THE HISTORY OF THE Arts and Sciences OF THE ANTIENTS- Under the following Heads. Agriculture, Commerce, Ar- chitecture and Architects, Sculpture and Sculptors, Painting and Painters, Mu- si c k and Musicians, the Art Military. By Mr. R O L L I N, late Principal of the Univerfity of Paris, now Profeffor of Eloquence in the Royal College, and Member of the Royal Academy of Infcrip- tions and Belles Lettres. Tranilated from the Fr e n c h. llluft rated with Copper Plates. vol. i. LONDON: Printed for John and Paul K n a p t o n, at the Cnrwn in Luclgatn-Street. M dcc xxxvn* T O Dr. RICHARD MEAD, Phyfician to His Majesty. SIM, THIS brief, but very curi- rious, Hiftory of the Arts and Sciences, for many reafons, which to avoid offence I do not mention, claims the honour of being, infcribed with your name. Be pleafed to accept it as a kind of offering from the Arts and Sciences themfelves ; and at the A 2 fame DEDICATION. fame time ? as an inftance of the profound refped, with which I have the honour to be, ■ S I R> 3^^r Humbly AND A%? Obedient Servant^ - The Translator. THE ■ ■ ■ -U- p ■ , ! THE TRANSLATOR T Q THE READER. UPON reading this part of the an- tient hiftory in French, it was ob- ferved by feveral judicious perfons, that the author's accounts of many things relating to civil and military architecture, machines and engines of war, &c. were, (as was unavoidable in defcribing fuch th ings ) obfcure, and in a manner unin- telligible. He was fenfible of this himfelf in treating the Orders of architecture and the Roman camp; and therefore added the Plates of them, without which they could not be explained. To remove this Obfcurkv, and render this verflon the more perfect, the editors were advifed to have recourfe to the feve- A 3 ral The Tranflator to the Reader. ral works cited by Mr. Rollin. From thefe ( Perraulfs Vitruvius, Folard's Po- lybius, Montfaucoris Antiquities, &c.) the plates in thefe, or more properly in tbts volume, ( being two parts of the eleventh,) were engraven, and the explanations of them extracted in as brief a manner as poffible ; which, it is hoped, will not only anfwer the purpofe they were # intended for, but throw fuch a new light into many parts of the preceding hiftory, where the things they reprefent are mentioned, as will be equally ufeful and agreeable to the reader. Dr. Richard Mead has been pleafed to communicate an antient pifture in his pof- feflion which was lately found at Rome, in the' ruins of the palace of Auguftus Cffifar, and fuppofed to be painted in his time, ' a Print from which, engraven by Mr. Baron, exadly of the fame fize with the original, is inferted in the fedion of painting. This print being a reverfe of the pi&ure, occafions the crown's appear- ffig in the left hand of Augultus. The rea- fon an account of it was not inferted in the fame place, is becaufe the original did not arrive from Italy, till this volume was almoft printed off: And as the Latin n> fcription at the bottom is the beft expla- r nation The Tranflator to the Reader. nation that can be given of it, it is ne- ceflary to infert the following tranflation of it in this place, for the ufe of the Englifh reader. tc A fragment of an antient painting in " frefco, found anno 1737. in the ruins " of the palace of Auguftus Ca^far, in the " gardens of Farnefe upon mount Palatine " at Rome. It contains fix figures exqui- " fitely painted in the mod lively and " beautiful colours - y by one of which my aim is to make choice of that from all the arts, which may beft fuit the capacities of the generality of readers. THE [ 'I ] THE HISTORY OF THE ARTS and SCIENCES O F T H E ANTIENTS, ftffc CHAPTER I. Of AGRICULTURE. ARTICLE I. Antiquity of agriculture. Its utility. The efieem it was in amengft the antients. How important it is to place it in honour, and how dangerous to negletl the application to it. I MAY with juftice place agriculture at the head of the arts, which has certainly the advantage of all others, as well with regard to its antiquity as utility. It may he faid to be as antient as the world, having taken birth in the terreftrial Paradice itfelf, when Adam, newly come forth from the hands of his Creator, ftiU poffeffed the precious but frail treafure of his in.- noeence ; God having placed him in the garden of delights, commanded him to cultivate it ; ut operaretur ilium : to drefs and keep it . That cul- Gen.ii. i j. ture was not painful and laborious, but eafy and agreeable ; it was to ferve him fop amufemenr, & B 4 and Of AGRICULTURE. and to make him contemplate in the producti- ons of the earth the wifdpm and liberality of his Matter. The fin of Adam having overthrown this or- der, and drawn upon him the mournful decree, which condemned him to eat his bread by the fweat of his brow God changed his delight in- to chaftifement, and fubjected him to hard la- bour and toil •, which he had never known, had he continued ignorant of evil. The earth, be- come ftubborn and rebellious to his orders, to punim his revolt againft God, brought forth thorns and thirties. Violent means were necef- fary to compel it to pay man the tribute, of which his ingratitude had rendered him unwor- thy, and to force it, by labour, to fupply him every year with the nourifnment, which before was given him freely and without trouble. From hence therefore we are to trace the ori- gin of agriculture, which from the punilhment it was at firft, is become, by the fingular good- nefs of God, in a manner the mother and nurfe of human race. It is in effect the fource of fo- lic! wealth and treafures of a real value, which do nof depend upon the opinion of men ; which fuffice at once to neceffity and enjoyment, by which a nation is in no want of its neighbours, and often neceffary to them ; which make the principal revenue of a ftate, and fupply the de- fect of all others, when they happen to fail. Though mines of gold and filver mould be cxhaufted, and the fpecies made of them loft ; though pearls and diamonds mould remain hid in the womb of the earth and fea % though com- merce with ftangers mould be prohibited ; tha ? all arts, which have no other object than emr bellifhment and fplendor, mould be abolilh- pd ; the fertility of the earth alone would afford an abundant fupply for the occafions of the publick i Op AGRICULTURE. 13 publick', and furnifli fubfiftence both for the people and armies to defend it. We ought not to be furprized therefore, that agriculture was in fo much honour amongfl the antients ; it ought rather to feem wonderful that it ever mould ceafe to be fo, and that of all profeffions the mod necelfary and moft in- difpenfable mould have fallen into fo great con* tempt. We have feen in the whole courfe of pur hiftory, that the principal attention of the wifeft princes, and the moft able minifters, was to fupport and encourage huibandry. Amongft the ArTyrians and Perfians the Sa- traps were rewarded, in whofe governments the lands were well cultivated, and thofe pu- nifhed who neglected that part of their duty. Numa Pompilius, one of the wifeft kings an- Dion. I tiquity mentions, and who beft understood and difcharged the duties of the fovereignty, diy> R "m 1. ded the whole territory of Rome into different p. 135. cantons. An exact account was rendered him of the manner in which they were cultivated, and he caufed the hufbandmen to come before him, that he might praife and encourage thofe whofe lands were well manured, and reproach others with their want of induftry. The riches of the earth, fays the hiftorian, were looked upon as the jufteft and moft legitimate of all riches, and much preferred to the advantages obtained by war, which are of no long duration. Ancus Id. 1. \ Martins, the fourth king of the Romans, who P- l 77 piqued himfelf upon treading in the fteps of Numa, next to the adoration of the gods, and reverence for religion, recommended nothing fo much to the people, as the cultivation of lands, and the breeding of cattle. The Romans long re- tained this difpofition, and *in the latter times, * Agrum male colcre Cenforium piobrum adjudicabatur. ?l\n. 1. 18. c. 3. whoever Op AGRICULTURE. whoever did not difcharge this duty well, drew upon himfelf the animadverfion of the cenfor. It is known from never-failing experience, that the culture of lands, and the breeding of cattle, which is a confequence and necefifary part of it, has always been a certain and inexhaufti- ble fource of wealth and abundance. Agricul- ture was in no part of the world in higher con- fideration than in Egypt, where it was the par- ticular object of government and policy ; and no country was ever better peopled, richer, or more powerful. The ftrength of a ftate is not to be computed by extent of country, but by the number of its citizens, and the utility of their labour. It is hard to conceive, how fo fmall a tract as the land of Promife mould be able to contain and nourifh an almoft innumerable multitude of inhabitants : this was from the whole country's being cultivated with extreme application. What hiftory relates of the opulence of feve- ral cities in Sicily, and in particular of the im- menfe riches of Syracufe, of the magnificence of its buildings, of the powerful fleets it fitted out, and the numerous armies it had on foot, would appear incredible, if not attefted by all the antient authors. From whence can we be- lieve, that Sicily could raife wherewith to fup- port fuch enormous expences, if not from the encreafe of their lands, wh;ch were improvecl with wonderful induftry ? We may judge of their application to the culture of land, from the care taken by one of the moft powerful kings of Syracufe, (Hiero II.) to compofe a book upon that fubject, in which he gave wife advice and excellent rules, for fupporting and augmenting the fertility of the country. Befides Of AGRICULTURE. 