under the title of "Geometry and Geometers," Nos. ii. iii. and iv. The
letters themselves are in the hands of Mr. Maynard, Earl's Court,
Leicester Square.

2. Thomas Simpson (a name venerated by every geometer) was one of the
scientific men consulted by the committee appointed to decide upon the
plans for Blackfriars Bridge, in 1759 and 1760.

"It is probable," says Dr. Hutton, in his Life of Simpson,
prefixed to the _Select Exercises_, 1792, "that this reference
to him gave occasion to his turning his thoughts more seriously
to this subject, so as to form the design of composing a regular
treatise upon it: for his family have often informed me that he
laboured hard upon this work for some time before his death, and
was very anxious to have completed it, frequently remarking to
them that this work, when published, would procure him more
credit than any of his former publications. But he lived not to
put the finishing hand to it. Whatever he wrote upon this
subject probably fell, together with all his other remaining
papers, into the hands of Major Henry Watson, of the Engineers,
in the service of the India Company, being in all a large chest
full of papers. This gentleman had been a pupil of Mr.
Simpson's, and had lodged in his house. After Mr. Simpson's
death Mr. Watson prevailed upon the widow to let him have the
papers, promising either to give her a sum of money for them, or
else to print and publish them for her benefit. But nothing of
the kind was ever done; this gentleman always declaring, when
urged on this point by myself and others, that no use could be
made of any of the papers, owing to the very imperfect state in
which he said they were left. _And yet he persisted in his