Maskelyne had treated him unfairly, and was desirous of having no method of finding the longitude except that of lunar observations. An account of the subsequent proceedings, of which the following is an abstract, was printed in self-defence by the Commissioners:— May 28, 1765, Mr. Harrison’s son informs the Commissioners that he is ready to deliver the drawings and explanations, and expects a certificate that he is entitled to receive the first moiety of the reward. The Commissioners are unanimously of opinion that verbal explanations and experiments, in the presence of such persons as they may appoint, will be necessary. May 30, Mr. Harrison attends in person, and consents to the additional explanation; and certain men of science, as well as watchmakers, are instructed to receive them. June 13, Mr. Harrison, being present, is informed that the Board is ready to fix a time to proceed, on which he denies ever having given his assent, and refers to a letter which he had delivered at the last meeting. The letter had not, says the Commissioners’ Minute, been delivered, but had been left upon the table, unnoticed by any one. It was to the effect that Harrison was willing to give further verbal explanation, but requires to know to whom it must be given; “for,” says he, “I will never attempt to explain it to the satisfaction of the Commissioners, and who they may appoint; nor will I ever come under the directions of men of theory.” He further refuses to make any experimental exhibition, and ends by complaining of the usage he has received. He was then told by the Board that he would only be asked for experiments in cases where there were operations which could not be fully explained by words, such, for instance, as the tempering of the springs; on which he left the Board abruptly, declaring, “that he never would consent to it, as long as he had a drop of English blood in his body.” The Commissioners thereupon declined further dealing with him. The reason of the above absurd conduct we suspect to have been, that Harrison desired, in addition to the large reward claimed by him, to have a monopoly of the manufacture of his watches, such as would have necessarily been created for his benefit, had he been allowed to keep his actual methods of working a secret. For he offered, _upon receiving the reward_, “to employ a sufficient number of hands, so as with all possible speed to furnish his Majesty’s navy, &c. &c., not doubting but the public will consider the charge of the outset of the undertaking.” We quote here from the Biographia Britannica, in the last volume of which, published in 1766, is an account of him, from materials avowedly furnished by himself, and plainly written by a partisan. It is the only instance we can find in which a memoir of a living person has been inserted in that work.