there are Antypodes or no neither can it out of his words be gathered what he thinketh thereof LU. What is the meaning of this word Antipodes AN. I will briefely declare it vnto you though mee thinkes you should haue vnderstood the same by that which I haue sayd before Antypodes are they which are on the other part of the world contrary in opposite vnto vs going with their feete against ours so that they which vnderstand it not thinke that they goe with their heads downward whereas they goe in the selfe same sort with their heads as wee doe for the world being round in what part thereof soeuer a man standeth eyther vnder or aboue or on the sides his head standeth vpright towards heauen and his feete directly towards the Center of the earth so that it cannot be saide that the one standeth vpward and an other downward for so the same which wee should say of them they might say of vs meruailing how wee could stay our selues without falling because it should seeme to them that they stand vpward and we downward and the right Antypodes are as I said those which are in contrary and opposite Zones as they of the North-pole to those of the South-pole and we being in this second Zone haue for our Antypodes those of the other second Zone which is on the other side of Torrida Zona but those in Torrida Zona it selfe cannot holde any for theyr right Antypodes but those which are of one side thereof directly to those that are on the other vnder them or aboue them or howe you list to vnderstand it BER I vnderstand you well but we being in this Zone which is round winding as you say about the earth how shall we terme those that are directly vnder vs who by all likelihoods must be onely vpon one side of the world for if there were a line drawne betweene them and vs through the earth the same line should not come to passe through the Center and middle of the earth AN. These the Cosmographers call in a manner Antypodes which in such sort as they haue different places one frō an other so doe they terme them by different names as Perioscaei Etheroscaei and Amphioscaei being Greeke wordes by which their manner of standing is declared and signified Perioscaei are those whose shadowes goe round about and these as you shall heereafter vnderstand cannot bee but those which are vnder the Poles Amphioscaei are those which haue their shadow of both sides towards Aquilo and Auster according as the Sunne is with them Etheroscaei are those which haue their shadow alwayes on one side but what distinction soeuer these words seeme to make yet Antypodes is common to them all for it is sufficient that they are contrary though not so directly that they writhe not of one side nor other for facility of vnderstanding this take an Orenge or any other round fruite thrust it of all sides full of needles and there you shall see howe the points of the needles are one against another by diuers waies of which those that passe through the sides are as well opposite as those which passe through the very Center and middle of the Orenge But this being a matter so notorious and all men now knowing that the whole world is enhabitable and that the same being round one part must needes be opposite to another it were to no purpose to discourse any farther therein LU. This is no small matter which you say that the whole world is enhabitable for leauing aside that you should say this generality is to be vnderstood that there is in all parts of the world habitation notwithstanding that there are manie Deserts Rocks and Mountaines which for some particuler causes are not enhabited me thinks you can by no meanes say that the two vtmost Zones in which the North South-pole is contained are enhabited seeing the common opinion of all men to the contrary AN. I confesse that all the old Astrologians Cosmographers and Geographers speaking of these two Zones doe terme them vninhabitable the same proceeding as they say through the intollerable rigour and sharpnes of the cold of which they affirme the cause to be because they are farther off from the Sunne then any other part of the earth and so sayth Pliny in the 70. Chapter of his second booke by these words Heauen is the cause of depriuing vs the vse of three parts of the earth which are the three vninhabitable Zones for as that in the midst is through extreame heate not any way habitable so of the two vtmost is the cold vntollerable being perpetually frosen with ice whose whitenes is the onely light they haue so that there is in them a continuall obscurity as for that part which is on the other side of Torrida Zona though it be temperate as ours is yet is it not habitable because there is no way to get into it c. And here-vpon he inferreth that there is no part of the world enhabited nor where people is but onely this Zone or part of the earth in which wee are an opinion truly for so graue an Author farre from reason and vnderstanding That therfore which I intend euidently to make manifest vnto you is that they were not onely deceaued in those Zones wherein eyther Pole is contayned but in Torrida Zona also for as this is found not to be so vntemperate nor the heate and Ardor so raging as they supposed so also is the cold of the Polar Zones nothing so rigorous and sharpe as they described it but sufferable and very well to be endured and enhabited as by proofe we find that all those