The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-12-12

receive. the advantages Of education. For the
diffusion Of knowledge among seamen, less has
been done by all nations, than for any othef
class Of citizens. When the needle and the as
trolabe 81 had weaned creeping commerce from
the coward shores y and printing, "giying
wings 10 paper, emancipated knowledge from
the cloister,n Isabella encouraged the admission
Of books free Of duty because, by promoting
knowledge, they brought honor and profit 10 the
kingdom Ii was not ill then, that the gran
dees Of Spain began TO think letters might De
no obstacle TO the profession OF arms and 10
send their sons 10 the schools Of 4. Martyr, tu-
tor TO the accomplished brother OF broken-heart-
ed Juana Loca. Three hundred and fifty years
afterwards, the opinion Of the Spanish grandees
remains 10 be carried out in the United States OF
America, at least so far as il regards the probes
sion OF arms al sea. For hitherto, when asked
TO endow a naval school, government has re-
piled in effect, that officers were wanted TO tgM
and that book learning was a thing with which
man-of-war's- had nothing TO do That sort
Of rude education acquired between the years OF
infancy and pubery-his life Of hardihood, peril
and adventure, may now and then iii the sailor
TO weave in beauty his gossamer nets OF hctIon,
or Of travel but such qualifications enable him
by no means to manage the wool and web OF
more substantial learning-or qualify HIM for the
analytical and synthetica investigation OF ply
In the palmy days of geographical discovery
the question was tauntingy asked by mariner
"what have you landsmen ever discovered r.
Navigation for seamen," was the reply. And
a striking exempli6cation of how little the minds
Of seamen, in all ages, have been trained by
education TO the inductive process or reasoning,
or to scientific research, is afforded by the fact,
that but few inventions in art, or discoveries IN
science, have originated among them Welded
TO old notions they have been slow TO adopt
the Improvements Of others, and as class are
often found far behind the times"
The use of an implement, which, without the
efficiency, took the place Of the bee-hives OF the
ancients, has not been long exploded IN maratime
warfare As late as the revolution, sailors have
been known TO attack their enemies with stink
pots; and when closely pressed in chase, they
were wont to cut away timbers, and saw bull
warks, that their vessel might have play, and
work for the notion was that ship, like horse,
would 90 faster by straning
Within my own recollection as sailor, il was
by no means uncommon, and before that II was
general to see vessels with bags TO their topsalls,
for holding wind. These bags were known un-
der the graceful term of flowing reefs; and with
the wind free, they were used under the idea
that the more the sails could be made TO belly
OUT the more wind was in them and therefore
the faster the ship would 60 The idea that the
surface of actual infringement for the propeiling
power Of the wind is to be measured by the area
Of plane from clue to earring and contained
between the head and foot ropes of SAIL has
been acted on only of late years. And SO far from
flowing reef now, a sail fits well only when 1t
sets as fiat as board
Looking into the history Of navigation, We
find that the discovery Of the magnet extends
back beyond the reach of history and that ira
dition is doubtful as to the inventor Of the mari
ner's compass. But the intensity apparatus, the
azimuth compass, the dipping needle and the
diurnal variation instrument, with variety
| of magnetometers, are all modern Inventions
or comparatively recent improvements which
| do not owe their origin TO them that go down to
the sea in ships The Dip Sector is the work
| of DIR. Wollaston; the sextant is an improve
ment on the quadrant the invention of DIR. Had
| lev, and the most valuable instrument in modern
navigation. l have seen the quadrant used on
board the Bonnie Homme Richard by Paul JONES'
it resembles its type Of the present day, quite as
much as the Great Western and British Queen
look like the offspring Of Fulton's first steamer.
A Frenchman, in 1900 was the first 10 invent
portfolios to ships. Men-of-war at that time
carried their guns mounted over their bulwarks.
like those Of battery zen barbet' Before this
they had castle built forward, and another aft,
as sort Of strong hold, TO which the crew might
retire to make their last stand. All that remains
of these castles in ships of the present day, is
the name unde' forecaste. Nine years after
the Frenchman had made known his discovery,
Henry VII had the first double-deck ship built in
England She measured thousand tons ; and
though not so large some Of the Liverpool
packets of the Dramatic line from New York
now are, was the largest ship in the English
Navy.
Ito be continued)