and misfortunes make. me ready to weep when I think of him, because of our former friendship. In the year 1702, I published my fecond Book, or Short View of the Chronology of the Old Teftament, and of the Harmony of the four Evangelifts, 4to. Price 8 s. In this Chronology of the Old Testament I entirely followed, at first, the Maforete Hebrew copy, and its numbers, which I then took to be the most authentick; but becaufe, upon farther enquiry, I afterward intirely altered my mind as to that matter, and fully fatisfied myself that the Samaritan Pentateuch, as well as Jofephus's copy of the Hebrew, together with the Septuagint verfion, and the most authentick records of heathen antiquity, agree in a chronology that lengthens the interval fince the deluge about 580 years, as is contained at large in my Effay to restore the true Text of the Old Teftament, Prop. X, XI. and the Chronological Table thereto relating; with the VI. Differtations, page 213-219. and the IVth Differtation, prefixed to my English Jofephus, page 64-71. and page 86, of all which hereafter. Whence this Chronology is to be corrected in any future edition. Soon after the publication of this Chronology and Harmony, many friendly letters paffed between the learned Dr. Whitby and myself; as alfo between a great friend of mine and fellow collegian, Mr. Thomas Henchman and myself, about the Harmony; which letters I have ftill by me; but as they are too long to be here inferted, and much light has been afforded me from the Apoftolical Conftitutions, and Monfieur Toinard's Harmony, and otherwife fince that time, which partly appears in my corrected copy, I add no more about them in this place. In March 1702-3, I published my third book, which was Tacquet's Euclid, with Select Theorems of Archimedes, Archimedes, and with the addition of Practical Corollaries, in Latin; for the use of young ftudents in the university. The fecond edition was printed at Cambridge, by Mr.Crownfield, for Mr.Thurlborn, and Mr. Dickenson, A. D. 1710. It was also put into English at London, from the fecond edition, under my own review. The price of my own edition in 8vo. was 4s. Now it was the accidental purchase of Tacquet's own Euclid at an auction, that occafioned my first application to the mathematicks, wherein Tacquet was a very clear writer. On November 27, 1703, was that prodigious ftorm of wind, which our books and pamphlets were full of for a great while: now tho' I heard it with others, and was deeply affected with the power and providence of Almighty God who brought it; and yet ftop'd its fury fo much, that, comparatively, few perfons were killed by it; while had its fury been one quarter, or, however, one half greater than it was, from which we knew of no natural restraints, whole cities and towns might have been utterly overthrown, and their inhabitants might almost all have perifhed. But what makes me mention it here is this, that the publick had then fo extraordinary a collect of praife and thanksgiving fent about, when Dr. Tenison was archbishop, to be used for fome time afterwards, with the most moving expreffions of the deepest fense of the divine attributes, proper for fuch an occafion, that I ever remember in any modern, I had almost said, or even ancient compofition whatfoever. Now I have very lately recovered this collect, by the means of the prefent archbishop of Canterbury, and fhall exhibit the fame, with the archbishop's letter to me, in due place hereafter. It is a very valuable monument of the piety of our church governors at that time, and a pattern for our governors hereafter; which I think they have now more than ordinary occafion for, confidering the very poor and jejune, but too courtlike compofitions of fome of our modern forms of devotion on feveral occafions. In the year 1704-5, Jan. 25, I preached at Trinity church in Cambridge, and foon after printed, a Sermon on 2 Tim. iii. 15. And that from a child tbou hast known the holy fcriptures; which are able to make thee wife unto falvation, through faith which is in Chrift Jefus; upon occafion of the charity fchools then lately erected there for three hundred poor children; and that principally by my own endeavours, as is acknowledged by Mr. Worts, jun. when, in his will, he left to thofe fchools 30l. a year for ever and I confefs that my monthly day of catechizing about ninety of them, when I was their fteward, seemed to me the best spent day of the whole month. There was added afterward, when I re-printed this fermon, among my fermons and elays, 