language of Portugal, so as to be able to interpret for their countrymen, and one John Fernandez applied himself to the negro tongue.

very little labour, by the milk of their kine, and millet, to which those who inhabited the coast added fish dried in the sun. Having never seen the natives, or heard of the arts of Europe, they From this time began something like a regular gazed with astonishment on the ships when they traffic, such as can subsist between nations approached their coasts, sometimes thinking where all the power is on one side; and a facthem birds, and sometimes fishes, according as tory was settled in the isle of Arguin, under the their sails were spread or lowered; and some-protection of a fort. The profit of this new trade times conceiving them to be only phantoms, was assigned for a certain term to Ferdinando which played to and fro in the ocean. Such is Gomez; which seems to be the common method the account given by the historian, perhaps with of establishing a trade that is yet too small to too much prejudice against a negro's understand-engage the care of a nation, and can only be ening; who though he might well wonder at the larged by that attention which is bestowed by bulk and swiftness of the first ship, would private men upon private advantage. Gomez scarcely conceive it to be either a bird or a fish; continued the discoveries to Cape Catharine, but having seen many bodies floating in the two degrees and a half beyond the line. water, would think it what it really is, a large boat; and if he had no knowledge of any means by which separate pieces of timber may be joined together, would form very wild notions concerning its construction, or perhaps suppose it to be a hollow trunk of a tree, from some country where trees grow to a much greater height and thickness than in his own.

In the latter part of the reign of Alphonso V. the ardour of discovery was somewhat intermitted, and all commercial enterprises were interrupted by the wars in which he was engaged with various success. But John II. who succeeded, being fully convinced both of the honour and advantage of extending his dominions in countries hitherto unknown, prosecuted the designs of prince Henry with the utmost vigour, and in a short time added to his other titles, that of king of Guinea and of the coast of Africa.

When the Portuguese came to land, they increased the astonishment of the poor inhabitants, who saw men clad in iron with thunder and lightning in their hands. They did not under- In 1463, in the third year of the reign of John stand each other, and signs are a very imperfect II. died prince Henry, the first encourager of mode of communication, even to men of more remote navigation, by whose incitement, patronknowledge than the negroes, so that they could age, and example, distant nations have been not easily negotiate or traffic: at last the Por-made acquainted with each other, unknown tuguese laid hands on some of them to carry countries have been brought into general view, them home for a sample; and their dread and and the power of Europe has been extended to amazement was raised, says Lafitau, to the the remotest parts of the world. What manhighest pitch, when the Europeans fired their kind has lost and gained by the genius and decannons and muskets among them, and they saw signs of this prince, it would be long to compare, their companions fall dead at their feet, without and very difficult to estimate. Much knowledge any enemy at hand, or any visible cause of their has been acquired, and much cruelty been comdestruction. mitted; the belief of religion has been very little On what occasion, or for what purpose, can-propagated, and its laws have been outrageously nons and muskets were discharged among a peo- and enormously violated. The Europeans have ple harmless and secure, by strangers who with- scarcely visited any coast, but to gratify avarice, out any right visited their coast, it is not thought and extend corruption; to arrogate dominion necessary to inform us. The Portuguese could without right, and practice cruelty without infear nothing from them, and had therefore no centive. Happy had it then been for the opadequate provocation; nor is there any reason pressed, if the designs of Henry had slept in his to believe but that they murdered the negroes in bosom, and surely more happy for the oppreswanton merriment, perhaps only to try how sors. But there is reason to hope that out of so many a volley would destroy, or what would be much evil good may sometimes be produced; the consternation of those that should escape. and that the light of the gospel will at last illuWe are openly told that they had the less scru- minate the sands of Africa, and the deserts of ple concerning their treatment of the savage peo-America, though its progress cannot but be slow ple, because they scarcely considered them as when it is so much obstructed by the lives of distinct from beasts; and indeed the practice of Christians. all the European nations, and among others of The death of Henry did not interrupt the prothe English barbarians that cultivate the south-gress of king John, who was very strict in his inern islands of America, proves, that this opinion, junctions, not only to make discoveries, but to however absurd and foolish, however wicked secure possession of the countries that were and injurious, still continues to prevail. Interest found. The practice of the first navigators was and pride harden the heart, and it is in vain to only to raise a cross upon the coast, and to carve dispute against avarice and power. upon the trees the device of Don Henry, the By these practices the first discoverers alien-name which they thought it proper to give to the ated the natives from them; and whenever a new coast, and any other information, for those ship appeared, every one that could fly betook that might happen to follow them; but now himself to the mountains and the woods, so that they began to erect piles of stones with a cross on nothing was to be got more than they could the top, and engraved on the stone the arms of steal: they sometimes surprised a few fishers, Portugal, the name of the king, and of the comand made them slaves, and did what they could mander of the ship, with the day and year of the to offend the negroes, and enrich themselves. discovery. This was accounted sufficient to This practice of robbery continued till some of prove their claim to the new lands; which might the negroes who had been enslaved, learned the be pleaded with justice enough against any other