cold Regions are peopled But the Auncients are to be excused who though they were great Cosmographers and Geographers yet they neuer knew nor discouered so much of the earth as the Modernes haue done which by painefull and industrious Nauigation haue discouered many Regions Countries and Prouinces before vnknowne not onely in the Occidentall Indies the which wee will leaue apart but in the Orientall also and in the farre partes of the Septentrion for proofe whereof reade Ptolome which is the most esteemed Geographer and to whom is giuen in those thinges which he wrote the greatest credite and you shall finde that hee confesseth himselfe to be ignorant of many Countries nowe discouered which he termeth vnknowne and vnfound Landes saying That the first part of Europe beginneth in the Iland of Hybernia whereas there are many other farther North that enter also into Europe and also a great quantity of firme Land which is on the same part towards the North-pole where he might haue taken his beginning and in his eight Table of Europe speaking of Sarmacia Europaea hee sayeth that there lyeth of the one side thereof a Country vnknowne and in his second Table of Asia entreating of Sarmacia Asiatica hee sayth the same not acknowledging for discouered
world this remained free for the waters were not able to ouercome the height thereof There is neyther languishing disease painefull old age nor consuming death No feare no greefe no coueting of riches no battailing no raging desire of death or vengeance bereaueth their repose Sorrowfull teares cruell necessities and carefull thoughts haue there no harbour No frozen dewe toucheth their earth no misty cloude couereth their fieldes neyther doe the heauens poure into them anie troubled waters onely in the midst thereof they haue a Fountaine which they call Uiba cleare pure aboundant of sweet vvaters which once a moneth moystneth the whole vvood The trees therein are of a meruailous height hang alwaies full of fruit in this delicious Paradice liueth the Phaenix the onely one bird of that kinde in the world c. BER Lactantius praiseth this Country very largely neither agreeth his opinion ill with Platos But he speaketh heere like a Philosopher and not like a Christian though perchaunce if hee had beene asked his opinion like a Christian in what part of the world he thought terestriall Paradice to be hee would haue described it in like sort But leauing these Philosophers Paradices seeming rather to be fictions then worthy of credite tell vs I pray you what the Doctors and Diuines say heerevnto whose diligence study and care hath beene greater in procuring to vnderstand write the veritie thereof AN. I will in few words tell you what some of them and those of the greatest authority haue written on thys matter S. Iohn Damascene in his second booke chap. 2. saith these words God being to make Man to his owne image likenes and to appoint him as King and ruler of the whole earth and all therin contained ordained him a sumptuous royall being place in the which he might leade a blessed happy glorious life and this is that diuine Paradise planted by his owne omnipotent hands in Heden a place of all pleasure and delight for Heden signifieth a delightfull place and hee placed him in the Oryent in the highest and most magnificent place of all the earth where there is a perfect temprature a pure and a delicate ayre and the plants continually greene fragrant it is alwayes replenished with sweet and odoriferous sauours a light most cleere and a beauty aboue mans vnderstanding a place truly onely fitte to be inhabited of him that was created to the image likenes of God himselfe LVD S. Iohn differeth not much in the situation and qualities hereof from the opinion of the others before alleadged but passe on I pray you with your discourse AN. Well be then attentife a while Venerable Bede handling this matter sayth Earthly Paradise is a place most delightfull beautified with a great abundance of fruitfull trees refreshed with a goodly fountaine The situation thereof is in the oryentall parts the ground of which is so high that the water of the flood could not ouer-reach the same and thys opinion holdeth Strabo the Theologian affirming that the height of the earth where Paradise is reacheth to the circle of the Moone through which cause it was not damnified by the flood the waters of which could not rise to the height thereof Those which follow this opinion might better conforme themselues with Origen who iudgeth that all this which is written of Paradise must bee taken allegorically and that it is not situate on the earth but in the third heauen whether S. Paule was lyfted in Spirit but leauing him because hee is alone in his opinion without hauing any that followeth him let vs returne to our alleaged Authors against whō S. Thomas and Scotus argue saying that Paradise can by no meanes reach vnto the circle of the Moone because the Region of the fire beeing in the midst the earth can by no meanes passe thorough the same without being burnt destroyed Besides this there are many other reasons sufficient to refute this opinion for so shold those Riuers which come from Paradise passe through the region of the fire which the contrariety of the two Elements being considered is absurd and besides if this ground vvere so high it could not chuse but be seene a farre