61 



means of this we travel farther than birds of the 

 stron est pinions fly. We cross the framing li.ne, visit 

 the frozen pole, and wing our way even round the globe. 



" What a multitude of ships are continually passing 

 aad repassing this universal thov . hole har- 



vesis of coru, and vintages of wzne, lodged in volatile 

 store-houses, are watted by the breath of Heaven, to 

 the very ends of the earth: wafted, enormous and im- 

 weildy as they are, almost as speedily as the roe hounds 

 over the hills. 



\stonishing, that an element so unstable, should 

 So immense a weight ! That the thin air should drive 

 on with such speed those vast bodies, wmch the strength 

 of a legion could scarce move ! That the air ami water 

 should carry to the distance of many thousand mik^ 

 what the united force of men and machines could 

 scarce drag a single yard ! Great and marvellous arc thy 

 works, O Lord God Almighty ' 



"How -are the manners conducted through this fluid 

 common, than which nothing is more wi-ie or more 

 wild ? Here is no tract, no posts of direction, nor any 

 hut where the traveller may ask his way. Are they 

 guided by a pillar of tire] No, hu( by a mean, and 

 otherwise worthless fossil. Till this surprising- stone 

 was discovered, ships crept limorou sly along: the coasts. 

 But this guides them, when nothing but skies are seen 

 above, and nothing but seas below. This gives intciii? 

 gcnce that shines clear in the thickest darkness, and re- 

 mains steady in the most tempestuous agitations. This 

 emboldens us to launch into the heart of the ocean, aud 

 to range from pole to pole. 



** By this means are imported to our islands the choice 

 productions of every nation under heaven. Every tide 

 conveys into our ports the treasures of the remotest 

 climes. And almost every private house in the king- 

 dom is accommodated from the four quarters of the 

 .globe. At the same time that t)ie sea adorns the abodes 

 of the rich, it employs the hands of the poor. What a 

 multitude of people acquire a livelihood, by preparing 

 commodities for exportation! Aud, .what a multitude 

 DC? 



