Chapter VI: Part 6

5. By successive improvements, the ships of antiquity were, at length, brought to combine good proportion with considerable beauty. The prows were sometimes ornamented with the sculptured figures of heathen deities, and otherwise adorned with paint and gilding, while the sterns, which were usually in the form of a shield, were elaborately wrought in carved work. The approved length of a ship of war, was six or eight times its breadth; and that for mercantile purposes, four times the breadth; hence, the distinction of _long ships_, and _round ships_.

6. Both the long and round ships had a single mast, which could be taken down or elevated at pleasure. These vessels were, however, propelled with oars on occasions that required it; and the former, in their improved state, were properly galleys with one, two, or three banks of oars, which extended from one end of the vessel to the other. The rowers were all placed under the deck; and, in time of battle, the combatants contended above, being in part defended from the missiles of opposing foes by shields carried on the arm, and by screens and towers placed on the deck. The bow of each vessel was armed with a brazen or iron beak, with which the contending parties often stove in the sides of each other's vessels.

7. The general size of vessels in the best days of antiquity, was not greater than that of our sloops and schooners; but there are instances on record, which prove that they occasionally equalled in capacity the largest of modern times. In the early ages, they were very small, and, for several centuries, were drawn upon the shore at the termination of every voyage. Stranding, however, became impracticable, after the increase in size, and the addition of the keel. The anchor and cable were, therefore, invented, to confine the ship at a suitable distance from the shore. At first, the anchor was nothing more than a large stone. Afterwards, it was wood and stone combined; and, finally, iron was the sole material.

8. The invasion of the Roman empire by the northern barbarians, caused the operations of war to be almost exclusively conducted on the land. This, together with the destruction of commerce during the general desolation of those ruthless incursions, and the barbarism of the conquerors, occasioned a retrogression, and, in some parts of Europe, nearly the total destruction of the art of building ships.

9. The active trade which arose in the Mediterranean, during the middle ages, and the naval enterprises connected with the Crusades, occasioned a revival of the art of constructing ships; yet, it did not advance beyond the condition in which the Carthaginians had left it, until about the middle of the fourteenth century. At this era, the inconsiderable galleys of former times began to be superseded by larger vessels, in which, however, oars were not entirely dispensed with.

10. The great change in the general construction of vessels, arose from the discovery of the polarity of the magnet, and the application of astronomy to nautical pursuits; for, by these means, the mariner was released from his dependence on the sight of the land, in guiding his vessel on its course. Larger ships were therefore constructed, capable of withstanding more violent storms and loftier waves.

11. To the Italians, Catalans, and Portuguese, was ship-building most considerably indebted, in the early days of its revival. The Spaniards followed up their discovery of the New World with a rapid improvement in both the form and size of their ships; some of which even rated at two thousand tons burden. In more modern times, it is said, that the Spaniards and French are entitled to the credit of nearly all the improvements which have been made in the theory of the art, the English having never contributed essentially to advance it, although the greatest naval power of this or any other time.

12. In the United States, very great improvements have been made in the construction of vessels, since the commencement of the present century. Our builders, however, are less guided by scientific rules than by experience and a practised eye; yet, it is generally conceded, that our ships of war and first-rate merchantmen, are superior in swiftness and beauty to those of any other country.

13. In Europe, the first thing done towards building a vessel, is to exhibit it in three distinct views by as many separate drawings; but, in the United States, the builder commences by framing a complete wooden model of the proposed construction--the thing itself in miniature. From this practice of our naval architects, have arisen the superior beauty and excellence of our vessels.

14. The timber generally used in the construction of American vessels, is live-oak, pine, chestnut, locust, and cedar. The trees of mature growth are chosen, and girdled in the beginning of winter, at which time they contain but little sap. When sufficiently dry and hardened, the trees are felled; and, after the timber has been roughly hewn, it is carefully stored in some dry, airy place, not much exposed to wind or sun.

15. In collecting ship-timber, the greatest difficulty is found in procuring the crooked sticks, which form the sides or ribs of the skeleton of a vessel. In countries where ship-timber has become an object of careful cultivation, this difficulty is anticipated by bending the young trees to the desired form, and confining them there, until they have permanently received the proper inclination. The timber is brought to market in its rough state, and sold by the foot.

16. The timber having been selected, the workmen proceed to fashion the various parts of the proposed vessel with appropriate tools, being guided in their operations by patterns, which have been made after the exact form of the various parts of the model. Much care is taken to avoid cutting the wood contrary to the grain, that its strength may not be impaired.

17. After all the parts of the frame have been made ready, they are put together. The several blocks of timber on which the vessel is raised, are called the _stocks_; and to these pieces, the foundation, called the _keel_, is temporarily fastened in an inclined position. The keel is inserted into the _stern-post_ at one end, and into the _stem_ at the other. The _floor-timbers_ are next fixed in the keel, every other one being there firmly bolted and riveted. Each of these timbers is a branch and part of the body of a tree; and, when composing a part of a vessel, they bear the same relation to it as the ribs to the human body. With equal propriety, the keel has been compared to the vertebral column, or back-bone.

