fects e'er this, if they had not been call'd off by this War, from Houses of Convenience, to those of Strength. They have principally consulted the Advancement of Navigation, and the King has been most ready to reward those, that shall discover the Meridian. They have employ'd much Time in examining the Fabrick of Ships, the Forms of their Sails, the Shapes of their Keels, the Sorts of Timber, the planting of Fir, the bettering of Pitch, and Tar, and Tackling. And in all maritime Affairs of this Nature, his Majesty is acknowledg'd to be the best Judge amongst Seamen and Shipwrights, as well as the most powerful amongst Princes.
Sect. XXVIII. And the present Genius of our Nation..By these and many other Instances it appears, that the King has not only given Succour to the Royal Society, in the prosecution of their Labours; but has also led them on their Way, and trac'd out to them the Paths, in which they ought to tread. And with this propitious Inclination of his Majesty, and the highest Degrees of Men, the Genius of the Nation itself irresistibly conspires. If we reflect on all the past Times of Learning in our Island; we may still observe some remarkable Accidents, that retarded these Studies, which were still ready to break forth, in spight of all Opposition.
Till the Union of the two Houses of York and Lancaster, the whole Force of our Country was ingag'd in Domestick Wars, between the King and the Nobility, or in the furious Contentions between the divided Families: unless sometimes some magnanimous Prince was able to turn their Strength to foreign Conquests. In King Henry the Seventh the two Roses were join'd: His Government was like his ownTemper,
