Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

times.

centre of the island, distant from ports and harbours, and I and the monuments of commercial intercourse in modern. not easy of access, was first sought out by Sir Robert❘ Farquhar; he first displayed the rays of light (la lumière) to us, and which have beamed so gloriously to our advantage. Commodore! I give the health and prosperity of my friend and benefactor, Sir Robert Farquhar.'

On the previous day, we had a state meeting on shore with Radama, when he expressed himself to the same effect as he did on board the Andromaché, adding, that, by the attempts he had made to imitate civilized nations, and by the instruction and aid afforded him by England, he was now master of many provinces; in fact, but few places in the island were without military parties, stationed for the purpose of exacting obedience to his laws, and that he should adhere most strictly to every engagement he had made with England. This Radama, the Great he may be styled, or, from his acts, worthy of the name he took upon himself, RADAMA LAHI MANZAKA, or Radama King of Men, died in July, 1828, and the island, it is to be feared, has again returned into anarchy and confusion.

It is not till nations have become considerably advanced in civilization, and have acquired many of the habits which mark an improved state of society, that they begin to take any important part in commercial intercourse, or to cherish any correct views of the benefits to be derived from it. The ideas of commerce and even of property, generally entertained by savage nations, are very indistinct and inaccurate. It is evident that these ideas, being merely relative, are the result of intercourse between man and man, and would never arise without that intercourse. Many savage nations appear to be almost wholly destitute of ideas belonging to this class. Their wishes do not appear to extend beyond the supply of present wants. When Euro peans first began to visit the continent of America, they found many tribes, on whose minds motives referring to property would exert no influence. Tell an individual belonging to one of these tribes that if he would work for you, you would pay him largely, and he would reply, "I am not hungry." Offer him one article of convenience, and he would reply, "I do not want it." Offer him

HISTORY OF NAVIGATION, COMMERCE, AND another, and he would say, "I have enough now." One

DISCOVERY.

PART I. INTRODUCTION. COMMERCE OF ANCIENT CITIES. EFFECTS OF CIVILIZATION ON COMMERCE. MONEY. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE COMMERCE.

To a savage unacquainted with the art of navigation, the ocean must appear an insurmountable barrier to the intercourse of those nations, between whose shores it rolls. As he stands and surveys the mighty mass of waters, now sleeping calmly in the morning sun, and now lashed into fury by the madness of the tempest, if the wish ever enters his mind to know who lives on the other side of the great waters, he regards that wish as one, the attainment of which would require powers more than human. Little, indeed, does he imagine, as he crosses the river, or glides along the margin of the lake in his light canoe, that yonder wild waves are a part of that field where human genius has exhibited its noblest energies, and human skill achieved its proudest triumphs. Little, too, does he imagine that that very ocean, which he regards as an awful barrier beyond which human power and prowess are destined never to advance, has by the skill and ingenuity of man, been made the means of facilitating that very intercourse which it seems designed to interrupt, and that it is now the scene of commercial operations, more important than any which the world ever before saw. Yet all this is true. The commercial operations and international intercourse of ancient times, and of those nations which were strangers to the art of navigation, sink almost into insignificance, compared with the results and operations of modern commerce. There is, it is true, in the mode of carrying on commerce by means of caravans, so celebrated in ancient times, much that is splendid and imposing. The long procession of camels loaded with the riches of the East, the magnificent display of varied luxury, the encampment by night with its accompaniments of song and eastern tale,-all these, viewed through the vista of departed ages, and adorned with all the splendour, which oriental fancy is wont to throw around the objects and the scenes on which it dwells, make upon the mind an impression far transcending the reality of the scenes to which they refer.

Ás imagination travels back through the long series of departed years, and pensively lingers around the ruins of proud Balbec or beautiful Palmyra, and we reflect that these magnificent capitals owed their splendour and their wealth to the kind of commerce of which we have been speaking, we are ready to ask if the commerce of modern times, with all its boasted extent and improvement, can exhibit more of nobleness in plan, or vastness and magnificence in execution. But in fact, the commerce carried on by means of caravans was poor and scanty compared with that, of which the ocean is the scene, and navigation the handmaid. One single ship, pursuing its noiseless and unostentatious way across the deep, may bear a freight, the value of which a whole caravan with all its display would scarcely equal; and the cities long famed as the marts of this ancient commerce, splendid as they were in their day, would bear no comparison in extent of foreign intercourse or magnitude of operations at home, with the proud capitals which are, at once, the seats

of the early adventurers to America, sorely vexed at their stupidity, said, One knows not what inducements to set before them."

