inolescere libro Virg. Georg. l. 2. Whence books are called Libri and Codices for liber properly is interior tunica corticis quae ligno cohaeret in quâ antiqui scribebant as Isiodor defines it The Indians of the East used such a kinde of writing as Q. Curtius mentions l. 8. libri Arborum teneri haud secus quà m Cerae litterarum notas capiunt They wrote also in the leavs of certain reeds which Isaiah called papyr-reeds Isa. 19. 7. growing in the marishes of Egypt which reed â—or sedge is called Biblus or Byblos so Lucan Nondum flumineas Memphis contexere biblos Noverat Which the Translator doth english papyr The River yet had not with papyr serv'd Aegypt Tho. May. From which term or name of Biblos books are by the Grecians called Bibloi and biblia dimunitively and that book of books the Bible because books were usually made of this kinde of reed or sedge and the manner was thus they divided these leaves into thin flakes called Phylirae into which they naturally divide themselves then laying them on a smooth table and moistning them with the water of Nilus which is of a glutinous nature they placed one cross under the other like a woof and warp in a weavers loom then having pressed them they set them to dry in the Sun as Pliny relates in l. 13. of his Natural History The Roman Laws called the Laws of the 12 Tables were written in leaves or tables of brass Smal boards or tables of wood waxed were in frequent use among the later Romans to write in which were called Cerei pugillares in sundry Authors and Ceratae tabulae or tabellae whence Letter-carriers were called Tabellarii These were the Writing tables that Zacharias called for Luke 1. 36. Write these things upon a table Isa. 30. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuagint box tables These boards were somtimes made of Box and Cedarâ—wood whence that of the Poet Persius Cedro digna locutus He spake things worthy to be written in Cedar and worthy of immortality Eumenes King of Pergamus devised a way to dress the skins of beasts and to make them fit for writing as Vellam Parchment This latter is called Pergamum from the Town of Pergamus where it was first made But the modern invention of paper surpasseth all in this kinde My Lord Bacon reckons it inter monodica artis among the singularities of Art as being a singular and excellent invention adeo ut inter materias artificiales vix inveniatur simile aliquid saith he it is a web or piece of cloth that is made without a Loom without spinning or weaving as a modern Poet is pleased to describe it Denique compacta est nullo subtemine tela Exuperans candore nives AEtate metella c. It derives its pedigree from the dung-hill being made of rags and things cast out of doors as useless we do not go to the expence of making it of Cotton-wool as the Mexicans do but of nasty clouts Magnarum usque adeo sordent primordia rerum of so mean a birth and original is this commodity Quâ humanitas vitae memoria maximè constat imo quâ hominum immortalitas as Plin. lib. 13. cap. 11. which Grotius describes thus Nunc aurata comas sicco pumice laevis Charta senis scabri fascia nuper eram In some parts of the East they make paper of silk as was to be seen in Ferdinand Imperatus his Cabinet of Rarities Now speak we of the active instruments or those wherewith we write The two Tables of the Law were written with a miraculous pen to wit Gods own finger for writing in brass or lead they had certain Graving tools that were hollow called by the Latines câ—lum and celtes from the hollowness thereof In waxen tables they wrote with pointed bodkins of iron steel or brass called stylus this was sharp at one end for to make impression in that wax but it was flat and broad and somwhat hooked at the other end for to scrape or blot out the letter if need were Men write in glass with pointed Diamonds which yeild to be cut by nothing else except the Smiris or Emeril In ancient paper made of seggs they wrote with a reed called calamus scriptorius arundo which kinde of reed grew much about Memphis and Cnidos and the banks of Nile Dat Chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tell us In parchment and the modern paper they write with a pen or quil pluckt from the wing of some Fowl called by Ausonius Fissipes from the slit that is made in it for to let down Ink which is a very useful invention and commended by an ingenious Muse of the Low Countries Praeteritos reddit praesentes prorogat annos Invidiamque feri temporis una domat Absenti loquitur laedit rostraâ—a juvatque Dumque aliis vitaÌ„ foenerat ipsa caret Past years it rescues makes the present spread To ages and times envy striketh dead Instructs the absent hurts and helps at need And wanting life makes others live indeed Opmerius makes mention of the three last in his Chronicle In pugillares scribebant stylis ferreis in papyros autem arundineis calamis postmodum etiam avium