chancellor of the University of Oxford, to be presented by him to the University. They were finally printed, at the expense of the University, in two folio volumes. The first volume was published in 1798, under the superintendence of Dr. Hornsby. The second volume was prepared for the press by Dr. Robertson, and appeared in 1805. These two volumes contain the observations made by Bradley, from 1750 to 1762. The original manuscripts, as well as the registers of the observations made by Bradley, at Greenwich, previous to 1750, are deposited in the , Oxford."

"The iron quadrant of Graham continued to be attached to the eastern face of the wall erected for its support in 1725, and was employed both by Halley and Bradley in observing the celestial bodies which passed the meridian to the south of the . Bradley however was desirous of extending the plan of his observations and... presented a memorial to the Government in the year 1740, soliciting another quadrant, by means of which the stars that passed the meridian to the north of the zenith might be observed. The Government... at once acceded... and in the following year the observatory was furnished with a magnificent brass quadrant of eight feet radius constructed by Bird, who now took the place of Graham, as the most skilful divider of instruments in his day. ...these were finally subdivided by the micrometer screw to every 1″. The Government at the same time furnished the observatory with a new transit telescope by Bird, eight feet long, besides an excellent clock by Shelton...They also purchased of Bradley the famous zenith sector with which he discovered the phenomena of aberration and nutation, and appropriated it to the use of the observatory. This noble instrument was designed by Bradley to be henceforward employed in determining the errors of collimation of the quadrants, by making observations with it when its face was turned alternately east and west."

"P. xxxiii. The time, within which the cause of aberration occurred to Bradley, is still further narrowed by the following extracts from the minutes of 1728, Nov 14: "Dr. Halley took occasion to speak concerning the late improvements in astronomy made from the new discovery of an annual motion of the fixed stars. ...his colleague, the Rev. Mr. Bradley, resolved to fix up another and more accurate instrument... and after fifteen months almost daily observations on fifteen different stars, has at length discovered not only the laws of the motions, but also the true and manifest cause of them." The instrument having been set up at Wansted on the 17th Aug. 1727, the fifteen months would only have been expiring, and from the expressions which are used, it is clear that the completion of the discovery was then quite recent. Halley, at the end of his report, "desired that a proper notice might be taken of this new discovery of Mr. Bradley, to prevent any other person from laying claim to it before he had sufficient time to prepare and adjust his observations and reflexions on this subject for the public." After the communication was finished, Halley concludes his report by saying, that Bradley was sufficiently convinced of his having discovered the true cause of the phenomena, since he was "able to foretell at any time, the situation of a star being given, how much the variation of it will amount unto, and that with so much exactness, that there does not remain any sensible part unaccounted for, which can be supposed to arise from parallax.—The President proposed that thanks might be returned to Mr. Bradley for the great care and pains which he has taken in his application to this subject, and likewise that it would be proper to advise Mr. Bradley, and hasten him to the publication of his thoughts, as soon as conveniently may be.""

"He does not appear to have had much taste for mere abstract mathematics; but his papers prove that he was familiar with those branches which were most useful to him in their application. His demonstration of the laws of aberration is to be taken rather as an historical curiosity, than a test of his geometrical abilities. Every one, who has investigated a new problem, must be aware that the first solution which he devises has seldom been the best. Bradley's sole object, in this case, was to ascertain the rules by which he was to calculate; he had no view to publication; if he had, he might have improved the form, and condensed the substance, of his demonstration. But in this instance, as in others, he was probably checked by a fear of submitting his thoughts to the opinion of the world."

"The astronomical labours of 1743 would have afforded suflicient occupation to any common man; but notwithstanding all that he did in the observatory, Bradley found time, in this same year, to begin a course of experiments on the length of the seconds' pendulum. ...There are papers also on the same subject in Pound's handwriting, which indicate, that, like other scientific labours, it was pursued by them in common. Their apparatus was similar to that which was used by the earlier French philosophers... the length of the pendulum swinging seconds at that place was found to be between 39,14 and 39,168 inches. ...only valuable as the first approximations by which Bradley's mind became familiarized to the inquiry. ...Bradley found the lengths to be 39,13472 inches at a temperature of 68°, and 39,149 at 32°, which give 39,13710 inches for a temperature of 62°. In this no allowance is made for the resistance of the air..."

