662, Retrofpec? of French 
‘gnfinuate, that the leaders of victorious 
armies with to enjoy after they have con- 
quered, and foon pafs from a itate of vi- 
olence to a ftate of repofe, being actu- 
ated by the charms of a focial life ; where- 
as ianation of merchants cupidity.is 
never fatiated. The foldier, we are told, 
Janguifhes at length for retirement, but 
the trader wifhes ftill to the counting his 
gains, and adding to his acquifitions. 
After this, all the ftates which have 
diftinguifhed themfelves by their fuperi- 
ority in maritime affairs pafs in review.— 
«© The firit grand naval expedition men- 
tioned in hiftory is that of S-foftris. One 
of bis fleets, conffting of four hundred 
fail, chtained the dominion of all the 
iflands in, and all the towns near the bor- 
ders of the Red Sea and the Arabian 
Gulf. Another, no lefs formidable, con- 
quered the Cyclades, the ifles of the 
Egean fea, together with Crete, and Phee- 
nicia. This developement of power, fif- 
teen centuries before our era, fuppofes a 
farprifing degree of population, of arts, 
and of knowledge, to have prevailed in 
Egypt; but whether we contemplate Se-- 
fofiris as a conqueror or a legiflator, it 
muft be allowed that the dominion of the 
feas, in refpect io him, was but momen- 
tary, and did not defcend even to his im- 
mediate fucceffors. 
<¢ After the Egyptians, andeven during 
the period of their fplendour, the Pheenici- 
ans were the real maftersof the ocean. A 
Jegitimate indufry laid the foundatien of 
their future good fortune. In confe- 
quence of their communication with Afia, 
the civilization of which preceded that of 
Europe more than twenty centuries, they 
became acquainted with all the elemen- 
tary arts of commerce and navigation, 
and they could not, like the Egyptians, 
employ thefe advantagecufly 1a the un- 
grateful foil inhabited by ‘them. ‘They 
therefore found themfelves obliged ‘to 
fearch abroad for whatfoever could ia- 
creafe their manufactures; and Tyre, at 
length, became, for ages, the emporium 
of all the riches of the known world. 
«c After attaining this degree of power, 
they did not confine themfelves firft to 
found and then to tyrannize over their co- 
Jonics: they became conquerors. «Cy- 
prus, Chio, Sicily, Sardinia, and nearly 
al. the iflands of the Archipelago, fub- 
mitted to them; their fleets commanded 
every fea, and their piracies rendered every 
nation outrageous. Fheir own corrup- 
tion would {oon have avenged their crimes, 
Literature.—LHiftory. 
had not Nabucodonofor made preparations 
to defiroy them. ~Hiftory tells us, that 
out of the ruins of the old, anew Tyre 
{fprung up, which alfo regulated naviga- 
tion and commerce, until it was annihie 
lated by Alexander. 
«© The three thoufand gallies. of Semi- 
ramis, and the three thoufand fhips of 
Xerxes, were not armed for the advance- 
mént of commerce, but the purpofes 
of conquett. To difcover a complete 
union of commercial and maritime domi- 
nation, fuch as England prefents in our 
days, we ought to recur fo the hiftory of 
the Carthaginians and the Athenians: it 
is there that we fhall difcover the ableft © 
combinations of force and indufiry, em- 
ployed for the exprefs purpofe of adding 
unceafingly to thofe enjoyments which ' 
ambition holds out, and which are cone 
ftantly punifhed before they can be fa- 
tiated. 
‘¢ Carthage, founded by the Phoeni- 
cians, furpafled, both in arts and arms, 
the nation that gaverifeto it. This opu- 
lent metropolis, which contained more 
than 700,000 inhabitants, poffeffed the 
dominion over three hundred cities in 
Africa, and would have kept them under 
its yoke, if it had not wifhed to extend 
its influence over the fouth of Europe. It 
was not enough for the Carthaginians to 
have,renewed all the prodigies of opu- 
lence recorded of Tyre, and ‘to have 
created a fleet far (uperior to that poffeffed 
by the mother ftate. Their imprudent 
avidity afociated them in the projects of 
Xerxes againft the Greeks, whom they 
attacked in Siciiy, with the hope of be- 
ing able to add that fertile province to the 
litt of their conquefts. Having thus ap- 
proached Italy, they awakened the jea- 
loufy of the Romans, who did not wane 
pretexts, firft to attack, and then to de- 
tiroy them. ves sige 
<¢ After the Pheenicians and Cartha- 
gitians, the Greeks carried their naviga- 
tion to the greate(t extent. The Athe- 
nians were the moft intrepid mariners of 
that period; and their chief, Themifto- 
cles, the ableft captain of his day. Itis 
to him they were indebted for the rapid 
increafe of their naval forces, which con- 
ferred upon them the empire of the fea. 
In addition to thisleader, they could alfo 
boaft of Cymonand Pericles ; the former 
of whom rendered himfeif particularly fae 
mous by his maritime exploits. 
«© Their good fortune, at length, in- 
toxicated the Athenians, who were no 
longer. 
