222] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



ciilty, ahd without details : for de- 

 tails, even the most summary, would 

 shade and efface the great lines, by 

 means of which alone it is possible 

 to make a picture. 



On a general recollection or re- 

 view of the state of society, or hu- 

 man nature, in the eighteenth cen- 

 tury, the ideas that recur the often- 

 est, and remain uppermost on the 

 mind, are the three following : the 

 intercourses of men were more ex- 

 tensive than at any former period 

 with which we are acquainted ; the 

 progression of knowledge was more 

 rapid ; and the discoveries of philo- 

 sophy were applied more than they 

 ever had been before to practical 

 purposes. 



The intercoui'ses of men and na- 

 tions may be divided into personal 

 and mental. — In the period under 

 review both these kinds of commu- 

 nication were more extended than 

 they had ever before been. Navi- 

 gation, tutored more and more by 

 astronomy, and farther and farther 

 aided by the perfection of instru- 

 ments, for the mensuration of both 

 space and time, explored the most 

 distant seas and shores, and com- 

 merce expanded itself in every di- 

 rection. In the reigns of Lewis XV. 

 and XVI. of France, but, above all, 

 in the reign and under the auspices 

 of George III. of Great Britain and 

 Ireland, the spirit of discovery and 

 exploration of the most remote and 

 unknown regions of the globe took 

 a wider, though not more daring 

 course, than it ever had done, even 

 under Ferdinand and Isabella, and 



their successors on the SpanisU 

 throne, and our Elizabeth. Not only 

 the north-western coasts of Africa 

 were explored, but in some measure 

 the interior of Africa. A new and 

 nobler passion than the thirst of 

 either gold or conquest, enlisted in 

 the service of navigation and disco- 

 very ; travels and voyages of disco- 

 very were undertaken with no other 

 view than that of ascertaining the 

 real figure, and perfecting the know- 

 ledge of the globe ; the study and 

 nature of man ; and the alleviation 

 of human miseries, and multiplica- 

 tion of human comforts and enjoy- 

 ment, even among the most remote 

 and barbarous tribes, often, not only 

 ungrateful, but jealous and hostile 

 to their disinterested benefactors.* 

 Towards the close of the eighteenth 

 century, the facilities of intercourse, 

 communication, and correspond- 

 ence, might be said to approximate, 

 not only the capitals of Europe, but 

 different quarters of the world. A 

 voyage to India was not thought a 

 greater matter, at the end of the 

 eighteenth, than one across the 

 Atlantic-ocean was at the end of 

 the seventeenth century. 



The extension of navigation was 

 accompanied with many and great 

 improvements in marine astronomy, 

 the knowledge of distances, and the 

 bearings of coasts, and what may be 

 called submarine geography. The 

 knowledge of tides, winds, and 

 currents, too, was proportionably 

 advanced : so that the longest voy- 

 ages were performed not only with 

 greater safety than in former centu- 



* Voyages of discovery, in tliis century, were performed not only by the French, 

 English, and Spaniards, but by the Danes and Russians. — Russian colonies have 

 been planted on the north-east coasts of Asia, communicating easily, by means of 

 numerous islands, and almost touching on the north western coasts of America. All 

 those European nations were careful to lesve useful seeds, animals, and utensils, 

 among the savages. 



