An Enquiry into the Truth of the Tradition, Concerning the - Discovery of America, by Prince Madog ab Owen Gwynedd, about the Year, 1170 by John Williams
page 55 of 74 (74%)
page 55 of 74 (74%)
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own House, in Penzance, Cornwall. This is by no means impossible;
for with favourable Winds and strong Currents, a Ship may run above 14 miles in an Hour. The late celebrated Dr. Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia, in a letter to a Friend well known in the literary World, which I heard read, said that he was fully convinced that there was such a Current from West to East, and that he did not think that the Captain's remarkable Expedition impossible, nor even, altogether, improbable. It seems to me not a little strange that Lord Lyttelton should say, "that no certain Monument, Vestige or Memorial of Madog's Voyage was ever found." It is hardly possible that his Lordship would say it, if he saw Hornius, and some other authorities, above produced, especially Peter Martyr for we have above seen that many such Memorials were, and are now to be found in America. His Lordship, indeed, seems to have entertained a most contemptible opinion of the Ancient and the Modern Britons, as appears in his Letter from Snowdon. These Remarks, I presume, if they do not remove, yet very considerably weaken, Lord Lyttelton's Objections.[ss] [Footnote ss: Lord Lyttelton's, History of Henry the 2d. Book V. Note 339. 8th Edit. 1773.] I shall now confider Dr. Robertson's Observations on this Subject.[tt] [Footnote tt: History of America. Vol. I. p. 373. Edit. 1788.] |
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