the seruice of God But the Lord being mercifull vnto Abraham restored to him againe and kept for his faithfull children the first language which had not bene so much corrupted in the familie of Sem who parted not so farre from his father Sem â—ent toward the West 6 This countrey reaching foorth as rich as it is large From Peake of Perosites where doth himselfe discharge The stately running Ob great Ob fresh waters king A riuer hardly crost in sixe dayes trauelling To Malaca to th'isles from vvhence are brought huge masses Of Calamus and Cloues Samotra whereon passes The night-equalling line and to the waters far Of Zeilan breeding-pearle and goldie Bisnagar And from the Pont-Eusine and from the brother waues Of those Chaldean streames vnto the sea that raues With hideo us noise about the Straight of th'Amens To Quinzits moorie poole and Chiorzeke from whence Come Elephantick buls with silken haired hides That was the share of Sem for Gods decree it guides How and what nations came of Sem. 7 Ashur t' Assyriland that after some few dayes Chal Râ—zen Niniué their towres to heau'n may raise The Persian hils possest great Elams princely race And those fat lands where-through Araxes runnes apace Lud held the Lydian fields Aram th' Armenian And learned Arphaxad the quarter Chaldean 6 This countrey He setteth downe the lots of Sem Cham and Iaphet first in generall after meaning to shew the particular Colonies of each So then to Sem he allotteth Asia The proofe of these seuerall shares may be gathered out of the 10. Chapter of Genesis It is not meant that Sem in his owne life-time tooke possession of this huge plot of ground although he liued 600 yeares but the posteritie of his fiue sonnes ouer-spred it by succession of time as the Poet declares at large hereafter and a man may perceiue some token thereof in that Moses reckeneth in the foresaid Chapter the sonnes of Ioktan the sonne of Heber peti-sonne of Arphaxad sonne of Sem. Now before I shew the bounds here noted by the Poet in this lot of Sem I will set downe the description and deuision of Asia as now it is The map-drawers of our time differ in their order some consider it by the whole masse others by the sea-borders and parts best knowne which they recken to be nine those particularly deciphered in the first chapter of the 20 booke of the Portugall historie But this kind of deuision because it is more obscure and farther from my purpose I leaue and rest on the other which deuides the masse of Asia into fâ—ue principall riuer Ob or Oby the lake of Kittay and the land-straight that is betwixt the Caspian and Euxine sea The second is Tartary subiect to the great Cham which abutteth Southward on the Caspian sea the hill Imaus and the riuer Iuxartes Northward and Eastward on the Ocean and Westward vpon Moscouie The third part is possessed by the Turke and containeth all that lyes betweene the Euxine Aegean and Midland seas and so further betwixt Egypt the Arabian and Persian Gulfes the riuer Tygris the Caspian sea and the land-straight there The fourth is the kingdome of Persia abutting Westward on the Turke Northward on the great Cham Eastward on the riuer Indus and Southward on the Indian sea As for the fift part it is the same which we call the East-Indies so named of the riuer Indus and distinguished the higher from the lower by the famous riuer Ganges These Indies are verie large countreys as the maps declare and front out Southward as fâ—â—re as Malaca hauing besides an infinite sort of Ilands great and smal which the Card-men haue well set downe both in â—â—ps and writing Now see we the maner how the Poet considereth Asia He takes it first by right line froÌ„ North to South to 〈◊〉 from the peake foreland or cape of Perosites as farre as Malaca where he taketh in the Moluckes and Taprobana and from thence riseth againe to Zeilan and Bisnagar Then draweth another line from the Maior or Euxine sea on the West to the straights of Amen Northeast and toucheth by the way some few countreys most note worthy reseruing the rest vntill his particular description of the Colonies which followeth from the 297 verse vnto the 319. To make plaine some words in the text the Peake of Perosites is a promontory about the farthest part of Moscouy neare the Scythian sea where liueth as Cellarius reports of Asia in his great booke entituled Speculum orbis terrarum and Mercator in his world-map a certaine people which haue so small a vent for their mouth that they are nourished onely by the sauour and steeme of sodden flesh And about this promoÌ„tory the riuer Ob rising from the lake of Kythay groweth to an huge breadth and so emptieth into the Scythian or frozen sea The Baron of Herbestoin noteth it in his map of Moscouie and in his Historie saith as much as here followeth touching this