18. The next step is to apply and fasten the planks, which serve not only to exclude the water, but to bind all the parts firmly and harmoniously together. Simple as this part of the operation may seem to be, it is the most difficult to be effected, and requires a pre-concerted plan as much as any other part of the fabric. When it is necessary to bend a plank at the bow or stern, it is heated by steam, and then forced into place with screws and levers. The planks are fastened with iron or copper bolts.

19. The planking having been finished, and several particulars attended to, which cannot be well understood from description, the vessel is ready for the work of the _caulker_, who carefully stops all the seams with oakum, and smears them with pitch. After the superfluous pitch has been cleared away with the _scraper_, water is pumped into the hold, to ascertain if there is any leak.

20. The bottom of the vessel is next sheathed either with sheets of copper or pine boards, to protect it from the worms. The latter materials are employed when the planks have been fastened with iron since the copper would cause the bolt-heads to corrode, if placed against them. In either case, sheets of paper, soaked in hot pitch, are interposed between the planks and the sheathing.

21. The vessel is now ready to be removed from the stocks to the water. This removal is called _launching_, which, in many cases, requires much skill in the preparation and successive management. If there is no permanent inclined plane in the slip, on which the vessel may glide into the water, a temporary one is prepared, consisting of two platforms of solid timber, erected one on each side of the keel, at a distance of a few feet from it, and extending from the stem into the water. Upon this double platform which is called the _ways_, is erected another set of timbers, and the space between these and the vessel is filled all along with wedges. The whole of this superstructure is called the _cradle_, and the extremities of it are fastened to the keel, at the bow and stern, with chains and ropes.

22. Every thing having been thus prepared, the wedges are simultaneously driven on both sides. By this means, the vessel is raised from the stocks, and made to rest entirely on the cradle. After the _shores_ have been all removed, the cradle, with its weighty burden, begins to move; and, in a moment, the vessel is launched upon its destined element.

23. Among the ancients, a launch was ever an occasion of great festivity. The mariners were crowned with wreaths, and the ship was bedecked with streamers and garlands. Safely afloat, she was purified with a lighted torch, an egg, and brimstone, and solemnly consecrated to the god whose image she bore. In our less poetic times, there is no lack of feasting and merriment; although the ceremony of consecration is different, the oldest sailor on board merely breaking a bottle of wine or rum over the figure-head--still, perchance, the image of father Neptune or Apollo.

24. The vessel, now brought to the wharf, is to be equipped. The mode of doing this, is varied according as it may be a ship, brig, hermaphrodite brig, schooner, or sloop. The masts are first erected, and these are supplied with the necessary apparatus of spars, rigging, and sails. The latter are furnished by the sail-maker, who is sometimes denominated the _ship's tailor_.

THE MARINER.

1. The business of the mariner consists in navigating ships and other vessels from one port to another. This is an employment that requires much decisive resolution; and Horace has well said, that "his breast must have been bound with oak and triple brass, who first committed his frail bark to the tempestuous sea." There is certainly nothing which speaks louder in praise of human ingenuity, than that art by which man is able to forsake the land, contend successfully with winds and waves, and reach, with unerring certainty, his destined port in some distant part of the world.

2. Nor are the skill and intrepidity exhibited in this arduous employment, more worthy of our admiration, than the wonderful advantages resulting from it; for, we are indebted to the exercise of this art, for those improvements in our condition, which arise from the exchange of the superfluities of one country for those of another, and, above all, for the interchange of sentiments, which renders human knowledge coextensive with the world.

3. Ship-building is so intimately connected with the art of navigation, that the historical part of the former subject is equally applicable to the latter. It is, therefore, unnecessary to be particular on this point. We shall merely supply some omissions in the preceding article.

4. The sailors of antiquity confined their navigation chiefly to the rivers, lakes, and inland seas, seldom venturing out of sight of land, unless, from their knowledge of the coasts ahead, they were certain to meet with it again in a short time. When they thus ventured from the land, or were driven from it by tempests, the stars and planets were their only guides.

5. The qualifications of a skilful pilot or master, even for the Mediterranean seas, in those days, required more study and more practical information, than are necessary to render a mariner a complete general navigator, in the present improved state of the science of navigation; for then he must needs be acquainted, not only with the general management of the ship, but also with all the ports, land-marks, rocks, quicksands, and other dangers, which lay in the track of his course. Besides this, he was required to be familiar with the course of the winds, and the indications that preceded them, together with the movements of the heavenly bodies, and the influence which they were supposed to exert on the weather. Nor was the ability to read the various omens which were gathered from the sighing of the wind in the trees, the murmurs of the waters, and their dash upon the shore, the flight of birds, and the gambol of fishes, a qualification to be dispensed with.

6. A voyage, in ancient times, was a momentous undertaking, and was usually preceded by sacrifices to those gods who were supposed to preside over the winds and the waves. All omens were carefully regarded; and a very small matter, such as the perching of swallows on the ship, or an accidental sneeze to the left, was sufficient to delay departure. When, under proper auspices, a vessel or fleet had set sail, and had advanced some distance, it was customary to release a number of doves, which had been brought from home. The safe arrival of these birds at the houses of the voyagers, was considered an auspicious omen of the return of the fleet.

