up and compared the Watch with the transit clock of the Royal Observatory myself; at other times it was performed by my assistant Joseph Dymond, and afterwards William Baily; this was always done in the presence of, and attested by one of the Officers of Greenwich Hospital, when he came to assist in unlocking the Box in which the Watch is kept, in order to its being wound up.'
Not one of those attestations appears in the Book: perhaps Mr. Maskelyne thinks his assertion of the fact will be sufficient for the public, and indeed so it might have been to me, had I not received different information: but the truth is, the Commissioners appointed a set of Gentlemen to attend by rotation the winding up of the Watch; they were to unlock the Box the Watch was in, to see it wound up and compared with the Clock, then to lock the Box again and take the Key with them, and Mr. Maskelyne was to have another Key, there being two Locks to the Box:[1] the Officers of Greenwich Hospital were appointed for this service, some of whom from the infirmities of age, and mis-
- ↑ It may not perhaps be improper here to observe, that the Locks were such as might be picked with a crooked nail, that the Lock of which the Officers had the Key was on the 10th of July out of order, and that Mr. Maskelyne was sorry this should ever come to the ear of the public.—Pamphlet.
he had discovered in the Timekeeper, whether real or imaginary, might have reminded the Clergymen, who formed the Lunar party, of what was often in their way, that "men do not gather grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles."
