Varenius is a still more celebrated name in geographical science: he
excelled in mathematical geography; and such was his fame and merit in the
higher branches of physics, and his ingenuity in applying them to
geography, that a system of universal geography, which he published in
Latin, was deemed worthy by Newton, to be republished and commented upon.
Cellarius bestowed much pains on ancient geography. That branch of the
science which pays more especial regard to the distances of places, was
much advanced by Sanson, in France; Blew, in Holland; and Buraeus, in
Sweden.
We must now turn to the progress of commerce during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.
The discovery of a passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, gave
immediately a great impulse to commerce; whereas, it was a long time after
the discovery of America before commerce was benefited by that event. This
arose from the different state and circumstances of the two countries. The
Portuguese found in India, and the other parts of the East, a race of
people acquainted with commerce, and accustomed to it; fully aware of those
natural productions of their country which were in demand, and who had long
been in the habit of increasing the exportable commodities by various kinds
of manufactures. Most of these native productions and manufactures had been
in high estimation and value in Europe for centuries prior to the discovery
of the Cape.
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