1$0 OF THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE.

the globe, all places lying under that meridian,when referred to the equator, will be at an equaldistance from the first meridian, and conse-quently their longitude must be the same. Itappears, therefore, that by knowing the longi-tude of a place only, we are not from thenceable to ascertain its exact situation, any morethan we were from knowing the latitude only.We can tell under what meridian it lies, andwhat is its equatorial distance from the first me-ridian ; but something more must be under-stood, before we can fix its precise position uponthe globe. This knowledge is obtained, byfinding both the meridian and the parallel oflatitude of the place under consideration ; thepoint where these two circles intersect eachother being the true situation of the place pro-posed.

But it is not the situation of towns and pro-vinces only that we are so anxious to deter-mine : to apply these principles to the purposesof navigation, is a matter of still greater import-ance. In travelling by land, we are subject tofew inconveniencies ; but the calls of ambition,business and pleasure, have exposed men to newdangers. When the discovery of the compassinvited the voyager to quit the consolatory sightof his native shore, and to venture himself uponan unknown ocean, that knowledge, which hemight have thought but of little consequence

before,