382 JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
fleets in all the wars in which we have engaged. Nelson’s ships 
sailed from here to sweep the combined fleets of Napoleon from 
off the surface of the ocean. And Napoleon himself, as a prisoner 
of war in the Bellerophon, at anchor in the Sound, his portrait 
when standing in the gangway of the ship having been painted 
by Eastlake, one of us, sailed from here never more to disturb the 
peace of Europe. It has been, and is, the harbour from which 
the English people emigrate, to carry their industry and their 
energy to our distant colonies. 
It will be seen that although Plymouth ranks high as a port for 
commerce, her principal trade is an import and not an export trade, 
reckoned as imports and exports are, by their weight or measure, 
by their value in money, or by the Customs’ duties that are paid. 
But if we were to reckon our own flesh and blood as exports, 
which however cannot be reckoned by such standards as these, the 
rank of our exports would be of the highest. In short, as this 
has ever been a harbour for sailors, it is now, when so many people 
who are not sailors cross the oceans, a harbour for passengers. 
The highway for us as a nation to the whole of the world is south- 
ward, with the single exception of the northern parts of North 
America; and to go south Plymouth is the best and the last harbour 
from which to embark on the expeditions so congenial to the genius 
of the nation ; the best and the first harbour at which to land when 
homeward bound. 
Look at the map of the world, and the situation of Plymouth. 
The structure of the continents and the oceans show plainly that 
the function of Plymouth is to harbour the shipping, to embark their 
living freight on leaving, or to land them on returning home, thus 
sparing them the danger, the inconvenience, and the loss of time 
of the Channel passage. It is practically the furthermost harbour 
to the south-west on the path to and from the rest of the world; 
and for every reason, whether economical or otherwise, the furthest 
port on embarking, and the nearest on landing, is the best. Even 
the sailor, fond as he may be of the sea and his roving life, lingers 
on shore when the blue-peter is flying at the mast-head until the 
very last moment. Byron says: 
‘‘ My boat is on the shore, 
My barque is on the sea, 
But before I leave, Tom Moore, 
Here’s a double health to thee.’’ 
