Gentlemen named by the Commissioners to receive the discovery, and therefore, I make no doubt, by leave of the Board.[1] Nor did they stop here, for
- ↑ The passage in reference, copied from the Journal of John and William Harrison, under date. May 25th, 1765, is,—'The Gentlemen are to be upon oath not to divulge the Invention to any one till they shall have leave from the Board of Longitude; and the Commissioners are also to be upon their honour not to tell it till they have given Mr. Harrison an opportunity to make what he can of other Powers.' On the Minutes of the Board, about the same date, we find—"that the Gentlemen who attend be enjoined not to make any discovery of the principles of the Watch to any but the Board, without leave of the Commissioners."—This was well enough, but the difference between the intention and the per-
We might remark on the sentiments of these distinguished Officers, for the surprising contrast they evince to the treatment the Candidate afterwards experienced from certain other quarters. That propriety of demeanour, which wrought in his favour, was not constrained, for under other times and circumstances, he might have reminded the observer of Dr. Johnson's remark on his friend. Sir Joshua Reynolds—that be was "the most invulnerable man he knew." By which he meatnt one, with whom, if you should quarrel, you would find it difficult to abuse; because there was nothing in his character to give scope to your flippancy. The peculiarities of John Harrison were so few, and so trifling, that the Doctor might have extended the complimentary critique to him, had he been of his acquaintance.
who states, that when they made the land, on their return to England from Lisbon, by his reckoning and those on board, it would have been the Start: but before they knew what land it was, Mr. Harrison told them, by his Machine, it was the Lizard; which proved to be correct, thus showing the ship near a degree and a half more to the West than they had supposed.
