Malte Brun Justly Reckons Cluverius,
Riccioli, And Varenius, As Amongst The Most Celebrated Geographers Of This
Century.
Cluverius was a man of extensive and accurate erudition, which he
applied to the illustration of ancient geography.
Riccioli, an Italian
Jesuit, devoted his abilities and leisure to the study of mathematics, and
the sciences dependent upon it, particularly astronomy; and was thus
enabled to render important service to the higher parts of geography.
Varenius is a still more celebrated name in geographical science: he
excelled in mathematical geography; and such was his fame and merit in the
higher branches of physics, and his ingenuity in applying them to
geography, that a system of universal geography, which he published in
Latin, was deemed worthy by Newton, to be republished and commented upon.
Cellarius bestowed much pains on ancient geography. That branch of the
science which pays more especial regard to the distances of places, was
much advanced by Sanson, in France; Blew, in Holland; and Buraeus, in
Sweden.
We must now turn to the progress of commerce during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.
The discovery of a passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, gave
immediately a great impulse to commerce; whereas, it was a long time after
the discovery of America before commerce was benefited by that event. This
arose from the different state and circumstances of the two countries. The
Portuguese found in India, and the other parts of the East, a race of
people acquainted with commerce, and accustomed to it; fully aware of those
natural productions of their country which were in demand, and who had long
been in the habit of increasing the exportable commodities by various kinds
of manufactures. Most of these native productions and manufactures had been
in high estimation and value in Europe for centuries prior to the discovery
of the Cape. The monarchs of the East, as well as their subjects, were
desirous of extending their trade. There was, therefore, no difficulty, as
soon as the Portuguese arrived at any part of the East; they found spices,
precious stones, pearls, &c., or silk and cotton stuffs, porcelaine, &c.,
and merchants willing to sell them. Their only business was to settle a few
skilful agents, to select and purchase proper cargoes for their ships. Even
before they reached the remote countries of the East, which they afterwards
did, they found depots of the goods of those parts, in intermediate and
convenient situations, between them and the middle and western parts of
Asia and Europe.
It was very different in America: the natives here, ignorant and savage,
had no commerce. "Even the natural productions of the soil, when not
cherished and multiplied by the fostering and active hand of man, were of
little account." Above half a century elapsed before the Spaniards reaped
any benefit from their conquests, except some small quantities of gold,
chiefly obtained from plundering the persons, the houses, and temples of
the Mexicans and Peruvians. In 1545, the mines of Potosi were discovered;
these, and the principal Mexican mine, discovered soon afterwards, first
brought a permanent and valuable revenue to Spain.
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