Page:Memoirs of a Trait in the Character of George III.djvu/147

90 confused by unnecessary repetitions, and voluminous tables, that a man must be pretty conversant in these matters, to trace and combine the facts, so as to check the conclusions, which would consequently be taken upon trust by the generality of readers, unless publicly contradicted. As it will be my endeavour so far to avoid the use of all terms of art as to make the subject generally intelligible, I flatter myself I shall not be thought impertinent for giving a short explanation (though quite unnecessary to the far greater part of my readers) of what the Longitude is, and what the service required of the Watch.

The Longitude of any place is its distance East or West from any other given place; and what we want is a method of finding out at sea, how far we