1709, a particular account of the fame charity fchools but as to my later correction of the Doxology, at the end of that fermon, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, three Perfons and one God; and the noife that it made, more is faid in the Hiftory of my Profecution, elsewhere. About this year 1705, Dr. Plume founded a new profefforship for aftronomy and experimental philofophy in the univerfity of Cambridge. I was one of the electors. The two candidates were, a fcholar of Dr. Harris's, whofe name I have forgotten, and Mr. Roger Cotes, of Trinity College. I was the only profeffor of mathematicks directly concerned in the choice, fo my determination naturally had its weight among the reft of the electors. Í faid, that I pretended myself to be not much inferior in mathematicks to the other candidates mafter, Dr. Harris; but confeffed that I was but a child to Mr. Cotes; fo the votes were unanimous for him. A. D. A. D. 1706. I printed my Essay on the Revelation of St. John, fo far as concerns the past and prefent times; to which were then added, two differtations, the one upon Mark ii. 25, 26. that Abiathar, and not Abimelech, was really the Jewish high-priest, when David eat the fhew-bread: which notion was propofed by Eufebius, in his comment on the title of Pfalm xxxiii. The other upon Matthew xxiv. and the parallel chapters, to distinguish what parts of our Saviour's difcourfe concerned the deftruction of Jerufalem, and what parts concerned the day of judgment; together with a large collection of fcripture prophecies relating to the times after the coming of the Meffiah. N. B. Tho' in my fecond edition of this Effay, 1744, which was greatly corrected and improved, I omitted these two differtations, and collection of prophecies, for cheapnefs: and tho' Beza's copy intirely wants the name of Abiathar, in Mark's gofpel, and thereby greatly weakens its authority; yet do I defire they may all three be re-printed in any new edition of that book, for the fatisfaction of the curious. In the year 1707, I published Prælectiones Aftronomica, Cantabrigia in fcholis publicis habita. Quibus accedunt tabule plurime aftronomica, FlamSteediana correctae, Halliaux, Caffiniane, et StreetiIn ufum juventutis academica. They were ana. put into English afterward. N. B. There were, by miftake, two aftronomical tables omitted in the Latin edition, pag. 332, and 339. but they were added afterward to my Prelectiones Phyfico-Mathematica; pag. 366, 367, whence, in any future edition, they are to be taken and inferted here in their proper places. It muft alfo be noted, that the calculation of the fun's place in lect. X. was made from the uncorrected table of Mr. Flamsteed, in Sir Joras Moor's H 3 Syftem Syftem of the mathematicks, before I had amended them at Mr. Flamsteed's admonition. It must alfo be obferved, that I hardly ever had patience, in any of my tables or calculations, to find the feconds nicely; as esteeming them very troublesome to find, and of very little confequence when they were found: however, fince Dr. Halley's more accurate tables are now to be published, these need be printed no more; but all calculations ought to be taken from the other. In the fame year, 1707, I published, by the author's permiffion, Sir Ifaac Newton's Arithmetica Univerfalis, or Algebra, from that copy which was laid up in the archives of the university, as all Mr. Lucas's profeffor's lectures are obliged to be, and where my own lectures were laid up accordingly which Algebra had been nine years lectures of Sir Ifaac Newton's; but because that acute mathematician Mr. Machin, profeffor of aftronomy at Gresham College, (where I formerly read many lectures for him) and one of the fecretaries of the royal fociety has published this work again, by the author's later defire or permiffion; I lay no claim to it. It has alfo been put into English from my edition printed at London. N. B. Mr. Cotes and I began our first course of philofophical experiments at Cambridge, May 5, 1707. In the performance of which, certain hydroftatick and pneumatick lectures were compofed; they were in number twenty-four; the one half by Mr. Cotes, and the other half by myself: which lectures were alfo afterward made ufe of in the like [enlarged] courfes, which Mr. Hauksbee and I performed many years in London. Mr. Cotes's have been fometime ago published by his coufin and fucceffor Dr. Smith, now mafter of Trinity College, Cambridge: but I efteem mine fo far inferior to his, and many later books and courfes relating |