7. Having escaped the multiplied dangers of the sea, the sailors, on their return, fulfilled the vows which they had made before their departure, or in seasons of peril, offering thanks to Neptune, and sacrifices to Jupiter, or some other of their gods, to whose protection they may have committed themselves. Those who had suffered shipwreck, felt themselves under greater obligations of gratitude; and, in addition to the usual sacrifices, they commonly offered the garment in which they had been saved, together with a pictorial representation of the disaster. If the individual escaped only with life, his clothing having been totally lost, his hair was shorn from the head, and consecrated to the tutelar deity.

8. There is much that is beautiful in these simple acts of piety; and similar customs, with regard to shipwrecked mariners, are still in existence in the Catholic countries of the Mediterranean; but the worship of the heathen deities having been discontinued, a favourite saint, or perchance the true God, is substituted for them. Although such acts of piety may not avail to avert impending danger, yet their natural tendency doubtless is to inspire courage to meet it, when it may arise.

9. The Carthaginians, for several centuries, were more extensively engaged in commerce, than any other people of antiquity; and, as they carried on their lucrative trade with other nations and their own colonies, by means of ships, they exceeded all others in the art of navigation. Not content with exploring every nook and corner of the Mediterranean, they passed the Pillars of Hercules, as the promontories of the Straits of Gibraltar were then called, and visited the Atlantic coasts of Europe, as far north as the Scilly Islands, then denominated the Cassorides. It is asserted by Pliny, that Hanno even circumnavigated Africa.

10. The destruction of Carthage by the Romans, in the year before Christ 146, interfered with improvements in the art of navigation; and the invasion of the northern barbarians, several centuries afterwards, extinguished nearly all the knowledge which had been previously acquired; nor was it again revived, and brought to the state in which it existed in the most flourishing era of antiquity, until about the middle of the fourteenth century.

11. After the period just mentioned, improvements in this art followed each other in close succession. The chief cause of this rapid advance was the discovery of the polarity of the magnet, and the consequent invention of the mariner's compass. The power of the loadstone to attract iron, was early known to the Greeks and Chinese; but its property of pointing in a particular direction, when suspended, and left to move freely, was not suspected until about the year 1200 of our era.

12. At first, mariners were accustomed to place the magnetic needle on a floating straw, whenever they needed its guidance; but, in 1302, one Flavio Giaio, an obscure individual of the kingdom of Naples, placed it on a permanent pivot, and added a circular card. Still, it was nearly half a century after this, before navigators properly appreciated, and implicitly relied on this new guide. The compass did not reach its present improved state, until the middle of the sixteenth century.

13. As soon as the reputation of this instrument had become well established, navigation assumed a bolder character; and the capacity of vessels having been enlarged to meet this adventurous spirit, oars were laid aside as inapplicable, and sails alone were relied upon, as means of propulsion.

14. Navigation, in the early days of its revival, was indebted to the Portuguese for many valuable improvements. To them, also, is the world under obligation for many splendid discoveries, among which was that of a passage by sea to India. This long-desired discovery was made in 1497, by Vasco de Gama, who had been sent out for the purpose by Emanuel, king of Portugal.

15. Five years before Vasco de Gama had found his way to India, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, Columbus made his discovery of the New World. This great man had conceived or adopted the idea, that the form of our earth was spherical, in opposition to the generally received opinion, that it was an extended plane; and learning that India stretched to an unknown distance eastward, he supposed, that, by sailing in an opposite direction, the navigator would meet with its eastern extremity.

16. Pursuing this idea, he applied successively to the governments of several states and kingdoms for patronage to enable him to test its correctness; and having, at length, succeeded in obtaining three small vessels, with the necessary equipments, from Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of Arragon and Castile, he proceeded on his proposed voyage, which resulted in the discovery of the American continent.

17. These two great discoveries gave another powerful impulse to navigation; and inventions and improvements multiplied in rapid succession. The learned and ingenious, who at different times have turned their attention to the subject of navigation, have supplied the mariner with various means, by which he can direct his course on the deep with accuracy and certainty.

18. The instruments now employed in navigation, are the mariner's compass, the azimuth compass, the quadrant, the sextant, the chronometer, the half minute-glass, the log, and the sounding-line. In addition to these, the general navigator needs accurate maps and charts, lists of the latitude and longitude of every part of the world, the time of high water at every port, and a book of navigation, containing tables, to aid him in performing various calculations with facility; and, with a view to calculate the longitude by observation, he should be furnished with the Nautical Almanac, containing the places and declinations of the fixed stars and planets, and especially the distances of the moon from the sun and other heavenly bodies.

19. The mariner's compass, as has been before observed, is employed to indicate the various points of the horizon; but the magnetic needle varying more or less from the exact northern and southern direction, the azimuth compass is used, to show the degree of that variation. The quadrant and sextant are employed to ascertain the altitude and relative position of the heavenly bodies, that the mariner may determine the latitude and longitude in which his vessel may be. The chronometer is nothing more than a watch, designed to measure time with great accuracy. This instrument is used to determine the longitude.