Europeans, and the rights of the original inhabit- | might be always at hand to lend him assistants were never taken into notice. Of these ance. stone records, nine more were erected in the reign of king John, along the coast of Africa, as far as the Cape of Good Hope.

The negro, who seemed very well to understand what the admiral intended, after a short pause, returned an answer full of respect to the The fortress in the isle of Arguin was finished, king of Portugal, but appeared a little doubtful and it was found necessary to build another at what to determine with relation to the fort. S. Georgia de la Mina, a few degrees north of The commander saw his diffidence, and used the line, to secure the trade of gold dust, which all his art of persuasion to overcome it. Carawas chiefly carried on at that place. For this mansa, either induced by hope, or constrained purpose a fleet was fitted out of ten large and by fear, either desirous to make them friends, three smaller vessels, freighted with materials or not daring to make them enemies, consented, for building the fort, and with provisions and am- with a show of joy, to that which it was not in munition for six hundred men, of whom one hun-his power to refuse; and the new comers began dred were workmen and labourers. Father Lafitau relates, in very particular terms, that these ships carried hewn stones, bricks, and timber, for the fort, so that nothing remained but barely to erect it. He does not seem to consider how small a fort could be made out of the lading of ten ships.

The command of this fleet was given to Don Diego d'Azambue, who set sail December 11th, 1491, and reaching La Mina January 19th, 1482, gave immediate notice of his arrival to Caramansa, a petty prince of that part of the country, whom he very earnestly invited to an immediate conference.

Having received a message of civility from the negro chief, he landed, and chose a rising ground, proper for his intended fortress, on which he planted a banner with the arms of Portugal, and took possession in the name of his master. He then raised an altar at the foot of a great tree, on which mass was celebrated, the whole assembly, says Lafitau, breaking out into tears of devotion at the prospect of inviting these barbarous nations to the profession of the true faith. Being secure of the goodness of the end, they had no scruple about the means, nor ever considered how differently from the primitive martyrs and apostles they were attempting to make proselytes. The first propagators of Christianity recommended their doctrines by their sufferings and virtues; they entered no defenceless territories with swords in their hands; they built no forts upon ground to which they had no right, nor polluted the purity of religion with the avarice of trade, or insolence of power.

the next day to break the ground for the foundation of a fort.

Within the limit of their intended fortification were some spots appropriated to superstitious practices: which the negroes no sooner perceived in danger of violation by the spade and pickaxe, than they ran to arms, and began to interrupt the work. The Portuguese persisted in their purpose, and there had soon been tumult and bloodshed, had not the admiral, who was at a distance to superintend the unlading the materials for the edifice, been informed of the danger. He was told at the same time, that the support of their superstition was only a pretence, and that all their rage might be appeased by the presents which the prince expected, the delay of which had greatly offended him.