of from manie parts of the world aswell by sea as by land and by this means also there should be a place in the worlde by the vvhich it seemes a man might goe vp into heauen so that this opinion is grounded vpon small reason and easie to be confuted Many other Authors there are which affirme Paradise to be in so high a part of the earth that the water of the Deluge could not reach vnto the top thereof to anoy it and to the obiection which may be made against them out of Moises which sayth that the waters thereof couered and ouerflowed the height of xv cubits all Mountaines vnder the vniuersall heauen they aunswer that these Mountaines are to be vnderstood such as are vnder the region of the Ayre where the clowdes are thickned and ingendered for Heauen is meant many times in the holy Scripture by this region as the royall Psalmist saith The foules of heauen the fishes of the Sea Where by this word heauen is vnderstoode the region of the ayre thorough which the birds flie so that according to their opinion the mount or place where Paradise is exceedeth is aboue this region of the ayre where there is neither blustering of winds nor gathering of cloudes so that it could not be endomaged by the waters of the flood This is the selfe same of which we discoursed yesterday as touching the mountains Olympus Athos Atlas that of Luna which in height according to the opinion of many exceedeth all the rest on the earth and many other like mountaines in the world ouer whose tops there is neither raine wind nor clowdes the ashes lying from one yere to another vnmooued because that the height of their tops exceedeth the midle region of the ayre pierceth thither where it is still pure without any mouing But S. Thomas also argueth this not to be tru saying that it is no conuenient place for Paradise to stand in the midst of the region of the ayre neither could it beeing there haue such qualities conditions as are necessary because the winds and waters would distemper it LU. This shold be so if it were in the midst of the region but you your selfe say that it passeth farder where the winds waters haue no force to worke any distemprature AN. If not the winds waters thē the fire wold work it for the farder it shooteth beyond the region of the ayre the neerer it approcheth the region of the fire BE. You speak against you self for yesterday you said that the city Acroton builded on the top of the mountain Athos being in the superior region of the ayre enioyed a singuler temperature AN. You say tru but things are not to be
continually hearde so great hideous a noyse that no man dareth to approch neer it by three or foure leagues The shyppes keepe alwayes a loofe of fearing and flying that Coast as death it selfe There is seene amongst those trees such an abundance of great black fowles that they seeme in a manner to couer them who rysing vp into the ayre doe make so great a clowde that they obscure in a manner the cleerenesse of the Sunne theyr crying or rather roring is so horrible and fearefull that such as heare them though verie farre of are constrayned to stoppe theyr eares They neuer flie out of the precincts of thys Iland the same beeing alwayes shadowed with a kinde of obscuritie in manner like a Clowde diuersifying it froÌ„ the Land neere vnto it Some saith he doe affirme this Mountaine to be a part of Hell where the condemned soules are tormented vvhich opinion though it bee ridiculous yet the propertie of this Mountaine is strange and in the cause thereof some hidden mysterie which we comprehend not BER These are matters the secrecie of whose causes are not to be sifted out like vnto that of the Mountaines of Angernamia one of the farthest of those Northerne Prouinces which are so high that they are seene a farre of by those that sayle on the Bothnycke Sea and by them with great care and diligence auoyded through a wonderfull secret in them contayned which causeth a noyse so hideous violent feareful and full of astonishment that it is heard many leagues of and if that by force of tempest driuen or otherwise through ignoraunce vnwitting any ship passeth neere thereunto the horror thereof is so great that many die presently through the penetrating sharpnes and vntollerable violence of the same many remaine euer after deafe or diseased and out of theyr wits Neyther are they that trauaile by Land lesse carefull in auoyding these Mountaines Once certaine young men of great courage beeing curious to discouer the cause heereof stopping theyr eares as artificially as they coulde deuise attempted in little Boates to rowe neere these mountaines and to view the particularities of them but they all perrished in that attempt by theyr desastre leauing an example and warning to others not to hazard themselues in like danger That which we may hereafter imagine is that there are some clefts or Caues within the Rocks of these Mountaines and that the flowing and ebbing of the water striuing with the wind and hauing no aspyration out causeth that fearefull rumbling and hideous noyse and this is vnderstood because the greater the tempest is at Sea the greater is the noyse in those Mountains the same being in calme and milde weather nothing so loude and violent Of these mountains Vincentiê° maketh mention in his glasse of Histories though he write not so particulerlie of them as some moderne Authors