check on the computations.—It appears farther; that William Harrison, with the concurrence, if not at the suggestion of his Patron printed, for circulation among the Members of both Houses, brief extracts from five Acts of Parliament, comprised between the 12th of Queen Anne and the 6th George 3rd inclusively,[1] to show that the pecuniary
- ↑ That of the 26th George II. recites how by virtue of the powers vested in them by the first Act, they had 'heard and received several proposals made to them at different times for discovering the said Longitude, and were so far satisfied of the probabilities that they thought it proper to make Experiments thereof, and accordingly certified the same from time to time to the Commissioners of the Navy for the time being, together with the name of Mr. John Harrison, who was Author of the said Proposals; whereupon, bills were made out for several sums of money, amounting in the whole to £1250, all which respective sums were paid to the said John Harrison by the Treasurer of the Navy, pursuant to the directions of the said last mentioned Act of Parliament, as parts of the said Two Thousand Pounds therein mentioned; which the said Commissioners for discovering the Longitude thought
uncommon force to the cause of this Nobleman,[subnote 1] contrasted with that of the Client of a special pleader—George the good. And though not applicable to the latter, it recall the spirit of the sentiment in that verse, often quoted, from The Wisdom of the Son of Sirach 'When a rich man speaketh, every man holdeth his tongue, and look, what he saith, they extol it to the clouds: but if the poor man speak, they say, what fellow is this? and if he stumble, they will help to overthrow him.'
- ↑ No reference was intended to financial politics: neither is the Author acquainted directly, or indirectly, with any member of the noble family alluded to, or with their connexions.
