[Page 4]
Ramsden, Cumminge, Hogan, Bullock, Raite, Samson, Patrickson, Millett, Lushington, Venner, Spottswood, Cox, Reddie, Muter, Mr Whidby Master of his Majestys Ship Sans Pareille [Sans Pareil], Mr Crosby of the Providence and Investigator Ships on Discoveries, Mr Butt Astronomer and Mr Russell. All the above Persons, and many more too numerous to mention here have had comparative Trials of my Time Keepers against Arnolds and others, and from their certificates which have been laid before the Board it may be seen that my Time Keepers have most decidedly beat those of all other Makers, and even far excelled the friendly accounts stated in the protest, and it remains for the Protestor to say why he did not publish those accounts.
My two Time keepers which were tried by authority, are condemned by the Protestor for accelerating in their rates. Now if the Protestors Memory had not failed him he surely would not have mentioned this, because in so saying he allows me every thing, for I always said they would accelerate and gave an account of the quality of their acceleration to the board - and the Act of Parliament authorizes me to propose, and the commissioners to judge whether my proposals are practicable. The method I proposed was to take the previous months rate for the following six months, which the Protestor calls a liberal and judicious method and adopted by the Board, but I am the Father of that Method, and had much trouble to get the Board to use it, and by the letter of the act, as well as having been informed by the Astronomer Royal that any prediction of rate would be allowed me, I subjoined the following, that at the end of every six months an acceleration of forty five seconds was to be added to the rates of the Time keepers, and though this surely was practicable, yet the Board said they should take that into their own discretion at the end of their Trials, and though at the end of their Trials the Timekeepers were found to have accelerated on their Rates as I had predicted, yet the Board would not allow it, for if they had allowed it, the mean being taken, my Timekeepers were within the limits of the act. Now if the Protestor by mentioning the acceleration of my Time Keepers meant to prove this much for me, I am greatly obliged to him indeed. The Protest speaks of my loud Claim. It is well known, and proved that I always claimed it, and it is clearly proved by Brockbank's Evidence that it belongs to me, though he did not intend to prove so much for me.
The Protestor says my Time Keepers are chiefly, if not intirely constructed on the Principles of another Man. It surely must be allowed that this is saying too much, as it is certain that the Protestor has never seen them; how then can he tell their principles? and if he had seen them, could not possibly be a Judge of their Principles. I wish him to say, if he knows any one who has seen them, for when they were under Trial at Greenwich they were so locked into their Boxes that the Art of Man could not have unlocked them to see their principles, without first breaking them to pieces. It is then clear that the Protestor has, right or wrong, most unwarrantably ventured the aforesaid assertion; for what purpose