142 LECTURES. 



tion of documents relating to the regions of the New World and to 

 expeditions and voyages made to various coasts, ports, and rivers of the 

 same. By and by he discovered, as he expresses himself, " a certain 

 affinity of the arguments and matters," and " a certain dependence of 

 things and places upon one another." He then proceeded to gather 

 "other works as well of ancient as of modern geography^ of astro- 

 nomical observations, of experiments in hydrography, of shipping 

 and the progress of navigation, of commerce and excliange^ of war, 

 embassies, voyages, and travels." 



He finally presented this collection to the said society. But he 

 ■wished that the place destined for it might be capable of receiving a 

 much larger accession of books, globes, maps, sketches, drawings, 

 &c., the future donations of other generous hands. For this enlight- 

 ened man already saw (what the geographers of our time have urged 

 repeatedly in vain) the necessity of an American central institution 

 for collecting all new discoveries and contributions. 



''Not only the missionary, or the merchant, or the historian and 

 the herald might apply for information to such an institute ; nay, even 

 the greatest ministers of State might please to think that such a re- 

 pository of papers of navigation and commerce might at one time or 

 other be of advantage in the most arduous affairs of the kingdom, 

 particularly iu asserting our dominion of the seas, in keeping up the 

 wonted superiority of our fleets and navies, in securing and encouraging 

 our fisheries and manufactures, in forming and maintaining our 

 treaties and alliances." 



" Among the uses to be made of this American collection," he goes 

 on to say, " I ought not to forget that it is capable of becoming the 

 common fund and treasury of all the remains of that country and of 

 all the following discoveries and remarks that shall hereafter be made 

 upon it. In such a fixed repository some modest mariners and tra- 

 vellers may lay up their own observations on the geography and 

 natural history of those ends of the earth — of the climates, soils, 

 seasons, winds, tides, waters, and other commodities. It may serve to 

 pick up especially all the descriptions of coastings, bearings, sound- 

 ings, sands, shelves, rocks, tides, journals and maps of voyages, tra- 

 vels, and adventures,, and all manner of experiments now lying in 

 a thf)usand private hands of mariners, merchants, strangers, who 

 understand nothing of them, and would take but little care to pre- 

 serve them from fire and consumption." 



Thus clearly was the same idea developed a century and a half ago 

 which we have been again presenting to the public. Our own plan 

 differs from that of Bishop Kennet only in this respect, that our prin- 

 cipal object is American maps, which have been so greatly neglected ; 

 while he had likewise in view the printed books, tracts, and pamph- 

 lets, for which since more sufficient provision has been made. 



The excellent German geographer, Ebeling, appears to have antici- 

 pated our design still more nearly. He collected maps and geographi- 

 cal sketches : he cut them out from books and atlases ; and he 

 arranged them according to time and locality in the same manner as 

 we have done and wish to do further. He, however, had not America 



