death I had frequent opportunities of looking over his curious mathematical instruments, manuscripts, drawings, &c. &c. which are now mostly dispersed and sold. I have long wished to see his life written by some abler hand, or by some intimate friend or acquaintance, who could do justice to his memory, but I believe they are all dead. Yours, &c. G. G. Mr. Abraham Sharp, an eminent mathematician, mechanic, and astronomer, was descended from an ancient family at Little Horton, near Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. At a proper age he was put apprentice to a merchant at Manchester; but his genius and disposition became so remarkable for the study of the mathematics, not only in the practical, but also in the speculative parts, that he soon became uneasy in that situation of life. By the mutual consent therefore of his master and himself (though not perhaps altogether with that of his father) he quitted his employ of a merchant, and removed to Liverpool; where, according to the most natural bent of his genius, he gave himself up wholly to the study of the mathematics, astronomy, &c. and likewise opened a school, and taught writing, accompts, &c. He did not continue long at Liverpool before he accidentally fell in company with a London merchant or tradesman, under whose roof the famous astronomer Mr. Flamsteed lived; and, that he might be personally acquainted with that eminent man, he soon after left Liverpool, and engaged with the above merchant in the capacity of a book-keeper. It was here that he first contracted an intimate friendship and acquaintance with Mr. Flamsteed, by whose interest and recommendation he obtained a more lucrative employ than that of a book-keeper, in the dock-yard at Chatham, where he continued till his friend and patron (knowing his great merit and abilities in astronomy and mechanics) called him to his assistance in contriving, adapting, and fitting up the astronomical apparatus, in the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, now called Flamsteed-house, which had then been lately built, about the year 1676; Mr. Flamsteed being at that time 30 years of age, and Mr. Sharp 25. In this situation he continued to assist Mr. Flamsteed in * He was related, as appears from his epitaph, to Archbishop Sharp. VOL. IV. H making observations (with the mural arch of near 7 feet radius, and 140 degrees on the limb) of the meridional zenith distances of the fixed stars, sun, moon, and the other planets, with the times of their transits over the meridian; together with observations of the sun and moon's diameters, eclipses of the sun, moon, and Jupiter's satellites, variations of the compass, &c. He likewise assisted him in taking a catalogue of the right ascensions, distances from the pole, longitude and magnitudes of near 3000 fixed stars, with variations of their right ascensions and distances from the pole, whilst they change the longitudes one degree. But from a continual observance of the stars at night, in a cold thin air, joined to a weakly constitution, he was reduced to a bad state of health, for the recovery of which he desired leave to retire to his house at Horton; where, as soon as he found himself upon the recovery, he began to fit up an observatory of his own, having first made an elegant and curious engine for turning all kinds of work in wood or brass, with a mandrel for turning irregular figures, as ovals, roses, wreathed pillars, &c. &c. besides which he made himself most of the tools used by joiners, clockmakers, opticians, and mathematical instrument-makers. The limbs of his large equatorial instrument, sextant, quadrant, &c. he graduated with the nicest accuracy, by diagonal divisions, into degrees and minutes. The telescopes he made use of were all of his own making, and the lenses ground, figured, and adjusted with his own hands. It was at this time that he assisted Mr. Flamsteed in calculating most of the tables in the second volume of his "Historia Cœlestis," as appears by their letters to be seen at Horton; likewise the curious drawings of the charts of all the constellations visible in our hemisphere, together with the still more excellent drawings of the planispheres both of the northern and southern constellations: and though these drawings of the constellations were sent to be engraved at Amsterdam by a masterly hand, yet the originals far exceed the engravings in point of beauty and elegance; these were published by Mr. Flamsteed, and both copies may be seen at Horton. The mathematician meets with something extraordinary in his elaborate treatise of "Geometry Improved by a large and accurate table of segments of circles, its construction and various uses in the solution of several difficult problems, * I believe contrived and graduated by Mr. Sharp. with compendious tables for finding a true proportional part; and their use in these or any other tables exemplified in making logarithms or natural numbers from them to sixty places or figures;" there being a table of them for all primes to 1100 true to 61 figures. Likewise his concise treatise of Polyedra, or solid bodies of many bases, both the regular and others: to which are added, twelve new ones, with various methods of forming them, and their exact dimensions in surds, and in numbers. Illustrated with variety of copper-plates, neatly engraved by his own hands. Also the models of these Polyedra he