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Article A VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION. ← Page 2 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A View Of The Progress Of Navigation.
the Straits conquered a great part of the kingdom of Naples , and" the whole island of Sicilly . Still these , though they undertook longer Toyages , were but coasters , and , satisfied with what-they found , did not endeavour to add anything to the art of navigation , especially for that they were as then but rude and barbarous , war and rapine being their only profession . Other nations famous at sea were the Genoese aiid V cnetiansbetwixt whom there were bloodwars for several and the
, y years ; latter , till the Portuguese discovered the way by sea to the East-Indies , had all the trade of those parts in their own hands , either brought up the Red Sea into Egypt , or by caravans to the sea-port towns of Asia . Wc might here mention the expeditions of English , French , Danes , Dutch , and _ other nations , but should find nothing new in them all . * They allin their turns were powerful at fca' they all ventured sometimes far
, from home , either to rob , conquer , or trade , but all in the same manner ^ creeping along the shores , without daring to venture far out to sea , having no guides out of si ght of land but the stars , which in cloudy nights must fail them . It is therefore time to leave these blind sailors , and come to the magnet or load-stone , and to the compass or magncttcal needlewhich has opened in the unknown oceanand made them as
, ways , plain and easy in the blackest ni g ht as in the bri ghtest day . To come then to the point . The loadstone , or magnet , so called from the Latin word magnes , had this name given it because found in the country of Magnesia , vvhich is a part of Lydia in Asia ; or because the Magnesians first discovered its
virtue of attracting iron : for both these reasons are given by the learned Eochartus Geogr . Sacr . p . 717 . What other virtues and qualities it has , does not belong to this place . But it is certain the magnet has two poles answering to the two poles of the world , and to which they naturally incline ( if nothing obstructs ) to lie parallel . This property is not confined to itself , but communicative , as daily experience shews us in the nautical needleswhich bthe touch of this stone partake so much of
, y its nature , that the point so touched , unless otherwise hindered , will always look towards the north pole . Let the learned naturalist plunge himself into _ the inscrutable abyss of nature to find out reasons for this sympathy ; it shall suffice here to shew the benefits and advantages navigation , and in it mankind , has reaped by tlie discovery of this most wonderful secret . The Magnesiansas was said abovewere
count-, , ed the first discoverers of the loadstone ' s virtue of attracting iron ; but this greater virtue of pointing out the north pole , was never found till about the year 1300 , if we will believe all the best modern enquirers into antiquity , who upon diligent search unanimously agree they cannot find the least ground to believe it was known before , rather than give credit to same few writerswho rather suppose such a thing to have been used b
, y the Phenicians than pretend to prove it , having nothing but their own fancies , raised upon weak and groundless surmises , to build upon . The great advocate I find for this opinion in Bochart . Geog , Sac . p . 716 . and iu Ptirchas ' s Pilgrims , p . 26 . is Fuller in his Miscellanies , ! . 4 . c . 19 . yet seither of them mentions any proof or strong argument he brings to cor-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A View Of The Progress Of Navigation.
the Straits conquered a great part of the kingdom of Naples , and" the whole island of Sicilly . Still these , though they undertook longer Toyages , were but coasters , and , satisfied with what-they found , did not endeavour to add anything to the art of navigation , especially for that they were as then but rude and barbarous , war and rapine being their only profession . Other nations famous at sea were the Genoese aiid V cnetiansbetwixt whom there were bloodwars for several and the
, y years ; latter , till the Portuguese discovered the way by sea to the East-Indies , had all the trade of those parts in their own hands , either brought up the Red Sea into Egypt , or by caravans to the sea-port towns of Asia . Wc might here mention the expeditions of English , French , Danes , Dutch , and _ other nations , but should find nothing new in them all . * They allin their turns were powerful at fca' they all ventured sometimes far
, from home , either to rob , conquer , or trade , but all in the same manner ^ creeping along the shores , without daring to venture far out to sea , having no guides out of si ght of land but the stars , which in cloudy nights must fail them . It is therefore time to leave these blind sailors , and come to the magnet or load-stone , and to the compass or magncttcal needlewhich has opened in the unknown oceanand made them as
, ways , plain and easy in the blackest ni g ht as in the bri ghtest day . To come then to the point . The loadstone , or magnet , so called from the Latin word magnes , had this name given it because found in the country of Magnesia , vvhich is a part of Lydia in Asia ; or because the Magnesians first discovered its
virtue of attracting iron : for both these reasons are given by the learned Eochartus Geogr . Sacr . p . 717 . What other virtues and qualities it has , does not belong to this place . But it is certain the magnet has two poles answering to the two poles of the world , and to which they naturally incline ( if nothing obstructs ) to lie parallel . This property is not confined to itself , but communicative , as daily experience shews us in the nautical needleswhich bthe touch of this stone partake so much of
, y its nature , that the point so touched , unless otherwise hindered , will always look towards the north pole . Let the learned naturalist plunge himself into _ the inscrutable abyss of nature to find out reasons for this sympathy ; it shall suffice here to shew the benefits and advantages navigation , and in it mankind , has reaped by tlie discovery of this most wonderful secret . The Magnesiansas was said abovewere
count-, , ed the first discoverers of the loadstone ' s virtue of attracting iron ; but this greater virtue of pointing out the north pole , was never found till about the year 1300 , if we will believe all the best modern enquirers into antiquity , who upon diligent search unanimously agree they cannot find the least ground to believe it was known before , rather than give credit to same few writerswho rather suppose such a thing to have been used b
, y the Phenicians than pretend to prove it , having nothing but their own fancies , raised upon weak and groundless surmises , to build upon . The great advocate I find for this opinion in Bochart . Geog , Sac . p . 716 . and iu Ptirchas ' s Pilgrims , p . 26 . is Fuller in his Miscellanies , ! . 4 . c . 19 . yet seither of them mentions any proof or strong argument he brings to cor-