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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN MATTHEW FLINDERS, R.N.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2011

Edited by
James Stanier Clarke  and
John McArthur
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Summary

Or oak, or brass, with triple fold,

Around that daring mortal's bosom roll'd,

Who first to the wild ocean's rage,

Launch'd the frail bark, and heard the winds engage

Tempestuous, when the south descends

Precipitate, and with the north contends;

Nor fear'd the stars portending rain,

Nor the loud tyrant of the western main.

Francis: Horace; od. i, 3.

CERTAINLY it is not one of the least of our national honors, that while, we have been gaining trophies on the ocean by the naval exploits of a Blake, a Hawke, or a Nelson, we have been erecting imperishable monuments of nautical fame, by the adventurous spirit of a Drake, a Dampier, and a Cook. Possibly future Britons may not feel more proud of that warlike display of the trident which has marked the eventful period of our history comprised within the prolonged reign of George III. than of those pacific, yet hazardous enterprises of navigation, for extending the bounds of natural knowledge, and conferring benefits upon, mankind. Nor among the celebrated names that in the various paths of life shed lustre upon the annals of this manly island, must the patriot navigator neglect a grateful tribute to that of Flinders.

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The Naval Chronicle
Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects
 , pp. 177 - 264
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010
First published in: 1814

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