pennis so he Some write with coals but the verse tells you who they are Stultorum calami carbones moenia chartae The Cutlers of Damascus write in iron steel and brass with corroding waters only wherewith they make frets of curious figures and characters in sundry colours as may be seen on Turkish Scimiters and those Gladii Damascinati Swords made at that City of Damascus beautified with Damask work and Embroidery It lasts long for with one pen did Dr Holland a Physitian of Coventry a learned and industrious man write out the great Volume of Pliny translated into English by himself which for a memorial a Lady preserved and bestowed a silver case upon it The Queen of Hungary in the year 1540 had a silver pen bestowed upon her which had this Inscription on it Publii Ovidii Calamus Found under the ruines of some Monument in that Country as Mr Sands in the life of Ovid prefixt to his Metamorphosis relates CAP. V. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OF Printing and Printing-Presses THis is a divine benefit afforded to mankind saith Polydor Virgil an Art that is second or inferiour to none saith Cardan either for wit or usefulness it puts down hand-writing for neatness and expedition for by this more work is dispatched in one day then many Librarians or book-writers could do in a year Quam nulla satis mirabitur aetas Ars Coelo delapsa viris consumere nata Materiem veloxque omnes transcribere libros Cum positis quadrata acie miro ordine signis This Art by multiplying books hath multiplyed knowledge and hath brought to our cognizance both persons and actions remote from us and long before our time which otherwise had perished in oblivion and never
shorter or longer according to the heat or coldness of the weather Then for the Sun-dyals they did serve but at some times only by day time and then not alwaies neither but when the Sun shined To remedy these defects some wits did cast about how to distinguish the hours of the night as well as of the day and of cloudy days as well as of serene and clear Hereupon some Engines and contrivances have been composed by Trochilique art or the artifice of Wheels which by the motion of several Wheels and Springs and Weights and counterpoizes should give an account of the time without Sun or Stars and these were called Horologes Severinus Boetius a worthy Patrician of Rome and a most eminent Pâ—ilosopher and Mathematician was the first that I finde that contrived any Engine of this sort Theodoricus King of the Goths wrote a Letter to the said Boetius to beg one from him for to bestow on his brother in law Gundibald King of Burgundy in which Letter he calls it Machinam mundo gravidam Caelum gestabile rerum compendium A portable heaven and a compendium of the heavenly Sphears as Cassiodor hath it who was the penman in the first book of his variae lectiones Aaron King of Persia sent such an Instrument for a present to Charâ—s the great King of France in the year 804. it was made of Copper Arte Mechanica mirifice compositum saith Hermannus Contractus who doth describe the same more largely in his history Of these Horologes some are mute and some vocal Vocal I call those which by the sound of a Bell striking at just intervals and periods of time do proclaim the hour of the day or night yea even half hours and minutes by the benefit whereof even blinde men that can see neither Sun nor shaddow and those that lie in their beds may know how the time goes and how long they have bin there although they slept all the while and are properly called Clocks from the French word Cloche a Bell. It rota nexa rot is tinnulaque aere sonant Mute Horologes are such as perform a silent motion and do not speak the time of the day but point at it with an Index such as are Sun-dyals and Watches the last of which go by springs and wheels as the others by weights and wheels yet some of these are vocal too and carry Bells and Alarums to signifie unto us the stealth of time Many carry Watches about them that do little heed the fabrick and contrivance or the wit and skill of the workmanship as there be many that dwell in this habitable world that do little consider or regard the wheel-work of this great Machin and the fabrick of the house they dwell in A King of China upon his first seeing of a Watch thought it a living creature because it moved so regularly of it self and thought it dead when it was run out and its pulses did not beat The wit of man hath been luxuriant and wanton in the Inventions of late years some have made Watches so small and light that Ladies hang them at their ears like pendants and jewels the smalness and variety of the tools that are used about these small Engines seem to me no less admirable then the Engines themselves and there is more Art and Dexterity in placing so many Wheels and Axles in so small a compass for some French Watches do not exceed the compass of a farthing