epoch entirely new in its nature and description, and its termination
was only brought on by the great discovery of the passage to Asia, by
the Cape of Good Hope, and to America, by sailing straight out into
the Atlantic Ocean.

The nations that had till those discoveries been the best situated for
[end of page #3] commerce no longer enjoyed that advantage; by that
means it changed its abode; but not only did it change its abode, it
changed its nature, and the trifling commerce that had hitherto been
carried on by the intervention of caravans by land, or of little barks
coasting on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, (never venturing,
without imminent danger, to lose sight of the shore,) {7} was dropt for
that bold and adventurous navigation, connecting the most distant
parts of the world; between which since then large vessels pass with
greater expedition and safety than they formerly did between the
Grecian Islands, or from Italy to Africa.

Three inventions, two in commerce and the other in war, nearly of
equal antiquity, formed this into one of these epochs that gives a new
feature to things.

The discovery of the magnetic power of the needle improved and
totally altered navigation. The art of printing gave the means of
extending with facility, to mankind at large, the mode of
communicating thoughts and ideas, which had till then been attended
with great difficulty, and confined to a few. This placed men nearer
upon an equality with respect to mind, and greatly facilitated
commerce and the arts. The invention of gun-powder nearly at the
same time changed the art of war, not only in its manner, but in its
effect, a point of far greater importance. While human force was the