The first question that arose, when it had been determined to found the new Observatory, was where it was to be placed. Hyde Park was suggested, and Sir Jonas Moore recommended Chelsea College, where he had already thought of establishing Flamsteed in a private observatory. Fortunately, both these localities were set aside in favour of one recommended by Sir Christopher Wren. There was a small building on the top of the hill in the Royal Park of Greenwich belonging to the Crown, and which was now of little or no use. Visible from the city, and easily accessible by that which was then the best and most convenient roadway, the river Thames, it was yet so completely out of town as to be entirely safe from the smoke of London. In Greenwich Park, too, but on the more easterly hill, Charles I. had contemplated setting up an observatory, but the pressure of events had prevented him carrying out his intention. A further practical advantage was that materials could be easily transported thither. The management of public affairs under Charles II. left much to be desired in the matter of efficiency and economy, and it was not very easy to procure what was wanted for the erection of a purely scientific building. However, the matter was arranged. A gate-house demolished in the Tower supplied wood; iron, and lead, and bricks were supplied from Tilbury Fort, and these could be easily brought by water to the selected site. The sum of £500, actually £520, was further allotted from the results of a sale of spoilt gunpowder; and with these limited resources Greenwich Observatory was built. The foundation-stone was laid August 10, 1675, and Flamsteed amused himself by drawing the horoscope of the Observatory, a fact which--in spite of his having written across the face of the horoscope _Risum teneatis amici?_ (Can you keep from laughter, my friends?), and his having two or three years before written very severely against the imposture of astrology--has led some modern astrologers to claim him as a believer in their cult. He actually entered into residence July 10, 1676. [Illustration: THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY IN FLAMSTEED'S DAY. (_From an engraving in the 'Historia Coelestis.'_)]