then in making Clocks and greater Machines The Emperour Charls the fifth had a Watch made in the Collet or Jewel of a Ring and King James had the like and one Georgius Caput Blancus or George Whitehead was expert at making such knacks at Vicenza in Italy as Schottus tells us in his Itinerary of that Country Andrew Alciat the great Civilian of France had a kinde of a Clock in his chamber that should awake him at any hour of the night that he determined and when it struck the determined hour it struck fire likewise out of a slint which fell among tinder to light him a candle it was the invention of one Caravagio of Sienna in Italy In some Towns of Germany and Italy there are very rare and elaborate Clocks to be seen in their Town-Halls wherein a man may read Astronomy and never look up to the skies Sydereos vultus Cantataque vatibus Astra Non opus est Coelo quaerere quaere domi So Grotius of these Globes In the Town-Hall of Prague there is a Clock that shews the annual and periodical motions of the Sun and Moon the names and numbers of the moneths days and Festivals of the whole year the times of the Sun-rising and setting throughout the year the Aequinoxes the length of the days and nights the rising and setting of the 12 Signes of the Zodiack The age of the Moon with its several Aspects and Configurations as George Bruy describes it in Theatro Urbium But the Town of Sraesburgh carries the bell of all other steeples of Germany in this point A Scheme of the Strasburg clock you may finde in Coriats Travels with a full description thereof it was made by one Conradus Dasypodius a German and Professor of the Mathematiques in that City One Linnus a Jesuite of Liege and an Englishman by birth as Kircher tells me had a Phial or Glass of water wherein a little Globe did float with the four and twenty Letters of the Alphabet described upon it and on the inside of the Globe was an Index or Stile to which the Globe did turn and move it self at the period of every hour with that letter which denoted the hour of the day successively as though this little Globe kept pace and time with the heavenly motions Gassend de vita Peyresci Kircher above mentioned had a Vessel of water in which just even with the he â—ghe and surface of the water the twenty four hours were described upon the water he set a piece of a Cork and therein some seeds of a certain Heliotrope flower which like the flower it self would turn the cork about according to the course of the Sun and with its motion point the hour of the day ibid. Iâ— that famous Stable of the Duke of Saxony at Dresden there is a Room furnished with all manner of Saddles among the rest there is one that in the Pommel hath a guilded head with eyes continually moving and in the hinder part there of hath a Clock as M. Morison an eye witness relates in his Travels Of a portable Clock or Watch take this ensuing Epigram of our Countryman Thomas Campian de Horologio Portabili Tempor is interpres parvum congestus in orbem Qui memores repet is nocte dieque sonos Ut semel instructus jucundè sex quater hor as Mobilibus retulis irrequietus agis Nec mecum quocunque feror comesire gravar is Annumerans vitae damna levansque meae Times-Teller wrought into a little round Which
come to our ears To whom we owe this Invention we do not certainly know it is one of the Inventa Adespota of the masterless Inventions Laus veterum est meruisse omnis praeconia famae Et sprevisse simul Ancient Worthies were more studious of doing good then ambitious of Fame or praise for so doing That it is a Dutch invention is agreed upon by most voices O Germanica muneris repertrix Quo nihil utilius dedit vetustas Libros scribere quae doces premendo But whether higher or lower Germany shall have the honour of it is yet in strife and undecided and in the upper Germany whether Mentz or Basil or Strasburg for all these do chalenge it and do no less contend for the birth place of this mistery then the Grecians Cities did for the Cradle of Homer The general voice is for Mentz and one John Guttemberg Fust as others term him a Knight and Citizen of that City to have been the true Father or Inventor of this Art about the year 1440. as we have heard it boldly affirmed by the Citizens of that City saith Polydor l. 2. de Invent. rerum c. 7. for a testimony hereof they produce a copie of Tully's Offices printed in parchment and preserved in the Library of Ausburg bearing this memorandum at the latter end of it Praesens M. Tullii opus clarissimum Jo. Fust Moguntinus Civis non Atramento plumali Cannâ neâ— aereâ sed arte quâ dam per pulchrâ manu Petri Gerskeim pueri mei foeliciter effeci finitum Anno 1440. die 4º mense Feb. This is cited by Salmuth in his Annotations on Pancirollus who stands stifly for Germany his own Country in this point and cites another argument from the Library of Francfort wherein an old copie of the decisions of