Magnitude of our Globe. It is by no means an easy task to ascertain the exact size of the earth: It is true' (as an able writer has observed*) there is but one longitude; but there are two latitudes the north and the south. Both of these begin at the e equa tor; the one extends northward, the other southward, as far as the arctic and antarctic Poles. But, no one has yet been able to reach either Pole. The mountains of ice in Greenland, and the Northern Sea, have always obstructed the passage to the North Pole: and immense fields, moun tains, and islands of ice, have rendered the passage to the South Pole impossible. Thanks, however, to the geome tricians, we can at present know very nearly the size of our globe. According to the most exact calculations, the surface of the earth is 199,512,595 square miles. The seas and unknown parts of the earth, by a measurement of the best maps, contain 160,522,020 square miles. The inhabited parts contain about 38, 990,569 square miles, in the following proportion: kil Europe... 4,456,065 | Africa. . . 9,654,807. Asia. .. 10,768,823 America. 14,110,874 Hence it appears, that scarcely one-third of the globe is habitable. اده It has been calculated, that there might be at least thres thousand millions of men upon the earth at once; but in reality there are no more than about a thousand and eighty millions of which there are, Asia 650 millions In Africa 150 In America 150 millions If then, we suppose the earth to be inhabited by one thou sand millions of men, or thereabouts; and that 33 years miakė a generasion; it follows that in this space of time, Mr. Sturm. See his excellent Reflections on the Works of God in Nature and Providence, for every Day in the Year,' vol ii. p. 34. (Dr. Clarke's corrected edition.) a thousand millions of men die. Therefore the number of › men who die on the earth amounts This calculation is very striking. If the mortality be so great each year, and even each day; is it not very possible that at this very moment, one of our fellow-creatures may have departed from this world and before an hour has elapsed, more than 3000 souls shall have entered into eternity! What a motive to induce us to think often and seriously upon death! Prodigiously great as the earth may appear; it dwindles almost into nothing, when compared with the other worlds" which roll over our head. The earth is scarcely, when compared with the universe, what a grain of sand is when compared with the highest mountain. And, what is the universe, when compared to the inexpressibly glorious and infinitely great Creator of the heavens and the earth? The world and all its inhabitants are before HIM as a drop in the bucket, or as the smallest atom which sports in the sunbeams!' སོང་་་ངན་ CHAP. VIII. THE BRITISH DOMINIONS. THE British Dominions formerly comprised Normandy, Guienne, and several other provinces of France; of which the Norman isles now only continue in possession of the sovereigns of Britain. They may be classed as follows":" I. In Europe. England, Wales, and Scotland,” which® form the island of Great Britain, the largest of all the European islands;-Ireland,-the isles of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Sark, (usually denominated the Norman^ isles), Wight, Scilly, and Man;-In Spain, Gibraltar, and the island of Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea. 1 II. In Asias Before the treaty concluded with the sul taun Tippoo Saib, in 1792, the British Dominions in Asia,!, ·were computed to contain nearly 198,000 square miles, and about ten millions of inhabitants. Considerable accessions' of territory, and consequently of population, have been made since that time; but the whole now consist of the three governments of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay: to these may be added Java and its numerous dependencies. III. In Africa. The settlements of Sierra Leone and Fort James, on the coast of Guinea, the Cape of Good Hope, the island of St. Helena, and the isles of France and Bourbon. IV. In America. The different countries already enumerated in page 92, to which may be added, the islands of Jamaica, Barbadoes, St. Christopher, Antigua, Nevis, and Montserrat, Dominica, Martinico, St. Vincent, Grenada, and the Grenadines, the Bahama Islands, the Bermudas, or Summer Islands, &c. &c. in the West Indies. On the Coast of New Holland, Britain has the settlement of Botany Bay, whose chief place is Sydney, and Norfolk island, lying in the Great South Pacific Ocean. Great Britain. The island of Great Britain is the largest of the European Islands; it extends from fifty to nearly 59 degrees of north latitude; and, consequently, is about 500 geogra phical miles in length. Its greatest breadth from the Land's End to the North Foreland in Kent, is 320 geographical miles. In British miles, the length may be compu ted at 580, and the breadth at 370 miles. SECT. I.