15 Befidcs Hiero, * other princes are mentio* ned, who did not think it unworthy their birth and rank, to leave pofterity precepts upon a- griculture ; fo fenfible were they of its utility and value : Of this number were Attalus, fir- named Philometor, king of Fergamus, and Archelaus of Cappadocia. I am lefs furprized, that Plato, Xenophon, Ariftotle, and other philofophers, who have treated politicks in par* ticular, have not omitted this article, which makes an effential part of that fubject. But who would expect to fee a Carthaginian gene- ral amongft thefe authors ? I mean Mago. Jrle muft have treated this matter with great extent, as his work, which wss found at the taking of Carthage, confifted of twenty-eight volumes. So high a value was fet on it, that D- Sylla- the fenate ordered it to be translated, and one nus * of the principal magistrates took upon hjmfelf the care of doing it. Cafiius Dionyfius of U- Varr.de jtica had before tranflated them out of the Pu- J*™"- 1 * 1 nick language into Greek. Cato, the cenfor, had however pubjifhed his books upon the fame fubjec~t. For Rome was not then entirely depraved, and the tafte for the antient fimplicity ftill continued in a cer- tain degree. She remembred with joy and admiration, that in antient times her fenators lived almoft continually in the country •, that they cultivated their lands with their own hands, without ever deviating into rapacious and un- juft defires of thofe of other men ; and that -j- * De cultura agri praecipe- fpargentem femem qui miffi re principale fuit, etiam apud erant convenerunt - Suos a- exteros. Plin. 1. i8. c. 3. gros ftudiofie colebant, non \ Antiquitus abaratro ar- alienos cupide appetebant. ceflebantur lit confules fie- Cic. pro Rofc. Amer. n. 50. xent Atilium fua maim confute Of AGRICULTURE. confuls and dictators were often taken from the plow. In thofe happy times, fays Pliny *, the earth, glorious in feeing herfelf cultivated by the hands of triumphant victors, feemed to make new efforts, and to produce her fruits with greater abundance ; that is, no doubt, be- caufe thofe great men, equally capable of hand- ling the plow and their arms, of fowing and conquering lands , applied themfelves with more attention to their labour, and were alfo more fuccefsful in effect of it. And indeed, when a perfon of condition, with a fuperior genius, applies himfelf to arts, experience mews us, that he does it with greater ability, force of mind, induftry, tafte, and with more inventions, new difcoveries, and va- rious experiments; whereas an ordinary man confines himfelf fervilely within the common road, and to his antient cuftoms. Nothing opens his eyes, nothing raifes him above his old habitudes ; and after many years of labour he continues ftill the fame, without making any progrefs in the profeffion he follows. Thofe great men I have mentioned, had ne- ver undertaken to write upon agriculture, if they had not been fenfible of its importance, which molt of them had perfonally experienced. We know what a tafte Cato had for rural life, and with what application he employed him- felf in it. The example of an antient Ro-* man, whofe farm adjoined to his, was of in- * Quas nam ergo tan tse u- bertatis caufa erat ? Jpforum tunc manibus Imperatorum colebantur agri ( ut fas eft credere) gaudente terra vo- jnere laurcato, & triumphali aracore : five illi eadem cu- ra femina tra&abant, quabel h, eademque diligentia ana difponebant, qua eaftra : fi ve honeitis manibus omnia laeti- us proveniunt, quoniam & curiofius fiunt. Plin. 1. 18. c. 3. finite - Of AGRICULTURE. finite fervice to him. ( This was Manius Cu- rius Dentatus, who had thrice received the ho- nour of triumph.) Cato often went to walk in it, and confidering the * fmall extent of that land, the poverty and fimplicity of the houfe, he was {truck with admiration for that illuftri- ous perfon, who, when he became the greater!: of the Romans, having conquered the moft: warlike nations, and driven Pyrrhus out of Italy, cultivated this little land with his own hands, and after fo many triumphs, inhabited fo wretched a houfe. It is here, f faid he to himfelf, that the ambaffadors of the Samnites found him by his fire fide, boiling roots, and received this wife anfwer from him, after ha- ving offered him a great fum of money : That gold was a thing of fmall value to one who could be fatisfied with fuch a dinner and that for his part, he thought it more glorious to con- quer thofe who had that gold, than to poffefs it himfelf. Full of thefe thoughts, Cato returned home, and making an eftimate of his houfe, lands, flaves, and expences, he applied himfelf to hufbandry with more ardor, and retrenched all needlefs fuperrluity. Though very young at that time, he was the admiration of all that knew him. Valerius Flaccus, one of the moft noble and moft pow- erful perfons of Rome, had lands contiguous * Hunc, & incomptis Curium eapillis Utilem bello tulit & Camillum Sseva paupertas, & avitus apto Cum lare fundus. •f- Curio ad focum fedenti magnum aun pondus Sam- nites cum attuliffent repu- diati ab eo funt. Non enitn aurum habere prceclarum Jibi rvideri dixit, fed its qui habe- rent aurum imperare. Cicero makes Cato himfe'ffpeak thus, in his book upon old age. n. 5 5. to i8 Of AGRICULTURE. to Cato's fmall farm. He there often heard his flaves fpeak of his neighbour's manner of living, and of his labour in the Held. He was told, that in the morning he ufed to go to the fmall cities in the neighbourhood, to plead and defend the caufes of thofe, who applied to him for that purpofe. That from thence he returned into the field, where throwing a mean coat over his moulders in winter, and aU molt naked in mmmer, he worked with his fervants, and after they had done, he fate down with them at table, and eat the fame bread, and drank the * fame wine. ■ We fee by thefe examples how far the an- tient Romans carried the love of fimplicity, Var.l. 3. poverty, and labour. I read with fingular c. z. pleafure the tart and fenfible reproaches, which a Roman fenator makes to the augur Appius Claudius, upon the magnificence of his coun- try-houfes, by comparing them to the farm where they then were. " Here, faid he, we " fee neither painting, ftatues, carving, nor " mofaick work ; but to make us amends, " we have all that is necefTary to the cultiva- " tion of lands, the dreffing of vines, and the " feeding of cattle. In your houfe every thing " mines with gold, filver, and marble ; but * there is no fign of arable lands or vineyards. ** We find there neither ox, nor cow, nor " meep. There is neither hay in cocks, vin- " tage in the cellars, nor harveft in the barn, * This puts me in mind of faid he } my freedmen dont a fine^ faying of Pliny the drink the fame nvine I drink, younger s, who gave his freed- but I the fame they do. Quia fnen the fame ivine he drank fcilicet liberti mei nan idem himfelf. When fome body re- quod ego bibunt, fed idem prefinted that this muft be ego quod liberti. PlinA.i, I'ery chargeable to him : No, Epiji. 6. " Can Of AGRICULTURE. " Can this be called a farm ? In what does it " refemble that of your grandfather, and greats " grandfather ?" After luxury was introduced to this height amongft the Romans, the lands were far from being cultivated, or producing revenues as in antient days. * At a time when they were in the hands of flaves or abject mercenaries, what could be expected from fuch workmen, who were forced to their labour only by ill treat- ment? This was one of the great, and mod imprudent neglects, remarked by all the writers upon this fubject in the latter times : becaufe to cultivate lands properly, it is neceffary to take pleafure and be delighted with the work, and for that end to find it for one's intereft and gain to follow it. It is therefore highly important, that the whole land of a kingdom fhould be employed to the beft advantage, which is much more ufefiil than to extend its limits ; in order to this, each mailer of a family, refiding in the fmall towns and villages, mould have fome portion of land appropriated to himfelf whence it would follow, that this field, by being his own, would be dearer to him than all others, and be cultivated with application ; that his family would think fuch employment their in- tereft, attach themfelves to their farm, fubfift upon it, and by that means be kept within the country. When the country-people are not in their own eftates, and are only employed, for hire, they are Very negligent in their labour, * Nunc eadem ilia (arva) vin£H pedes, damnatae ma- nus, mfcripri vukus execenti - . Nos miramur ergaf- tulorum non eadem emoldi- menta effe, quae fuerint Im- peratorum. Ptin.X. 18. c. 3. I and Of AGRICULTURE. and even work with regret. * A lord and land -holder ought to defire, that their lands and eftates mould continue a long time in the fame family, and that their farmers mould fuc- ceed in them from father to fon ; from whence a quite different regard for them would arife : And what conduced to the intereft of particu- lars, would alfo promote the general good of the ftate. But when an hufbandman or farmer has ac- quired fome wealth by their induftry and appli- cation, which is much to be defired by the landlord for his own advantage j f it is not by this gain, fays Cicero, the rents laid on them are to be meafured, but by the lands them* felves, they turn fo much to their account s the produce of which ought to be equitably eftimated and examined into, for afcertaining what new impofition of rents they will bear. For to rack-rent and opprefs thofe, who have applied themfelves well to their bufinefs, only becaufe they have done fo, is to punifh, and in- deed to abolifh, induftry ; whereas in all welU regulated flates, it has always been thought necelfary to animate it by emulation and re- ward. One reafon of the fmall produce of the lands, is, becaufe agriculture is not looked up- on as an art that requires ftudy, reflections, and rules : every one abandons himfelf to his * Lucium Volufium afTe- verantem audivi, patris fami- lias feliciffimum fiindum ef- fe, qui colonos indigenas ha- beret, & tanquam in paterna pofTcffione notos, jam inde a cunabulis longa familiaritate retinerct. Colum. 1. i.e. 7. f Cum Aratori aliquod o- nus imponitur, non omnes, fi quse flint praeterea,facultates, fed arationis ipfius vis ac ratio confiderenda eft, quid ea fuf- tinere, quid pati, quid effi- eere poffit ac debeat. Cic. Very, de frum. n. 199. 1 own i. e. i Op AGRICULTURE. g| own tafle and method, whilft no body thinks of making a ferious fcrutiny into them, of try- ing experiments, and * of uniting precepts with experience. The antients did not think in this Cdlutfi. manner. They judged three things neceffary to t fuccefs in agriculture. The will : this employ- ment mould be loved, defiredj and delighted in* and followed in confequence out of plea-; fure. The power : it is requifite to be in a con- dition to make the neceffary expences for the breeding and fattening of cattle and fowl of all forts, for labour, and for whatever is necef- fary to the manuring and improving of lands 5 and this is what more of our hufbandmen want. The Jkill : it is neceffary to have ftudied ma- turely all that relates to the cultivation of lands, Without which the two firft things are not only ineffectual, but occafion great loffes to the maf- ter of a family, who has the affliction to fee, that the produce of the land is far from anfwe- nng the expences he has been at, or the hopes he had conceived from therri ; becaufe thofe expences have been laid out without difcretion, and without knowledge of the application of jj m ' T ° thefe three heads afoufth ttay be added, which the antients had not forgot, that is, f experience, which prefides in ail arts, k in- finitely above precepts, and makes even the faults we have committed our advantage : for, from doing wrong, we often learn to do right. * Debcmus & imitari all- peccando difcatur. Nam ubi os, & aliter ut Faciamus qua- quid perperam adminiftratum dam expenentia tentare.