the Rota are kept at the latter end thereof it is said that it was printed in Civitate Moguntiae artis impressoriae inventrice elimatrice primâ But Hadrianus Junius a very learned man of the Low Countries is as stiff on the other side for Haerlem and thinks to câ—â—ry it clearly from the High Dutch and make the Town of Haerlem the birth place of this Noble Art You may see what esteem men do make of it when they do so zealously strive and contend for the original Invention of it his Junius tells us in his History of the Netherlands that one Laurence John a Burger of good Note and Quality of Haerlem was the first Inventer of it and saith that he made Letters first of the barks of Trees which being set and ranked in order and clapt with their heels upward upon paper he made the first essay and experiment of this Art At first he made but a line or two then whole pages and then books but printed on one side only Which rudiments of the Art Junius saw in that Town After this the said Lawrence made Types or characters of Tin and brought the Art to â—urther perfection daylie but one John Faustus infaustus to him whom he had employed for a Compositor and who had now learn'd the mystery stole away by night all the Letters and other Utensils belonging to the Trade and went away with them to Amsterdam first thence to Collen and lastly to Mentz where he set up for himself and the first fruit and specimen of his Press there was the Doctrinal of one Alexander Gallus which he printed Anno Dom. 1440. Thus far Junius from the relations of sundry grave ancient Burgomasters of Haerlem Hegenitz a Traveller saith that the house of Lawrence John is yet standing in the Market place of Haerlem with this Inscription in golden Letters over the door Memoriae sacrum Typographiae Ars Artium Conservatrix hic primum inventa circa An. 1440. Vana quid Architypos Praela Moguntia jactas Harlemi Archetypos praelaque nota scias Extulit hic monstrante Deo Laurentius Artem Dissimulare virum hunc dissimulare Deum est So Petrus Scriverius who calls it palladium praesidium tutelam Musarum omnis Doctrinae Joseph Scaliger contends that the first Printing was upon wooden Tables the Letters being cut or carved in them and he saith that he had seen Horologium Beatae Mariae to wit our Ladies hours done upon Parchment after such a manner in his answer against Shcioppus called Confutatio Fabulae Burdomanae Yet let not the Germans or any others be too proud of this Invention for the Chinois had such an art long before the Europeans saw or heard any thing of it as it is affirmed by Parus Maffeus and sundry others of his fellow-Jesuites that have travelled that Country One Nicol. Trigault that had been of late years in that Country affirms that that Nation had this art above 500 years since But their Printing and ours do very much differ from one another for they do not print by composing of Letters but as we use for Maps and such pieces they make for every leaf a board or table with characters on both sides which is more laborious and less neat then the European way as Gonsalvo Mendoza a Spanish Frier and others do affirm of it Now if our Printing surpass for neatness and expedition and is so far different from that of the Chinois as is before alledged it is a signe that the Germans did not borrow from them this art so that the praise and commendation of this Invention remains to them whole and entire without diminution Mrs. Joan Elizabeth Weston one of the Muses of England hath composed a Latine Poem among sundry others of her compositions in the praise of this art which is indeed the preserver of all other arts AS Printing it self is praise worthy so some Print-houses deserve here to be remembred especially that of Christopher Plantin at Antwerp which a Traveller doth not stick to call Octavum orbis miraculum the eighth wonder of the world He describes it thus Over the Gate is Plantine's own Statue made of Freeze-stone and of Moret his Son in Law and Successor in the Office and also of Justus Lipsius with his Motto Moribus Antiquis Here are twelve Presses and near upon an hundred sorts of Characters two sorts of Syriac ten of Hebrew nine of Greek forty seven of Latine and the rest of several other Languages with Musical characters of sundry sorts and admirable brass cuts for Frontispieces of books Here that excellent work called the King of Spain's Bible was done The first Printing Press in England was set up in Westminster Abby by Simon Islip Anno 1471. and William Caxton was the first that practised it there as Stowe in his Survey of London affirms CAP. VI. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR The Art of Limning and Painting PAinting comes near an Artificial Miracle saith Sir Henry Wotton to make divers distinct eminences appear upon a Flat by force of shaddows and yet the shaddows themselves not to appear is the uttermost value and vertue of a Painter saith that