In such a state of society as this, commerce can hardly be said to exist; and even among the most intelligent of savage nations, it is restricted to the barter of the few trifling articles which their simple mode of life requires. But as the knowledge of the savage extends, he awakes from that drowsy sluggishness, by which, when not engaged in war or the chase, he was before characterised, and begins to observe the means of improving his condition that are placed within his reach. By degrees his ideas of property acquire distinctness and definiteness. He now has new motives for effort. He no longer aims merely to supply his daily wants, but to add to the amount of his permanent possessions. Whatever his own ingenuity or industry can produce more than is needed for the supply of his own wants is exchanged for such commodities as he cannot, by his own unassisted labour, produce. Such, we may reasonably conclude, is the commencement of commercial intercourse. At length, as this intercourse becomes more extensive, the want of some universal circulating medium is felt. Such a medium ingenuity soon supplies. This, among some nations, is shells or other perishable substances, but generally the precious metals are used for this purpose. From scripture and other ancient records we learn that money was first dealt out by weight. Abraham weighed out to Ephron "four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant." It is supposed that money was not coined among the Jews till the time of Judas Maccabeus, and we have no account of coin among the Greeks till about 330 B.C., nor among the Romans till the year 266 B.C.

[ocr errors]

So

In the infancy of commerce, the views entertained in regard to the value of money are often far from correct. Johnson relates that, in his journey to the Western Isles of Scotland, he found that the inhabitants regarded money as having an absolute and uniform value. Such is generally the light in which it is regarded by those whose commercial operations are principally confined to barter. Yet a little reflection will make it obvious that the value of money depends on the quantity of the necessaries or conveniences of life which it will purchase, and is, therefore, like that of all other things, relative and variable. The wanderer in the desert, who, when almost famished, found a bag which he supposed to contain dates, was sadly disappointed, when an inspection of its contents compelled him to exclaim, Alas, they are only pearls !" To him the pearls were of no value, as he had no use for them himself, and could not exchange them for food, for the want of which he was perishing. If gold and silver could not be exchanged for articles far more necessary than themselves to the support and comfort of life, those metals, now so precious, would possess but very little value at all. The small bulk, and almost imperishable nature of the precious metals, have caused them to be almost universally adopted as the medium of exchange; and from the ability, which in consequence of this adoption they possess, of commanding any other commodity, results the greater part of their value. From the fact that value is merely a relative term, we may see how commerce is a source of wealth. It takes the various productions of nature and

art from places where their abundance has diminished their value, and carries them to places where their scarcity gives them an increased value.

By writers on political economy commerce is divided into active and passive. The difference of these two kinds of commerce is illustrated by the trade from England to China. Our merchants send to China money, or such commodities as the Chinese will purchase, and take in return such articles as are wanted in this country. This is termed active commerce. The commerce of China, so far as regards this country, is passive. The Chinese do not come here with their commodities, but keep them at home till our ships come and take them. Active commerce is far more profitable than passive, inasmuch as it creates a greater demand for labour, and also gives to those en

gaged in it a greater choice of markets. Hence nearly all enlightened nations are engaged more or less extensively

in active commerce.

The extensive interchange of the commodities of different nations, and the consequent almost universal diffusion of whatever valuable productions any portion of the earth supplies, are among the most important advantages resulting from the extension and improvement of navigation. But they are not the only ones. This art has done much to extend knowledge and to awaken a spirit of enterprise. Navigation has been the handmaid of discovery no less than of commerce. To this art we owe it that scarce any portion of the globe remains unexplored. Scarce a spot can be found amid the Atlantic or the Pacific seas, which the eye of the navigator has not seen; scarce a shore on either continent that he has not surveyed.

We live in the midst of blessings, till we are uttery insensible of their greatness, and of the source from which they flow. We speak of our civilization, our arts, our freedom, our laws, and forget entirely how large a share of all is due to Christianity. Blot Christianity out of the page of man's history, and what would his laws have been, what his civilization? Christianity is mixed up with our very being and our daily life, there is not a familiar object round us which does not wear its mark, not a being or a thing which does not wear a different aspect, because the light of Christian hope is on it, not a law which does not owe its truth and gentleness to Christianity, not a custom which cannot be traced in all its holy and healthful parts to the Gospel.-ROSE.

ASBESTOS AND INCOMBUSTIBLE CLOTH.