riuer fol. 82. They that haue bene thereon say they haue laboured a whole day without ceasse their vessell going verie fast to passe the Riuer and that it is fourescore Italian miles brode Which agreeth well with that the Poet here saith and with report of Mercator and Cellarius so that by good right it may be called rather then any other streame the king of all fresh waters because in all the world besides there is none so large and this also is of a wonderfull great length for as the foresaid Baron affirmeth from the one end to the other to wit from the lake of Kythay to the frozen sea it asketh more then three moneths sayling The realme and citie of Malaca are described in the sixth booke of the Portugall historie chap. 18. It is neare the Equinoctiall aboue Taprobana so therefore Asia reacheth from the North pole beyond the Equator Th' isles froÌ„ wheÌ„ce are brought huge masses of Cloues Cassia are the Moluckes fiue in number Tidor Terenat Motir Maâ—hian and Bachian beset with diuerse other Isles Islets vnder and neere the Equator in the East which with their properties and manners of their inhabitants are well set downe in the 13 booke of the hystorie of Portugall Chap. 8. Samotra whereon passes the night-equalling line or the Equator is the Isle Taprobana Southward ouer against Malaca it is aboue 450 leagues long and 120 broad I haue described it in the fift day of the first weeke see further the history of Portugall in the sixt booke the 18 chap. Zeilan is an Isle right against the Cape of Calecut aboue Taprobana toward the East it lies North and South in length about 125 leagues and in the broadest place is 75 ouer There are taken out of the sea great store of pearles very faire and bright for the further description thereof see the 4 booke and 20 chapter of the hystory of Portugal Bisnagar is a kingdome lying betweene Decan and Narsingua the
Egypt had Chus Aethiopia 8 Cham. The share of Cham was Affrick which the Poet boundeth out as followeth It hath on the Southside the Aethiopicke Ocean or the sea of Guinea the land of Negres the realmes of Cefala which commeth neere the South Tropicke and 〈◊〉 right ouer against Madagascar or as the Spanish call it the Isle of S. Laurence Botongas lower and hard by the Cape of good hope Guagamet about the lake of Zembre from whence the riuer Nile springeth as Daniell Cellarius noteth in his Mappe of Affricke and Benin that lies aboue the Equator neere the great bay betwixt Meleget and Manicongo As for Concritan that is a great wildernesse betweene Cefala and Botongas which by reason of extreame heate brings forth great store of poisonous things Now the Northbound of Affricke is the Midland sea and on the West it shooteth out three capes or promontories named in the text all toward the Atlanticke Ocean but the greene cape which is more southward and pointeth more toward the Sea called in respect of the Antarticke pole the North Sea though it lie very neere the Equator on the east of Affricke plaies the Arabian Gulfe and the great red sea now called the Indicke Ocean and beyond these bounds the Poet saieth Cham also possest Arabia which is distinguished into three parts the Happy the Desert and the Stony all enclosed by the Mount Libanus and the Red and Persian Gulfes 9 Canan He setteth downe breefly and in foure verses the seuerall abodes of Chams foure sonnes according as they are named of Moses in the tenth chapter of Genesis Chus the eldest brother had Aethiopia which some take for that vnder Aegypt others for the land of Chus which is a part of Arabia the Happy as may bee gathered by many places of the old Testament well noted of M. Beroald in the sixt chapter of his fourth booke of Chronicles Mizraim peopled Aâ—gypt that of the Hebrewes was commonly called Mitzraym and long after Aegypt of the name of King Aegyptus who succeeded Belus in that kingdome and was brother to Danaue who came into Greece and was Author of that name generall to the Grecians which as Saint Augustine thinkes De Cus Dei the eighteenth booke and the tenth chapter happened about the time of Iosua Phut the third sonne of Cham gaue name sayeth Iosephus to the Phutaeans after called Lybians of one of the sonnes of Mesren or Mizrain named Lybis Hee addeth also that in Mauritania there is a certaine riuer and countrey called Phute Ezechiel 30.5 numbreth Phut among those that were in league with Chus and Lud which the Latine interpreter translateth Ethiopia Lydia and the Lydians so also did the 70. Interp. This I say to mooue the Reader that is so delighted vnto a further and more diligent search I thinke Phut was seated neere Arabia and Aegypt although Arias Montanus and others place him in the coast of Affricke now called Barbary about Tunis â—ugie Algeri and the Mountaines of Maroco Now of Canan or