a town of Hertfordshire in England, five miles from St Albans and Dunstable, stands on the river Verlam and was of old called Verlamitide. The land in the vicinity is a clay so thickly mixed with flints, that, after a shower, nothing appears but a heap of stones; and yet it bears good corn even in dry summers. This fertility is imputed to a warmth in the flint, which preserves it from cold in the winter; and to its clovenness, which keeps it from the scorching rays of the sun in the summer. Edward VI. when an infant, was brought hither for his health; and, it is said, the bedstead he lay on, which is curiously wrought, is still preserved in the manor house near the town.

JOHN, an eminent English astronomer, and the first who obtained the appointment of astronomer-royal, was born at Derby in the year 1646. He was educated at the free school of Derby, where he was head scholar at 14 years of age, at which period his constitution, naturally tender and delicate, was much tried by a severe illness. When some of his companions went to the university, the state of his health prevented him from accompanying them. He afterwards met with a book De Sphera, written by John Sacrobosco, which was perfectly suited to the natural turn of his genius, and therefore he perused it with uncommon satisfaction, translating as much of it into English as he thought would be necessary for him; and from the Astronomia Carolinae of Strut he learned the method of calculating eclipses, and ascertaining the places of the planets. Mr Hatton, a mathematician, sent him Kepler's Tabula Rudolphinae, and Riccioli's Almagestum Novum, together with some other astronomical works to which he was as yet a stranger. In 1669 he calculated an eclipse of the sun, which had been omitted in the Ephemerides for the following year, together with five apulses of the moon to fixed stars, and sent them to Lord Brouncker, president of the Royal Society, who submitted them to the examination of that learned body, by which they were greatly applauded, and he received a letter of thanks from Mr Oldenburg the secretary. He likewise received a letter of thanks from Mr Collins, one of the members. In 1670 he was invited to come up to London by his father, that he might become personally acquainted with his learned correspondents, of which he gladly accepted, and had an interview with Mr Oldenburg and Mr Collins, by the latter of whom he was introduced to Sir Jonas Moore, who became the warm friend and patron of Mr Flamsteed. In consequence of this journey he became acquainted with many astronomical instruments, and was presented by Sir Jonas Moore with Townley's micrometer, who also assisted him in procuring glasses at a moderate rate for the construction of telescopes. On his way home again he returned by Cambridge, where he paid a visit to the celebrated Dr Barrow.