It Is True That Some Of The Zealous Defenders Of The Ancients, And
Some Of The Great Admirers Of The
Eastern nations, dispute these
facts, and would have us believe that almost everything was known to
the old philosophers, and
Not only known but practised by the
Chinese long before the time of the great men to whom we ascribe
them. But the difference between their assertions and ours is, that
we fully prove the facts we allege, whereas they produce no evidence
at all; for instance, Albertus Magnus says that Aristotle wrote an
express treatise on the direction of the loadstone; but nobody ever
saw that treatise, nor was it ever heard of by any of the rest of
his commentators. We have in our hands some of the best
performances of antiquity in regard to geography, and any man who
has eyes, and is at all acquainted with that science, can very
easily discern how far they fall short of maps that were made even a
hundred years ago. The celebrated Vossius, and the rest of the
admirers of the Chinese, who, by the way, derived all their
knowledge from hearsay, may testify, in as strong terms as they
think fit, their contempt for the Western sages and their high
opinion of those in the East; but till they prove to us that their
favourite Chinese made any voyages comparable to the Europeans,
before the discovery of a passage to China by the Cape of Good Hope,
they will excuse us from believing them.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 89 of 180
Words from 25185 to 25440
of 50938