"He set too low a value on his own works, and always feared lest any thing might lower his reputation. His love of accuracy, likewise, acted as an impediment: those who take the most comprehensive views have the clearest knowledge of what may be deficient: he could see the improvements which were desirable, and while he had not yet attained them: he was unwilling to send out any thing to the public in a state which he considered to be imperfect. There was also another circumstance which operated against his publishing to any great extent: he certainly composed with difficulty; his writings are full of erasures; and after repeated transcriptions, his language was not always the happiest in its construction or arrangement. He was not remiss in noting what occurred to him, and making memoranda, where the words, which first occurred to him, were sufficient to register his thoughts, and recall them at any future time to his remembrance: but to dwell on the expressions which he should use, and to employ himself in polishing them for publication, seem to have been a task of irksome difficulty to him. No one writes well, who has not studied and practised it; and no one is inclined to acquire the habit, who does not enjoy some degree of facility in the execution of his purpose. It is not therefore astonishing that the voluminous historian of astronomy should have found that "Bradley n'avait presque rien publiée [Bradley had almost published nothing]." Besides the tables of Jupiter's satellites and a few others of no great extent, all that he could be found to have himself given to the world is comprised in seventy-two pages of the present volume. But when every thing is considered, we have no reason for regret; if he had written more for the press, he must have done less for our information;—the facts which he established, and the discoveries which he made, are of an intrinsic and inestimable value, beyond all comparison with any dissertations, in which he might have enlarged upon them."

"Nous avons dit que Bradley n'avait presque rien publié; c'est dix ans après sa mort que Mason donna une première édition de son catalogue de 389 étoiles principales. Les observations en contenaient trois mille, qui n'avaient pas encore été calculées. On en trouvait déjà 1041 réduites par Pilati, à la suite du nouveau catalogue de Piazzi. Ces réductions, que l'astronome royal et son assistant avaient négligées, ont été faites long-temps après sa mort, par M. Bessel, dans un ouvrage qu'il vient de publier sous ce titre: Fundamenta astronomiae, pro anno 1755, deducta ex observationibus viri incomparabilis James Bradley in specula astronomica Grenovicensi per annos 1750-1762 institutis, auctore Friderico Wilhelmo Bessel. Regiomonti, 1818, petitin-folio."

"Dr. Bradley had the whole British Catalogue calculated to the year 1744; and there are traces therein of his having examined almost every star in it. Indeed I have been well informed that Dr. Bradley observed the British Catalogue twice through; first with the old instruments of the Royal Observatory, previous to 1750; and afterwards with the new ones."

"He had found that his instruments were inadequate to the accuracy which he was desirous of giving to his observations, and which he succeeded in attaining when the proper means were afterwards furnished for him. This however was not completed before 1750; and in the interval there were several other objects, of no small importance, which occupied Bradley's attention."

"Euler's letter was probably intended for his notice, though addressed to Gael Morris; but there appears to have been no great inclination on Bradley's part to indulge a reciprocal desire. It may be said, that, as we have only the rough copies of his answers, which he may not in every instance have preserved, we do not know the number and extent of them. There certainly were many of which we have no remains; but still he seems to have seldom written unless some particular object required it, and there are repeated occasions on which his correspondents indicate the fact of his not having answered the letters which he had received. If, therefore, his great disinclination from studied composition made him remiss in keeping up an intercourse with such distinguished characters, it is not astonishing that a number of idle letters which were addressed to him may have been wholly unattended to. Many of these have been found among his papers which were wholly unfit for publication."