^r- cefferit 'improfpere, vitatur r °\ TTf C e • , , quod fefellerat, illuminatque T Uius & expenentia do- reftam viam docentis maeif- !!HV n r artibuS ' ne( l ue teriunl - Co/um. ibid. citulla difciplma m qua non Vol. t Agri- &2 Of AGRICULTURE. Agriculture was in quite different efteem with the antients, to what it is with us : which is evident from the multitude and quality of the writers upon this fubjecl. Varro cites to the number of fifty amongft the Greeks only. He wrote upon it alfo himfelf, and Columella after him. The three Latin authors, Cato, Varro, and Columella, enter into a wonderful detail upon all the parts of agriculture. Would it be an ungrateful and barren employment to com- pare their opinions and reflections with the mo- dern practice ? Colum. in Columella, who lived in the time of Tibe- prxem. rius, deplores, in a very warm and eloquent L 1 • manner, the general contempt, into which agri- culture was fallen in his time, and the perfwafi- on men were under, that to fucceed in it, there was no occafion for a mafter. " I fee at Rome, " faid he, the fchools of philofophers, rhetori- " cians, geometricians, muficians, and what is !« more aftonilhing, of people folely employed, " fome in preparing dimes proper to pique " the appetite, and excite gluttony ; and others " to adorn the head with artificial curls, but " not one for agriculture *. However, the «« reft might be well fpared •, and the republick «' flourifhed long without any of thofe frivo- « lous arts ; but it is not poffible to want that " of hufbandry, becaufe life depends upon it. " Befides, is there a more honeft or legal " means of preferving, or encreafing, a patri- " mony ? Is the profeflion of arms of this " kind, and the acquifition of fpoils always " dyed with human blood, and amaffed by the * Sine Iudicris artibus— gricultoribus nec confiftere olim fatis felices fuere futu- mortales, nec ali pofle ma- rzeque funt urbes : at iine a- nifeftum eft. " ruin Of AGRICULTURE. P c ruin of ah infinity of perfons ? Or is com- I" merce fo, which, tearing citizens away from f c their native country, expofes them to the fu- ^ ry of the winds and feas, and drags them " into, unknown worlds in purfuit of riches ? f c Or is the trade * of money and ufury more I laudable, odious and fatal as they are, even to I thofe they feem to relieve ? Can any one Et compare any of thefe methods with Wife I and innocent agriculture, which only the de- f pravity of our manners can render Contemp- I able, and by a necefiary confequenee, almoft * barren and ufelefs ? " Many people imagine* that the fterility of ' our lands, which are much lefs fertile now than in times paft, proceeds from the intern- 5 perance of the air, the inclemency of fea- f fons, or from the alteration of the lands | themfelyes ; that weakned and exhaufted by long and continual labour, are no longer ca- pable of producing their fruits with the fame vigour and abundance. This is a mi£ take* fays Columella : we ought not to ima- gine, that the earth, to whom the author of nature has communicated a perpetual fe- cundity,, is liable to barrennefs as to a kind of difeafe. After its haying received from its mafter a divine and immortal youth, which has occafioned its being called the common mother of all things, becaufe it always has brought forth, and ever will brir;g forth frdrn its Womb, whatever fubfifts, it § not to be feared, that it will fall into decay and old age like man. It is neither to the badnefs of the air* nor to length of time, ( An foeneratio probabilior fit etiam his irivifa qui&us fuC- rerc vicktur. C 2 « that Of AGRICULTURE. 3t from Alexandria, to be diftributed daily at Conftantinople ; this was for the fubfiftence pf fix hundred and forty thoufand men, the Ro- man bv]fliel ferying only eight men. "When C 4 the. 2& Of AGRICULTURE. /Elian, the emperor Septimus Severus died, there was S^Sever corn * n ^ publick magazines for feven years, expending daily feventy five thoufand bufhels, that is to fay, bread for fix hundred thoufand men. What a provifion was this againft the dearth of any future years ! Befides thefe I have mentioned, there were many other countries very fruitful in corn. Cic. in For the fowing of an acre only one medim- Verr. de nus G f corn was required : medimnum. The n U m 2 medimnus confifled of fix bufhels, each of which Plin. Li8. contained very near twenty pound weight of £• 7. corn. ( It is obferved, in the Spectacle de Ih Nature, that the ufual and fufficient quantity for fowing an acre, is an hundred and twenty pound or corn : which comes to the fame a- mount. ) The higheft produce of an acre was ten medimni of corn, that is to fay, ten for one i but the ordinary produce was eight, with which the hufbandmen were well fatisfled. It is from Cicero v/e have this account and he mufthave known the fubjec~t very well, as he ufes it in the caufe of the Sicilians againft Verres. He fpeaks of the country of the Leontines, which Cic. ibid. was one °f tne mo ^ fruitful in Sicily. The $,173. higheft price of a bufhel of corn amounted to three Sefterces, or feven pence half-penny. It was lefs than that of France by , almoft one fourth. Our Septier contains twelve bufhels, and is often fold for ten livres. By that efti- mate our bufhel is worth fixteen pence, and fomething more j that is to fay, twice the price of the bumel of the antients, and fomething more. All that Cicero relates upon the fubjecl: of corn, as to its price, how much of it was ne- cefTary for fowing an acre, and what quantity It produced being fown, ought not to be con- fidered Of AGRICULTURE. 29 fidered as an eftablifhed rule for that might vary confiderably according to foils, countries, and times. The antients had different methods of threth- piin.l. 18, ing their corn. They made ufe, for that pur- c. 30. pofe a either of fledges armed with points, or of horfes, which they made trample upon it, or of flails, with which they beat the iheaves, as is now cuftomary in many places. They alfo ufed various methods for prefer- ving corn a great while, efpecially by Ihutting it up clofe in the ear in fubterranean caverns, which they covered on all fides with ftraw, to defend it againft damps ; clofing the entrance with great care, to prevent the air from getting in. Varro anures us, that corn would keep Iiki; de £ood in that manner for fifty years. * ™ * ARTICLE III. SECT. I. Cultivation of the vine. Wines celebrated in Greece and Italy. WE may believe, that mankind have been no lefs induftrious in the cultivation of the vine, than in that of corn, though they ap- plied themfelves to it later. The fcripture in- forms us, that the ufe of wine was not known till after the deluge. Noah began to be an huf- Gen. Sx, landman, and he planted a vineyard. It was, 20. no doubt, known before, but only in the grape, and not as liquor. Noah planted it by order, and difcovered the ufe that might be made of the fruit, by preffing out and preferving the liquor. He was deceived by its fweetnefs and ft rength, which he had not experienced : And he drank of the wine and was drunken. The Pagans tranf- So Of AGRICULTURE. transferred the honour of the invention of wine to Bacchus, of which they never had much knowledge ; and what is laid of Noah's drun- kennefs, made them confider Bacchus as the god of drunkennefs and debauch. The offspring of Noah, having difperfed in- to the feveral countries of the world, carried the vine with them from place to place, and taught the ufe to be made of it. Afia was the firft to experience the fweets of this gift; and Iliad. 1.7. fopn imparted if to Europe- and Africa. .We fee in fiomer, that in the time of the.lfejan war, part of the cpmmerce confifted in the freight of wines. The wine was kept in thpfe days in large carfhen jars, or in the (kins of beafts, which cuftom continues to this day in countries where wood is not plenty. It is believed that we are indebted to the Gauls, that fettled on the banks of the Po, for the uftful invention of preferving our wine in vefTels of wood exactly clofed, and for retaining it within bounds, notwithftanding its fermentation and ftrength. From that time the keeping and tranfporting it became more eafy, than when it was kept in earthen vejflfejs, which were liable to be broke, or in bags of ikin, apt to unfew or grow mouldy. Odyfs. Homer mentions a very famous wine of L9.V.197. Maronsa in Thrace, which would bear mixing with twenty times as much water. But it was common for the natives to drink it unmixed * Nor have auphors heen fjlent upon the excef- * Natis in ufum laetitiae fcyphis Pugnare Thracum eft. Hor. Od. zj. 1. \. With honfols for mirth and joy defignd to fight befits the Thraoqn hind, five Of AGRICULTURE. 3 five brutalities, to which that nation were fub- ject. Pliny tells us, that * Mucianus, who had piin, been thrice conful, being in that country in his c. 4. own jtime, had experienced the truth of what Homer fays, and feen, that in a certain mea- fure of wine they put fourfeore times as much water ; which is four times as much as the Gre- cian poet fpeaks of. The fame author mentions wines much cele- Ibi brated in Italy, which took their name from Qpimius, in whole confulate they were made, which were preferved to his time, that is, al- moft two hundred years, and were not to be purchafed for money. A very fmall quantity of this, mingled with other wines, communi- cated to them, as was pretended, a very fur- prizing ftrength and exquifite flavour, f How great foever the reputation of the wines made in the confulate of Opimius might be, or in that of Anicius, for the latter were much cried up, Cicero fet no fuch great value upon them ; and above an hundred years before Pliny writes, he found them too old to be fupportable. Greece and Italy, which were diftinguifhed in fo many other refpecls, were particularly fo, by the excellency of their wines. In Greece, befides many others, the wines of Cyprus, Lefbos, and Chip, were much cele- brated. Thofe of Cyprus are in great efteeip to this day. H Horace often mentions thofe of * This teas the celebrated tim:e credo : fed nimia ve- Mucianus, tuho had fo much tuftas nec habet earn, quarn Jhare in the election of Vef- quJerhnus, fuavitatem, nec eft fafian to the empire. ' fane jam tolerabilis, Ck. in f Atqui eas notse funt op- Brut- n. 287. || Hie innocenris poculaLesbii Duces fub umbra, Od. 7. 