cut out in a most amazing exact manner in box-wood. Few or none of the mathematical instrument-makers could exceed him in exactly graduating or neatly engraving any mathematical or astronomical instrument, as may be seen in the equatorial instrument above mentioned, his sextant, quadrants of various sorts, dials; also in a curious armillary sphere, which, besides the common properties, has moveable circles, &c. for exhibiting and solving all spherical triangles: also his double sector, &c. &c. all contrived, graduated, and finished, in an elegant manner, by himself. In short, he had a remarkable clear head for contriving, and an extraordinary hand for executing, any thing, not only in mechanics, but likewise in drawing, writing, and making the most exact and beautiful schemes or figures in all his calculations and geometrical constructions. The quadrature of the circle was undertaken by him for his own private amusement in the year 1699, deduced from two different series, whereby the truth thereof is proved to 72 figures; all which may be seen in Sherwin's tables; that is, if the diameter of a circle be 1, the circumference thereof will be found equal to 3,141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816405 26, &c. He also calculated the logarithmetic sines, tangents, and secants of the seconds to every minute of the first degree of the quadrant, which laborious investigation most probably may be seen among the curiosities of the Royal Society, as they were presented to the Rev. Patrick Murdoch for that purpose; in which manuscript may be seen his very neat and exact manner of writing and arranging his figures, not to be equalled by the best penman now living. In the same manuscript may be seen the logarithmetic sines, tangents, &c. to every second of the first minute of the quadrant, all calculated by the indefatigable Mr. Sharp. He kept a correspondence by letters with most of the eminent mathematicians and astronomers of his time, as Mr. Flamsteed, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Halley, Dr. Wallis, Mr. Hodgson, Mr. Sherwin, &c. the answers to which letters are all written upon the backs, or empty spaces, of the letters he received, in a short hand of his own contrivance. From a great variety of letters (a large chest full) from these and many other celebrated mathematicians, it is evident, that Mr. Sharp spared neither pains nor time to promote real science. He was a bachelor, of a middle stature, but very thin, being of a weakly constitution, and was quite superannuated three or four years before he died, which was on the 18th of July, 1742, in the 91st year of his age. He engaged or employed four or five different rooms or apartments in his house for different purposes, into which none of his family could possibly enter at any time without his permission. He was visited rarely by any, except two gentlemen of Bradford, the one a mathematician, and the other an ingenious apothecary: these were admitted by the signal of rubbing a stone against a certain part of the outside of the house. He duly attended the dissenting chapel at Bradford, of which he was a member, every Sunday, at which time he took care to be provided with plenty of halfpence, which he very charitably suffered to be taken singly out of his hand, held behind him during his walk to the chapel, by a number of poor people who followed him, without his ever looking back, or asking a single question. Mr. Sharp was very irregular at his meals, and remarkably sparing in his diet, which he frequently took in the following manner. A little square hole, something like a window, made a communication between the room where he was generally employed in calculations, and another chamber or room in the house where a servant could enter; and before this said hole, he had contrived a board or a slide; the servant always placed his victuals in this hole, without speaking or making the least noise, and when he had a little leisure he visited his cupboard to see what it afforded to satisfy his hunger or thirst, But it often happened, that the breakfast, dinner, and supper have remained untouched by him, when the servant has gone to remove what was leftso deeply engaged had he been in calculations*. Cavities might easily be perceived in an old English oak * A similar story is told of Sir Isaac Newton. EDIT. table where he sat to write, by the frequent rubbing and wearing of his elbows.-Gutta cavat lapidem, &c. His tomb is thus inscribed: H. S. E. Quod mortale fuit ABRAHAMI SHARP, Stirpe Antiqua prognati, Sui temporis Mathematicos merito numeratus, Perpetuam coluit amicitiam ; 1781, Oct, XX. Character of Dean SWIFT. From the MSS. of a Gentleman lately deceased, at Dublin. I WAS intimate with the Dean in the younger part of his life-our acquaintance continued to the end of it. I had a friendship for the man, and a fondness for his wit; but still think no author has given his character fairly. His wit was certainly unbounded: in his writings he had a natural propensity to humour; but no man was ever more deficient in good humour. His imagination was quick, but not warm; there was uncommon vivacity in his conceits, but they were, for the most part, cynical and eccentric. In every thing he said, and every thing he wrote, his pride constantly preponderated. He was not content to acquire admiration, but was arbitrary, and would command it. His fondness |