FKOVINCETOWN. 
231 
gaen. Terra Iiaec ob lucrosissimam piscationis utilita- 
tem summa litterarum memoria a Gallis adiri solita, et 
ante mille sexcentos annos frequentari solita est; sed 
eo quod sit urbibus inculta et vasta, spreta est.” “ ThiwS 
land, on account of its very lucrative fishery, was accus¬ 
tomed to be visited by the Gauls from the very dawn 
of history, and more than sixteen hundred years ago 
was accustomed to be frequented; but because it was 
unadorned with cities, and waste, it was despised.” 
It is the old story. Bob Smith discovered the mine, 
but I discovered it to the world. And now Bob Smith 
is putting in his claim. 
But let us not laugh at Postel and his visions. He 
was perhaps better posted up than we ; and if he does 
seem to draw the long-bow, it may be because he had 
a long way to shoot, — quite across the Atlantic. If 
America was found and lost again on6e, as most of us 
believe, then w^hy not twice ? especially as there were 
likely to be so few records of an earlier discovery. 
Consider what stuff history is made of, — that for the 
most part it is merely a story agreed on by posterity. 
Who will tell us even how many Russians were en¬ 
gaged in the battle of the Chernaya, the other day? 
Yet no doubt Mr. Scriblerus, the historian, will fix on 
a definite number for the schoolboys to commit to their 
excellent memories. What, then, of the number of Per¬ 
sians at Salamis? The historian whom I read knew as 
much about the position of the parties and their tactics 
in the last-mentioned affair, as they who describe a 
recent battle in an article for the press now-a-days, 
before the particulars have arrived. I believe that, if I 
were to live the life of mankind over again myself, 
(which I would not be hired to do,) with the Universal 