1. I. Beneath the fhade you here may dine, And quaff the harmhfs Lefbian wine, LefboSj 32 Of AGRICULTURE. Lefbos, and reprefents them as very wholefome Athen.l.i. and agreeable. But Chio carried it from all the p. 26, 32. other countries, and eclipfed their reputation fo much, that the inhabitants of that ifland were thought to be the firft who planted the vine, and taught the ufe of it to other nations. * All thefe wines were in fo great efteem, and of fo high a price, that at Rome, fo late as to the io fancy of Lucullus, in their greateft enter- tainments they drank only one cup of them at the end of the feaft. Their prevailing qualities were fweetnefs, and a delicious flavour. Plin. 1.14. Pliny was convinced, that the libations of c 12. milk inftituted by Romulus, and N uma's pro- hibition to honour the dead by pouring wine , upon the funeral pile, were proofs that in thofe days vines were very fcarce in Italy. They encreafed considerably in the following ages ; and it is very probable, the Romans were ob-* liged to the Greeks, whofe vines were in high repute, on that account ; as they were, in pro- cefs of time alfo, for their tafte for arts and fciences. It was -f* the wines of Italy, in the time of Camillus, that brought the Gauls again thither. The charms of that liquor, which was entirely new to them, were powerful at- tractions to induce them to quit their country. Two thirds of all the places famdd for the goodnefs of wine were in Italy. || The an- * Tanta vino Graeco gra- gum, maximequ* vini nova tia erat, ut fingulze potioftes turn voluptate captam, Aipes in eonvi&u darentur. L. tranfiffe. Li 1 cannot omit extracting a pafiagfe of Columella, which explains what profit was made of them in his time. He enters, for this purpofe, into a detail, which feemed fufficiently curious to me, and makes an exa& calculation of the expence and produce of a vineyard of ieven acres. His defign is to prove, that the cultivation of vines is more beneficial than any other kind of hufbandry, and than that of corn itielf. That might be true in his times, but k is not fo in ours* at leaft in the general opini- on^ This difference arifes, perhaps, from the various accidents* to which the vine is fubjed in France ; frofts, rains, blights, which are not fo much to be apprehended in hot countries. To thefe may be added the high price of cafks in plentiful years, which fwallows up the great- eft part of the vine-dreffer's profit j and the cuftoms, which very much diminifh the price of wines, Even amongft the antients* all were not of Columella's opinion; * Cato in- deed gave vines the firft rank, but thofc only * Cato qnidem dick fpn- turn bonis pratis Vineam taum agrum eflej ubi vmese font qui patent fumpta fruc- pol unt etfe bono vino & turn devorare. Varr. de r* multo Alu dant prima- rufik. 1. i. c. 7, 8. V 0 L - *• D which Op AGRICULTURE. which produced the moft excellent liquor, and in great abundance. With the fame conditions we ftill think in the fame manner. Many gave the preference to pafture lands ; and their prin- cipal reafon was, that the charges in the cul- ture of vines were almoft equal to their pro- duce. I. The charges neceffarf for feven acres of vines. Thefe are, livres. 1 . For the purchafe of a flave, whofe labour fufficed for the cultivation of leven acres of vines, eight thoufand feftertii iooo 2. For a land of feven acres, feven thoufand feftertii 875 3. For the props and other neceffary ex- pences for feven acres, fourteen thou- fand feftertii 1750 Thefe three fums added together, a- < mount to twenty-nine thoufand fef- tertii 3625 4. For the intereft of the aforefaid fum of twenty-nine thoufand feftertii for two years, during which the land docs not bear, and the money lies dead, three thoufand four hundred and four- fcore feftertii 1 486 The total of the expence amounts to thirty two thoufand, four hundred and eighty feftertii > ■ 4060 II. Produce of feven acres of vines* The yearly produce of feven acres of vines, is fix thoufand three hundred fefterces ; that is, feven Of AGRICULTURE. 3g fevcn hundred, fourfcore and feven livres, ten fols. Of which what follows is the proof. The Ck'leus is a meafure, which contains twenty dmphorce, or forty urncs. The amphora contains twenty-fix quarts, and fomewhat more. The Cu!ei(s i in confequence, contains five hun- dred and twenty quarts, which make two hog- ineads of the Paris meafure, wanting fifty-fix quarts. The lowed value of the Culeus is three hun- dred feft ertii ; that is to lay, thirty feven li- vres, ten fols. The lead produce of each acre was three Culei, which were worth nine hun- dred feftertii, *or ah hundred and twelve li- vres, ten fols. The feven acres therefore pro- duced a profit of fix thoufand three hundred fef- tertii, which make feven hundred, fourfcore and feven livres, ten fols. The intereft of the total expence, which is thirty-two thoufand, four hundred and fourfcore ieftertii, that is, four thoufand and fixty livres ; this intereft, I fay, at fix per cent, per annum, amounts to one thoufand,- nine hundred and forty-four feftertii, and fbmething more, or two hundred and forty three livres. The intereft of 243 /. the fame fum, arifing from the annual produce of a Vineyard of feven acres, is fix thoufand 787/. three hundred feftertii • that is, feven hundred, fourfcore and feven livres, ten pence. From whence may be feen, how much the latter intereft exceeds the former, which was* howe- ver , the common intereft of money. This is What Columella would prove, * Columella obferves, that c. 3. And Varro, that in >acb acre of Sewers vineyards many places an acre produced educed eight Culei. 1. 3. from ten to fifteen. 1. 1. c. 2. I> 2 Befides 4 o Of AGRICULTURE. Befides this produce, Columella reckons ano- Vivira- thcr profit arifing from Layers. The layer is dices. a young moot or branch of a vine, which is fet in the earth, where it takes root in order for propagation of the plant. Each acre pro- duced yearly ten thoufand of thefe layers at leaft, which fold for three thoufand feftertii, or three hundred and feventy-five livres. The layers produced therefore from the feven acres, twenty one thoufand feftertii, or two thoufand fix hundred and twenty livres. Columella computes the produce of thefe layers at the loweft value ; for as to himfelf he affures us, his own vineyards produced regularly twice as much. He fpeaks only of the vines of Italy, and not of thofe of other provinces. Adding the produce of the wine to that of the plants or layers, the profit upon feven acres of vines amounted to three thoufand four hundred livres. The produce of thefe layers, unknown to our vine-dreffers, proceeded, no doubt, from the vine's being very rare in a great num- ber of provinces and the reputation of the vines of Italy having fpread univerfally, peo- ple came from all parts, to buy thofe layers, and to enable themfelves, by their means, to plant good vineyards in places, which had none before, or which had only fuch as were indifferent. ARTI : Of AGRICULTURE* ARTICLE IV. Of the breeding of cattle. T Have faid, that the breeding of cattle is -* a part of agriculture. It certainly is an ef- fential part of it, not only becaufe cattle, from the abundance of the dung, fupply the earth with the manure, which is neceffary to the pre- fervation and renovation of its vigour, but be- caufe they fhare with man in the labours of huf- bandry, and fpare him the greateft part of the toil. * Hence it was that the ox, the labori- ous companion of man in tilling the ground, was fo highly confidered by the antients, that whoever had killed one of them, was punifhed with death, as if he had killed a citizen ; no doubt, becaufe he was efteemed a kind of mur- therer of human race, whofe nourifhment and life ftand in abfolute need of the aid of this animal. The f farther we look back into antiquity, the more we are aflfured, that in all nations the breeding of cattle produced considerable reve- nues. Without fpeaking of Abraham, whofe numerous family of domcfticks mews the mul- titude of his flocks and herds, or of his kinf- man Laban, the holy fcripture obferves, that the greateft part of Job's riches confifted in cat- Job i. 3v tie ; and that he pofleffed feven thoufand flieep, * Bos laborionflimus ho- f In rufticatione vel ami- mimsfocius agriculture cujus quiflima eft ratio pafcendi, tanta fuit apud antiquos ve- eademque & queltuofiffima. neratio, ut tarn capitale effet Ibid. bovem necaffe quam civem. Qelum. in prof. \. 6. 42 Of AGRICULTURE. three thoufand camels, five hundred yoke pf oxen, and five hundred Ihe-affes. It was by this the land of Promife, though pf very moderate extent, enriched its princes, and the inhabitants of the country, whofe num- bers were incredible, amounting to more than, three millions of fouls, including women and children. - Kings "We read that Ahab, king of Ifrael, impofed ~ in - 4- an annual tribute upon the Moabites, whom he had conquered, of an hundred thoufand fheep. How much muft this number have multiplied in a jfhort time, and what abundance occafio- ned throughout the whole country ! - Chro "fte h°ly fcripture, in reprefenting Uzziah as. xxvi. io. a P r i nce accomplifhed for every part of a wife government, does not fail to inform us, that he had a great number of hufbandmen and vine- yards, and that he fed abundance of cattle. He caufed great enclofures to be made in the coun- tries, and vaft houfcs for fathering the flocks and herds, with lodges fortified with towers, for the fhepherds to retire' to with their flocks, and; to fecure them againft irruptions he alfo took care to have great numbers of cifterns cut for watering the flocks ; works not fo fplcndid, but no lefs eftimable than the moft fuperb pa- laces. It was, without doubt, the particular protection, which he gave to all who were em- ployed in the cultivation of lands, or the breed r ing of cattle, that rendered his reign one of the moft opulent Judasa had ever feen. And lie did thus, faith the fcripture, bscanje he loved hujbandry : Erat enim homo agricultures deditus. The text is ftill ftrQnger in the Hebrew ; quia diligebat terram , becaufe he. loved the ground. He took delight in it, perhaps cultivated it with own hands ; at Jeaft, he made hufbandry honpu- Of AGRICULTURE. 