doe which affirme that they haue seene them LV. Me thinks this place is as perrillous as that of Charibdis and rather more considering the sharpnes and terror of the noyse which penetrateth so farre and in my iudgement the flowing and ebbing of the water should draw vnto it the shippes and make them perrish though you made therof no mention AN. It seemeth vnto me that you also haue read these Authors which treat of the Septentrional Countries seeing it commeth now to purpose I will tell you one no lesse admirable then the rest which is that in a citty called Viurgo neere the prouince of Muscouia there is a Caue called Esmelen of so secret a vertue that no man hath hetherto been able to comprehend the mistery and cause thereof which is that casting any quicke beast into the same there issueth out presently a sound so terrible as though 3000. great Canons were discharged and shot off together the effect of which is such that the hearers thereof if they haue not their eares very well stopt closed do fall presently down depriued of all feeling sence like dead men out of which mortall traunce som neuer reuiue some do but froÌ„ that time forward so long as they liue they detaine som defect or other The greater the beast is that is throwne thereinto the greater is the noyse and roaring that resoundeth out This Caue is compast about with a verie strong wall and the mouth thereof shut vp with a mightie strong doore hauing many Lockes of vvhich the Gouernour hath one Key in his keeping and the rest of the Magistrates each of them a seuerall least otherwise some desastre might fall out by which the Citty might come to be dispeopled which though it be very strong both of walles and Ramparts yet the greatest strength thereof consisteth in the Caue neyther is there any enemy so mightie or puissant that dareth to besiege it hauing before his eyes the ruine of great Armies that haue attempted the same before by which after the Citty was brought into some extreamitie the Cittizens bethinking themselues of the propertie of the Caue coÌ„maunded by publique proclamation all those of the towne to stop theyr eares and one night vnawares to the enemie they cast into the Caue a great number of liuing beasts vpon vvhich there presently issued forth such a hideous infernall noyse and the violence thereof strooke such amazement into the enemies that some fell downe in a traunce and others throwing away theyr Armes fledde out of theyr Cabbines trenches the most confusedly that might bee and withall to encrease theyr misery the Cittizens issuing out massacred the greater part of them by that meanes deliuering theyr Cittie from seruitude And though they could not but receaue som inconuenience through the horrour of that hellish noyse though theyr eares were neuer so well closed yet through the ioy of theyr victory and recouered libertie they made small account of the same since which time all the borderers there abouts fearing the effect of theyr Caue doe liue in league amitie with them BER In truth this is a matter of great admiration and such that though diuers very great secretes both of heauen and earth are comprehended yet the curiositie of no wit how perfect soeuer can reach to giue heereof anie reason LVD Let vs leaue these secrets to him that made them whose will perchance is to conceale theyr causes froÌ„ vs. AN. You say well and in truth the more wee should beat our wits about them the lesse we should be able to vnderstand them it suffiseth therefore for vs to knowe that these are the secrete and wonderfull workes of God shewen by Nature the vnderstanding whereof is aboue our reach and capacitie But to follow on our discourse of the wonders of this Countrey you shal vnderstand that in those standing waters frozen Lakes of which wee spake before the ayre remaineth oftentimes shut in and inclosed the which moouing it selfe and running vp down vnder the Ise seeking vent causeth such roring and noyse that it were able to amaze
endureth very long They apply theyr skinnes to such vses as wee doe heere the hides of Oxen. They make also of them Couerlettes for theyr beds retayning alwayes in them as it were a kinde of naturall warmth Of their hornes and bones they make very strong Bowes neyther is that of their hoofes without great vertue hauing as it is wrttten in them a notable remedie against the falling sicknes BER I neuer hearde of a more profitable Beast and therefore I much meruaile why other Countries procure not to nourish them ANT. All possible dilligence hath beene vsed not onely to conuay them into other Prouinces and Regions but also to sende vvith them Keepers acquainted vvith theyr custome and nature But all sufficed not For it seemeth that Nature vvill haue them to bee onely in those Countries towardes the North the farther from which you carry them the greater difficultie is in keeping them for in comming vvhere they feele not the sharpnesse of the colde they die euen like fishes taken out of theyr naturall Element vvhich is water There is another Beast also in those partes called Onager in manner like vnto the Rangyferes but that hee hath onely two hornes like a Stagge vvhose lightnesse they say is such that hee runneth also ouer the Snovve vvithout scarcelie leauing any signe or trace of his feete They were woont to vse this Beast in dravving theyr Coaches and artificiall