The Portuguese admiral immediately ran to his men, prohibited all violence, and stopped the commotion; he then brought out the presents, and spread them with great pomp before the prince; if they were of no great value, they were rare, for the negroes had never seen such wonders before; they were therefore received with ecstacy, and perhaps the Portuguese derided them for their fondness of trifles, without considering how many things derive their value only from their scarcity; and that gold and rubies would be trifles, if nature had scattered them with less frugality.

The work was now peaceably continued, and such was the diligence with which the strangers hastened to secure the possession of the country, that in twenty days they had sufficiently fortified themselves against the hostility of the neWhat may still raise higher the indignation of groes. They then proceeded to complete their a Christian mind, this purpose of propagating design. A church was built in the place where truth appears never to have been seriously pur- their first altar had been raised, on which a mass sued by any European nation; no means, whe-was established to be celebrated for ever once a ther lawful or unlawful, have been practised with diligence and perseverance for the conversion of savages. When a fort is built, and a factory established, there remains no other care than to grow rich. It is soon found that ignorance is most easily kept in subjection, and that by enlightening the mind with truth, fraud and usurpation would be made less practicable and less

secure.

day, for the repose of the soul of Henry, the first mover of these discoveries.

In this fort the admiral remained with sixty soldiers, and sent back the rest in the ships, with gold, slaves, and other commodities. It may be observed that slaves were never forgotten, and that wherever they went, they gratified their pride, if not their avarice, and brought some of the natives, when it happened that they brought nothing else.

In a few days an interview was appointed between Caramansa and Azambue. The Portu- The Portuguese endeavoured to extend their guese uttered by his interpreter a pompous speech, dominions still farther. They had gained some in which he made the negro prince large offers of knowledge of the Jaloffs, a nation inhabiting the his master's friendship, exhorting him to embrace coast of Guinea, between the Gambia and Senethe religion of his new ally; and told him, that gal. The king of the Jaloffs being vicious and as they came to form a league of friendship with luxurious, committed the care of the government him, it was necessary that they should build a to Bemoin, his brother by the mother's side, in fort, which might serve as a retreat from their preference to two other brothers by his father. common enemies, and in which the Portuguese | Bemoin, who wanted neither bravery nor pru

Corvillan obeyed the orders, sending an exact account of his adventures to Lisbon, and proceeding with the other messenger to Ormus; When they came to land, the king's uncle, where having made sufficient inquiry, he sent who commanded the province, immediately rehis companion homewards with the caravans quested to be solemnly initiated in the christian that were going to Aleppo, and embarking once religion, which was granted to him and his young more on the Red Sea, arrived in time at Abys-son, on Easterday, 1491. The father was named sinia, and found the prince whom he had sought so long, and with such danger.

Two ships were sent out upon the same search, of which Bartholomew Diaz had the chief command; they were attended by a smaller vessel laden with provisions, that they might not return upon pretence of want either felt or feared. Navigation was now brought nearer to perfection. The Portuguese claim the honour of many inventions by which the sailor is assisted, and which enable him to leave sight of land, and commit himself to the boundless ocean. Diaz had orders to proceed beyond the river Zaire, where Diego Can had stopped, to build monuments of his discoveries, and to leave upon the coasts negro men and women well instructed, who might inquire after Prester John, and fill the natives with reverence for the Portuguese.