4 honourable, he knew all the value of it, and was fenfible that the earth, manured with dili- gence and fkill, was an aflured fource of riches both to the prince and people j he therefore thought attention to husbandry one of the prin-r cipal duties of the fovereignty, though often the moft neglected. The fcripture fays alfo of the holy king Eze- kiah, Moreover he ■provided him cities and pof- 2 Ch fejjions of flocks and herds in abundance, for God xxxn had given him fubfiance very much. It is eafy to conceive, that the /hearing of fheep alone, without mentioning other advantages from them, could not but produce a very confiderable reve- nue in a country, where an almoft innumerable multitude were continually fed. And hence we find, that the time for Ihearing of fheep was a feafon of feftivity and rejoycing. Amongft the antient Pagans, the riches of the kings confifted in cattle ; as we find from Latinus in Virgil, and UlyfTes in Homer. It was the fame amongft the Romans, who by the antient laws did not pay fines in money, but in oxen and fheep. We muft not be furprized, after having con- fidered the great advantages produced by the breeding and feeding of cattle, that fo wife a man as Varro has not difdained to give us an extenfive account of all the beafts that are of any ufe to the country, either for tillage, breed, or for carriage, and the other conveniences of man. He fpeaks firft of fmall cattle, fheep* goats, and hogs : greges. He proceeds next to the large beafts, oxen, afles, horfes, and ca- mels : armenia. And concludes with fowl, which may be called domeftick animals, villa- face gtcudes 3 pidgeons, turtle-doves, fowls,, P 4 geete* 44 Of AGRICULTURE. Columel. gecfe, and many others. Columella enters inr ? rx ' ' ■• to the fame detail; and Cato the cenfor run$ over part of it. The latter, upon being afked what was the fureft and fhorteft method to en- rich a country replied, the feeding of cattle, which is attended with an infinity of advanta- ges to thofe who apply themfelves to it with di- ligence and induftry. And indeed, the beafts, that labour in the field, render mankind continual and impor- tant fervices ; and the advantages he reaps from them, do not conclude even with their lives. They divide with him, or rather fpare him the molt laborious part of the work, without which the earth, however fruitful in itfelf, would con- tinue barren, and not produce him any encreafe. They ferve him in bringing home with fafety into his houfe, the riches he has amaffed with- out doors, and to carry him on his journies. Many of them cover his table with milk, cheefe, wholfome food, and even the moft ex- quifite dimes ; and fupply him with the rich materials of the fluffs he is in want of for cloathing himfelf, and with a thoufand other conveniencies of life. I We fee, from what has been faid hitherto, that the country, covered with corn, wine, flocks, and herds, is a real Peru to man, and a much more valuable and eftimable one, than that from whence he extracts gold and filver, which, without the other, would pot preferve him from perifhing with hunger, thirft, and cold. Placed in the midft of a fertile territory, he beholds around him at one view all his riches •, and without quitting his little empire, he finds immenfe and innocent treaiures within his reach. Thefe he regards, no doubt, as gifts from the liberal hand of that fupreme Matter, to whom he Of AGRICULTURE. he is indebted for all things ; but he regards them alfo as the fruits of his own labour, and that renders them ftill more grateful to him. SECT, V, Jnnocency and pkafure of a rural life, and of agriculture. THE revenues and profits which arife from the culture of lands, is neither the fole nor the greateft advantage accruing from it All the authors, who have wrote upon * ru- ral life, have always fpoken of it with the higheft pnifes, as of a wife and happy ltate, which inclines a man to juftice, temperance, fobriety, fmcerity, and in a word, to every virtue which in a manner fhelters him from all pafiions, by keeping him within the limits of his duty, and of a daily employment, that leaves him little leifure for vices : luxury, ava- rice, injuftice, violence and ambition, the almott infeparable companions of riches, take up their ordinary refidence in great cities, which fup- ply them with the means and occafions ; the hard and laborious life of the country does not ■ admit of thefe vices. This gave room for the poets to feign, that Aftrasa, the goddefs or juftice, had her laft refidence there, before me entirely quitted the earth, * In urbe luxuries creator ; porro quae poffunt effe in e c> f, T Quippe reliqua uftts ali- V o l. I. E fure* Of AGRICULTURE. fure, me has given only fome moments and days of life ; as if fhe intended to admonifli US) that what is moft mining and fplendid foon- eft fades, and pafTes away with rapidity. Mal- herbe expreffes this latter thought in very lively manner, where he deplores the death of a very young and beautiful perfon. Et rofe ella a vecu ce qui vivent les rofes, L'efpace d'un matin. And liv'd a rofe, as rofes live, A Jingle mornings /pace. It is the great advantage of agriculture to be more ftrittly united with religion and alio moral virtue, than any other art ; which made Cicero fay, as we have feen, that the country life came neareft to that of the wifeman ; that is, it was a kind of practical philofophy. To conclude this fmall treatife where I began it, it muft be confeffed, that of all human em- ployments, which have no immediate relation to God and juftice, the moft innocent is agricul- ture. It was, as has been faid, that of the firft man in his ftate of innocence and duty. It af- terwards became part of the penance impofed on him by God. So that both in the ftates of innocence and fin, * it was commanded to him, and in his perfon to all his defcendants. It is, however, become, in the judgment of pride, the meaneft and moft contemptible of employments and whilft ufelefs arts, which conduce only to luxury and voluptuoufnefs, are protected and honoured, all thofe who labour for the welfare and happinefs of others are a- bandoned to poverty and mifery. * Hate not laborious work, nor the hujbandry, which the moft High hath created. Eccldiaft, vii. ic. CHAP- Of COMMERCE. CHAPTER II. Of COMMERCE, ARTICLE L Excellency and advantages of commerce. IT may be faid, without fear of being fuf- pected of exaggeration, that commerce is the moft folid foundation of civil fociety, and the moft neceffary principle to unite all men, of whatever country or condition they are, with each other. By its means the whole world is but one city, and one family. It is the fource of univerfal plenty to every part of it* The riches of one nation become thofe of all peo- ple, and no country is barren, or at leaft fenfi- ble of its fterility. All its neceflities are pro- vided for in time from the extremities of the u- niverfe ; and every region is amazed to find itlelf abound in foreign productions, and en- riched with a thoufand commodities, unknown to itfelf, and which however compofe all that is moft agreeable in life. It is by the com- merce of the fea and rivers, that is to fay by navigation, that God has united all mankind amongft themfelves in fo wonderful a manner, by teaching them * to direct and govern the two moft violent things in nature, the fea and the winds, and to fubftitute them to their ufes and occafions. He has joined the moft remote peo- * Quas res violentiffimas ter nauticarum rerum fcien- natura genuit, earum mode- tiam. Cic. de Nat. deor. 1. z. rationem nos foli habemus, p. 15. maris atque ventorum, prop- E a pie S 6 Of COMMERCE. pie by this means, and preferved amongft the different nations, an image of the dependance he has ordained in the feveral parts of the fame body by the veins and arteries. This is but a weak, a flight idea, of the ad- vantages arifing from commerce to fociety in general. With the lean: attention to particu- lars, what wonders might we not difcover ? But this is not the proper place for fuch enquiries. I (hall confine my felf to one reflection, which feems very proper for our underftanding at once the weaknefs and grandeur of man. I lhall conflder him at firft in the higheft de- • gree of elevation to which he is capable of at- taining. I mean upon the throne: lodged in fuperb palaces ; furrounded with all the fplen- dor of the royal dignity ; honoured and almoft adored by thrOngs of Courtiers, who tremble in his prefence ; placed in the centre of riches and pleafures, which vye with each other for his favour ; and fupported by numerous ar- mies, who wait only to obey his orders. Be- hold the height of human greatnefs ! But what becomes of this fo powerful, fo awful, prince, if commerce happens to ceafe on a fudden if he is reduced to himfelf, to his own induftry and perfonal endeavours ? Abandoned to him- felf in this manner diverted of that pompous outfide, which is not him, and is abfolutely foreign to his perfon % deprived of the fupport of others, he falls back into his native mifery and indigence and to fum up all in a word> he is no longer any thing. Let us now conflder man in a mean condi- tion, inhabiting a little houfe ; reduced to fub- fift on a little bread, meat and drink ; covered with the plainefi cloaths ; aud enjoying in his Family, not without difficulty, the other con- veniences Of COMMERCE. veniencies of life, What feeming folitude, what a forJorn ftate, what oblivion feems he in with regard to all other mortals ! We are much de- ceived, when we think in this manner. The whole univerfe is attentive to him. A thou- fand hands work for his occafions, and to cloath and nourilh him. For him manufactures are eftablifhed, granaries and cellars filled with corn and wine, and different metals extracted' from the bowels of the earth with fo much danger and difficulty. There is nothing, even to the things that minifter to pleafure and voluptuoufnefs, which the moft remote nations are not follicitous to transfer to him through the moft ftormy feas. Such are the fupplies, which commerce, or to fpeak more properly, divine providence, always employed for pur occafions, continually procures for us all, for each of us in particular : fup- plies, which to judge aright of them, are in a manner miraculous, whjch ought to fill us with perpetual admiration, and make us cry out with the prophet in the tranfports of a lively gratitude ; 0 Lord, what is man, that thou art pf a j mindful of him, or the fon of man that thou vi- 4. fiteft him / It would be to no purpofe for us to fay, that we have no obligation to thofe who labour for us in this manner, becaufe their particular inte- reft puts them in motion. This is true ; but is their work therefore of lefs advantage to us ? God, to whom alone it belongs to produce good from evil itfclf, makes ufe of the cove- toufnefs of fome for the benefit of others. It is with this view providence has eftablifhed fo wonderful a diverfity of conditions amongft us, and has diftributed the goods of life with fo prodigious an inequality. If all men were eafy E 3 in Of COMMERCE. in their fortunes, were rich and opulent, who amongft us would give himfelf the trouble to till the earth, to dig in the mine, or to crofs the feas ? Poverty or covetoufnefs charge them- felves with thefe laborious, but ufeful, toils. From whence it is plain, that all mankind, rich or poor, powerful or impotent, kings or fubjedts, have a mutual dependance upon each other for the demands of life ; the poor not being able to live without the rich, nor the rich without the labour of the poor. And it is commerce, fubfifting from thefe different inte- refts, which fupplies mankind with all their ne - ceffities, and at the fame time with all their con- veniencies. ARTICLE II. Antiquity of commerce. Countries and cities mpji famed' for it. IT is very probable, that commerce is no lefs antient than agriculture. It begun, as was natural, between private perfons, mankind aflifting each other with whatfoever they had of ufeful and necefiary to human life. Cain, no doubt, fupplied Abel with corn, and the fruits of the earth for his food j and Abel, in exchange, fupplied Cain with fkins and fleeces for his cloathing, and with milk, curds, and perhaps meat for his table. Tubalcain, folely employed in works of copper and iron, for the various ufes and occafions of life, and for arms to defend men, either againfb human enemies or wild beafts, was certainly obliged to exchange his brafs and iron works for other merchandise, neceffary to feeding, cloathing, and lodging him. Commerce afterwards, ex- i tending Of COMMERCE. 