ASBESTOS, one of the most singular productions of the mineral kingdom, was considered by the ancients rather of vegetable than of mineral origin. Its fibrous texture and, in some cases, silken appearance, and at the same time its capability of being easily separated into very fine threads, led them to regard it as a species of fossil flax, dried by the heat of a burning It is, however, in every respect, a perfect mineral; upwards of one-half its substance is composed of silex (pure flint), and one-fourth of magnesia.

sun.

There are several species of this mineral, which are distinguished by different names, according to the appearance of each, as, for instance, fibrous asbestos, reticulated asbestos, hard asbestos, and woody asbestos; it is the fibrous variety which is most noted for its uses in the arts. The most singular of these purposes is the formation of a kind of Cloth, which can be heated to a red heat without being destroyed. This manufacture seems to have been highly esteemed by the ancients. Pliny, the Roman naturalist, says he has seen napkins of Asbestos, taken soiled from the table after a feast, which were thrown into the fire, and by that means better scoured than if they had been washed with water. But it appears to have been principally used for the making of shrouds for royal funerals, to wrap up the corpse, so that when it was burnt, the ashes might be preserved separate from those of the wood. It it is said at present to be used by some of the Tartar chiefs for the same purpose. The superiority of all other cloths to this in every other respect, except the resistance of the action of fire, together with the scarcity of the material, has caused incombustible cloth to be regarded, in modern times, merely in the light of a curiosity, but it is still applied to some purposes in chemical preparations. One of the most familiar applications of it is in the common instantaneous-light boxes, where it is employed as a sort of sponge, for the purpose of absorbing the vitriolic acid, and preventing the consequences that

COLONEL GARDINER was habitually so immersed in might arise from so dangerous an agent as the acid.

intrigues, that if not the whole business, at least, the whole happiness of his life consisted in them; and he had too much leisure for one who was so prone to abuse it. His fine constitution, than which, perhaps, there was hardly ever a better, gave him great opportunities of indulging himself in these excesses; and his good spirits enabled him to pursue his pleasures of every kind, in so alert and sprightly a manner, that multitudes envied him, and called him, by a dreadful kind of compliment, 66 The happy rake." Yet still the checks of conscience, and some remaining principles of so good an education, would break in upon his most licentious hours; and I particularly remember he told me, that when some of his dissolute companions were once congratulating him on his distinguished felicity, a dog happening at that time to come into the room, he could not forbear groaning inwardly, and saying to himself, Oh that I were that dog! Such was then his happiness, and such, perhaps, is that of hundreds more, who bear themselves highest in the contempt of religion, and glory in that infamous servitude which they affect to call liberty.-DODDRidge.

To give your children those pure principles of religion and morality, which will gain them the esteem of men, and the approbation of God, and will guide them to happiness here and hereafter, is the first duty of a parent. You must convince your children that a compliance with the laws of God is the surest way to happiness, and that to neglect the gracious promises offered us in the Gospel, is the blindest folly and ingratitude. Teach them to look up with gratitude and love, to the Divine author of all their felicity. Mingle the encouragements of Christianity with its precepts; make them love those virtues which you wish them to practise; let the religion you teach not be founded on fear, but on gratitude and love.

being spilt.

The method of preparing the cloth was thus described by Ciampini, an Italian, who wrote on the subject in the year 1691. "The stone is laid to soak in warm water, then opened and divided by the hands, that the earthy matter may be washed out. like filaments are collected and dried; these are most This washing is several times repeated, and the flaxconveniently spun with the addition of flax. Two or three filaments of the Asbestos are easily twisted with the flaxen thread, if the operator's fingers are kept oiled. The cloth also, when woven, is best preserved by oil from breaking or wasting; on exposure to the fire the flax and the oil burn out, and the cloth remains of a pure white. The shorter filaments, which separate on washing the stone, may be formed into paper in the usual manner.

A specimen of this incombustible cloth is preserved among the minerals in the national collection at the British Museum, but it is a very clumsy specimen of the manufacture.

the silver-mines of Johann Georgenstadt, in Saxony; This mineral is found in the greatest quantity in at Bleyberg, in Carinthia; in Sweden, Corsica, and sometimes, though not so frequently, in France and England.

WHEN Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, was besieging Stetin, (1630,) he replied to a soldier who complained of the hard weather, while working at the fortifications, "My friend, the earth is always frozen to those who wan industry.'