in his description of those Islands The Prophets of old wore garments made of Hair whence Elias is called vir pilosus the hairie man 2 Reg. 1. 8. St John the Baptist had a garment made of Camels hair Matth. 3. 4. Grograms are made of Goats hair pulled from off their backs which kinde of Goats Bâ—bequius reports that he had seen in Asia whose hair was very fine and glistering not inferior to silk and hanging to the very ground they have four horns saith Seal Ex. 199. Camelots or Chamlets are made of Camels hair which is so fine especially those of Persian race that they may compare with Milesian wool for fineness as Aelian reports and the great ones used to wear thereof in those Countries Flax and hemp were first drest in Aegypt Fine linnen with broydered work and sails first came from Aegypt saith the Prophet Ezek. C. 27. V. 7. and the Aegyptians are decyphered by this periphrasis in Isaiah They that work in fine flax and weave Net-works Isa. 19. 9. The Aegyptian priests did alwaies weave linnen in the Temples and therefore are termed linigeri so did the Jewish Priests their Ephods Miters and other Vestures were linnen and so the Priests of most Nations Velati lino verbena tempora vincti Virgil. Of finest Flax their Vestures are And on their heads they vervain wear The fine linnen so often mentioned by Moses for the holy garments is made of the Bombase or Cotton that grows in balls upon certain shrubs which kind of shrub is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Theophrast the Wool-bearing Tree and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 simply the Tree whence Linum Xylinum in Tremellius his Translation is still rendred in the English Bible fine linnen so that the fine linnen vestments of the Priests were made of Bombase as the learned Salmasius hath observed in his Exercitations upon Solinus so that the wool-bearing Trees in Aethiopia which Virgil speaks of and the Eriophori arbores in Theophrastus are not such trees as have a certain wool or dowl upon the outside of them as the mall-Cotton but short trees that bear a ball upon the top pregâ—ant with wool which the Syrians call Cott the Grecians Gossypium the Italians Bombagio and We Bombase But I believe that some part of their vesture was also of Flax Mundissima lini seges indatui amictui sanctissimis Aegyptiorum Sacerdotibus usurpatur saith Apuleius in Apologia Hadrianus Junius a most learned man in his description of the Netherlands doth highly extol the fine linnen made by the soft hands of the Belgick Nuns in Holland and the Town of Cambray called from thence Hollands and Cambricks quarum cum nive certat candor cum sindone tenuitas cum bysso pretium so he speaks of them and calls them Regum Reginarum praecipuas delicias the chiefest delight of Kings and Queens There is a certain Shell-fish in the Sea called pinna that bears a mossie dowl or wool whereof cloth was spun and made as Tertullian speaks in his book de pallio Et Arbusta nos vestiunt de mari vellera These are his words not only Trees afford wool but also the Sea to clothe us withal this wool or moss is so soft and delicate that it is nothing inferiour to silk saith Lacerda and therefore he calls it Byssum marinum Sea silk in his notes upon Tertullian though the true Byssus be lost and also the Carbasus whence Carbasinae vestes insomuch that great Clerks can scarce tell us what they were but that fine Stuffs were anciently made of them One Ferdinand Imperatus a Drugster of Naples a great storer of exotique and domestique Rarities had some of this Sea-silk both weaved and unweaved and also the Shell-fish that did bear it Men have found a way not only arbores Nere sed lapides not only to spin threads from Trees as Tertullian speaks of the Seres but also from stones There is a stone called Lapis Caristius and Lapis Cyprius from the Countries that this stone or mineral is found to wit Cyprus as Strabo and mount Caristus in Attica as Trallianus and Dioscorides report it is like Allom in colour and being beaten with a Mallet it shews like a small hair therefore called Trichitis or the hayrie stone by some Greek Authors Alumen Plumaceum or downy Alom by the Latinists it is also called for the resemblance of it villus Salamandrae Salamanders wool This hair or dowl is spun into thread and weaved into cloth and the cloth so made hath this strange property that being cast into the fire it will not burn but if it be foul or stained comes forth more bright and clean out of the flames it is therefore called also Amiantus Ferdinand Imperatus before mentioned had a piece of this cloth much like white silk Of this hairy stone some made wick for candles that would not consume or burn out such a candle was made by Callimachus and hung up in the Temple of Minerva at Athens as Salmasius relates in his Plinianae exercitationes There was a vegetable of this kinde