59 tending gradually from neighbour to neighbour, eftablifhed itfelf between cities and adjacent countries, and after the deluge, enlarged its bounds to the extremities of the world. The holy fcripture gives us a very antient Gen. example of traffick by the caravans of the Ifh- XKV1U 2 5- maelites and Midianites, to whom Jofeph was fold by his brethren. They were upon their re- turn from Gilead with their camels laden with fpices, aromatick goods, and with other pre- cious merchandife of that country. Thefe they were carrying into Egypt, where there was a great demand for them, occafioned by their cuftom of embalming the bodies of men, after their death, with great care and expence. Homer * informs us, that it was the cuftom of the heroick age of the fiege of Troy, for the different nations to exchange the things, that were moft neceffary for life, with each other ; a proof, fays Pliny, that it was rather neceflity than avarice, that gave birth to this primitive commerce. We read in the feventh book of the Iliad, that upon the arrival of cer- tain veffels, the troops went in crowds to pur- chafe wine, fome with copper, and others with iron, fkins, oxen, and (laves. We find no navigators in hiftory fo antient as the Egyptians and Phoenicians. Thefe two neighbouring nations feem to have divided the commerce by fea between them : the Egyp- tians had poffeffed themfelves chiefly of the trade of the Eaft, by the Red fea ; and the * Quantum feliciore sevo, enin, ut opinor, commercia cum res ipfae permutabantur vidtus gratia inventa. Alios inter fefe, Jicut & Trojanis coriis bourn, alios ferret cap- temporibus fa&itatum Ho- tivifque rebus emptitafle tra- mero credi convenit! Ita dit. Plin. 1. 33. ; c. 1. Phceni- 60 Of COMMERCE. Phoenicians of that of the Weft, by the Medi- terranean. What fabulous authors fay of Ofiris, who is the Bacchus of the Greeks, that he undertook the conqueft of the Indies, as Sefoftris did af- terwards, makes it probable, that the Egypti- ans carried on a great trade with the Indians. As the commerce of the Phoenicians was much more to the weft than that pf the Egyp- tians, it is no wonder, that they are more celebrated upon that account by the Greek Herod and Roman authors. Herodotus fays, that I i. c. x. the Y wcre the carriers of the merchandife of Egypt and Affyria, and tranfacfted all their trade for them, as if the Egyptians had not em- ployed tfiemfelves in it; and that they have been believed the inventors of traffick and nar vigation, though the Egyptians have a more legitimate claim to that glory. Certain it is, the Phoenicians diftinguilhed themfelves moft by antient commerce, and are alfo a prqof to what an height of glory, power, and wealth, a nation is capable of raifing itfelf only by trade. This people poffeffed a narrow trad of land upon the fea-coaft, and Tyre itfelf was built in a very poor foil ; and had it been richer and more fertile, it would not have been fufficient for the fupport of the great number of inhabi- tants, which the early fuccefs of its commerce drew thither. Two advantages made them amends for this defect. They had excellent ports upon the coafts of their fmall ftate, particularly that of their capitol ; and they had naturally fo happy a genius for trade, that they were looked t upon as the inventors of commerce by fea, efpecially of that carried on by long voyages. The Of COMMERCE. 61 The Phoenicians knew fo well how to im- prove both thefe advantages, that they foon made themfelves mafters of the fea, and of trade. Libanus, and other neighbouring moun- tains, fupplying them with excellent timber for building of veffels, in a little time they fitted put numerous fleets of merchant-mips, which hazarded voyages into unknown regions, in or- der to eftablifh a trade with them. They did not confine themfelves to the coafts and ports of the Mediterranean, they entered the ocean by the ftraits of Cadiz or Gibraltar, and ex- tended their correfpondence to the right and left. As their people multiplied almoft infi- nitely by the great number of ftrangers, whom the defire of gain, and the certain opportunity of enriching themfelves, drew to their city , they faw themfelves in a condition to plant many remote colonies, and particularly the fa- mous one of Carthage, which, retaining the Phcenican fpirit with regard to traffick, did not give place to Tyre itfelf in trading, and furpafTed it exceedingly by the extent of domi- nion, and the glory of military expeditions. The degree of glory and power, to which commerce and navigation had elevated the city of Tyre, rendered it fo famous, that we could fcarce believe there is no exaggeration in what profane authors report of it, if the prophets themfelves had not fpoke of it with {till greater magnificence. Tyre, fays Ezekiel, to give us fome idea of its power, is a fuperb vefTel. They EzekieJ have made all thy Jhip-boards of fir-trees of Senir ; c ^ zxv £ they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make mafts v. 4 10. for thee. Of the oaks of Bafhan have they made thine oars : the company of the Afhurites have made thy benches of ivory ^ brought out of the ijles of Chittim. Fine linnen, with br older ed work 2 from 62 O f C O M M E R C E. from Egypt, was that which thou fpreadejl forth to be thy fail: blue and purple from the ifles of Elifha was that which covered thee. The inhabi- tants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners : thy wife men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. The prophet, by this figurative language, defigns to fhew us the power of this city. But he gives with more energy a cir- cumftantial account of the different people with whom it traded. The merchandifes of the whole earth feemed to be laid up in this city, and the reft of the world appeared lefs its allies than tributaries. Id. v. 20 The Carthaginians trafficked with Tyre for -24- all forts of riches, and filled its markets with filver, iron, pewter, and lead, Greece, * Tu- bal and Mofoch, brought it flaves, and veffels of copper, f Thogorma fupplied it with horfes and mules. |] Dedam with elephants teeth and ebony. The Syrians expofed to fale in it pearls, purple, wrought cloths, lawn, filk, and all forts of precious merchandife. The peo- ple of Judah and Ifrael brought thither the fineft wheat, balm, honey, oil, and fruits. Damaf- cus fent it excellent wine, and wool of the moft lively and moft exquifite dyes : other people fiirnimed it with iron work, myrrh, the aroma- tick calamus, and carpets of exquifite work- manlhip to fit upon. 4. Arabia, and all the princes of Cedar, brought thither their flocks * Tubal and Mofoch. The horfes, of which the emperors holy fcripture always joins referred the bed for their own thefe two people. The latter Jiahles. intends Mtifcovy ; the former, |j Dedam. The people of 'without doubt, was its neigh- Arabia. hour. \ Arabia, Defer/a, Ce- f Thogorma, Cappadocia, dar was near it. from whence came the fineft Of Of COMMERCE. 63 of lambs, fheep, and goats. Saba * and Re- ma, the moft excellent perfumes, precious ftones, and gold ; and others cedar-wood, bales of purple, embroidered cloathing, and every kind of rich goods. I mall not undertake to diftinguifh exactly the fituation of the different nations, of whom Ezekiel fpeaks, this not being the proper place for fuch a difquifition. It fumces to obferve, that this long enumeration, into which the holy fpirit has thought fit to defcend with regard to the city of Tyre, is an evident proof, that its commerce had no other bounds than the world, as known at that time. Hence it was confidered, as the common metropolis of all nations, and as the queen of the fea. Ifaiah paints its grandeur and ftate in moft lively, but very natural, colours, where he fays, that Tyre wore the diadem upon her brows ; that the moft illuftrious princes of the univerfe were her correfpondents, and could not be without her traffick ; that the rich merchants, enclofed with- in her walls, were in a condition to difpute pre- cedency with crowned heads, and pretended, at leaft, to an equality with them : Who hath Ifai. xxii taken this counfel againfi Tyre, the crowned city, 8. whofe merchants are princes, whofe traffickers are the honourable of the earth. I have related elfewhere the deftruCtion of the antient Tyre by Nebuchadonofor, after a fiege of thirteen years ; and the eftablifhment of the new Tyre, which foon repofteffed itfelf of the empire of the fea, and continued its commerce with more fuccefs, and more fplendor than be- fore till at length, being ftormed by Alex- * Saba and Rema. People quity mentions the riches and of Arabia Foe lix. M anti- fpices of this people. ander Of COMMERCE. ander the Great, he deprived it of its maritime ftrength and trade, which were transferred to Alexandria, as we fhall foon fee. Whilft both the old and new Tyre cxperi enced fuch great revolutions, Carthage, the moft confidcrable of their colonies, was become very flounming. Traffick had given it birth : traffick augmented it, and put it into a con- dition to difpute the empire of the world for many years with Rome. Its fituation was much more advantagious than that of Tyre It was equally diftant from all the extremities of the Mediterranean fea ; and the coaft of Africa, upon which it was fituated, a vaft and fertile region, fupplied it abundantly with the corn neceiTary to its fubfiftance. With fuch advan. tages thofe Africans, making the beft ufe of the happy genius for trade and navigation, which they had brought from Phoenicia, attain- ed f 0 great a knowledge of the fea, that in that point, according to the teftimony of Po- lybius, no nation was equal to them. By this means they rofe to fuch an height of power, that in the beginning of their third war with the Romans, which occafioned their final ruin, Carthage had feven hundred thoufand inhabi- tants, and three hundred cities in its dependance upon the continent of Africa only. They had been mailers not only of the trad: of land ex- tending from the great Syrtes to the pillars of Hercules, but alfo of that which extends itfelf from the fame pillars to the fouthward, where Planno, the Carthaginian, had founded fo many cities, and fettled fo many colonies. In Spain, which they had almoft entirely conquered, Af- drubal, who commanded there after Barca, Hannibal's father, had founded Carthagena, one of the moft celebrated cities of thofe ttmes. Great Of COMMERCE. Great part alfo of Sicily and Sardinia had for- merly fubmitted to their yoke. Pofterity might have been indebted for great lights to the two illuftrious monuments of the navigation of this people, in the hiftory of the voyages of Hanno, ftiled king of the Cartha- ginians, and of Imilco, if time had preferved them. The firft related the voyages he had made in the ocean beyond the