[merged small][graphic][merged small]

RECULVER, situated on the north-east coast of Kent, about eight miles from Canterbury, was a place of considerable note in the time of the Romans. From the coins found on the spot, in great numbers, it is proved that the Romans not only had an early settlement here, but that they long continued it. The walls of a fort built by them are still remaining. The ancient town probably stood without those walls, declining towards the sea, on that part of the cliff now washed away; and from the present shore, as far as a place called the Black Rock, seen at low water, there have been found great quantities of tiles, bricks, and other marks of a ruined town. The soil of the cliff being a loose sand, the sea has yearly gained upon it; large pieces from time to time falling on the shore below, discover a number of cisterns and cellars, with a great many coins, and other remains of antiquity..

Ethelbert, King of Kent, having embraced the Christian faith, gave up his palace at Canterbury to St. Augustine, and retired with his court to Reculver, where he built himself a palace on the site of the ancient Roman fort. It continued a royal residence, till King Egbert, as an atonement for the murder of his two nephews, gave it, in the year 669, to a priest named Bassa, to build a monastery there, the church of which subsequently became the parish church. This church, at the time of its erection, stood a considerable distance inland; but the inroads of the sea on this part of the coast gradually washed away the hill on which it stood, till only a very few feet remained between the edge of the cliff and the building. At length, about twenty years ago, it was considered no longer safe to assemble there for the purposes of Divine worship; and the parishioners, having determined to erect a new church further inland, proceeded to dismantle the ancient structure. The Corporation of the Trinity-House, however, on

account of its importance as a seamark, interfered to stop the work of destruction, and erected upon the towers at the west end, a frame-work of wood, in the form of the ancient spires. By driving piles, and laying a stone pavement for a considerable distance in front of the church, the further fall of the cliff has been prevented. It is much to be regretted that these measures were not adopted earlier, as the whole of the sacred building might then have been preserved.

There is something very striking in the ruin of Reculver church as it now stands. The situation, close to the very brink of the cliff, the dreary character of the surrounding scenery, the deserted appearance of the place itself, which, from being a royal residence and the seat of a populous town, is now reduced to an insignificant village, the churchyard partly washed away, and the bones of the dead distinctly visible in the side of the cliff,-all these circumstances combine to make an impression on the mind. This interest is heightened by the tradition, that St. Ethelbert, first Christian King of Kent, is buried there. In James the First's reign, there was remaining a monument of antique form, at the upper end of the south aisle, under which, as it was said, the monarch lay. At the time the church was destroyed, no remains of this monument were left, but an inscription on the wall pointed out the place where it once stood.

HE that refuseth to buy good counsel cheap, will generally buy repentance dear.

A FAULT once excused is twice committed, and the last

commission is worse than the first.

[blocks in formation]

VOL. V.

132

[blocks in formation]

ITERATURE
&
EDUCA

[graphic]

Magazine.

26TH, 1834.

PRICE ONE PENNY.

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.

THE CITY OF CHICHESTER is of great antiquity, its origin being considered previous to the invasion of Britain by the Romans. There is no doubt of their having made it one of their settlements: and by them it is supposed to have been called REGNUM. After its destruction by Ella, a kind of northern pirate, the town was restored by his son Cissa, the second king of the South Saxons, (whence comes Suthsex, or Sussex,) and on this prince making it his residence and the capital of his kingdom, it obtained | the name of Cissan-ceaster, or Cissa's city, from which the word Chichester is derived. Cissa died in 577.

About six miles south of Chichester is the peninsula of Selsey, a flat tract of land, running far into the sea. This place, which gives the title of baron to a British peer, is remarkable for having been originally a bishop's see, before Chichester became a bishopric. The episcopal seat was fixed at Selsey in 711, and continued there till the reign of William the First, who gave orders that all cathedral churches should be removed from villages to cities. Accordingly, Stigand, a Norman, bishop of Selsey, was appointed the first bishop of Chichester. In 1091, Radulphus, or Ralph, became bishop. He proceeded with the building of the Cathedral; and in addition to laying the foundations, roofed in the fabric with timber, having dedicated it to St. Peter, according to that at Selsey: but after standing six years, it shared the too-frequent fate of churches built at such an early period, and in 1114, was burned to the ground. Ralph, however, notwithstanding this disappointment, set to work again, and lived to see a second building erected. This too was most probably of wood; for it was burned in 1186, together with the houses of the clergy, and almost all the city.

