ftopher Columbus, the winds having long fet in from the Weft, the fea threw upon the coafts pieces of wood of a foreign growth, the like of which had not been seen in Europe, and even dead bodies that were known, by many effential discriminations, to be neither Europeans nor Africans. Columbus remarked too, while he remained upon these islands, certain winds that blew from the weft, and continued only a few days, which he therefore concluded were land winds. Nevertheless, with the advantage of thefe, and many more obfervations, and with the help of the compass befides, the difficulties he had to ftruggle with were fo great, that nothing but the fuccefs could juftify the enterprize; for, fuppofing the continent of the new world to have been only five hundred leagues farther to the West than in effect it is, a thing which Columbus could neither know nor prevent, he could never have reached it; and, it is more than probable, that if he had then mifcarried, this vast country had ftill been undifcovered. This remark will appear of more weight, when it is known that Columbus, though the ableft navigator of his time, was feized with fear and aftonishment in his fecond voyage to this new world; for, having at firft only found iflands, he fhaped his course in his next attempt more to the south, in order to difcover, if he could, the main land; but was fuddenly stopt in his career by currents, whose extent was fo confiderable, their direction fo full, and their oppofition fo great against him, that he was constrained to change his courfe, and purfue his difcoveries to the weft. He fancied that the obftacle which prevented his progrefs to the fouth was not fo much the currents as the rifing of the fea towards the canopy of heaven, which, for aught he knew, it might touch towards the fouth; fo true it is, that in the greatest enterprizes, the leaft unfavourable circumftance may turn the wifeft head, and enfeeble the ftouteft heart.

MOD. VOL. XXXVI.

С с

CHAP.

SECT. I.

Of Afia in General.

SIA is allowed to be, in all refpects, by far the most

A confiderable part of the world, and though our innate fondness for our own country makes us give the preference to Europe, yet Afia has many fingular advantages, which may juftly intitle it to the firft rank. It was in Afia that the great Author of nature planted the delicious gardeu of Eden, in which he placed the first man and woman, from whom the rest of mankind were to fpring. Afia became again the nursery of the world after it had been deftroyed by the flood, from which the defcendants of Noah difperfed their various colonies into all other parts of the globe. It was in Afia that God made choice of the delicious Canaan to place his favourite nation the Hebrews in. It was here that the great and merciful work of our redemption was accomplished by his divine Son; and it was from hence that the light of his glorious Gospel was carried into all nations by his difciples and followers. Here it was that the firft Chriftian churches were founded; the first councils held, the first bishopricks erected, and the Chriftian faith miraculously founded, promulgated, and watered with the blood of innumerable martyrs. Laftly, it was in Afia that not only the first edifices were reared, and the firft cities built, but likewife where the firft kingdoms and monarchies were founded, whilft the other parts of the world were, if at all, inhabited only by wild beafts.

Nor are thefe the only advantages this part of the world has over the other three; it exceeds them likewife in the largeness of its territories, the richness and fertility of its foil, the ferenity of its air, the deliciousness of its fruits, the falubrity of its drugs, the fragrancy and balfamic quality of its plants, fpices, and gums; the quantity, variety, beauty, and value of its gems; the fineness of its filks and cottons; the richness of its metals, and many more of the like nature: upon all which accounts it was always esteemed fo charming and delightful an abode, that it was the conftant feat of the greatest monarchies in the world. It

muft

triuft be owned, indeed, that fince the Turks, enemies to fcience, politenefs, and liberty, have been masters of so confiderable a part of it, it has quite therein loft its ancient fplendor, and, from the most polite and fruitful spot in all Afia, is become a wild uncultivated defart, and only confiderable fince that time for the rich commodities it affords; on which account it is ftill vifited and reforted to by mer chants of other nations. But thofe who have escaped the Turkish tyranny are ftill in a flourishing condition, which is rather to be attributed to the richness of the foil than the induftry of the inhabitants, who are juftly cenfured for their natural indolence, effeminacy, and luxury.

This effeminacy is chiefly owing to the warmth of the Afairs, climate, though perhaps heightened by custom and educa- why effemis tion, and the fymptoms of it are more or lefs apparent, as nate. they are feated nearer or farther from the north. It is plain that the fouthern climates are not productive of fuch robuft natures as the northern; whence it may be inferred, that thofe Afiatics, who live near the fame latitude with us, cannot be much inferior to us in this refpect; at leaft, it appears that several of them, particularly the Turks and Tartars, are men of as much ftrength and courage as any we know of. As to thofe who live in the more fouthern regions of Asia, what is wanting in the robuft frame of their bodies, feems, in a great meafure, made up to them by the vivacity of their minds, and ingenuity in various kinds of workmanship, which our moft skilful mechanics have in vain tried to imitate Whether the reflection coma monly caft on all Afiatic nations be altogether juít, that they are naturally exceffive admirers of monarchy, we will not pretend to determine, their princes having always kept them in fuch abject flavery, that they never had an opportunity of displaying their love of liberty, which, otherwife, we muft fuppofe to be as natural to them as the reft of mankind. Thus much, however, is certain, that many of those nations, upon the coming of the Dutch among them, could not conceive how it was poffible for any nation to live under a republican government, or, indeed, under any other form of it than a defpotic monarchy, which is the only one that obtains in all the parts of this extensive divifion of the globe. We fhall have occafion hereafter to make fome reflections on the confequences of this defpotifm.