Tables vvith vvhich they trauayled ouer the Ice and frozen Snowe But they vvere forbidden by the publique edict of theyr Kinges and Princes not to nourish them any more tame and domesticall I omit the causes wherefore because the Authors write insufficiently thereof This Beast endureth so well hunger thirst that he will trauaile 50. or 60. leagues without eating or drinking The woods and mountaynes containe infinite numbers of thē they are at continuall warre with the Wolfes of which also there is great plenty whensoeuer any one of them happeneth to light vpon a Wolfe with his nailes howe little so euer the wound be hee dyeth thereof presently If the Wolfe pursue him his refuge is straight to the Ice where in respect of his sharpe pawes he hath a great aduantage standing stiffe and firme vpon them which the Wolfe cannot doe vpon his LU. Solinus writeth also that there are of these in Affrica whose words are thus There are saith hee in this Prouince Beastes called Onagri of which each male gouerneth a Heard of females of the same kinde they are exceeding iealous and cannot endure to haue companions in their lasciuiousnes whence it proceedeth that they looke very watchfully vnto the females going great to the end that if they bring forth males by giuing them a bite vppon the genitories they may thereby take from them all possibility euer after of engendring which the females fearing endeuour alwayes as secretly as they can to hide their young ones BER Perchaunce these and those of the Septentrionall Lands are not all of one sort seeing the one liueth not but in places extreamely colde and to the other nothing is more naturall then heate AN. This is no argument to proue that they are not all one sort of Beastes for as there are men in the Regions of extreamest cold likewise in those of most scorching heat euen so may these Beasts though of one sort yet liue vnder contrary Climates each of them conforming them to the nature of the soile Yet I will not say but that it may well be that they are two sundry kindes encountring both in one name For in truth we doe not finde that any of these properties of which Solinus speaketh are in the Northerne Onagres But seeing the matter is not great whether they be one or diuers let vs turne to our Wolfes againe of which there is so great a number in those Northerne Regions that the people haue much adoe to defend themselues and theyr Cattell from them insomuch that they dare not aduenture to trauaile in diuers places vnlesse they goe manie together and well armed There are of them three sorts the one like these which wee haue here others all white nothing so fierce and harmeful as the rest the thirde sort they call Troys hauing great bodies but short legges which though they be more cruell withall more swift then eyther of the other sorts yet are they not of the enhabitants so much feared because they liue and pray vpon wilde Beasts seldome dooing any violence to men But if at any time they vndertake to pursue a man they neuer leaue till they haue woried him As touching the auncient opinion that there should be in these parts a prouince of men called Neuri which at one time of the yeere are transformed into Wolues if there be therin at all any foundation of truth it is as all late Writers affirme that as there are in those partes many Witches and Enchaunters so haue they theyr limitted and determined times of meetings and making theyr assemblies which they doe in the shape of Wolues the cause wherof though they declare not yet is it to be thought that they are by their maister the deuill so enioyned at appointed times to doe him obedience in thys forme and figure as the Sorcerers and Hags doe at which time he instructeth them in such thinges as appertaine to theyr arte and science During the time of theyr transformation they commit such infinite outrages and cruelties that the very Wolues in deed are tame gentle in respect of them For proofe that they can and do so transfigurat themselues besides many other examples which I could alleadge I will content my selfe in telling you onelie one which is most true and certaine It is not long since that the Duke of Muscouia caused one to bee taken that was notoriously knowne to transforme himselfe in such sort as wee haue said of whom being brought bound with a chaine into his presence he demaunded if it were true that hee could so transforme and change himselfe into a Wolfe as it was bruted which he confessing the Duke commaunded him to do it presently whereupon crauing to be left alone awhile in a chamber hee came of a suddaine out in the shape of a verie Wolfe indeede being still fast bound in his chayne as he was before In the meane time the Duke had of purpose made come two fierce mastiues which taking him to be as he seemed flew presently vppon him and tare him in peeces the poore wretch hauing no force or abilitie to defende himselfe at all BER Hee was iustly punished according to his desert But it is not onely of late dayes that the deuill exerciseth thys Arte among those Nations for Solinus Plinie Pomponius Mela and many other learned Authours in theyr wrytings make mention thereof But leauing thys seeing it commeth so well to our purpose of VVoules I will tell you what a man of verie good credite tolde mee not long since affirming the