20. The log is used for ascertaining the velocity of the ship on the water. It consists of a quadrangular piece of wood, eight or nine inches long, to which is attached a small cord, having knots in it, at proper distances from each other. In the application, the log is thrown upon the water, where it will not be disturbed by the wake of the ship; and the cord, being wound upon a reel, passes from it as fast as the vessel moves in the water. The number of knots, which pass off every half minute, indicates the number of miles which the ship sails per hour; hence, in nautical language, _knots_ and _miles_ are synonymous terms. The sounding-line is a small cord, with several pounds of lead of a conical figure attached to it; and is employed in trying the depth of the water, and the quality of the bottom.

21. Navigation is either _common_ or _proper_. The former is usually called coasting, as the vessel is either on the same or neighboring coast, and is seldom far from land, or out of sounding. The latter is applied to long voyages upon the main ocean, when considerable skill in mathematics and astronomy, together with an aptness in the use of instruments for celestial observations, are required in the captain or master.

22. The application of steam to the purposes of navigation, is one of the greatest achievements of modern science and art. The great utility of this agent is particularly conspicuous in our vast country, where large rivers and bays and mighty lakes are numerous, and where an energetic people and an active commerce require a rapid intercommunication. Steamboats are but little used on the great oceans; as merchandise can there be more cheaply and safely transported in vessels propelled by sails. Since the year 1839, two lines of steam packets have been running regularly between this country and Great Britain. They commonly occupy, in crossing the Atlantic, between twelve and fifteen days.

23. The chief obstacle to the employment of steam, in long voyages, arises from the difficulty of generating a sufficient quantity of this agent, with the fuel which could be carried without overburdening the vessel; but a remedy for this inconvenience will probably be found, in improvements in the construction of steam-generators.

24. The power of confined steam acting by its expansive force, was discovered by the celebrated Marquis of Worcester, about the middle of the seventeenth century; but the first working steam-engine was constructed in 1705, by Thomas Newcomen, a blacksmith of Dartmouth, Devonshire, England. About the year 1769, James Watt, a native of Glasgow, added a great number of improvements of his own invention.

25. Steam navigation was first suggested in England, in 1736, by Jonathan Hulls. It was first tried in practice in France, in 1782, by the Marquis de Jouffroy, and nearly at the same time by James Rumsey, of Virginia, and John Fitch, of Philadelphia; but it was first rendered completely successful at New-York, in 1807, by Robert Fulton.

26. The sailors employed by the captain, to aid him in navigating his ship, are called a _crew_; and the individuals composing it are responsible to the captain, the captain to the owners, and the owners to the merchants, for all damages to goods, arising from negligence or bad management.

27. In England, ample provisions are made at Greenwich Hospital or by pensions, for seamen disabled by age or otherwise. These benefits, however, are extended only to those who have been engaged in the national service. This noble and politic institution is supported partly by public bounty, and in part by private donations, and a tax of sixpence per month, deducted from the wages of all the seamen of the nation. Marine Hospitals, for the temporary accommodation of seamen, suffering from disease, have been established in several cities of the continent of Europe, as well as of the United States.

28. Mariners have ever been a distinct class of men, and, in their general characters, very similar in every age of the world. Their superstitious regard of the many signs of good and bad luck, is nearly the same now, that it was two or three thousand years ago. In ancient times, they had their lucky and unlucky days; and now, very few sailors are willing to leave port on Friday, lest the circumstance bring upon them some disaster, before the conclusion of the proposed voyage.

29. Superstitions of this nature, however, are not confined to the navigators of the deep. Even in this country, where the inhabitants enjoy superior intellectual advantages, and boast a high degree of intelligence, thousands of persons who have never been on board of a ship, are still under the influence of such heathen notions, notwithstanding their pretended belief in Christianity, which, in all cases, when properly understood, would prevent the forebodings of evil, or expectations of good, from unimportant prognostics.

THE MERCHANT.

1. The word _merchant_, in its most extended application, signifies, a person who deals in merchandise. This definition, with some exceptions, agrees very well with general usage in this country; although, in England, the term is principally restricted to those dealers who export and import goods on their own account, either in their own or in chartered vessels. In the United States, dealers of this class are denominated _importing_ and _exporting_ merchants; or simply, _importers_ and _exporters_.

2. Such merchants, both here and in Europe, are distinguished from each other by the kind of goods in which they traffic, or by the foreign country in which they have their chief correspondence; thus, one who deals in tobacco is called a tobacco-merchant; a wholesale dealer in wines is called a wine-merchant; a West India, East India, or Turkey merchant, exports goods to, and imports goods from, those respective countries.

3. The business of merchants, in foreign countries, is usually transacted by agents, called factors, or commission merchants, to whom goods are consigned to be sold, and by whom other articles of merchandise are purchased and returned according to order. Sometimes an agent, called a supercargo, accompanies the vessel; or the captain may act in this capacity. Goods, however, are often obtained by order, without the intervention of an agency of any kind.

4. Almost every sort of foreign merchandise is subject to the imposition of duties by the government of the country in which it is received. These duties are paid at the _Custom-House_, to persons appointed by the constituted authorities to collect them. As soon as a vessel from abroad has entered the harbor, it is visited by a custom-house officer, called a _Tide-Waiter_, whose business it is to see that no part of the cargo is removed, until measures have been taken to secure the customs.