a sort of Flax called by the Grecians Asbestos and Asbestinos that had the like property with the mineral before mention'd saith the same Salmasius whereof Pliny makes mention in l. 9. of his History c. 1 and calls it Indian flax and linum vâ—vum quick inconsumptible flax Solinus makes mention of some sayls made in Crete of this stuff quae inter ignes valebant as he saith that would not take fire if it hath this property indeed it is pity to put it to such vulgar use as to serve for sayls that would better serve at our tables for if men had table-clothes and napkins of this stuff they might prefet them before Diapers and Damasks for it would save some cost no small trouble in washing and drying such houshold implements it is but throwing them into the fire and they are presently washed and dryed at once Pliny indeed esteemed it equivalent to pearl and precious stone for it was hard to be found and difficult to be weaved for the shortness of it as he says the bodies of Kings were used to be wrapt in this kinde of cloth when they were to be burnt that the ashes might be preserved unmixt for to be laid up in urns or pitchers as the manner then was Pliny saw some Napkins of this sort in his time and the experiment of their purifying demonstrated One Podocattar a Cyprian Knight and who wrote de rebus Gypriis in the year 1566. had both flax and cloth of this sort with him at Venice and one Thomas Porcacchius hath seen the same in that Knights house and many others with him as he relates in his work concerning the Rites of Funerals Ludovicus Vives also saw a Towel of that kinde at Louaine in Brabant as he relates in his Commentary upon St Augustine de Civitate Dei l. 21. c. 6. Baptista Porta saw the same
meat from the hand of Tiberius he mentions elsewhere repentes inter pocula sinusque innoxiâ—olapsu Dracones l. 2. de Ira. Dragons that crept upon mens tables among their cups and harmlesly along their bosomes and the four-legged Serpents in Cairo were tame and harmless that wee spake of before in the Chapter of Musick 3. For Birds and wilde Fowle we may instance in the Estridges that were put to draw a Coach in Eagles that are trained in Turky like Hawks to fly at any fowl in the Crow that Scaliger saw in the French Kings Court that was taught to flye at Partridges or any other fowl from the Falconers fist and lastly in Wilde Ducks that are tamed and made Decoyes to intice and betray their fellows which is commonly known 4. Then fourthly for things in the Sea that have been tamed we may instance in a fish called the Manati or Sea-Cow well known about Hispaniola and other places of the West-Indies it hath the form of a Cow and hath four feet and comes often to land to eat grass Peter Martyr in his Decads speaks of an Indian Cacique or Lord of the Countrey that had one of these tame Cows that would eat meat out of his hands and was as sportfull as an Ape would carry his sons and servants sometimes ten of them at a time on his back and waft them over a great Lake from one shore to another We may instance also in the Sea-Horse that hath been tamed and made tractable to carry men on his back as Leo Afer reports of one he had seen in his History of Africa and in the Fish called Reversus by whose help and admirable industry the Indians used to catch Fish in the Sea as Bodin relates in the third book of his Theatrum Naturae He is let loose at the prey as the Greyhound from the slip as Purchas saith and Peter Martyr hath the like story of it in his Decads Pliny speaks the same of Dolphins which he had seen in some places to be used for to catch Fish and to bring them to shore and upon receiving some part of the prey to go their ways and if they failed in some point of service they suffered themselves patiently to be corrected as Setting-Dogs and Qua-Ducks or Decoy Ducks as we commonly call them use to be This same is affirmed of the Dolphins by Oppianus a learned Writer in his Halieuticks Otters have been tamed and taught to drive Fish into the Net as Dogs use to drive cattle into the Fold as Cardan relates But this is not all wilde beasts and birds have been tamed not only for the service but also for the pleasure and pastime of man As man hath learn'd some Arts from them so they have learn'd some from man Camels have been taught to dance as the African Leo hath seen in his Country Elephants have also been taught the same and not only on the earth but also in the air ambulare per funem to dance upon the Ropes Seneca is my Author for it Epist. 