"He was remarkable for a placid and gentle modesty, very uncommon in persons of an active temper, and robust constitution. It was still more remarkable, that with this untroubled equanimity of temper, he was compassionate and liberal in the highest degree. Although he was a good speaker, and possessed the rare, but happy art of expressing his ideas, with the utmost precision and perspicuity, yet no man was a greater lover of silence, for he never spoke, but when he thought it absolutely necessary. He did indeed, think it necessary to speak when he had a fair opportunity to communicate any useful knowledge in his own way, and he encouraged those that attended his lectures, to ask him questions, by the exactness with which he answered, and the care he took to adapt himself to every capacity."

"He was not more inclined to write than to speak, for he has published very little; he had a natural diffidence, which made him always afraid, that his works should injure his character, therefore suppressed many, which probably, were well worthy of the public attention. He was even known as it were, in spight of himself; and, in spight of himself he was known much, and consequently much esteemed. ...He was honoured by all men of learning in general, and there was not an astronomer of any eminence in the world, with whom he had not a literary correspondence."

"No man cultivated greater talents with more success, or had a better claim to be ranked among the greatest astronomers of his age."

"His corporeal abilities... at length declined, though his intellectual suffered no abatement. In the year 1760, he became extremely weak and infirm, and towards he end of June 1762, he was attacked with a total supression of urine, caused by an inflammation of the reins, which, on the twelfth of July following, put an end to his life, in the seventieth year of his age. He was buried at Mitchin Hampton in Gloucestershire, in the same grave with his mother, and his wife."

"Mr. Bradley always preserved the esteem and friendship of Mr. Halley, who being worn out by age and infirmities, thought he could do nothing farther for the service of astronomy, than procure for Mr. Bradley the place of Regius Professor of Astronomy at Greenwich, which he had possessed himself many years with the greatest reputation. With this view, he wrote many letters, which have been since found among Mr. Bradley's papers, desiring his permission to apply for a grant of the reversion of it to him, and even offering to resign in his favour, if it should be thought necessary: But before Mr. Halley could bring this kind project to bear, he died. Mr. Bradley, however, obtained the place afterwards, by the favour and interest of my Lord Macclesfield, who was afterwards President of the Royal Society. As soon as the appointment of Mr. Bradley to this place was known, the University of Oxford sent him a Diploma, creating him ."

"James Bradley, l'astronome le plus célèbre qu'ait produit l'Angleterre, était né en 1692, à Shireborn, dans le comté de Glocester. Il était neveu de Pound, connu surtout par ses distances des satellites à leurs planètes principales, qu'il avait mesurées avec de très grandes lunettes. Pound était curé de Wansted; son exemple et ses leçons inspirèrent à son neveu le goût de l'Astronomie. En 1717 et 1718, Bradley présenta à la Société royale un recueil d'observations diverses. Sa famille l'avait destiné à l'état ecclésiastique, et lui avait fait obtenir une cure, à laquelle il renonça en 1721, quand il fut nommé à la chaire d'Astronomie fondée par Savil à Oxford, devenue vacante par la mort de Keill. On trouve de lui, dans les Transactions philosophiques de 1724, les observations qu'il avait faites d'une comète dans les derniers mois de l'année précédente. Dans le volume de 1726, il donna les longitudes de Lisbonne et du fort de New-York déterminées par les éclipses du premier satellite de Jupiter. Ces premiers essais n'annonçaient encore qu'un amateur d'Astronomie, d'un talent assez ordinaire; une occasion se présenta de se livrer à des recherches plus importantes; Bradley la saisit avec empressement, et elle le conduisit à une découverte qui a rendu son nom immortel."

"Of Bradley's original observations on Aberration and Nutation, those results only were known which Bradley himself published in the Philosophical Transactions (No. 406. vol. xxxv. p. 637. and No. 485. vol. xlv. p. I). It was known, however, that these observations were very complete; and it was supposed that a strict and accurate discussion of them would give the values of the constants of Aberration and Nutation with greater exactness, than had hitherto been attained: for, though Bradley himself had gone through the investigation, yet on account of the more extended developement, which the theory of Nutation has undergone in later times, and the recently invented methods of deducing the most probable results from observations, there was reason to expect that we might now obtain much greater precision."

