Longitude (2000)

Liam Jennings: Young William Harrison

Quotes 

• Sir Edmund Halley : Don't touch that, boy!

  William Harrison : I didn't, sir, honest, I was just looking.

  Sir Edmund Halley : Do you know what that is?

  William Harrison : To tell the movements of the stars.

  Sir Edmund Halley : How do you know that?

  William Harrison : It's my job at home.

  Sir Edmund Halley : You have one of these at home!?

  William Harrison : No, sir, we use Mr. Johnson next door's chimney.

  Sir Edmund Halley : And, pray, what is it that you learn from Mr. Johnson next door's chimney?

  William Harrison : The time.

  Sir Edmund Halley : How can you tell the time with a chimney?

  William Harrison : If you stand in the right place, you can see Sirius.

  Sir Edmund Halley : Sirius?

  William Harrison : It moves behind Mr. Johnso's chimney 3 minutes and 56 seconds earlier every day. We need the time for our timepiece, to tell if it's true.

  Sir Edmund Halley : And is it?

  William Harrison : It's bloody perfect, sir.

• William Harrison : Taking that into account, there's a possible error in the longitude of less than half a degree.

  Captain Bourke : Let me be the first to congratulate you.

  [He starts to pour Harrison a drink.] 

  William Harrison : No, thank you. I'm already drunk. All my life -- my father's life -- has been for this moment. Listen: if the watch stops now, sir, so does my heart, for there will be no proof of its achievement. *Half* a degree -- we've won the prize, captain, we've won the prize!

• Lord Morton : Mr. Harrison, please step forward.

  [reads] 

  Lord Morton : "It is the finding of this Board that the watch or timepiece created by John and William Harrison did keep correct time within the greatest accuracy required by the Act of Queen Anne as drawn up by Parliament 51 years ago."

  [applause] 

  William Harrison : Milord, may I have a copy of those to show my father? He has waited a long time to hear your Lordship's kind words.

  Lord Morton : In good time, Mr. Harrison. Astronomer Royal, would you be kind enough to read the fifth paragraph of the Act?

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : My lord.

  [reads] 

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : "And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that as soon as such Method for the Discovery of the said Longitude shall have been tried and found practicable and useful at Sea..."

  Lord Morton : Thank you. "Practicable and useful": those are the words I wish to draw to your attention. We accept the usefulness of the watch, but is it practicable? Mr. Harrison himself has never permitted this committee to examine the workings of his timepiece; I suggest to you that is because he himself has doubt about the practical use of his invention.

  William Harrison : Milords, you must understand that my father has sought to protect his work from those who might steal his inventions. But if this board requires it, we shall submit detailed drawings of the workings of the watch, when he has received his prize.

  Lord Morton : Mr. Harrison, this Board does not accept restrictions placed upon its work as prescribed by Parliament! *Here* are the conditions required for fulfilment of the terms of the Act!

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : [reading]  "First, your father must, in person, take the watch apart and explain the working of every detail to the complete satisfaction of such persons as this Board shall appoint. This shall include any experimental observations they may require. Secondly, he shall make, or cause to be made under his sole direction, two further watches of the same design, to demonstrate the practicality of their construction. And thirdly, these new watches shall be subjected to such test or tests as this Board shall require, to ascertain their usefulness under the terms of the Act." Then, and only then, will he receive his prize.

  William Harrison : Milord, my father is sick and he's 73 years old.

  Lord Morton : He has until Thursday to accept the conditions -- which, I must inform you, have been submitted to Parliament and will form part of a new amendment to this Bill.

• William Harrison : Would it be possible to set out more explicitly what the Board requires, so that we might be prepared for it?

  Lord Morton : *No, sir -- it would not*! It is not your business, sir, to limit the inquiry of this board, but to satisfy it!

  John Harrison : It is not my business, *sir*, to explain the workings of a lifetime to a group of *dog-collared university book-swallowers* who wouldn't know the difference between a *balance spring* and a *bedside pan*! The thirty years I've stood before this board, I've never once had the occasion to talk to anyone who knew anything about what I was actually doing, any sense of the mechanisms I've created! But I carried on... trusting that if I fulfilled the Act of Queen Anne, I'd get my just rewards. *I have* fulfilled that Act... I have made such a mechanism. Give me my prize, and I'll use the money to build a, a factory... make a 'undred watches, a thousand, each one the same. But I will not, as long as I've got a drop of English blood in me body, I'll not dance to the tune of a group of ignorant *schoolboys*!

• Lord Morton : Mr. Harrison, either your father signs an oath agreeing to these terms, or this matter ends here. We are prepared to pay half the award (less those monies paid out), once we are satisfied with the disclosure, and the other half when the new watches made by your father have proved their worth.

  William Harrison : Your Honor, if you would just change the wording of "experimental observations", he would, 'e would sign.

  Lord Morton : No, no, *no*, *NO*, **NO**!!! How many times do I have to say it to you *bloody people*?!! You do *not negotiate* with this Board*!!

• [The Board, having paid half the reward, takes possession of all the clocks] 

  John Harrison : The machines are ready for collection. I will need a certificate from you that they're in good order.

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : I am not sure I'm a good judge of that, sir.

  John Harrison : For once I agree with you.

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : I can state that they appear to be in good order; I think that will suffice.

  John Harrison : I can state as a fact they're in perfect order.

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : That will not be necessary.

  John Harrison : And I will need it to be understood that when they left my property that was the case. And that you are entirely responsible for their safety from this moment on!

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : I accept that responsibility. Now what is their normal method of transport?

  William Harrison : Boat!

  Reverend Nevil Maskelyne : Do not bandy words with me, sir.

  William Harrison : I am serious. They should go to Greenwich by barge, not some old cart like a butcher'd carry a bag of bones in!

• Lord : Well, Parliament has already been the instrument of much mischief. There is, therefore, only one court of appeal I could recommend.

  William Harrison : And that is?

  Lord : The Crown.

• [The King asked to try out the new watch himself, but there was a problem...] 

  William Harrison : You think the magnets were affecting the clock?

  King George III : Aye, I'm sure of it, sir. Take these out and throw them in the garden. Immediately! --There. Now we must start all over again.

  William Harrison : Your Majesty is very kind.

  King George III : Piffle, sir. I'm a scientist!