5. Goods brought into the country by importers, are frequently sold, in succession, to several merchants of different grades, before they come to the hands of the consumers. Cloths or stuffs of different kinds, for instance, may be first sold by the bale to one merchant, who, in turn, may dispose of them by the package to another, and this last may retail them in small quantities to a greater number of customers.

6. Dealers in a small way, in cities and large towns, are frequently denominated shop-keepers; but those who do an extensive retail business, are usually called merchants or grocers, according as they deal in dry goods or groceries. In cities, the extensive demand for goods enables retailers to confine their attention to particular classes of articles; such as groceries, hardware, crockery, a few kinds of dry goods, or some articles of domestic manufacture; but in other places, where trade is more limited, the merchant is obliged to keep a more general assortment.

7. The general retail merchant is compelled to transact business with a great number of wholesale dealers, to whom he pays cash in hand, or agrees to pay it at some future period, say, in four, six, nine, or twelve months. The people in his vicinity, in turn, purchase his goods on similar conditions, with this difference, that they often substitute for cash agricultural and other productions, which the merchant, at length, turns into ready money.

8. Barter, or the exchange of commodities, prevails to a great extent, in country places, in almost every part of the United States. In such exchanges, the currency of the country is made the standard of reference: for example; a merchant receiving from a customer twenty bushels of wheat, estimated at one dollar per bushel, gives in return twenty dollars' worth of goods, at his marked prices; or, in other words, he gives credit for the wheat, and charges the goods. On the same principle, merchants of the first class often exchange the productions of their own country for those of another.

9. Merchants, or store-keepers, as they are indifferently called in some places, whose location is distant from the seaboard, visit the city in which they deal once or twice a year, for the purpose of laying in their stock of goods; but, in order to keep up their assortment, they sometimes order small lots in the interim. Retailers more conveniently situated, purchase a smaller amount of goods at a time, and replenish their stores more frequently.

10. Commerce, on the principles of barter, or a simple exchange of one commodity for another, must have been practised in the early days of Adam himself; although we have no positive record of the fact; for it cannot be imagined that the arts, which are stated in the Scripture to have flourished long before the flood, could have existed without commercial transactions. The period at which the precious metals began to be employed as a standard of value, or as a medium of commercial intercourse, is not known. They were used for this purpose in the time of Abraham, and probably many centuries before his day.

11. The earliest hint respecting the existence of trade between different nations, is to be found in the book of Genesis, where the transaction regarding the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites, or Midianites, is mentioned. These merchants, it appears, were travelling in a caravan to Egypt, then the most cultivated and refined part of the world. Their camels were loaded with balm, myrrh, and spices. The first of these articles was the production of Gilead; the second, of Arabia; and the last was probably from India; as in that country the finer spices are produced. If this were really the case, commerce, in its widest sense, was carried on much earlier than is generally supposed.

12. The fertility of Egypt, and its central position, made it an emporium of commerce; and there it flourished, in an eminent degree, long before it was cultivated in Europe and in Western Asia. For several ages, however, the Egyptians, on account of their superstitious prejudices against the sea, carried on no maritime commerce.

13. The Phoenicians were the first people who used the Mediterranean Sea, as a highway for the transportation of merchandise. Tyre and Sidon were their chief cities; and the latter was called a _great_, and the former a _strong_ city, even in the time of Joshua, fifteen hundred years before the advent of Christ. These people, in their original association as a nation, possessed but a small territory; and, being surrounded by many powerful nations, they never attempted its enlargement on the land side.

14. The settlement of the Israelites in the "Promised Land," circumscribed their limits to a very small territory, and compelled them to colonize a great number of their inhabitants. The colonies which they formed in the various countries bordering upon the Mediterranean and on the islands, enlarged the boundaries of civilization, and greatly extended their trade.

15. The Phoenicians continued their colonial system for many centuries after the period just mentioned, and even extended it to the Atlantic coasts of Europe. But the most distinguished of all their colonies was the one which founded the city of Carthage, on the northern coast of Africa, about the year 869 before Christ. Elissa, or, as she is otherwise called, Dido, the reputed leader of this colony, makes a conspicuous figure in one of the books of Virgil's AEneid.

16. Carthage, adopting the same system which had so long been pursued by the great cities of Phoenicia, rose, in a few centuries, to wealth and splendor. But, changing, at length, her mercantile for a military character, she ruled her dependent colonies with a rod of despotism. This produced a spirit of resistance on the part of her distant subjects, who applied to Rome for aid to resist her tyranny. The consequence of this application was the three "Punic wars," so renowned in history, and which terminated in the destruction of Carthage, in the year 146 before the Christian era. During the first Punic war, Carthage contained seven hundred thousand inhabitants; but at its destruction, scarcely five thousand were found within its walls.

17. The period of the greatest prosperity of Tyre, may be placed 588 years before Christ, at which time the remarkable prophecies of Ezekiel concerning it were delivered. Soon after this, it was greatly injured by Nebuchadnezzar; and was finally destroyed by Alexander the Great, about the year 332 before Christ.

18. A new channel was opened to commerce by the monarch just mentioned, he having founded a city in Egypt, to which he gave the name of Alexandria. His object seems to have been, to render this city the centre of the commercial world; and its commanding position, at the mouth of the Nile, was well calculated to make it so; since it was easy of access from the west by the Mediterranean, from the east by the Red Sea, and from the central countries of Asia by the Isthmus of Suez.