"When Dr. Bradley was elected to the professor's chair at Oxford, he gave up his two livings, which were at such a distance, that he could not possibly fulfill the duties of them himself; but it happened, that after he was settled at Greenwich, the living of that parish became vacant, which is very considerable, and which was offered to him, as he was upon the spot to perform the duty, and had the claim of uncommon merit to the reward. This living, however, Dr. Bradley, very greatly to his honour, refused, fearing the duties of the astronomer would too much interfere with those of the divine."

"Light had long been supposed to move with a velocity physically infinite, but the late M. Roemer of the Royal Academy of Paris discovered the contrary... But however natural this theory might be, and however well it might be supported, it was then thought too bold, and poor Roemer did not live to see it adopted. It has, however, been since universally a agreed, that the motion of light is successive; and upon this successive motion of light, Mr. Bradley built his explanation of the irregular variations which he had observed in the stars, and which he called their aberation. His theory was this: Let us suppose a series of very small particles, united into a thread, to fall in direction perpendicular to the horizon; and let several of these threads of particles fall at the same time, in he same direction, so as to be parallel to each other, in the same manner as drops of rain in a dead calm. Let us then suppose a tube to be placed in this rain, in a vertical position, and it is manifest that the drop of water which enters the aperture at the upper end of it, will issue at the aperture below, without touching the inside of the tube. But if the tube be moved parallel to itself, though still kept in a position parallel to the direction of the water, it is clear, that this motion of the tube will cause the drop that enters it to touch one of its sides, before it gets to the bottom; and that this contact will happen sooner, in proportion as the motion of the drops is slow, compared with the motion of the tube; and it is easy to demonstrate, that if the motion of the tube, and that of the rain are equal, the drop which falls in the center of the upper aperture of the tube, will come in contact with the inside of the tube, when it has passed down the tube the distance of half its diameter; and, consequently, that the line of its direction will make an angle of five and forty degrees with the axis of the tube: It follows, therefore, that, to prevent the drops of water from touching the inside of the tube, notwithstanding its motion, the tube must be inclined in an angle of five and forty degrees, on the side towards which it moves; and that, if this inclination should be successively made round in the circumference of a circle, the tube would describe round the vertical line, drawn from the centre of its base, a curve, the angle of which would be ninety degrees. But what has been said, with respect to an inclination of the tube necessary to make the drop pass through it... depends upon the proportion between the motion of the tube, and the motion of the drop; and, in proportion as the motion of the drop is greater than that of the tube, the less the tube must be inclined: so that, if the motion of the drop be supposed to be infinite, no inclination at all of the tube would be necessary... In order to apply this theory to the aberration of the fixed stars, we must substitute for the drops of water, uniting into a thread, the rays of light that come from those stars; and, for the tube, which we have supposed to be first at rest, and then in motion, that of the telescope used to determine the position of the stars, which is carried round with the Earth, in its revolution about the Sun; and we must suppose, that the velocity of the ray of light, having a finite relation to the velocity of the Earth's motion, the tube ought to change its inclination, in proportion as that motion changes its direction; whence it follows, that each star must have a series of different positions; or, which is the same thing, an apparent motion in the heavens, which causes it to describe, in the space of a year, ellipses more or less elongated according to its position. From the calculations of this gentleman it follows, that the velocity of light, as fixed by the aberrations of the stars, is the fame with what M Roëmer supposed it to be, and exactly quadrates with the retardation of the eclipses of the first satellite of Jupiter. A new proof of the truth of his hypothesis, if any new proof had been necessary."

"Such is the ingenious Theory of the Aberration, which Mr. Bradley published in the year 1727, and which was received by the whole learned world with the applause that it merited. M. Clairaut, of the acedemy of sciences at Paris, afterwards made this discovery the subject of a Memoir, which he printed in 1737: In this Memoir, he examines the principles on which the Theory of the Aberration is founded, and gives the necessary rules for putting it in practice."