women of Egipt are so fruitefull that they haue often 3. or 4. children at a burden and though he expresseth not so much yet we must imagine that many of them liue and doe well or otherwise hee would neuer make so often mention of them In this our Spayne we haue often seene a woman deliuered of three children at once and one in a Village not far hence of 4. and in Medina del campo some yeres passed it was publiquely reported that a certain principal woman was brought a bed of 7. at once and it is said that a Bookebinders wife of Salamanca was deliuered of 9. and we must thinke that in other Countries haue hapned the like of as great greater admiration though we as they say being in one ende of the world haue had no notice nor knowledge of them LV. Plinie saith it is certaine that sixe children may be borne at one birth which is most strange vnlesse it be in Egypt where the women bring sildome one alone into the worlde In Ostia there was a woman that had at one burden two sonnes and two daughters all liuing and doing well Besides in Peloponeso a woman was 4 times deliuered each time of 5. sonnes the most part of which liued Trogus Pompeius writing of the Egiptian women saith that they are often deliuered of 7. sons at once of which some are Hermophrodits Also Paulus the Lawyer writeth that there was brought from Alexandria to Adrian the Emperor a woman to be seene which had fiue liuing children 4. of the which were borne in one day the 5. foure daies after the deliuery of the first Iulius Capitolinus writeth the like of a woman deliuered of 5. sons in the time of Anth. Pius so that the matter which signior Bernardo rehersed of the woman with 3. liuing children is not so newe nor strange Besides it is coÌ„firmed with the publique fame of that which hapned to a lady one of the greatest of this land which being in trauaile it was told her husband that she was deliuered of one son within a little space of one more within few houres they told him that shee had brought him forth 4. more which were 6. in all who answered merily to those that brought him the newes if you can wring her well I warrant you qd hee you shal get more out of her This is no fable but a matter known to be true AN. Seeing we are falne into the discourse of prodigious births I can by no means passe ouer with silence that which Nicholaus de florentia writeth alledging the authority of Auicenna in Nono de animalibus that a woman miscaried at one time of 70. proportioned children the same author alledgeth Albertê° Magnê° which said that a certaine Phisition told him for assured trueth that beeing sent for into Almaigne to cure a gentlewoman hee sawe her deliuered of a 150. children wrapt all in a net each of them so great as ones little finger all borne aliue proporcioned I know well that these thinges are almost incredible to those which haue not seene theÌ„ yet is this one thing so notorious wel known that it coÌ„firmeth the possibility of the rest though it be far more admirable then any of theÌ„ all That which hapned to the lady Margaret of Holland which brought forth at one burden 306. children all liuing about the bignes of little mise which were christned by the hands of a Bishop in a bason or vessel of siluer which as yet for memory remaineth in a Church of the same Prouince the which our most victorious Emperor Charles the fift hath had in his hands this is affirmed to be true by many and graue witnesses Sundry authors write hereof especially Henricus Huceburgensis Baptista Fulgoso Lodo. Viues which saith that the cause of this monstrous birth was the curse of a poore woman which coÌ„ming to the gates of this great Lady to demaund almes in steede of bestowing her charity she reuiled taunted her reprochfully calling her naughty pack asking her how many fathers shee had for her children wherat the poore woman taking griefe beseeched God on her knees to send vnto this Lady so many children at a burden that she might be able neyther to know theÌ„ nor to nourish them BE. I think there neuer was the like of this seene or heard of in the world and truly herein Nature exceeded much her accustomed limites the iudgment thereof let vs referre to the Almightie who suffered permitted her to conceaue so many creatures which seeing it comes so well to purpose I will tell you what I haue heard of som men of credit such as wold not report any vntruth which is that in the kingdom of Naples or in diuers places therof the childbirth is passing dangerous to the Mothers because there issueth out before the childe appeare a little beast of the fashion bignes of a little frog or little toade and somtimes 2. or 3. at once if any of the which through negligence come to touch the grounde they hold it for a rule infallible that the woman which is in trauaile dieth presently which because so soone as it coÌ„meth out of the wombe it creepeth that swiftly they haue the bed stopt round about besides the ground wals so couered that it cannot by any means com to tuoch the earth besides they haue alwaies ready a bason of water wherein they presently put those litle beasts couering it so close that they cannot get out carry theÌ„ therin to some riuer or to the sea wherein to auoide the danger they cast theÌ„ and though I haue not seen any Author which writ so much yet all those that haue been in those countries confirme the same so that there is no doubt to be made thereof but