Chanaan the fourth sonne of Cham was called that Land of Promise which the twelue Tribes of Israell vnder the conduct of Iosua in due time entered and possessed The bounds thereof are plainly set down in the book of Exodus chap. 23 verse 31 and elsewhere I need not here discourse of them except I were to write a longer Commentary Japhet to the North and West 10 Now Iaphet spred along from th' Ellesponticke waters Th' Euxine and Tanais vnto the mount Gibratars Renoumed double top and that sune-setting Maine Which with his ebbe and flow plaies on the shore of Spaine And from that other sea vpon whose frozen allies Glide swiftly-teemed Carres instead of winged Gallies Vnto the sea Tyrrhene Ligusticke Prouençall Moreas waters and the learned Atticall Against the goodly coast of Asâ—a the lesse The second Paradise the worlds cheife happines And that great peece of ground that reacheth from Amane Vnto the springs of Rha and pleasant bankes of Tane Aâ—â— those braue men of war that France haue ouerspred How and what natiâ—ns came of Iaphet 11 Of Gomers fruitfull seed themselues professe are bred So are the Germaneseke once called Gomerites Of Tuball Spaniards came of Mosoch Muscouites Of Madai sprong the Medes of Magog Scythians Of Iauan rose the Greekes of Thyras Thracians 10 Now Iaphet Moses reciting Genesis 9.27 how Noe blessed his two children sets downe two notable points the one concerning the great and many countries which Iaphet and his posterity should possesse the other of the fauour that God should shew them by lodging them in the tents of Sem that is by receiuing them at length into his church which hath beene fulfilled in the calling of the Gentiles For the first poynt whereas hee sayth God enlarge Iaphet For so the Hebrew word signifieth although some translate it Persuade it is as much as if hee had said Let Iaphet and his race possesse the countries round about him farre and neere And this hath also beene accomplished in that so infinite a multitude of people hath issued out of the stocke of Iaphet and peopled Europe which though it appeare lesser then the other parts hath alwaies had more inhabitants and fewer void countries The Poet hath set downe so parfite a description thereof as it needs no further to bee opened if the Reader haue neuer so little beheld the Mappes On the East it is parted from the greater Asia by the Maior Sea the Meotis Lake called by Ortelius the Zabach sea the Riuer Tane or Don which voids into the Lake and the Spring-heads of Rha Edel or Volga running by Tartarie into the Caspian Sea and from Asia the lesse sometime the honour of the world and exceeding rich as still it hath sufficient it is deuided by the Straight of Gallipoli sometime called Hellespent On the West it hath the Straight of Gibraltar the Spanish and Brittish Oceans on the North the Frozen sea and on the South the Midland sea which is diuersly called to wit the Sea of Marseil by the coast of Genes the Adriaticke about Athens and Morea and otherwise according to the places adioyning This goodly part of the world beside the Romaine Empyre hath many great kingdomes full of people well set foorth by the Card-men Daniell Cellarius accounts it in length from Lisbon to Constantinople about sixe hundred leagues Almaine and very neere as much in breadth from Scrifinie to Sicily 11 Gomer Moses reckeneth seuen sonnes of Iaphet Genesis 10.2 So doth here the Poet notstanding much vpon the order of them to follow the verse of Gomer are come the Gomerites whom the Greekes called Galates Gaules of them came the people that spoiled Delphos and then sate downe about Troas in Asia and were called Gaule-Greekes or Asian Galates who afterward seized a good part of Phrygia The Lord threatning by Exechiel 38. chapter Gog cheife of the Princes of Mesech and Tubal sayth he will destroy him with this
the rockes and lay themselues together in order of a wall And thus saith Horace in his Epistle of Poetrie ad Pisones Dictus Amphion Thebanae conditor vrbis Saxa moucre sono testudmis prece blaÌ„da Read more of him in Appollonius his Argonauticks 28 The sonnes of Heber This proues again that the neare successours of Noe filled not the world all at once but by successioÌ„ of time So the true religion remained in the familie of Sem The Chaldeans were excellent Astronomers Philosophers the Egyptian Priestes knew the secretes of Nature before there was any knowledge of letters in Greece which was not peopled so soone as the other by many yeares as the histories euen of the Greekes themselues declare See the latter Chronicles 29 All Egypt ouershone Another proofe If the world had bene peopled all straight after the flood riches and dainties would haue bene found vsed in all countreys at the same time But they were in Egypt and Tyre long before the Greekes