In religion they ftill fhew ftronger marks of ftupidity, à Various res great part of Afia being over-run with Mohammedanifm, ligionse as Turkey, Arabia, part of Tartary, and India. In Perfia and the Mogul territories, they profeis the fame, but are

of the fect of Hali, which differs in fome particulars from

Sects of the

fier.

the Turks, though both own Mohammed for their lawgiver, and the Alcoran for their divine rule of faith and life. In other parts of Tartary, in China, Japan, Siam, &c. they are generally heathens and idolaters, entertaining strange notions of the Deity, or rather of their deities, and using the most extravagant rites in their worship of them. It may be faid, however, that their multiplicity of idols, and fuperftitious ceremonies to them, are only regarded by the populace, for whom they are chiefly calculated by their priests, in order to ferve the purposes of gain; but there are many excellent men, of too philofophical a turn of mind not to despise them in their hearts, whatever countenance they may seem to give them in outward appearance.

Befides thefe, there are feveral fects of the ancient PerTollowers fians, or followers of the great Zoroafter, dispersed all over of Zoroa- India, and other parts of Afia, who acknowlege but one fupreme Deity, and are diftinguifhed by the title of fireworshippers, because they worship it under the fymbol of that element: thefe are enemies to all kinds of idolatry, imagery, temples, and the like, which they look upon as derogatory to the Supreme Being, who neither can nor ought to be reprefented by images, nor confined in temples. The Brachmans, reckoned the most confiderable amongst thofe fects, are of a very humane difpofition, lead a contemplative life, feed only on vegetables, and are so far from killing any living animals for their ufe, or even noxious ones in their own defence, that they build even hospitals for the maintenance of fuch, efpecially the domeftic, as are decayed, through age, accident, or other infirmities.

Chriflianity Afia, as above obferved, was the theatre of the first proearly plant- mulgation of Chriftianity, which spread itself with fuch ed in Ajia. furprising celerity and fuccefs, that, even in the apoftolic

age, it had reached as far as India, if not beyond, and was almost every where received and profeffed. But as the unworthiness of thofe converts produced that denunciation revealed to St. John, the churches of Afia Minor were abandoned to perfecution, and, in the end, utterly destroyed by the inundation of the northern barbarians, Saracens, Tartars, and Turks. And though the pure light of the Gospel could never be totally extinguifhed by any of them, great numbers of Chriftians having continued faithful to it, in moft parts of Afia, yet the tyranny of the Mohammedan governments has always fo endeavoured to obfcure it, and to keep its profeffors under fuch feryile fubjection, that

a Apocal. ii. 5.

their condition, even at this day, is rather a state of oppreffion and mifery, than of pity and toleration.

Afia is fituated between 25 and 148 degrees of eastern Situation longitude, and between the equator and 72 degrees of and limits north latitude; and is divided from Europe by the Archi- of Afia. pelago, the Black Sea, and the Palus Mæotis; and thence by a line from the river Tanais, or Don, almost to the river Oby in Mufcovy: from Africa it is feparated by the Red Sea; and from America by the great South Sea, or Pacific Ocean. It is bounded on the weft by the Black Sea and the Mediterranean; on the fouth and eaft by the Arabic, Perfian, Indian, and Chinese oceans; but how far it reaches that way is not known; and on the north by the frozen ocean: so that aimoft on every fide it is furrounded by the fea; only it must be observed, that its limits northwards were not difcovered till the reign of the late czar Peter the Great, from whofe furvey a map of all Ruffia was afterwards printed at Amfterdam. According to which, this northern fea begins at a little beyond the 70th degree of latitude, and extends eastward from Greenland along the coafts of Mufcovy, Siberia, &c. till it joins the orien tal, or Japonefe fea; yet how far it may reach northward is not yet known with any certainty.

Afia comprehends to the amount of about thirty-nine Afiatic emmonarchies or fovereignties, four of which are ftyled en- pires and tire empires, as Perfia, the territories of the great Mogul, kingdoms.") China, and Japan; the most confiderable fhare of two other empires, as Turkey and Ruffia, is in Europe. It has next to these thirty-three kingdoms, twenty-fix of which are on Terra Firma, and the other feven in iflands.

Of the inland kingdoms are thofe of, 1. Yemen, and, 2. Sartach, in Arabia. 3. Vizapor. 4. Golconda. 5. Bifnagar. 6. Calicut, and, 7. Cochin, in the peninfula on the other fide the Ganges. 8. Siam. 9. Cambaya. 10. Ava, or Pegu. 11. Acham. 12. Aracham. 13. Tonquin. 14. Cochinchina, and, 15. Jaos, in the peninfula on the other fide the Ganges. 16. Barantola, or Laffa. 17. Neckbat. 18. Cogua, or Great Thibet. 19. Nanyu. 20. Little Thibet. 21. Kalghar. 22. Corea. 23. Samarcand, and, 24. Becha, in Great Tartary. 25. Mingrelia, and, 26. Imeretia, in Georgia.

The infular kingdoms are, 1. The Maldivia Iles. 2. Candi, in the ifle of Ceylon. 3. Achem. 4. Materan. 5. Borneo, in the islands of thofe names in the Sound. 6. Macaffar; and, 7. Ternate, in the Molucca Iflands.

Befides thefe, we may reckon four dominions established here by the Europeans, as, 1. Of the Spaniards in the Phi

Cc 3

lippine