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as now assigned to Captain Cook of attempting it, by reaching the high northern latitudes between Asia and America. So that the usual plan of discovery was reversed; and, instead of a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, one from the latter into the former was to be tried. For it was wisely foreseen, that whatever openings or inlets there might be on the east side of America, which lie in a direction that could give any hopes of a passage, the ultimate success of it would still depend upon there being an open sea between the west side of that continent and the extremities of Asia. Captain Cook, therefore, was ordered to proceed into the Pacific Ocean, through the chain of his new islands in the southern tropic; and, having crossed the equator into its northern parts, then to hold such a course as might probably fix many interesting points in geography, and produce intermediate discoveries, in his progress northward to the principal scene of his operations. [Footnote 33: It is due to history, and to the character of Cook, to mention a circumstance respecting his appointment to this expedition, which strikingly proves the high opinion entertained of his abilities for it, and, at the same time, his zeal for the promotion of useful discoveries, and the prosperity of his country. This is done from the information of Lord Sandwich, as communicated in the memoir of Cook inserted in the Biog. Brit. When the enterprise was determined on, it became of extreme consequence to select a proper person to undertake the execution of it. Captain Cook most naturally obtained this respect; and at once, without the possibility of rivalship, would have been appointed to the command, did not a conviction and feeling of sympathy for his former sufferings and important services, restrain his warmest friends from the slightest expression of what they unanimously desired. Concealing, therefore, their opinion, and avoiding every thing of the nature of solicitation, they, nevertheless, thought it advisable to consult his well-informed judgment relative to the nature of the undertaking, and the person most likely to perform it. For this purpose, Captain Cook, Sir Hugh Palliser, and Mr Stephens, were invited to dine with Lord Sandwich, when the whole affair was discussed. The representation of its magnitude, and beneficial consequences, roused the enthusiasm of the navigator; and starting up, he declared that he himself would undertake its accom
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