and Gaules knew the world So it followes that Greece and Gaule were not so soone peopled as Egypt and Phoenicia By the limping Smith he meanes Vulcan that first found out the vse and forging of Iron in Sicilie Prometheus was the first that found the vse of fire among the Argolians or Greekes Of him saith Hor. 1. booke 2. Ode Audax Iapeti genus igneÌ„fraude malâ gentâ—bus intulet That is the bold son of Iaphet brought fire by craft among the nations Of this matter the Poets haue set forth many fables the true drift whereof our Authour sheweth in a word Looke what I haue noted vpoÌ„ the yoy verse of the 6. day of the 1 weeke The rest of this place is easie to be vnderstood 30 As if a pebble stone A fine similitude concerning the aforesaid matter to shew how all the Arts began froÌ„ the plaine of Scunnar to spread by litle and litle ouer all the world 31 For from Assyria He beginneth here to treat of the more particular peoplings And first he sheweth how the posteritie of Sem began to fil Asia Their first out crease leauing the coast of Assyria bent toward the East Of this riuer Hytan Plinie faith 6.23 Carmamae flumen Hytanis portuosum auro fertile Look Solinus cha 67. They hauing peopled this quarter hrust on further toward Oroatis a riuer of Persia whereof Plinie saith in his 6. booke the 23. Flumen Oroatis ostio difficili nisi peritis Insulae 2. paruaeâ—nde vadosa nauigatio palustri similis per euripos tamen quosdam peragitur in the 25 chap. Persidis initium ad Flumen Oroatin quo diuiditur ab Elimaide Read also the 24. chap. of the said booke of Plinie for the better vnderstanding of their dwelling here Then they drew further forth into Persia towardes the Citie Susa close by the which Coaspâ—s runneth such is the sweetnesse of that water that as Plinie Soline Plutarch others record the kings of Persia drink of none other So they came into the valleys of the famous hill Caucasus where dwelt the Parthians whose kings were coÌ„monly called Arsaces From heÌ„ce into Medie lastly vp higher toward the Mesendin Hyrcaman or Caspian lake Looke Ptolo in his 1.2 3. table of Asia Mercator â—â—rtelius Cellarius Thouet All these remoues are coÌ„tained within the compasse of 5. or 600. leagues 32 These mens posteritie He setteth downe in fower verses the chiefe countries peopled by the second ouercrease of Sems Issue The land fronting Cheâ—â—el is a part of Tartarie not farre from the Caspian sea whereinto that riuer falleth and riseth neare the wildernesse of Lop aboue Tachalistan which is a great countrey neighbour to the mountaine â—maus Charasse Charassan or Chorasan it is a couÌ„trey that hes between Istigias Bedane and Tacalistan which I note more particularly then I finde in the French Commentarie because there is so little difference of letters betweene that and the name of Carazan whereof the Poet speaketh in the fourth verse following This Charasse Gadel Cabul Bedane and Balistan are prouinces enclosed by the riuer Indus the mountaine Imaus the Mesendin or Caspian Sea and the realme of Persia a circuit of land somewhat more then 600. leagues 33 Their of spring afterward He commeth to the third ouercrease of the Semites who went foorth Southward as well as North and Eastward The inhabitants of Cabul thrust forward their Issue toward Bisnagar a rich countrie of South Asia lying betweene the Persian sea and the Gulfe of Bengala Narsinga for so I haue translated the French Nayarde is a kingdome lying yet lower and very rich That plenteous land that Ganges thorow-flowes it containes the higher India where are many wealthie kingdomes set forth well at large in the Mappes as Cambaie Decan Bengala Pedir c. Toloman is further vp toward the North. Aua is beyond the Gulfe of Bengala toward the East about Pegu and Siam countries of infinit wealth Mein on the West hath Ganges on the East Macin on the South Bengala and on the North Carazan which the Poet surnameth Muskey because there is great store of the best Muske Lop a Desert thirtie daies iourney ouer lying yet higher Northward It seemes the Poet followes the opinion of M. P. Venet who in the first booke of his Tartarian Historie chap. 35. makes very strange report of the fearefull sights that the poore passengers there meete with often to the losse of their liues Not vnlike it is that certaine legions of euill Spirits there abiding haue had some speciall power giuen them so to punish the Idolotrous Mahometists who still inhabit those quarters The Poet saith all the countries marching this Wildernesse were peopled by this third out crease of the Semits It is an opinion somewhat likely and thereon I rest vntill I heare some other if it bee possible giue more certaine intelligence of the matter 34 Long after sundrie times He speaketh of the fourth and last ouercrease of Sem. Tipura