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Article A VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION. ← Page 4 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A View Of The Progress Of Navigation.
they rendered in a short time their island the centre of the commerce of all Greece . They have even been reckoned in the number of those nations who held for some time the empire of the sea * . But the character they sustained was as short as it was-brilliant . Chased from their island by the Athenians , in the time of Pericles , they never afterwards recovered from the blow . Their marina power was annihilatedand their commerce almost extinguished .
, After the natives of E g ina , we may place the inhabitants of Corinth . Situated between two seas , at the entrance of the Peloponnesus , and in the midst of Greece , the city of Corinth seemed destined by nature to be the emporium of the several nations that inhabited that country . The Corinthians did not neglect to profit by the advantages of their local situation , Shortly after the
destruction of Troy , they fitted out a fleet to extirpate the pirates , who molested their commerce . They are said to have been the Grst that changed the ancient form of the Grecian vessels . Instead of galleys with one tier only , they constructed ships of three tier ' of oars ; an invention , that ought to have procured them for some time the superiority at sea . It does not appear , however , that the Corinthians were ever reckoned in the number of those nations that held for a time the empire of that element . The genius of the Corinthians led them rather to
commerce than to military enterprize . " They neglected nothing to render their city the seat of magnificence and wealth ; and Corinth was , beyond doubt , the richest and most voluptuous city of all Greece . The Rhodians merited by their code of maritime laws , the honourable title of legislators of the sea . They were the first who thought of submitting to established regulations the customs of maritime
commerce , and the interests of navigation . Those regulations were dictated with so much prudence , that they were adopted by most nations ; and the naval laws of the Rhodians were ultimately appealed to in every difference that arose between mariners and merchants . In' what age those laws were established is unknown ; that they were of high antiquity is certain f .
But of all the nations of Greece , the Massilians , a Phcecian colony , appear to have cultivated most successfully by the science of navi gation , and to have enlarged , by their discoveries-the bounds of geographic knowledge . Desirous of participating with the Carthagenians those immense richeswhichthey derived from a most extensive commerce , the Massilians sent to Euthymenes , with orders to followthe trackwhich Hanno held when he made his voyage of discovery in the south . Pytheas , a man ' profoundedly versed in Astronomy and Navigation , was at the same time appointed to trace the course of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A View Of The Progress Of Navigation.
they rendered in a short time their island the centre of the commerce of all Greece . They have even been reckoned in the number of those nations who held for some time the empire of the sea * . But the character they sustained was as short as it was-brilliant . Chased from their island by the Athenians , in the time of Pericles , they never afterwards recovered from the blow . Their marina power was annihilatedand their commerce almost extinguished .
, After the natives of E g ina , we may place the inhabitants of Corinth . Situated between two seas , at the entrance of the Peloponnesus , and in the midst of Greece , the city of Corinth seemed destined by nature to be the emporium of the several nations that inhabited that country . The Corinthians did not neglect to profit by the advantages of their local situation , Shortly after the
destruction of Troy , they fitted out a fleet to extirpate the pirates , who molested their commerce . They are said to have been the Grst that changed the ancient form of the Grecian vessels . Instead of galleys with one tier only , they constructed ships of three tier ' of oars ; an invention , that ought to have procured them for some time the superiority at sea . It does not appear , however , that the Corinthians were ever reckoned in the number of those nations that held for a time the empire of that element . The genius of the Corinthians led them rather to
commerce than to military enterprize . " They neglected nothing to render their city the seat of magnificence and wealth ; and Corinth was , beyond doubt , the richest and most voluptuous city of all Greece . The Rhodians merited by their code of maritime laws , the honourable title of legislators of the sea . They were the first who thought of submitting to established regulations the customs of maritime
commerce , and the interests of navigation . Those regulations were dictated with so much prudence , that they were adopted by most nations ; and the naval laws of the Rhodians were ultimately appealed to in every difference that arose between mariners and merchants . In' what age those laws were established is unknown ; that they were of high antiquity is certain f .
But of all the nations of Greece , the Massilians , a Phcecian colony , appear to have cultivated most successfully by the science of navi gation , and to have enlarged , by their discoveries-the bounds of geographic knowledge . Desirous of participating with the Carthagenians those immense richeswhichthey derived from a most extensive commerce , the Massilians sent to Euthymenes , with orders to followthe trackwhich Hanno held when he made his voyage of discovery in the south . Pytheas , a man ' profoundedly versed in Astronomy and Navigation , was at the same time appointed to trace the course of