The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1879-07-01
GERARD MERCATOR, THE cos
RAPHER.

Gerard Mercator. the cosmogrspher.
aud inventor of the map projection
which bears his name. was born on tn,
9Th Of March, ljl2. in the small town
called Rupelnonde. in East Flanders,
about eight miles from Antwerp He
was the younges. of six children Of q
poor shoemaker. Losing both parent.
st an early age. he was kindly cared fox
by q grea. uncle, 10 whom he became
! indebted for the sdvantage of an educs-
( ton in the best schools Of the Neither
| lands. At the age Of eighteen he
entered the University Of LOuvisn.
where he WAS eventually mstriculated
| under the faculty Of arts, which nearly
CORES ponded wich the faculty Of phil
osophy in q modern German university.
Remsiuing at Louvsin till his removal
TO Germany. he at first devoted himself
to philosophical studie,of such abs,ruse
subjects a. the origin, nature, and des-
tination Of the physical universe. and
became absorbed in the great problem,
of science and revel ,tion. He found
/ il immpos.tle to reconcile the Mosaic
account OF creation with the doctrines
! Of Aristotle. Here he began to tread
upon daneero ground for in Louvain as
atParis. the authority Of Aristotle in the
domain OF physical phisosOphy Was
sacred AMI supreme. To dispute or
question the perfect consistency and
harmony Of his teachings with those of
the church was heresy. Finding no
one to sympathize with him in bis
doubts, Mercator left LouvHin and 50
cludsd himself for study At An werp
for several months: but whatever scep-
tical views he may have had in regard
to the divine inspiration Of the Scrip.
lures were d,spelied before he returned
to Louvain.
As Mercator grew older he began 20
turn his attention TO the practical prob
lem as to the best means Of earning =
livelihood Having obtained permission
from the Faculty of the University OF
Louvsin 10 give private instruction in
mathematics. he thus began to support
himself and having previously chos Ia
for his vocation the manufacture Of
mathe maticsl instrum ments. he was thu.
enabled to establish a workshop Of 8
own. where he msnuf,ctnret as'ro
lobes. Astronomical rings. globes. etc &,
with great accuracy.
As a cha,togrspher. Mercator ap-
pears to have begun his career by the
publication of = map Of Palestine, At
Louvain. in 1881. Increased interest in
religious matters naturally led to an
increased demand for such maps. Ne
copy of this has come down to US but
it seems to have been we'll received, as
it was highly praised by bis contempt
raries. His next work was map of
Flanders, undertaken at the request of
certain Flemish merchants He Travelled
over the country. making surveys and
measuring nights and distances. 1t
took three years to complete the work.
and it was published at Louvain in the
year 1910. A masterpiece Of his band.
iwork. at this period Of his life. wa IL
. large terrestrial globe, which he fin
ished in l54l This is now lost. but
the original drawings for its exterior
surface are still preserved at Brussels.
This became the means of commencing
him to the favor of Charles ". from
whom he received an order for com
plctc set OF mathematical Instruments
for use OH his expeditions. About this
time he was maimed. In ljii, there
occurred in his life an incident which
has been only recently brought to light
he WAS imprisoned as . hereto. 1t
appears that an imperial edict was is
sued at Brussels. by Mary, queen dow
ager Of Hungary. coademning oil her.
etics TO death. Under the operation Of
this edict. forty three citizens of Lou.
vain, MercAtor among the number. were
accused Of participation in what vas
styled the Lutheran beresy."
We have no information - to the
cause or circumstsnces Of Mercator' 8
discharge from imprisonment all is
shroudsd in mystery; We can only CLEAN
from the records Of the time that he
must have been imprisoned nearly four
months. After his release he resided
at Loavsiu seven or eight years He
made . new set at instruments for the
Emperor, to replace tho former. which
had been destroyed; and completed
and dedicated to the Bishop of Liege q
celestial globe Of the same size and
style as tho Terrestrial one which he bad
presented to Granville.
In 1852 be removed 10 Dui,burg. in
Germany. Here he shortly after CON.
pleted for the Emperor an astronomical
ring aud . Get Of globes elegantly
equipped ani ornsmented. There was
. celestial globe Of glass or crystal, and
on It WAS engraved the constellation
with diamond. Inside Of. this was a
terrestrial globe Of wood. Attached to
this Get were . compass, an hour circle.
q ausdraat Of altitude. and other in
s,ruments. In 1854 Mercator pub.
lishsd At Du,sburg . large map of
Europe, which. moro than any other
work Of bis, contributed to his fame
a. chartossspher among his contem-
posaries. This 10 nov lost, although .
reduced copy Of it published by bis son
still exists. In 1864 he published .
man of Great Britain; in the same
wear map Of Lorraine. based on .
t,icouometric survey made by himself.
In $50 be made his first appearance
after his removal TO Duisburg. as the
author Of . printed book a folio vol
ume on chronology. written IN Latin
and published st Cologne.
Even after the discoveries OF the 10Th
and 10th centuries. and IN the lifetime
of Nercstor, the works OF Ptolemy
L ~