a countrie breeding many Rhinocerots which according as the Greeke name signifieth I haue translated horny-snouted beasts reade the description of them in the exposition of the 40. verse of the 6. day of the first weeke this Tipura lieth East ward aboue Toloman betwixt Carazan an Caichin or Gaucinchine for so I haue translated it hath on the West Tipura and Toloman on the South Campaa on the North China Mein and on the East the East-Ocean a land very large and bearing great store of Aloës Mangit is far vp in the North so is also Quinsai Ania and Tabin one aboue another euen vnto the Amen Straight and Scythike Ocean By this description plaine to be seene in the Maps of Asia the Poet meant to shew vs all the seuerall remoues of Sems posteritie who not passing beyond the Anian Straight might long content themselues with so large a portion as Asia containing aboue foure thousand leagues of ground As for the particular description of these countries
Hochilega and other landes thereabouts Reade Theuet also the latter Card-men For the French Calicuza I haue translated Caliquas according as I finde it written both in others and in Ortellius who also hath for Mechi Terlichi-mechi and therefore I translate it Terlichi 46 They sow'd at'hother side Xalisco nowe called Noua Gallicia is described by Gomara in the 21. Chapter of his 5. booke It is a land very fruitfull and rich in honny waxe and siluer and the people there are Idolaters and Men-eaters Nunnius Gusmannus who seized the countrie for the king of Spain in the yeare 1530. hath written a discourse thereof and it is to be read in the third volume of the Spanish Nauigations The Prouince of Mechuacan from whence not farre lyeth Cusule is about 40. leagues lower southward then Xalisco that also the said Gusmannus conquered after he had most cruelly and traiterously put to death the Prince and Peeres of the countrie as Gomara sheweth in his booke chapter aboue quoted Mexico which some count all one with Themixtetan is the mother Cittie of that kingdome now called Hispania Noua wonderfull rich it is and strong and of high renoume built farre more curiously then Venice vpon a lake salt on the northside because it is there of a Sea-like breadth and on the southside fresh because of a Riuer that empties there into it Greater is the Cittie thought to be then Seuille in Spaine the streetes are passing well set and their channels in such manner cast as can not be mended Diuers places there are to buy and sell-in the needefull and ordinary wares but one there is greater then the rest with many walkes and galleries round about it where euery day may bee seene aboue threescore thousande Chapmen There is the Iudgement hall for common Pleas and were also many temples shrines of Idols before the comming of Ferdinando Cortez who made thereof the first conquest for the K. of Spaine exercising most horrible cruelties vpon all both yong and old in the Citie as Barthelemi de las Casas a Monke Bishoppe of Spaine reports in his historie of the Indies where he stayed a long time Looke the description of Mexico in the thirde volume of the Spanish Nauigations fol. 300. See also Benzo of Millaine his historie of the newe worlde the 2. booke and 13. Chapter Now from these partes aboue named after report of some wonders of many there seene and worthie a larger discourse by themselues the Poet drawes his Colonies down further towardes Peru by the Land-straight of Panama which parts the South-sea from the Ocean and thereabout is hardly 20. leagues in breadth The fiery mountaine of Nicaragua is by Gomara described in his 5. booke Chap. 203. so are the other wonders which the Poet here notes in his 4. booke chap. 194. 47 Then Chili they possest Gomara in his fourth booke chap. 131. holds opinion that the men of Chili are the right Antipodes or Counter-walkers vnto Spaine and that the countrie there is of the same temper with Andaluzie This Chili lyeth on the shore of el Mar Pacifico so also doth Quintete which I haue put for Chinca both neere the Patagones or Giants whose countrie is full of people and hath certaine riuers that runne by day and stand by night some think because of the snowes which in the day time are melted by the Sun and frozen by the Moone in the night but I take it rather to be some great secret and miracle of nature The cause why here I made exchange of Chinca was first for that the Poet had spoke before of the springs of Chink which I take for the same then because it is so diuersly placed of the Card-men for Ortelius in his Mappe of the new world sets it aboue and Theuet beside Chili in either place it stands well to be taken for the Chink afore-named but Mercator placeth it a great deale lower and on the contrary coast neer the riuer of Plata where indeede is a countrie called