Diaz, with much opposition from his crew, whose mutinies he repressed, partly by softness and partly by steadiness, sailed on till he reached the utmost point of Africa, which from the bad weather that he met there, he called Cabo Tormentoso, or the Cape of Storms. He would have gone forward, but his crew forced him to return. In his way back he met the Victualler, from which he had been parted nine months before; of the nine men which were in it at the separation, six had been killed by the negroes, and of the three remaining, one died for joy at the sight of his friends. Diaz returned to Lisbon in December, 1487, and gave an account of his voyage to the king, who ordered the Cape

The Portuguese and Spaniards became now jealous of each other's claim to countries which neither had yet seen; and the Pope, to whom they appealed, divided the new world between them by a line drawn from north to south, a hundred leagues westward from Cape Verd and the Azores, giving all that lies west from that

slighted him as a fanciful and rash projector, that promised what he had not reasonable hopes to perform. Columbus had solicited other princes, and had been repulsed with the same indignity; at last Isabella of Arragon furnished him with ships, and having found America, he entered the mouth of the Tagus in his return, and showed the natives of the new country.-line to the Spaniards, and all that lies east to the When he was admitted to the king's presence, he acted and talked with so much haughtiness, and reflected on the neglect which he had undergone with so much acrimony, that the courtiers who saw their prince insulted, offered to destroy him; but the king, who knew that he deserved the reproaches that had been used, and who now sincerely regretted his incredulity, would suffer no violence to be offered him, but dismissed him with presents and with honours.

Portuguese. This was no satisfactory division, for the east and west must meet at last, but that time was then at a great distance.

According to this grant, the Portuguese continued their discoveries eastward, and became masters of much of the coast both of Africa and the Indies; but they seized much more than they could occupy, and while they were under the dominion of Spain, lost the greater part of their Indian territories.

THE

PREFACE TO THE PRECEPTOR;
CONTAINING A GENERAL PLAN OF EDUCATION.

PUBLISHED IN 1748, by Dodsley.

THE importance of education is a point so generally understood and confessed, that it would be of little use to attempt any new proof or illustration of its necessity and advantages.

At a time when so many schemes of education have been projected, so many proposals offered to the public, so many schools opened for general knowledge, and so many lectures in particular sciences attended; at a time when mankind seems intent rather upon familiarising than enlarging the several arts; and every age, sex, and profession, is invited to an acquaintance with those studies, which were formerly supposed accessible only to such as had devoted themselves to literary leisure, and dedicated their powers to philosophical inquiries; it seems rather requisite that an apology should be made for any further attempt to smooth a path so frequently beaten, or to recommend attainments so ardently pursued, and so officiously directed. That this general desire may not be frustrated, our schools seem yet to want some book, which may excite curiosity by its variety, encourage diligence by its facility, and reward application by its usefulness. In examining the treatises hitherto offered to the youth of this nation, there appeared none that did not fail in one or other of these essential qualities; none that were not either unpleasing, or abstruse, or crowded with learning very rarely applicable to the purposes of common life.

with the forms of education, is to be checked, will be readily granted; but since, though it may be in some degree obviated, it cannot wholly be suppressed, it is surely rational to turn it to advantage, by taking care that the mind shall never want objects on which its faculties may be usefully employed. It is not impossible, that this restless desire of novelty which gives so much trouble to the teacher, may be often the struggle of the understanding starting from that, to which it is not by nature adapted, and travelling in search of something on which it may fix with greater satisfaction. For without supposing each man particularly marked out by his genius for particular performances, it may be easily conceived, that when a numerous class of boys is confined indiscriminately to the same forms of composition, the repetition of the same words, or the explication of the same sentiments, the employment must, either by nature or accident, be less suitable to some than others; that the ideas to be contemplated may be too difficult for the apprehension of one, and too obvious for that of another: they may be such as some understandings cannot reach, though others look down upon them as below their regard. Every mind in its progress through the different stages of scholastic learning, must be often in one of these conditions, must either flag with the labour, or grow wanton with the facility, of the work assigned; and in either state it naturally Every man who has been engaged in teaching, turns aside from the track before it. Weariness knows with how much difficulty youthful minds looks out for relief, and leisure for employment, are confined to close application, and how rea- and surely it is rational to indulge the wanderdily they deviate to any thing, rather than at-ings of both. For the faculties which are too tend to that which is imposed as a task. That lightly burdened with the business of the day, this disposition. when it becomes inconsistent may with great propriety add to it some other