pillars of Her- cules, along the weftern coaft of Africa ; and the other his on the weftern coaft of Europe, both by the order of the fenate of Carthage. But time has confumed thofe writings. This people fpared neither pains nor ex- pences to bring navigation to perfection. That was their only ftudy. The other arts and fci- ences were not cultivated at Carthage. They did not pique themfelves upon polite know- ledge. They profefTed neither poetry, elo- quence, nor philofophy. The young people, from their infancy, heard of nothing in con- verfation, but merchandife, accounts, lhips, and voyages. Addrels in commerce was a kind of inheritance in the families, and was the beft part of their fortunes ; and as they added their own obfervations to the experience of their fa- thers, we ought not to be furprized, that their ability in this way always increafed, and made fuch a wonderful progrefs. Hence it was that commerce raifed Carthage to fo high a degree of wealth and power, that it coft the Romans two wars ; the one of twenty three, and the other of feventeen, years, both bloody and doubtful, to fubdue that rival ; and that at laft, victorious Rome did not believe it in her power to fubjecT: her enemy entirely, but by depriving her of the refources me might ftill have found in trade, and which, during fo long Of COMMERCE. long a feries of years, had fupported her a- gainft all the forces of the republick. Carthage had never been more powerful by fea, than when Alexander befieged Tyre, the metropolis of her people. Her fortune began to decline from that time. Ambition was the ruin of the Carthaginians. Their being weary of the pacifick condition of merchants, and preferring the glory of arms to that of traffick, coft them dear. Their city, which commerce had peopled with fo great a multitude of in- habitants, faw its numbers diminifh to fupply troops, and recruit armies. Their fleets, ac- cuftomed to tranfport merchants and merchan- dife, were no longer freighted with any thing, but munitions of war and foldiers •, and out of the wifeft and moft fuccefsful traders, they e- lecled officers and generals of armies, who ac- quired them an exalted degree of glory indeed, but one of fhort duration, and foon followed with their utter ruin. The taking of Tyre by Alexander the Great, and the founding of Alexandria, which foon followed, occafioned a great revolution in the affairs of commerce. That new fettlement was, without difpute, the greateft, the moft noble, the wifeft, and the moft ufeful defign that con- queror ever formed. It was not poffible to find a more happy fitu- ation, nor one more likely to become the mart for all the merchandife of the eaft and weft. That city had on one fide a free commerce with Afia, and the whole Eaft, by the Red fea. The fame fea, and the river N ile, gave it a commu- nication with the vaft and rich countries of E- thiopia. The commerce of the reft of Africa and Europe was open to it by the Mediterra- nean ; and for the inland trade of Egypt, it had befides Of COMMERCE. 67 befides the navigation of the Nile, and the ca- nals cut out of it, the afliftance of the cara- vans, fo convenient for the fecurity of mer- chants, and the conveyance of their effects. This induced Alexander to believe it a proper place for founding one of the fineft cities and ports in the world. For the ifle of Pha- ros, which at that time was not joined to the continent, fupplied him with the happieft filia- tion, after he had joined them by a mole, ha- ving two entrances, in which the veffels of fo- reign nations arrived from all parts, and from whence the Egyptian lhips were continually failing to carry their factors, and commerce, to all parts of the world then known. Alexander lived too fhort a time to fee the happy and flourifhirg condition , to which commerce raifed his city. The Ptolomies, to whofe lhare, after his death, Egypt fell, took care to improve the growing Trade of Alexan- dria, and foon raifed it to a degree of perfec- tion and extent, that made Tyre and Carthage be forgotten, which for a long feries of time, had tranfacted, and engroffed to themfelves, the commerce of all nations. Of all the kings of Egypt, Ptolomaeus Phi- ladelphus was the prince who contributed moft to the bringing of commerce to perfection in his country. For that purpofe he kept great fleets at fea, of which Athenasus gives us the Athen.l. number, and defcription, that cannot be read p. 203. without aftonifhment. Befides upward of fix- fcore fail of galleys of an extraordinary fize, he gives him more than four thoufand other lhips, which were employed in the fervice of the ftate, and the improvement of trade. He pofTeffed a great empire, which he had formed, by extending the bounds of the king- 68 Of COMMERCE. dom of Egypt into Africa, Ethiopia, Syria, and beyond the fea, having made himfelf maf- ter of Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia, Garia, and the Cyclades, poffeffing almoft four thoufand cities in his dominions. To raife the happinefs of thefe provinces as high as poffible, he en- deavoured to draw into them, by commerce, the riches and commodities of the Eaft ; and to facilitate their palTage, he built a city ex- prefsly on the weftern coaft of the Red fea, cut a canal from Coptus to that fea, and caufed houfes to be erected along that canal, for the Vol. VII. convenience of merchants and travellers, as I p ' 30 have obferved in its place. It was the convenience of this ftaple for merchandife at Alexandria, which diffufed im- menfe riches over all Egypt •, riches fo confi- de, apud. derable, that it is affirmed, the cuftoms only iyt' 708 fcr the im P ortation and exportation of mer- 7 P * 79 * chandife at the port of Alexandria, amounted yearly to more than thirty-feven millions of li- vres, though moft of the Ptolomies were mo- derate enough in the impofts they laid on their people. Tyre, Carthage, and Alexandria, were, with- out difpute, the moft famous cities of anti- quity for commerce : It was alfo followed with fuccefs at Corinth, Rhodes, Marfeilles, and many other cities, but not with fuch extent and reputation. ARTP Of COMMERCE* Article jil The end and materials of commerce. THE pafTage of Ezekiel* which I have cited in regard to Tyre, includes alrnoft all the materials, in which the ancient corm merce confifted : Gold, filver, iron* copper, tin, lead, pearls, diamonds, and all forts of precious ftones ; purple, fluffs* cloths, ivory, ebony, cedar* myrrh, aromatick reeds, or the Calamus •, perfumes* flaves, horfes, mules, grain* wine, cattle, and in a word, all kind of pre- cious merchandife. I lhall not dwell here upon any thing, but what relates to mines of iron* copper, gold, filver, pearls, purple* and filk ; nor treat even thefe heads with any great extent* Pliny the naturalift will be my ordinary guide as to thofe of my fubjedts he has wrote upon. And I fhall make great ufe of the learned re- marks of the author of the natural hiftory of gold and filver, extracted from the thirty-third book of Pliny* and printed at London. SECT. L Mines of ironi. TT is certain* that the ufe of metals* efpe^ •* daily of iron and copper, is alrnoft as old as the world : but it does not appear, that gold or filver were much regarded in the firft ages. Solely intent upon the neceffitics of life, the firft inhabitants of the earth did what new co- lonies are obliged to do. They applied them- felves in. building them houfes, clearing lands, Vol. I. F and Of COMMERCE. and furnifhing themfelves with the inftrumenft neceffary for cutting wood, hewing ftone, and other mechanical tifes. As all thefe tools could be formed only of iron, copper, or fteel, thofe effential materials became, by a neceffary con- fequence, the principal objects of their purfuit. Thofe 4 who were fettled in countries which produced them, were not long without knowing their importance. People came from all parts in queft of them •, and their land, though in ap* pearance poor and barren in every other refpecl, became an abundant and fertile foil to them. They wanted nothing, having that merchandife ; and their iron bars were ingots, which procu* red them all the conveniencies and elegancies of life. It would be very grateful to know where, when, how, and by whom thefe materials were firft difcovered. Concealed as they are from our eyes, and hid in the bowels of the earth in fmall and almoft imperceptible particles, which have no apparent relation, or vifible difpofition for the different works compofed of them, who was it that inftructed man in the ufes to be made of them ? It would be doing chance too much honour, to impute to it this difcovery. The infinite importance, and almoft indifpenfi- ble neceflity for the inftruments, with which they fupply us, well deferve, that we lhould acknowledge it to proceed from the concurrence and goodnefs of the divine providence. It is true, that providence commonly takes delight in concealing its mofl wonderful gifts under events, which have all the appearance of chance and accident. But attentive and religious eyes are not deceived in them, and eafily difcover, under thefe difguifes, the beneficence and libe- rality of God, fo much the more worthy of ad- miration 6f COMMERCE- 7 r miration and acknowledgment, as lefs vifible to man. This is a truth confeflfed by the Pa- gans themfelves, as I have already obferved elfewhere. It is remarkable, that * iron, which of all metals is the moft necefiaryj is alfo the moft common, the eafieft to be found* lefs deep in the earth than any other, and moft abundant. As I find little in Pliny upon the manner in which the antients difcovered and prepared me- tals, I am obliged to have recourfe to what the moderns fay upon that head 5 in order to give the reader, at leaft, fome flight idea of the ufual methods in the difcovery, preparation, and melt- ing of thofe metals ; which were in part prac- ticed by the antients. The matter, from which iron is extracted, PUn. 1. 34. (which the term of art calk iron-ore) is found c " 14 ' '5* in mines of different depth, fometitnes in {tones as big as the fift* and fometimes only in fand. After having amaffed the quantity of matter to be melted, it is put into large furnaces, where a great fire has been kindled, When the ore is melted and well flammed, they make it run out of the furnace through a hole prepared for that purpofe, from which, running with rapi- dity like a torrent of fire, it falls into different moulds, according to the variety of works to be caft, as kettles* and fuch kind of utenfils. In the fajme manner they form alfo the large lumps of iron, called fows, of different fizS, which Weigh fometimes two or three thoufand pounds/ and upwards. Thefe are afterwards, carried to the forge, or foundary* to be forged or * Ferri metalla ubique ferri largiffima efi Plh, jpropem odum reperiuntur— 1. 