Chica that perhaps hath bred this error Lastly Quintete stands so right in way which the Poet followes from Chili to the Patagones that I thought it not amisse to take the same rather then the doubtfull Chinca By the fomy Brack of Magellanus he meanes the sea and Straight of Magellan close by terra Australis Gomara describeth it well in the beginning of the third booke of his Portugall Historie The Poet hath alreadie shewed how people came first on the North America from the kingdome of Anian ouer the maine land to th' Atlantick sea shore then on all the further coasts from Quiuir to the Magellan Straight along th' Archipelago de San Lazaro Mar del Zur Pacifico and now he takes the higher side on the left hand from the Land-Straight of Panama to the riuer of Plata which is not farre from the Magellan noting by the way the most note-worthie places of all this huge reach of ground represented as it is by our late writers in their generall and particular Mappes of the New-found world Huo is a great sweet-water streame rising at Quillacingas that lieth vnder the Equatour and running athwart the countrie now called Carthage into the sea at Garia Vraba is the countrie that lieth betwixt that riuer and Carthagene Concerning Zenu marke what Gomara sayth thereof in his second booke and 69. chapter It is the name of a riuer and citie both and of a Hauen very large and sure The Citie is some 8. leagues from the sea There is a great Mart for Salt and Fish Gould the inhabitants gather all about and when they set themselues to get much they lay fine-wrought nets in the riuer of Zenu and others and oftentimes they draw-vp graines of pure gold as big as egges This countrie is not farre from the Straight of Darien In the sayd second booke chap. 72. he describes also Noua Grenada and the Mount of Emeraudes which is very high bare and peeld without any herbe or tree thereon growing and lieth some fiue degrees on this side the Equatour The Indians when they goe-about to get the stones first vse many enchauntments to know where the best vaine is The first time the Spanyards came there they drew thence great and little 1800. very fayre and of great price but for this commoditie the countrie is so barren that the people were faine to feede on Pismers till of late the Spanish couetousnesse hath made them know the value of their Mountaine Cumana is described in the foresaid booke chap. 79. in the ende whereof Gomara sayth the vapours of the Riuer of Cumana engender a certaine little mist or slime vpon mens eyes so as the people there are very pore-blind Parie is described in the 84 chapter of the said second book Maragnon a Riuer which as Gomara sayth 2. booke 87. chapter is three-score miles ouer It emptieth at the Cape of Aâ—inde three degrees beiond th' Aequator but springeth a great way further
wil behold the wonders of his vnsearchable wisedome and they are here some of them by the Poet well pointed-out And a wonderfull thing indeed it is that among so many men as haue beene since the beginning are or shall be to the worldes end there neuer was nor is nor can be any one but differing much from all the rest both in body and minde and in many thinges else that ensue thereon This I am content to note but in a world leauing all the particulars of this miracle for the reader priuatly to consider that he may wonder the more thereat and praise there according th' almightie Creator the Soueraigne Good neither will I now take in hand to dispute against those that in searching the causes of this diuersitie ascribe all to Fortune or Nature as they call it meaning a secret propertie and power of the creatures or to the starres and other heauenly bodies to mans lawes custome or nourishment in stead of God who is indeed the first and onely working cause of all things in whome wee liue moue and are This matter woulde require a long discourse and though the Poet here beside the chiefe and onely true cause reckoneth certaine vnder-causes as custome growing to Nature Th' example of Elders prouinciall Lawes and the influence of Starres it is not his meaning to take from the Lord of Nature this honor due vnto him for the diuersitie of his wonderfull works but onely to lay open vnto vs a few such instruments as his incomprehensible wisedome vseth to make vs the better conceiue the manner of his heauenly working The Philosophers Astronomers Physicians and Politickes discourse at large vpon these differences he that would see them well handled let him reade the 5. chapter of Bodines methode entituled de recto historiarum iudicio and the first chapter of his fift booke de Republica which is the summe of all that hee writes thereof in his Methode Peucer also in the 13. and 14. bookes of his discourse vpon the principall sorts of diuinations and Hippocrates in his