85. The manner of teaching them to dance is thus They bring some young Elephant or Camel upon a floor of earth that hath been heated underneath and they play on a Cittern or Tabor while the poor beast lifts up his stumps from the hot floor very often more by reason of the heat then any lust to dance and this they practise so often until the beast hath got such a habit of it that when ever he hears any Musique he falls a dancing Bubsequius saw a dancing Elephant in Constantinople and the same Elephant playing at ball tossing it to another man with his Trunk and receiving it back again Michael Neander saw in Germany a bear brought from Poland that would play upon the Tabor and dance some measures yea dance within the compass of a round Cap which he would afterwards hold up in his paw to the Spectators to receive money or some other boon for his pains There was a dance of Horses presented at the marriage of the Duke of Florence which Sir Kenelm Digby mentions An Asse hath not so dull a soul as some suppose for Leo Afer saw one in Africa that could vie feats with Bankes his Horse that rare Master of the Caballistick Art whose memory is not forgotten in England The Sybarites a people of Italy being given to delicacies had taught some Horses to dance The Crotonians hearing thereof and preparing War against them for some former quarrel brought with them some Flutes and Flutinists to the War who had direction to pipe it as loud as they could when the Sybarites were ready to charge with their Horse whereupon the Sybarites Horses instead of rushing upon the Enemy fell a dancing and so gave the victory to the Enemies thereby as three grave Authors have recorded Diod. Sic. l. 12. Ael l. 16. c. 23. Plin. l. 8. C. 42. A Baboon was seen to play upon the Guittaâ— and a Monky in the King of Spain's Court was very skilful at Chess-play Some birds have been taught to speak mans language and to utter whole sentences of Greek and Latine articulately There were seen in Rome Stares Pyes and Crows that could do this to the admiration of all men Cardinal Ascanio had a Parrot that could repeat the Apostles Creed verbatim in Latine and in the Court of Spain there was one that could sing the Gamâ— ut perfectly and if he was out he would say No va bueno That is not well but when he was right he would say Bueno va Now it is well as John Barnes an English Frier relates in a most learned Book of his De Aequivocatione What witty feats and tricks Dogs have been taught to do are so well known that I may spare instances of this kind Many of these examples that I have produced to make good the Title of this Chapter and the Apostles saying above-mentioned are briefly sum'd up by Martial in his Book of Shows the 105th Epigr. which I have here annexed with the Translation of M. Hen. Vaughan Silurist whose excellent Poems are publique Picto quod juga delicata collo Pardus sustinet improbaeque Tygres Indulgent patientiam flagello Mordent aurea quod lupata Cervi Quod Frâ—nis Lybici domantur Ursi Et quantum Caledon tulisse fertur Paret purpureis Aper Capistris Turpes essed a quod trahunt Bisontes Et molles dare jussa quod choreas Nigro Bellua nil negat Magistro Quis spectacula non putet Deorum Haec transit tamen ut minora quisquis Venatus humiles videt Leonum c. That the fierce Pard doth at a beck Yield to the Yoke his spotted neck And the untoward Tyger bear The whip with a submissive fear That Stags do foam with golden bits And the rough Lybic bear submits Unto the Ring that a wild Boar Like that which Caledon of Yore Brought forth doth mildly put his head In purple Muzzles to
credimus ausi Mansuram rudibus vocem signare figuris Phoenicians that if Fame we dare believe To Humane Speech first Characters did give Among the Phoenicians Cadmus had the honour of this Invention whence one calls letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and another ingellas Cadmi filias the black and swarthy daughters of Cadmus But the truth is they did but borrow them from the Hebrews as all other Nations did though perhaps by adding some few or varying and altering their form and character they seem now to have different Alphabets Herm. Hugo The Librarians of old who lived by writing books which others had made were very admirable in handling the pen as appears by ancient manuscripts which are so neatly and artificially done as if they were printed Some of the latter age have been excellent in this Mistery One Francis Alumnus did write the Apostles Creed and the first fourteen verses of St John's Gospel in the compass of a penny and in full words which he did in the presence of the Emperour Charles the 5th and Pope Clement the 7th as Genebard relates in his Chronologie and Sim. Maiolus out of him who had also in his own possession such a miracle as he calls it or the very same I believe Nos domi idem miraculum servamus these are his words in his 23d Colloquy Pliny hath a parallel example of one whom he doth not name that wrote all the Iliad of Homer in a piece of Parchment that was so little that it was conteined in a Nutshel Cicero and others mention the same though Lancelotti puts it among his Farfalloni and reckons it for one of the popular errors of Pliny I read of one Thomas Sweicker a Dutchman who being born without hands