Briefwechsel Tobias Mayer
| Kurzinformation zum Brief | Zum Original |
| Autor | Longitude Act |
| Empfänger | |
| Ort | London |
| Datum | Juli 1714 |
| Signatur | Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv Hannover, NLA HA Hann. 92, 1028, Bl. 88r-90v [Abschrift] |
| Transkription | Hans Gaab, Fürth |
Anno Regni Duodecimo Annae Reginae Stat: 2 A.D. 1714
An act for providing a publick reward for such Person or Persons, as shall discover the longitude at Sea.
Whereas it is well known, by all that are acquainted with the art of navigation, that nothing is so much wanted and desired at Sea, as the discovery of the Longitude for the Safety & Quickness of Voyages, the Preservation of Ships, and the Lives of Men: And whereas in the Judgment of able Mathematicians & Navigators several Methods have already been discoverd, true in Theory, though very difficult in Practice, some of which /: there is Reason to expect :/ may be capable of Improvement, some already discovered may be proposed to the Publick, and others may be invented hereafter: And whereas Such a discovery would be of Particular Advantage to the Trade of Great Britain, & very much for the Honour of this Kingdom; but besides the great Difficulty of the thing itself, partly for the Want of some publick Reward to be settled as an Encouragement for so useful and beneficial a Work, & partly for Want of Money for trials & Experiments necessary thereunto, no such Inventions or Proposals
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hitherto made, have been brought to Perfection; Be it
therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty
by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual
& temporal, & Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by
Authority of the same, That the Lord High Admiral of
Great Britain, or the first Commissioner of the Admiralty,
the Speaker of the Honble House of Commons, the first
Commissioner of the Navy, the 1st Com: of Trade, the Admirals
of the Red, White & blue Squadrons, the Master of the
Trinity House, the President of the Royal Society, the Royal
Astronomer of Greenwich, the Savilian, Lucasian
& Plumian Professors of the Mathematicks in Oxford
& Cambridge all for the Time being; the Right Honble Thos
Earl of Pembroke & Montgomery, Philip Lord Bishop of
Hereford, George Ld. Bishop of Bristol, Thos Ld. Trevor,
the Honble Sir Thoms Hamer Bar:, Speaker of the Hon: House
of Commons, the Hon: Francis Robarts Esqr James Stanhope
Esqr William Clayton Esqr, and William Lowndes Esqr be
constituted, and they are hereby constituted Commissioners
for the Discovery of the Longitude at sea, & for examining
trying & judging of all proposals, Experiments, and Improvements
relating to the same, and that the Said Commissioners
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or any five or more of them, have full Power to hear and
receive any Proposal or Proposals that shall be made to them
for discovering the said Longitude; and in Case the said Commissioners
or any five or more of them shall be so far satisfied of
the Probability of any such Discovery, as to think it proper
to make Experiment thereof, they shall certify the same
under their Hands and Seals, to the Commissioners of the
Navy for the Time being, together with the Persons Names
who are the Authors of such Proposals, and upon producing
such certificate the said Ccommissioners are hereby
authorized & required to make out a Bill or Bills for any
such Sum or Sums of Money, not exceeding two thousand
Pounds, as the said Commissioners for the Discovery of the
Longitude, or any five or more of them shall think necessary
for making the Experiments, payable by the Treasurer of the
Navy, which Sum or Sums the Treasurer of the Navy is hereby
required to pay immediately to such Person or Persons, as shall
be appointed by the Commissioners for the Discovery of the said
Longitude, to make those Experiments, out of any Money
that shall be in his Hands, unapplied for the use of the Navy.
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that after Experiments made of any Proposal or Proposals for
[Bl. 89v] the Discovery of the said Longitude, the Commissioners appointed by this Act, or the Major Part of them, shall declare & determine how far the same is found practicable and to what Degree of exactness.
III. And for a due and sufficient Encouragement to any such Person or Persons, as shall discover a proper Method for finding the said Longitude; Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that the first Author or Authors, Discoverer or discoverers of any such Method, his or their Executors, Administrators or Assigns shall be entitled to, & have such Reward as herein after is mention'd; that is to say to a Reward or Sum of ten thousand Pounds, if it determines the said Longitude to one Degree of a great Circle, or Sixty Geographical Miles; to fiffteen thousand Pounds, if it determines the Same to two thirds of that Distance; and to twenty thousand Pounds, if it determines the Same to one half of the Same Distance; and that one Moiety or half Part of such Reward or Sum shall be due & paid when the said Commissioners or the Major Part of them, do agree, that any such Method extends to the Security of Ships within eighty Ggeographical Miles of the Shores, which are Places of the greatest Danger, and the other Mojety or half Part, when a Ship by the Appointment of the said Commissioners or the Major Part of them, shall thereby actually
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sail over the Ocean from Great Britain to any such
Port in the West Indies as those Commissioners or the
Major Part of them shall choose or nominate for the
Experiment, without loosing their Longitude beyond
the Limits before mentioned.
IV. And be it further enacted by the Aauthority aforesaid, that as soon as such Method for the Discovery of the said Longitude shall have been tried and found practicable & useful at Sea within any of the Degrees aforesaid, that the said Commissioners or the Major Part of them shall certify the same accordingly under their hands & Seals to the Commissioners of the Navy for the Time being together with the Person or Persons names, who are the Authors of such Proposal; and upon such Certificate the said Commissioners are hereby authorized and required, to make out a Bill or Bills for the respective Sum or Sums of Money, to which the Author or Authors of such Proposal, their Executors, Administrators or Assigns shall be entitled by virtue of this Act: which Sum or Sums the Treasurer of the Navy is hereby required to pay to the said Author or Authors, their Executors, Administrators or Assigns, out of any Money that shall be in his hands unapplied to the Use of the Navy
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according to the true Intent and Meaning of this act.
V. And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that if any such Proposal shall not, on Trial, be found of so great Use, as aforementioned, yet if the Same on Trial, in the Judgment of the said Commissioners or the Major Part of them, be found of considerable use to the Publick, that then in such Case the said Author or Authors, their Executors, administrators or Assigns shall have and receive such less reward therefore, as the Said Commissioners, or the Major Part of them shall think reasonable, to be paid by the Treasurer of the Navy on such Certificate, as aforesaid.