19. The plans of Alexander were carried out with vigor by Ptolemy, who received Egypt as his portion of the Macedonian empire, after the death of his master; and, by his liberality, he induced great numbers of people to settle in the new metropolis for the purposes of trade. Far south, on the Red Sea, he also founded a city, which he called Berenice, and which he designed as a depot for the precious commodities brought into his kingdom from India. From this city, goods were transported on camels across the country, to a port on the Nile; and thence they were taken down the river to Alexandria.

20. Ptolemy also kept large fleets both on the Mediterranean and on the Red Sea, for the protection of commerce, and the defence of his dominions; yet, the Egyptians, even under the Ptolemies, never attempted a direct trade to India. They, as the Phoenicians and their own progenitors had done for ages, depended upon the Arabian merchants for the productions of that country.

21. The Greeks, before their subjugation to the Roman power, had paid much attention to nautical affairs; but this had been chiefly for warlike dominion, rather than for commercial purposes. The city of Corinth, however, had become wealthy by the attention of its inhabitants to manufactures and trade; but it was destroyed by the same barbarian people who, about this time, annihilated Carthage. Both of these cities were afterwards favored by Julius Caesar; but they never regained anything like their former importance.

22. Rome having, at length, obtained the complete dominion of the Mediterranean Sea, and the countries bordering upon it, as well as that of many others more distant, and less easy of access, became the great mart for the sale of merchandise of every description, from all parts of the known world. For the various commodities brought to the city, the Romans paid gold and silver; as they had nothing else to export in return. The money which they had exacted as tribute, or which they had obtained by plunder, was thus returned to the nations from which it had been taken.

23. The subjected provinces continued to pour their choicest productions into Rome, as long as she retained the control of the empire; and thus they contributed to enervate, by the many luxuries they afforded, the power by which they had been subdued. The _eternal city_, as she is sometimes called, in the days of her extensive dominion, contained about three millions of inhabitants; and, although this immense population was chiefly supplied by importations, the Romans never esteemed the character of a merchant. They despised the peaceful pursuits of industry, whilst they regarded it honorable to attack without provocation, and plunder without remorse, the weaker nations of the earth.

24. In the year 328 of the Christian era, Byzantium was made the seat of government of the Roman empire by Constantine, who, with a view of perpetuating his own name, called his new capital Constantinople. However necessary this removal may have been, to keep in subjugation the eastern provinces, it was fatal to the security of the western division. The rivalry between the two cities produced frequent contests for dominion; and these, together with the general corruption and effeminacy of the people themselves, rendered it impossible to resist the repeated and fierce invasions of the barbarous people from the northern parts of Europe.

25. These invasions commenced in the latter part of the fourth century; and, in less than two hundred years, a great portion of the inhabitants was destroyed, and the whole Western empire was completely subverted. The conquerors were too barbarous to encourage or protect commerce; and, like the arts of peace and civilization generally, it sunk, with few exceptions, amid the general ruin.

26. The empire of Constantinople, or, as it is usually called, the Eastern empire, continued in existence several centuries after the Western empire had been overrun; and commerce continued to flow, for a considerable time, through some of its former channels to the capital. At length, the Indian trade, which had so long been carried on chiefly through Egypt by the Red Sea, was changed to a more northern route, through Persia.

27. Soon after the commencement of the pretended mission of Mohammed, or Mahomet, in 609 of the Christian era, the power of the Arabians, since called Saracens, began to rise. The followers of the Prophet, impelled by religious zeal, and allured by plunder, in less than 150 years extended their dominion almost to the borders of China on the one side, and to the Mediterranean and Atlantic on the other. The trade of the East, of course, fell into their hands; and they continued to enjoy it, until they, in turn, were subdued by the Turks.

28. So great was the prejudice of the Christians against the followers of Mohammed, that, for a long time, it was considered heretical for the former to trade with the latter; but the Saracens having a vast extent of territory, and having control of the Mediterranean and Red Seas, as well as of the Persian Gulf, carried on an extensive trade among themselves.

29. The first European power which rose to commercial eminence, after the destruction of the Western empire, was the republic of Venice. This important city owed its origin to some fugitives, who fled for their lives to a number of small islands in the Adriatic Sea, during the invasion of Italy by the Huns, under Attila, in the year 452.

30. The houses first built by the refugees, were constructed of mud and seagrass; and, so insignificant were they in their appearance, that a writer of that period compares them to a collection of the nests of water-fowls. The number of these islands, on which so splendid a city was afterwards built, was, according to some, seventy-two; but, according to others, ninety, or even one hundred and fifty. For a considerable time, the distinction of rich and poor was not known; for all lived upon the same fish-diet, and in houses of similar form and materials.

31. In less than a century, the inhabitants of these islands had established a regular government; and, in the year 732, we find them venturing beyond the Adriatic into the Mediterranean, even as far as Constantinople, trading in silks, purple draperies, and Indian commodities. In 813, the French commenced trading to Alexandria, and, in a few years, the Venetians followed their example, in despite of the ecclesiastical prohibitions against intercourse with the followers of Mohammed. In the tenth century, Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, and Florence, began to rival Venice in trade.