The present Cathedral may be dated from the time of Bishop Seffrid the Second, who at once began to engraft a new work on the walls which the fire had left; adapting to this ancient English edifice the general style and peculiar ornaments of the age. After fourteen years' labour, and the expenditure of vast sums of money, the amassing of which can only be attributed to the religious zeal of the times, the Cathedral was sufficiently finished to be consecrated; and in 1199, this rite was performed with great splendour by Seffrid, assisted by six other prelates. It then consisted of the nave with its single aisles; the centre arcade, with its low tower and transept; and of the choir. To these, great additions were made in the course of the three following centuries.

At the West Front was originally a porch, between two square towers. These towers seem to bear marks of having been part of the ancient church. In that facing the south are some fine specimens of early Norman mouldings. The opposite tower was so much battered by the rebellious fanatics in 1642, that it fell a few years afterwards, and remained a ruin till 1791, when it received the very irregular form under which it now appears.

The Nave is supported by plain flying buttresses. The water-spouts at the parapets of the north aisles, are of a most strange and grotesque appearance. It is curious to trace the origin of these hideous productions of the ancient English architects,

Gorgons, and hydras, and chimeras dire!

The Romans used lions' heads of stone, or of baked earth, to convey water from the roofs of their houses. This idea was seized upon by the builders of our early churches: but the faces and shapes suggested by their fertile fancies are often monstrous and horrible; and, according to good antiquaries, the grimLooking objects attached to church-towers, were de

signed to portray evil spirits embodied, and frightened beyond measure at the sound of the bells;-Christian bells having, in former days, had wondrous powers attributed to them.

The Spire, with the tower which supports it, rises 271 feet from the floor; from the base of the spire the height is 138 feet. A general likeness between the spires of Salisbury and Chichester has given rise to a story of their being the work of the same architect. "The master workman," says the quaint Fuller, "built Salisbury, and his man Chichester." But though this spire resembles that of Salisbury in its just proportions, and in the pinnacles and light canopied windows at its base, it cannot, on examination, be assigned to the same hand. Great danger to the whole building was apprehended from the effects of a thunder-storm in 1721, by which several large stones were forced out of the spire; but these were soon afterwards restored, and the place of the rent cannot now be discovered.

Nearly on a line with the west end, at a few yards distance towards the north, stands a campanile, or Bell-tower, 120 feet high, and chiefly remarkable for the solidity and massive masonry of its walls. It is called "Ryman's Tower," from a tradition that Bishop Langton bought of one William Ryman a quantity of hewn stone, which the latter had collected to build a grand mansion near Chichester, but for which he could not get the royal license. The same Langton, who was high-chancellor of England during the greater part of Edward the Second's reign, greatly assisted, at his own expense, in carrying on the improvements in the building.

But it is time that we proceed to the interior of the Cathedral. On entering by the west, a full view of the nave is obtained. It is formed by eight arcades, upon piers flanked by half-columns, under an upper and lower open gallery. The small columns are of Petworth marble, with tops resembling the palm-tree. The vaulted roof is of stone and chalk, and is of early but uncertain date.

The North Transept is appropriated as the parish Church of St. Peter the Great. In the South Transept, are two curious paintings by Bernardi, an Italian, employed by Bishop Shurborne, who presided over the diocese in the reign of Henry the Eighth. The first exhibits the interview between Ceadwalla, king of Sussex, and Bishop Wilfrid, the prelate to whom that monarch confirmed the grant of Selsey. The bishop, attended by his clergy, and with a scroll in his hand, is seen approaching the king, who stands at the door of his palace, with his courtiers round him; on the scroll is a petition in Latin, to the following effect: Give to the servants of God a house of prayer, for God's sake! To this the monarch answers, by pointing to an open book, which is held by an attendant, and is thus inscribed: Be it according to your petition. In the back-ground is Selsey with its parish-church, and the sea bounded by the blue hills of the Isle of Wight. The subject of the other picture, which in its grouping and style is very similar, is the interview between Henry the Eighth and Bishop Shurborne. The latter says, Most religious king; for God's sake adorn your church of Chichester, now a Cathedral, as Ceadwalla, King of Sussex, formerly adorned Selsey Cathedral. Henry's answer, also written on an open book, is, For the love of Christ, I grant what you ask. These remnants of ancient art are valuable, among other reasons, as furnishing instances of the clerical and lay costume of the age. neath Bernardi's pictures, are likenesses of all the kings of England, from William the Norman to George the First: and on the opposite side, are portraits

Under

« FöregåendeFortsätt »