and the monuments of commercial intercourse in modern.
times.

It is not till nations have become considerably advanced
in civilization, and have acquired many of the habits
to take any important part in commercial intercourse, or to
which mark an improved state of society, that they begin
from it. The ideas of commerce and even of property,
cherish any correct views of the benefits to be derived
It is evident that these ideas, being
generally entertained by savage nations, are very indistinct
and inaccurate.
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
to extend beyond the supply of present wants. When Euro
of ideas belonging to this class. Their wishes do not appear
peans first began to visit the continent of America, they
Tell an individual
found many tribes, on whose minds motives referring to
property would exert no influence.
would him largely, and he would reply, "I
you, you
pay
belonging to one of these tribes that if he would work for
Offer him one article of convenience,
am not hungry.'
and he would reply, "I do not want it." Offer him

of the early adventurers to America, sorely vexed at their One knows not what inducements to HISTORY OF NAVIGATION, COMMERCE, AND another, and he would say, "I have enough now." One stupidity, said, DISCOVERY. set before them."

66

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 Such a medium ingenuity soon supplies. medium is felt. 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. So 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.

THE SATURDAY MAGAZINE.

22

centre of the island, distant from ports and harbours, and 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.

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 inter-
course 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
Little, too, does he
achieved its proudest triumphs.
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
Yet all
it is now the scene of commercial operations, more im-
portant than any which the world ever before saw.
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
There is, it is true, in the mode of
modern commerce.
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 im-
pression far transcending the reality of the scenes to which
they refer.

As 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
But in fact, the commerce
magnificence in execution.
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

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 "Alas, they are only pearls!" sadly disappointed, when an inspection of its contents compelled him to exclaim, To him the pearls were of no value, as he had no use for them himself, and could not exchange them for food, for could not be exchanged for articles far more necessary than the want of which he was perishing. If gold and silver 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 engaged in it a greater choice of markets. Hence nearly all enlightened nations are engaged more or less extensively in active commerce.

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

sun.

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.

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 insen-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 might arise from so dangerous an agent as the acid being spilt.

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 utter.y

sible 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.

COLONEL GARDINER was habitually so immersed in
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 in-
dulging 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 distin-
guished felicity, a dog happening at that time to come into
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 ana 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.

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 wans industry.'

Saturday

VOL. V.

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26TH, 1834.

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