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INTRODUCTION TO ARTS AND SCIENCES.

100. Tactics is the art of war. It is divided into military and naval. Military tactics is the art of disposing land forces so as to arrange them in the field of battle, and performing their military motions; and naval tactics, the arrangement of a fleet for an engagement on the sea.

101. Theology, (or Divinity). Theology is that grand and sublime science which instructs us in the knowledge of God and divine things. Theology may be distinguished into natural and revealed.

102. Natural Theology comprehends the knowledge we have of God from his works by the light of reason; and revealed, that which contains what we are taught concerning God in revelation or the holy Scriptures.

103. Revealed religion shows us what we are to believe of God, and the manner wherein he would be served.

104. Writing. Writing is the art of putting our ideas on paper, in order to communicate to some distant person our thoughts.

105. Of all the arts this is the most useful. It is the soul of trade, a representation of what is past, the rule of what is to come, and the conveyer of our thoughts in general.

106. In short, it is the key of all the arts and sciences, since nothing can be done without it.

107. The art of writing was invented by Cadmus, King of Thebes, in Greece.

PART VII.

NTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY.

CHAP. I.

Introduction to Geography.

Ge-og-ra-phy,

s. a description of the earth.

1. Su-preme, a. highest in dignity, authority, or excellence. 6. ›Im-men ́se, a. unbounded, not to be comprehended.

Plane, s. a level surface. (An instrument used in smoothing boards.)

As-tro"-no-my, s. the science which teaches the knowledge of the heavenly bodies.

7. Glo'-bu-lar,

Gra"-vi-ty,

a. round or spherical.

s. the power or virtues by which bodies naturally tend to the centre. (Applied to the countenance or behaviour, seriousness, solemnity, &c.)

Na"-vi-ga-ti-on, s. the act of conducting any vessel by water,

from one

Com'-merce,

place to another, by the most commodious way.

s. trade, the exchange of commodities.

Com-mo"-di-ties, s. pl. goods, merchandize.

1. You are to know that there is a Supreme Being, called God, who made all things both in heaven and earth, and who is every where present, and yet we cannot see him.

2. His eyes are upon the ways of all, beholding the evil and the good. All things are naked and open to him, even the very thoughts of our hearts.

3. When we do good, he sees and approves of us : and, when we do evil, he looks on us with anger.

4. The world in which we live, once was not; but at the beginning of time, God created the heavens and the earth, Gen. chap. i. verse 1. That is, he then made the earth and all things. The Almighty power might have done this in a moment; but he thought fit to do it in six days.

5. The world here mentioned is called the earth; it is a large globe. The world sometimes signifies the heavens and the earth together, but it would be better to call them (together) by the name Universe, which would not confound the one for the other.

6. The earth was long considered as an immense plane, spreading out on all sides to an infinite distance; and those who are ignorant of Geography and Astronomy still hold the same opinion.

7. But those who are acquainted with these sciences are now certain, that the earth is not an extended plane; but that it is a globular body, suspended in the open air, by the force of gravity, and covered on all sides with inhabitants, who, by means of navigation and commerce, can correspond with each other, and transport their commodities to the most distant nations.

8. In different ages of the world there have been a great many different nations or people in its several parts; for those people who at one time possessed a country have been driven from it by nations more powerful than themselves, as it has pleased God, the Supreme Governor of all things, that one should rise and another fall.

9. In learning the figure of the globe, the situation and boundaries of the four quarters of the world, and that of particular kingdoms and countries, you have nothing difficult to encounter, for it is only an exercise for the eyes and memory, and any one may learn and retain them with pleasure.

10. The science of geography is a description of the earth, which is naturally composed of land and water, and therefore called the terraqueous globe, from the Latin words terra, land; and aqua, water; each of these elements are subdivided into various parts, and are called by different names, which are explained in the following chapter.

CHAP. II.

The Divisions of the Earth.

9. At-lan'-tic, s. that part of the ocean which lies between Africa and America.

In'-di-an, a. (ocean understood,) that part of the ocean lying between Africa, New Holland, and Indostan.

1. THE surface of the earth is divided into land and water.

2. The land consists of continents, islands, peninsulas, isthmuses, promontories or capes, and coasts; the water, of oceans, seas, gulfs, straits, and rivers.

3. A continent is a large tract of land, containing several countries or kingdoms not separated by the ocean, as Europe, Asia, Africa, &c.

4. An island is a smaller portion of land, sur

rounded by water, such as Great Britain,* Ireland, Iceland,† and Jamaica.

5. A peninsula is a tract of land almost surrounded by water, such as North America to South, and South America to North, being joined by the Isthmus of Darien.

6. An isthmus is a narrow part of land which joins a peninsula to a continent, or two continents together; as the Isthmus of Darien or Panama above mentioned.

7. A cape or promontory is a point of land running far into the sea; as the Cape of Good Hope ‡ and Cape Horn.§

8. A coast or shore is that part of the country which borders on the sea.

9. An ocean is a vast collection of water not separated by land; of which there are four, viz. the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, and the Northern

oceans.

10. A sea is a smaller collection of water communicating with the ocean, as the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the White Sea.**

11. A gulf or bay is a part of the sea running up

*The title given to England and Scotland, since the union of the two kingdoms.

A large island to the north of Europe, about 400 miles in length, and 150 in breadth. In the summer, for two months together, the sun never sets; and in the winter, on the contrary, it never rises for the same space.

The southernmost point of Africa.
The southernmost point of America.
Situated between Europe and Africa.

Formerly called the Euxine sea, situate between Europe and Asia, entirely surrounded by the Turkish dominions.

** On the North of Russia.

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