-ENGLAND. § 1. Boundaries, Climate, etc. The southern, most opulent, and most important division of Britain, was antiently called Britannia by the Romans; but over since the eighth century, it has been known by the name of Anglia, or England; which originated from the Angles, who then occupied the country, now known by the name of Jutland; and whose aid having been invoked by the aboriginal inhabitants, in order to protect them from the incursions of their foes, the Angles conquered a considerable portion of the country.. 1 Boundaries.] England is bounded on the north by Scot-" land; -on the south, by the British Channel ;-on the east, by the German Ocean;-and on the west, by St. George's, or the Irish Channel. Climate and soil.] Notwithstanding its northerly situation, and the frequent prevalence of fogs and rains, Englaud enjoys a salubrious and temperate climate, and its soil is remarkably fertile. Rivers.] The principal rivers in England, are the Thames, the Severn, the Medway, the Humber, the Trent, the Ouse, the Avon, the Ribble, Mersey, the Tyne, and the Tweed. 1. The Thames takes its rise in Gloucestershire, under the name of the Isis: after receiving the Thame near Oxford, it is thenceforward known by the name of Thainies; and flowing eastward, through London, it unites with the Medway below Rochester, and falls into the German Ocean. 2. The Severn rises in Montgomeryshire, in the principality of Wales: it runs through the counties of Salop, Worcester, and Gloucester; and discharges itself into the Irish Sea, by the Bristol Channel. 3. The Humber, though called a river, is rather an arm of the sea, into which flows the river, Ouse, Trent, &c. 4. The Dee rises in Wales, and flows into the Irish Sea, below the city of Chester. 5. The Tweed is a pastoral little river, chiefly remarkable, as dividing England from Scotland. Lakes.] Soham Mere, Whittlesea-Mere, and RamseyMere, in the isle of Ely, in the county of Cambridge: in rainy seasons, all these meres overflow the country, and form one lake, from 40 to 50 miles in circumference. The counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, contain several beautiful lakes that afford numerous picturesque scenes; and there are also in Lancashire, the small lakes, known by the name of Derwentwater, Canals.] Although the various rivers, whose streams water our fertile soils, greatly contribute to facilitate internal navigation, and thus open to distant places a safe and easy channel of communication; yet the want of similar conveniencies for other places, not so favoured by situation, afforded ample scope for the ingenuity of individuals. Hence arose the numerous artificial rivers, called canals. The duke of Bridgewater's canal, the Trent and Mersey, the Grand Junction canals, may be mentioned among F others; and so great are the benefits which have resulted from the formation of canals, both to the public, and to individuals, that each succeeding year witnesses the rapid increase of these admirable channels for internal trade and commerce.. Mountains.] England is not remarkable for very high mountains: the principal, are the Peak, in Derbyshire; the Endle, in Lancashire; the Skiddaw, Derwent-Fells; the Wrynose and Lanvellin, in Cumberland; the Wolds, in Yorkshire; the Wrekin, in Shropshire; and the Cheviot Hills, on the borders of Scotland. But besides these," there are numerous lofty, hills, generally called Downs, scattered over the whole country, some of which forme long ridges, as the Chiltern Hills, in Buckinghamshire; the Malvern Hills, in Worcestershire; the Cotswold Hills, in Gloucestershire; and the South Downs, in Sussex. 4 Vegetable, Animal, and Mineral Productions.] The ve getable productions of England are very numerous, and too well known to require any specification bere. The cattle, of England are the finest in the world, whether for food" or for draught; and very great improvements have, within a few years, been introduced in the management and rearing of sheep: it is computed that not less than 8,000,000* fleeces are annually shorn in this country. In former times, England contained large woods, if not forests, of chesnut-trees, which exceeded all other kinds of timber for the purposes of building, as appears from many great houses still standing, in which the chesnut beamis and roofs remain undecayed, though some of them are more than six hundred years old. Among the minerals, may be named copper, lead, rock-salt, plumbago, manganèse, &c. The tin-mines of Cornwall, also, deserve particular notice. They were known to the Greeks and Phenicians several ages before the Christian æra; and since the English have found the method of manufacturing their tin into plates, and white iron, they have proved of immense benefit to the nation. The number of miners in Cornwall alone, is said to amount to 100,000.* Some gold has like * In the year 1800, the number of mines wrought was no less than 99. Of these 45 were copper, 28 tin, 18 copper and tin, and the remainder of lead, silver, &c. |