34. c. 14. Metallorum omnium vena fined 72 ^ Of COMMERCE. fined with the affiftance of mills, which keep great hammers continually going. Steel is a kind of iron refined and purified by fire, which renders it whiter, more folid* and of a fmaller and finer grain. It is the hardeft of all metals, when prepared and tern- Stridentia pered as it ought. That temper is derived from tingunt cold water, and requires a nice attention in the ara lacu. workman, in taking the fteel out of the fire, when it has attained a certain degree of heat. When we confider a fharp and well-polimed knife or razor, could we believe it was poflible to form them out of a little earth, or fome blackiih ftones ? What difference is there be- tween fo rude a matter, and fuch polilhed and ihining inftruments! Of what is not human induftry capable ! - Mr. Reaumur * obferves, in fpsaking^ ot iron, one thing well worthy of obfervation. Tho' fire feldom or ever renders it fo liquid as k does gold, brafs, pewter, and lead 5 of all metals, however, there is not one that takes the mould fo perfectly, infinuates itfelf fo well into the moft minute parts of it, and receives im- preffions with fuch exactitude. SECT. II. Mines of copper or brafs, COPPER, which is otherwtfe called brafs,- is an hard, dry, weighty metal. It is taken out of mines like other metals, where it is found as well as iron, either in powder oc ftone. * Memoir *s de P Acad, des Scicnc. an, 1726. Before Of COMMERCE. Before it is melted, it mull be warned very much, in order to feparate the earth from it, with which it is mixed. It is afterwards melted in the furnaces by great fires, and when melted, poured off into moulds. The copper, which has had only one melting, is the common and ordinary copper. To * render it purer and finer, it is melted once or twice more. When it has pa{fed the fire feveral times, and the grofTeft parts are fe- parated from it, it is called Rofette, or the pureft and fineft copper. Copper is naturally red, of which brafs is a fpecies made yellow with Lapis calaminaris. The Lapis calaminaris, which is alio called Cadmia f, is a mineral or foffile, which foun- ders ufe to change the colour of copper yellow. This ftone does not become yellow, till after it has been baked in the manner of bricks 5 it is then ufed either to make yellow, or encreafe, the red fine copper. The yellow copper or brafs is therefore a mixture of the red, with lapis calaminaris, which augments its Weight from ten to fifty in the hundred, according to the different goodnete of the copper. It is called alfo Latten, and in the Roman language Aurichalcum. Bronze is a made metal, confiding of a mix- ture of feveral metals. For the fine ftatues of this metal, the mix- ture is half fine copper and half brafs. In the ordinary fort, the mixture is of pewter, and fometimes of lead, to fave coft. * Praterea femel reco.- eft modp. effoditur ignicpe quunt : quod faepius feciffe, perficitur. Fit & e iapide bonitati plurimum confert. serofo, quern vacant Cat* Plin. 1. 34. c. 8. mianu Vlin. 1. 34. c. 1. \ Vena (aris) quo di&um F q There 74 Of COMMERCE. There is alfo another fpecies of mixed cop, per, called by the French Fonte, which differs from the Bronze, only by being more or lefs mixed. The art of founding, or, as it is vulgarly called, of cafting in brafs, is very antient. All ages have made their veffels, and other curious works in metal. Cafting muft have been very common in Egypt, when the Ifraelites left it, as they could form in the defart, without any great preparations, a ftatue with lineaments and ihape, reprefenting a calf. Soon after they made the molten fea, and all other veffels for the tabernacle, and afterwards for the temple. It was not uncommon to form ftatues of plates hammer'd into form, and ri vetted together. The invention of thefe images, either caft or hammered, took birth in the Eaft, as well as idolatry, and afterwards communicated itfelf to Greece, which carried the art to the higheft de- gree of perfection. The moil celebrated and valuable copper a- mongft the Greeks, was that of Corinth, of which I have fpoken elfewhere, and that of De- ios. ^ Cicero * joins them together in one of his orations, where he mentions a veffel of brafs, called authepfa, in which meat was dreft with very little fire, and almoft of itfelf: this veffel was fold fo dear, that thole who paffed by, and heard the fum bid for it at the fale, imagined the purchafe of an eftate was iri queftion. It is faid, that brafs was ufed before iron for the making of arms. It certainly was lb before gold and filver for money, at leaft with the Ro- 5 ppmus referta yafis Co- eft, ut qui pnetereuntes pre- rmthiis & Deliacis : jn qui- tium emimerari audiebant, bus eft authepfa ilia, quam lundum vaenire arbitrarcntur. ■■unto predo nuper mercatiK Orat.pro JRofc.Amerc. n. i 33. mans. Of COMMERCE. mans It confifted at firft in lumps of brafs, of different bignefs, and was taken by weight, without having any fixed mark or figure upon it • from whence came the form of fpeaking ufed in Talcs, per as fcf Bram. Servius Tul- lius, the fixth king of the Romans was the firft that reduced it to form, and ftampt it with a particular imprefiion. * And as at that time the greateft riches confifted in cattle, oxen, iheep, hogs, &c. the figure of thofe animals or of their heads, was ftamped upon the firft money that was coined, and it was called pecu- m from the word pecus, which figmfies cattle in general. It was not till the confulfhip of m ^ Q Fabius and Ogulnius, five years before the c . i. fSt Punick war, in the 485 th Y ear of Ro u me > that filver fpecies was ufed at Rome. They, however, always retained the antient language and denomination, taken from the word as* jbrafs From thence the expreffion, as grave, ( heavy brafs) to fignify, at leaft in the ori- gin of that term, the affes of a pound weight ; Irarium, the publick treafury , where! n, in antient times, there was only brafs-money as alienum, borrowed money with many others of like fignification. * Servius Rex, primus Signature eft nota pecudum : fignavit xs. Antea rudi u- unde pecuma appellata. Phn. &s Roma; Tinueus tradit. l$l-C-lf SEC T, Of COMMERCE, SECT. III. Mines of gold. Plin. I.33. TH O find gold, fays Pliny, we have thres c. 4. A different methods. It is extracted either from rivers, the bowels of the earth, or the ruins of mountains, by undermining and throw- ing them down. 1 . Gold found in rivers. Gold is gathered in fmall grains, or little quantities upon the fhores of rivers, as in Spain upon the brink of the Tagus, in Italy upon the Po, in Thrace upon the Hebrus, in Afia upon thePaclolus, and laftly, upon the Ganges in India ; and * it is agreed, that the gold found in this manner is the bell of all j becaufe having long ran through rocks, and over finds, it has had time to cleanfe and purify itfelf. The rivers I mention were not the only ones in which gold was to be found. Our Gaul Diod. 1. 5. had the fame advantage. Diodorns fays, that nature had given it gold in a peculiar manner, without obliging the natives to hunt after it with art and labour ; that it was mingled with the lands of the rivers ; that the Gauls knew how to warn thofe fands, extracl the gold, and melt it down ; and that they made themfelves rings, bracelets, girdles, and other ornaments of it. Some rivers of France are f faid to have retained this privilege: the Rhine, the * Ncc ullum abfolutum f Memoirs of the Acad, of aurumeft, ut curfo ipfa tri- ■'Sciences, an. 171 8. tuque perpolitum. Plin. Rhone, Of COMMERCE. 77 Rhone, the Garonne, the Doux in Franche- Comte, the Ceze, and the Gardon, which have their fources in the Cevennes, the Ariege in the country of Foix, and fome others. The gathering of it indeed does not turn to any con- fiderable account, fcarce fufficing to the main- tenance of the country -people, who employ themfelves for fome months in that work. They have fometimes their lucky days, when they get more than a piftole for their trouble ; but they pay for them on others, which produce little or nothing. 2. Gold found in the bowels of the earth. Thofe who fearch after gold, begin, by finding what we call in French, la Manne, manna, a kind of earth, which by its colour, and the exhalations that rife from it, informs thofe, who under- ftand mines, that there is gold underneath it. As- foon as the vein of gold appears, the water muft be turned off, and the ore dug out induftrioufly, which muft be taken away, and wafhed in proper lavers. The ore being put into them, a ftream of water is poured on continually, in proportion to the quantity of the ore to be wafhed ; and to affift the force of the water, an iron fork is ufed, with which the ore is ftirred, and broke, till nothing remains in the laver, but . a fediment of black fand, with which the gold is mingled. This fediment is put into a large wooden dim, in the midft of which four or five deep lines are cut, and by warning it, and ftirring it well in feveral waters, conjeftura, the terrene parts diflblve, and nothing remains but pure gold duft. This is the method now ufed S "J^£ in Chili, and the fame as was pradlifed in the p^.T^l time of Pliny : Aurum qui qucerunt r ante omnia c . 4 . fegullum 78 Of COMMERCE. fegullum tollunt : it a vacatur indicium. Alveus i hie eft : arence lavantur, atque ex eo quod refedit, conjeclura capitur. Every thing is compre- hended in thefe few words. Segullum ; which is what the French call la manne, or manna, Alveus hie eft : that is, the vein of gold ore. Arence lavantur : this implies the lavers. At- que ex eo quod refedit : this the fediment of black •land, . in which the gold is contained. Conjee- tura capitur : here the ftirring of the fediment, the running off of the water, and the gold-duft that remains, are intimated. It fometimes happens, that without digging far, the gold is found upon the fuperficies of the earth: but this good-fortune is not frequent, pIin y- though there have been examples of it. For Ibld - not long ago, fays Pliny, gold was found in this manner in Nero's reign, and in fo great a quantity, that fifty pounds a day, at leaft, has been gathered of it. This was in Dalmatia. It is commonly necefTary to dig a great way, and to form fubterraneous caverns, in which marble and fmall flints are found, covered with the gold. Thefe caverns are carried on to the right or left, according to the running of the vein ; and the earth above it is fupported with ftrong props at proper diftances. When the metallick ftone, commonly called the ore in which the gold forms itfelf, is brought out of the mine, it is broke, pounded, warned, and put into the furnace. The firft melting is called only filver, for there is always fome mingled with the gold. The fcum, which rifes in the furnace, is cal- led Scoria in Latin. This is the drofs of the metal, which the fire throws up, and is not pe- culiar to gold, but common to all metallick bodies. This drofs is not thrown away, but pounded Of COMMERCE. 79 pounded and calcined over again, to extract what remains of good in it. The crucible, It it. called in which this preparation is made, ought to be *