An anomaly in the constitution of the Commission of Longitude, never contemplated by the
also shewn a letter from a friend, who said, he was very sorry the Commissioners should have given him the trouble of this second voyage, before they gave him the reward.[subnote 1]—Therefore it was plain from this, that Mr. Maskelyne's friends were well acquainted with what intention he went to Barbadoes. William Harrison acquainted Sir John Lindsay[subnote 2] with these facts; who agreed with him, that this being the case, Mr. Maskelyne must certainly be a very improper person to take the observations of equal altitudes, according to the instructions from the Board of Longitude. Therefore, the next day, when they came to the observatory, William Harrison told Mr. Maskelyne what he had heard, and produced witnesses to what he said, and did insist that Mr. Maskelyne should not observe: and Sir John Lindsay declared, that, if Mr. Harrison did insist upon it, that he did the same: for he did not think it was right that Mr. Maskelyne should [take the observations] as he could not deny but what Mr. Harrison said was true,—This put Mr. Maskelyne in great confusion; and he alleged, that if he was not to observe, it would be a great
- ↑ An obvious question arises here—for supposing Dr. Maskelyne had found the Longitude of Barbadoes and all the Islands in the route as accurately as was done by the Timekeeper, yet as he was not the inventor of the Lunar method, that honour belonging to Meran, a Frenchmanwith which Professor Mayer subsequently divided it, how could he claim the reward? Notwithstanding this moot point, he spoke as if he had received assurances from one or more of the Commissioners to that effect: and probably Dr. Shepherd who introduced him to John Harrison could have informed us better on the subject. But there is no intimation that Dr. Halley, the Abbe de la Caille, and Captain Campbell, who exerted themselves assiduously to accomplish the same object, ever formed expectations of achieving the reward. Dr. Maskelyne was the only astronomer, at sea, who, like Ixion, grasped a treasure in nubibus, only to catch a Tartar.
- ↑ The Captain of the Tartar frigate, which took him out, with the Timekeeper.