32. The crusades, which, for two centuries from the year 1095, engaged so much of the attention of the Christian nations of Europe, greatly promoted the interests of the commercial cities of Italy; as the armies in these expeditions were dependent on them for provisions, and for the means of crossing the sea, which lay between them and the _Holy Land_. They also gave a new and powerful impulse to commerce in general, by giving the people, in the unrefined parts of Europe, a knowledge of the elegances and luxuries of the East.

33. In the thirteenth century, commerce and manufactures began to command considerable attention in Germany and the adjacent states; but as the seas and rivers were infested with pirates, and the roads with banditti, it became necessary for those engaged in commerce to adopt measures to protect their commodities, while on the way from one place to another. The citizens of Hamburg and Lubeck first united for this purpose; and the advantages of such a union of strength becoming apparent, many other cities soon entered into the confederation.

34. This association was denominated the _Hanse_, or league, and the cities thus united were called _Hanse Towns_. Most of the commercial towns in the northern parts of the continent of Europe, at length, became parties to the Hanseatic league. The number of these cities varied, at different periods; but in the days of the greatest prosperity of the association, it amounted to eighty-five.

35. Representatives from the different cities met triennially at Lubeck, where their common treasury and archives were kept. By this assembly, which was called a diet, rules for the regulation of commercial intercourse were made, and other business transacted, which related to the general welfare of the confederation.

36. In the fourteenth century, the league, in all parts of Europe, attained a high degree of political importance, and developed that commercial policy which it had originated, and which has since been adopted by all civilized nations. The objects of the allied cities were now declared to be--to protect their commerce against pillage, to guard and extend their foreign trade, and, as far as possible, to monopolize it, to maintain and extend the privileges obtained from the princes of different nations, and to make rules or laws for the regulation of trade, as well as to establish the necessary tribunals for their due execution. The decisions of their courts were respected by the civil authorities of the countries to which their trade extended.

37. The treasury was chiefly supplied by duties on merchandise; and the great wealth thus acquired enabled the allied cities to obtain commercial privileges from needy princes, for pecuniary accommodations. The league, in defending its commerce, even carried on wars against kingdoms; and, at length, by its wealth and naval power, became mistress of the Northern seas, and rendered the different cities of the confederation in a great measure independent of the sovereigns of the countries in which they were situated.

38. The conduct of the Hanse Towns, at length, excited the jealousies of those sovereigns who had, for a long time, favored their union; and the princes of Europe generally, becoming acquainted with the value of commerce, both as means of enriching their people, and of filling their own coffers, combined against the association. In 1518, the governments of several states commanded all their cities to withdraw from the league, which soon after voluntarily excluded some others. After this the Hanse gradually sunk in importance, and finally ceased to exist in 1630.

39. The trade to the East Indies continued to be carried on through Persia and Egypt, subject to the extortions of the Saracens, and the still severer exactions of the merchants of the Italian cities, until the route to those countries, by the Cape of Good Hope, was discovered.

40. The use of this new pathway of commerce, combined with the discovery of America, caused an entire change in both the political and commercial state of Europe. A strong desire of visiting the remote parts of the world, thus laid open to the people of Europe, immediately arose, not only among the Portuguese and Spaniards, but also among other nations. Colonies were soon planted in the East and in the West; and the whole world may be said to have been inspired with new energy.

41. The Portuguese, being considerably in advance of the other Atlantic nations in the art of navigation, soon gained the entire control of the East India trade, and were thus raised to great eminence, prosperity, and power. Their dominions became extensive in Africa and Asia, and their navy superior to any that had been seen for several ages before.

42. In 1580, or eighty-three years after Vasco de Gama found his way, by the Cape, to Calicut, Portugal was subdued by Philip II., king of Spain. The Spaniards, however, were not enriched by the conquest; since their commercial energy and enterprise had been destroyed, by the vast quantities of the precious metals obtained from their American possessions.

43. In 1579, the people of Holland, with those of six neighboring provinces, being then subject to Spain, united, under the Prince of Orange, for the purpose of regaining their liberties. This produced a sanguinary war, which continued for thirty years, during which time the Dutch wrested from the Spaniards most of their Portuguese possessions in India, and, in addition to this, formed many other settlements in various places from the River Tigris even to Japan. Batavia, on the Island of Java, was made the grand emporium of trade, and the seat of the government of their East India possessions.

44. The prosperity of the United Provinces increased with great rapidity; and, as they were but little interfered with by other nations in their Eastern dominions, they enjoyed, for half a century or more, almost the whole of the trade of the East. Besides this, they shared largely with the rest of the world in almost every other branch of trade. After the year 1660, other nations, by great exertions, succeeded in obtaining considerable shares of the commerce of the East; yet the Dutch still retain valuable possessions there.

45. The chief articles exported from Britain, in ancient times, were tin, lead, copper, iron, wool, and cattle; for which they received in return, gold, silver, and manufactured articles. But the commerce of the British Islands was inconsiderable, when compared with that of many kingdoms on the Continent, until the beginning of the eighteenth century.

