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go on an expedition against the Persians. He has been trying
all he can to tempt me to go with him, promising me a
vessel of some fame to be entirely at my command to g cruize about
the Caspian sea where I please and 150 other inducements
but I like not the object of the expedition nor the Commander.
had it been otherwise I might have been as you may say
mad enough to have gone.
These are all the of the Imperial places where Ships for war are built
as to Ships of Commerce. The commerce itself
is in such an undigested confused and insignificant
state except here in the Baltic that there are no Ships
at all belonging to those of the country anywhere else.
Here they have a few and seem to be endeavouring
to have more. They are however diffident of their
own countrymen and too jealous of etrangers
to make
any rapid advances. The neutrality of the flag and the
air of importance which they assume to foreign powers
operate a little and have made them fit out a parcel
of the most awkward and ill built of vessels existing
which they had been before employed in carrying
goods, only from between Petersbourg & Cranstadt, and
send them to England and other countries. Some of these
have dropt to pieces at Sea and others have been
nine and ten months in making their voyage, so
that the insurance is higher upon them on account
of the phisical danger of the sea than it is upon
English Ships notwithstanding the latter being exposed
to the danger from enemies. These matters I hope to be able to get a more
particular account of to send you one day or other, with an
some account of my late excursion and the other things
which I have promised.
I have not had time to do anything with Anderson's
paper on potatoes indeed the continuation I have not
and fear it is in a letter which is at Constantinople.
We seem now to have indeed very great discoveries on
this subject excellent matter for Div. But those papers
as well as "Experimenting" and bibliotheca maritime de
I am still in expectation of from your honour.
Mac-culloch's invention for tuning the unison strings
of harpsichords cannot possibly answer without some precaution
n which you have not mentioned. Independent of the probability
of the 2 parts requiring on account of their different size or
texture to be at an unequal elusion, it is impossible but
what the friction round the pin should make a difference in
the tension of the 2 parts. I cant help thinking there would be
a note difference. besides when it becomes to necessary to screw
up or let out the string the part which was before bent suddenly
to embrace the pin will upon being content to the straight
part be weakened or otherwise damaged.
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Identifier: | JB/539/096/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 539.
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1780-10-18 |
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539 |
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096 |
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002 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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