booke de Aere aquis locis but especially Bodin may serue to expound our Poet who in very fewe lines hath penned matter of so long discourse 59 The Northen man He entreth consideration of many pointes wherein the North and Southerne people differ Bodin in the places aforequoted shewes the causes thereof according to philosophie and physicke because his bookes are common specially his politickes I will not here set downe what he saith nor examine his opinions but leaue that wholy to the diligent reader Concerning that the Poet noteth the best histories auerre the same and namely for the Southerne people Iohannes Leo and Franciscus Aluares for the Northen Olaus Magnus the Baron of Herbestan in his Moscouie Buchanan in the historie of Scotland and diuers others 60 The Middle Man Bodin in the 5. booke of his Politickes the first chap. deuideth all people dwelling on this side the Aequator into 3. kindes to witte the hotte and Southerne people from the Aequator 30. degrees vpward the Meane and temperate in the next 30. and th' Extreame cold and Northen people from the 60. degree to the Pole And so of the nations and countries beyond the Aequator The reason hereof he setteth downe in his Method chap. 5. 61 For in the sacred close The poet goes on according to the said deuision and in few wordes emplies all that discourse of Bodin who saith among other matters there that the people dwelling in the middle Regions haue more strength lesse wit then the Southerne better partes of minde lesse bodily force then the Northen are moreouer the fittest for gouernement of Common-wealthes and iustest in their actions And if a man doe marke well the histories of the world he shall find that the greatest most valiant Armies came euer out of the North the deepest and subtilest knowledge of Philosophie Mathematickes and all other contemplatiue Artes from the south and the best gouernement the best lawes lawyers and Orators from the Middle countries and that the greatest Empyres were founded and established there c. What reason there is for this he sheweth also in his fift chap. of his Meth. Looke more thereof in L. Regius de vicissitudine et varietate rerum For my parte I am of opinion that Almightie God as he hath knit and bound together the Elementes and Creatures made of them with a marueilous compasse in number waight and measure best for continuance of the whole worke and mutuall agreement of the partes so he hath also placed the chiefe subtiltie and liuelyhood of spirit farthest from the greatest bodily force either in beast or man for the better maintenance of humaine societie in a iust counterpoys and gaue the middle kinde of people a nature of eyther tempered though if a man enter into particular discourse hee may easily finde the northerne southerne and middle Nature in euery Nation What say I euery Nation nay I dare say in euery one of vs so fitly is Man called a little world But the southerne men for the most part hauing so quick and liuely partes of minde in a body lesse charged with fieshe they represent the contemplatiue and studious kinde of life the northerne that haue their wit in their fingers endes that is that are so cunning craftesmen inuenters of warlike engins artillerie and all sortes of needefull instrumentes they may well bee likened vnto the actiue and trading life and the middle sort vnto the ciuill gouernement and politicke life which is a meane betwixt the other two Yet this the Poet well restraineth saying that the northerne people also in these latter dayes haue bin renoumed for the Tongues the Lawes the Mathematickes Poesie Oratorie all good learning as well as in times past they were and are still for warlike valour and cunning hand-works Not without cause for in England Scotland Polonie Denmarke and other such countries are and haue bene diuers very learned men flourishing and Germany especially which is as it were Vulcans forge and the Campe of Mars hath brought forth many men excellent well seene in all kinde of learning it were needelesse to name them they are so wellknowne 62 But eu'n among our selues The more to magnifie the vnsoundable wisedome of God appearing in the creation of so diuers-disposed people he noteth out many pointes of great difference eu'n among those nations that liue neere together and are seuered onely by certaine hilles riuers and forrests as the French Dutch Italian and Spanish He paintes them out all in their kinde for such properties as are dayly seene in them and may be easily gathered out of their owne histories for there are not the like-differing neighbour-nations in all Europe no not in the world Let me consider and all my Countrymen with me what he saith of the French the other three may doe the like by themselues if they list The French he saith is in warre impatient in