196 Prof. Lovering on the American Prime Meridian. 
this country, will only furnish a partial remedy for this incon- 
venience, especially when we consider the new channels opened 
to our commerce by our enlarged sea-coast on the Pacific. The 
old maritime nations of the world shifted their first meridian far- 
ther and farther westward as their geography and navigation en- 
larged, that all their commerce might be conducted on one side 
of it. In this respect also, the meridian of Great Britain is better 
adapted to the wants of this country than an American prime 
meridian. 
But we cannot expect that Great Britain or any other foreign 
nation will adopt the American prime meridian. Indeed, it is to 
be feared that American navigators will not adopt it. They will 
prefer the British Almanac, calculated for the meridian of Green- 
wich, to an American Almanac calculated for any other meridian. 
change is confessedly an advantage to those who adopt it. The 
change of the prime meridian from Greenwich to America prom- 
ises no good to any class in the community ; it certainly will be 
attended by great sacrifices and can contribute nothing to our 
honor or our independence. 
The following memorial to Congress, has obtained a large num- 
ber of signatures in Boston and other seaports of the United 
States, and been transmitted to Washington. 
“The subscribers, merchants, underwriters, and shipmasters of 
Boston and its vicinity, understanding that a communication has 
been made by Lieut. Charles H. Davis, of the United States 