and arms could write with his feet and that elegantly he could also make his pen with his feet and many other feats which I finde expressed in these verses Mira fides pedibus dextre facit omnia Thomas Cui natura Parens brachia nulla dedit Namque bibit pedibus pedibus sua Fercula sumit Voluit his libros praeparat his calamos Quin litterulas pede tam benè pingere novit Artificis superet grammata Ducta manu Maximus hoc Caesar stupuit quondam Aemilianus * Donaque scribenti largus honest a dedit The Duke of Saxony doth keep some Copies of his Writing among his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Rarities as Fel. Platerus relates in his observations There was a woman in this Kingdom of late years that could write with her feet and do many other things to the wonder of the beholders and went about the Kingdom Besides the common way of Writing there are some misteries and secret ways and that either by abbreviation setting a letter for a word and a word for a sentence for brevity sake as the Hebrews and Romans anciently used to do or else by using different characters from the common and vulgar ones such as none can read or understand but the author or deviser of them and such as he is pleased to impart the mysterie to and give him a key to decipher and open the secret by which sort of characters the Ancients used to call Furtivas notas and Sifras and Ziglas and the Art it self Ziglography and Brachygraphy it is very useful for two respects 1. For haste and brevity 2. For privacy and secrecy 1. For brevity and expedition it is a good way to take a speech or a sermon or any thing else that is dictated as fast as it is spoken hereby the Notaries hand will keep pace with the speakers tongue and out-strip it too Currant verbalicet tamen est velocior illis Nondum lingua suum dextra peregit opus This is scribere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Cicero Ep. 13. l. 5. ad Atticum Dion ascribes the invention to Mecoenas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He first found saith he these Abbreviatures and compendious way of Writing for expeditions sake Hic erit foelix scriptor cui litterum verbum est Quique notis linguam superet cursumque lequentis Excipiat longas nova per compendia voces 2. This Ziglography is useful for secrecy or privacy ad elusionem examinis for hereby a man may carry a letter open in his hand and understand never a word of it and they that make no Religion of opening letters finde themselves deluded which is of good use in time of war and at other times against paperpyrats that lie in wait for such poor booties Quod ad te de decem legatis scripsi parum intellexti credo quia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scripseram saith Cicero to his friend Atticus who did not understand all the letter that Cicero had written unto him because he had written part of it in characters Julius Caesar had found out such a device for secrecie sic structo litterarum ordine ut nullum verbum effici posset he did so tumble invert and transpose the Alphabet in his writing that no man could pick any sense out of it and this he devised when he began to think of the Roman Monarchy and was by him used but to private and tryed friends that were his confederates and privie to his Designe An Appendix of the Instruments of Writing THe Instruments of Writing are either 1. Active or 2. Passive That is either the Instruments wherein we write or wherewith we write The instruments wherein we write are divers as Stone Brass Wax Lead Barks and Leaves of Trees Paper and Parchment The first Writing that we read of was in stone God did write the Law in two Tables of Stone Exod. 19. which Salvian calls Rupices paginas Moses wrote in Saphyr and Onix Exod. 28. 10. Saxo Grammaticus speaks that the Danes did record the noble Acts of their Ancestors in verse which were cut in stone in saxis ac rupibus as he saith voluminum loco vastas moles amplectebantur codicum usum à cautibus mutuantes Apud Seldenum The Sybils books were written in the leaves of Trees the Indians of the west do write in the leaves of the Plane tree which are as broad as any sheet of paper and four times as long saith Jos. Acosta l. 4. cap. 21. So in Malabar and other parts of the Levant they write in the leaves of the Palm as the Syracusians did in an Olive leaf from which manner of Writing the pages of books are termed to this day folios or leaves The ancients used also to write in sheets of lead this is intimated by Job O that my words were graven with an Iron pen and lead in the rock for ever Job 19. 23. The Poems of Hesiod call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were found in Boeotia written in plates of lead saith Pausanias in Boeoticis There was a common manner of writing also in thin rindes of trees growing under the upper bark which is called by the Latines Liber or Caudex Codex Udoque docent