HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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Twv xXXuv Beeov (says he) tuv Ik Kpovx Kj ’P ysvapevav <px<r)v cl Kp^ree Uotrsiiuvxpth •sxpuTov %pei<rx<r9cti tx7$ kx]x §x\x<r<rxv tpyxclxig k^ g-oXy? irig-^crx^xi ■srxpx^ou]e;xtfju Ttjv qytfiovixv txvtm tu K povis. “ The Cretans say that of the gods descendedfrom K povog (Saturn), and Rhea, Neptune first took upon him the empire orgovernment of the sea, a power or authority conferred on him by his fatherSaturn.” From the preceding extract it is very apparent that Neptune was notconsidered, even by the ancients themselves, as the inventor of the art of naviga-tion, but as the first person who equipped a fleet of vessels fitted for war,aided by which, he assumed to himself the absolute dominion of those seas. It isalso quaintly remarked, that Neptune could not possibly claim more than theinvention of vessels fitted for war, inasmuch as neither Saturn, nor any of theinhabitants of Crete, now known as the island of Candia, or their ancestors,could possibly have arrived there, had not the science of navigation itself beenpreviously known. Lactantius confirms us strongly in this appropriation ofcharacter and command. De Neptuni sorte manifestum est, cujus regni talefuisse dicimus, quale Marci Anthonii fuit infinitum illud imperium, cui totiusora; maritime potestatem senatus decreverat, ut praedones persequeretur, ac mareomne pacaret. Sic Neptuno maritima omnia cum insulis obvenerunt. “ Inregard to the power allotted to Neptune, it appears to have been of the samenature with that decreed by the senate to Marc Anthony, who was invested withthe supreme command over all the seas of the empire, that he might beenabled the better to extirpate pirates, and prevent the interruption of navigationas well as commerce. For this very end was the charge of the sea, and thesafety of the islands surrounded by it, committed to the personage (Neptune)first mentioned.”

The veneration paid by all pagan nations of antiquity to all renowned, allenterprising characters who started up among them, the honours they bestowedon them even while living, the love, the admiration, the fear with which they re-garded them as heroes, rose to such an height as to render each country extremelyzealous in maintaining the dignity, and exalting the renown of their favouriteprince or leader. Their gratitude led them still farther; they worshipped them aftertheir deaths as deities sent among them from heaven to support, to protect, or toinstruct them; and as this grateful principle has been the cause of raising so manyseparate candidates for the honour of having been the original inventors of everyscience which is supposed to conduce to the welfare, the happiness, or even plea-sure of mankind, so the firm, the strenuous zeal of their several constituents,

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