46. When Elizabeth ascended the throne of England, in 1558, the circumstances of the nation required an extensive navy for its protection; and the great attention which the queen paid to this means of defence, gave animation to all maritime concerns. Under her patronage, several companies for trading in foreign countries were formed, which, at that time, and for a long period afterwards, were very beneficial to trade in general. In her reign, also, the colonial system of England had its origin, which contributed eventually, more than any thing else, to the commercial prosperity of that nation. Since the reign of this wise and judicious princess, the commerce and manufactures of Great Britain have been, with a few interruptions, steadily advancing; and, in these two particulars, she surpasses every other nation.

47. The United States possess superior local advantages for trade, and embrace a population unsurpassed for enterprise and energy. Since the Revolution, the resources of our country have been rapidly developing. Our exports and imports are already next in amount to those of Great Britain and France and the extensive improvements which have been made by the different states, to facilitate internal intercourse, are increasing with great rapidity.

48. The banking system is very intimately interwoven with commercial affairs in general. Banks are of three kinds, viz., of _discount_, of _deposit_, and of _circulation_. The term _bank_, in its original application, signified a place of common deposit for money, and where, in commercial transactions, individuals could have the amount, or any part of the amount, of their deposits transferred to each other's accounts.

49. The term _bank_ is derived from the Italian word _banco_, which signified a kind of bench, or table, on which the Jews were accustomed to place the money which they proposed to lend in the markets of the principal towns. The first bank was established in Venice, about the middle of the twelfth century; the Bank of Genoa, in 1345; the Bank of Amsterdam, in 1607; the Bank of Hamburg, in 1619; the Bank of Rotterdam, in 1635. These were all banks of mere deposit and transfer.

50. _Lending-houses_ may be traced to a very ancient origin. They were, at first, supported by humane persons, with a view of lending money to the poor, on pledges, without interest. Augustus Caesar appropriated a part of the confiscated effects of criminals to this purpose; and Tiberias, also, advanced a large capital, to be lent for three years, without interest, to those who could give security in lands equal to twice the value of the sum borrowed.

51. In the early ages of Christianity, free gifts were collected and preserved by ecclesiastics, partly to defray the expenses of divine service, and partly to relieve the poor of the church; and the funds thus provided came, at length, to be called _montes pietatis_--mountains of piety. This appellation was afterwards applied to the _loaning-houses_, established in modern Italy in imitation of those of antiquity.

52. In course of time, the loaning-houses were permitted by the Roman pontiff to charge a moderate interest on a part of their capital, and, finally, upon the whole of it; still, they retained, for a long period, the original denomination of _montes pietatis_. The receiving of interest on loans was declared lawful by the Pope, about the middle of the fifteenth century. Soon after this period, all the cities of Italy hastened to establish these institutions; and their example was, at length, followed in other parts of Europe.

53. But long before the Pope had granted this privilege, individuals were in the habit of loaning money at an exorbitant usury. These were principally Jews and merchants from Lombardy; hence, all persons in those countries, who dealt in money, came to be called _Lombard merchants_. The prohibitions of the Church against receiving interest were eluded, when necessary, by causing it to be paid in advance, by way of present or premium.

54. In the twelfth century, many of the dealers in money were expelled from England, France, and the Netherlands, for usurious practices; and, in order to regain possession of their effects, which they had, in their haste, left in the hands of confidential friends, they adopted the method of writing concise orders or drafts. Hence originated bills of exchange, so convenient in commercial transactions.

55. The Bank of England was established in the year 1694. Hitherto, the banks of deposit, and loaning-houses, were entirely distinct; but, in this institution, these two branches of pecuniary operations were united. It seems, also, that this was the first bank that issued notes, to serve as a medium of circulation, and to supply, in part, the place of gold and silver.

56. In the United States, banking institutions are very numerous. They are all established by companies, incorporated by the legislatures of the different states, or by the congress of the United States. The act which grants the privileges of banking, also fixes the amount of the capital stock, and divides it into equal shares. The holders of the stock choose the officers to transact the business of the corporation.

57. Our banks receive deposits from individual customers, loan money on notes of hand, acceptances, and drafts, issue notes of circulation, and purchase and sell bills of exchange. They are usually authorized, by their charters, to loan three times the amount, and to issue bank-notes to twice the amount, of the capital stock paid in. Few banking companies, however, exercise these privileges to the full extent, lest the bank be embarrassed by too great a demand for specie. As soon as a bank ceases to pay specie for its notes, it is said to be broken, and its operations must cease.

58. The Bank of North America was the first institution of this kind, established in the United States. It was incorporated by Congress, in 1781, at the suggestion of Robert Morris. In 1791, after the union of the states had been effected under the present constitution, the first Bank of the United States was incorporated, with a capital of ten millions of dollars. Most of the states soon followed this example; and, before the beginning of the present century, the whole banking capital amounted to near thirty millions of dollars.

59. The charter of the first Bank of the United States expired, by its own limitation, in 1811; and a new one, with a capital of thirty-five millions of dollars, was established in 1816, which also closed its concerns, as a national bank, in 1836, President Jackson having vetoed the bill for its recharter. In that year the number of banks was 567, and the bank capital $251,875,292. In the year 1840, the number of banks had increased to 722, and their capital to $358,442,692.

THE AUCTIONEER.