that it is as true as strange and though it may seeme that I vse some digression froÌ„ the matter yet me thinks that it is not amisse that we should vnderstand what Aristotle writeth in his 3. booke de animalibus of a he Goat which as it seemed was euen ready to coÌ„ceaue if nature would haue giuen him therto any place for he had teates like vnto the femals great full of milk so that they milked him it came froÌ„ him in such quantity that they made cheese thereof AN. Meruaile not much at this for if you read the booke which Andreas Mateolus of Siena made de epistolis medecinalibus you shal find that he saith hee saw himselfe in Bohemia 3. of the same sort of the which hee himselfe had one for his proper vse whose milke he found by experience to bee the best medicine of all for those which were troubled with the Apoplexy or falling sicknes BER There must be some cause for which Nature in such a thing as this exceeded her accustomed order and perchance it was to bring a
in those things which succeede vnto vs according to our purpose and pretence but in those that doe exceede our hope or come vnlooked for vnthought of and so we commonly mingle confound Fortune with Chaunce and Chaunce with Fortune yea sometimes we attribute that to either of them which is neither of both But to tel you the very truth this definition of Fortune is so intricate that I my selfe doe not throughly vnderstand his meaning where hee saith according to the purpose and to some end which are two diuers words may be vnderstoode in sondry sence as those doe which glosse vpon his text whose diuersity of opinions maketh the glosse far more difficill then the text it selfe But I will not meruaile hereat because perchaunce Aristotle would doe therein as he did in the selfe same books de Phisicis which being finished and Alexander telling him that it was great pitty that so high excellent a matter should by the publishing thereof become vulgar and cōmon he aunswered that he had written them in such sort that few or none should vnderstand thē And in truth the old Writers in all their works so delighted in compendious breuity of wordes that they not being clearely vnderstoode of those that followed in the ages after were the cause of an infinit variety of opinions neither is there any one which glosseth vpon thē who affirmeth not his interpretation to be the true sence meaning of the Author the same being perchaunce quite contrary But leauing this I say that though in this mother speech of ours we want fit and apt words to signifie the propriety of many things yet in expressing the effects of Fortune we haue more then either the Latine or Greeke for besides prosperous aduerse Fortune we haue Hap Mishap good Luck ill Luck by the which we signifie all successes both good and euill accustoming our selues more vsually to these words then to that of Fortune for what Chaunce soeuer happen to a man we cōmonly say that he was Happy or Vnhappy Lucky or Vnlucky LV. Me thinks that Felicity and Infelicity signifieth also the same that we may very well vse them in such sence as we doe the others AN. You are herein deceaued for Hap Mishap good and euill Luck prosperous aduerse Fortune are as we haue saide when they come by accidentall causes not keeping any order or limitation felicity as saith S. Anthony of Florence is in those things which happen to a man for his merrite and vertue infelicity in not happening to him which hath vertue and merrite to deserue them but these words we vse not in ordinary matters but in those that are of weight and moment some Authors also affirme the same to be vnderstood of prosperous and aduerse Fortune and that we ought not to vse this manner of speech but in difficill matters and such as are of substance and quality BER According to this rule wee erre greatly in our common speech for there are many that come to obtaine very principall estates and dignities not by their vertues and merrites but rather through their great vices and demerrites yet wee commonly say that such mens felicity is great and that they are very fortunate AN. You haue sayde the trueth for indeede wee goe following our owne opinion without any foundation of reason neither leaning to those graue and auncient Phylosophers of tymes past neyther to those which haue written what in true and perfect Christianitie wee ought to thinke thereof who affirme Fortune to bee that which happeneth in worldly and exteriour matters not thought on before nor looked for neyther of it selfe but proceeding from a superiour cause directly contrary to them which hold that such accidents happen without any cause superiour or inferiour but that they all come at happe hazard So that howsoeuer Fortune bee it must bee accidentally and not in thinges that come praemeditated and hoped for but seeing that the most sort of men obserueth heerein no order attrybuting all successes both good and euill to Fortune vvhether they happen or no in such sort as the Definition thereof requireth euery manne speaking and applying as he listeth I hold it for no error if amongst the ignorant wee followe the common vse but amongst the wise and learned me thinkes it were good for a man to be able to yeeld a reason of those things he speaketh and to speake of things rightly according to their Nature and property least otherwise hee be derided and held for a foole BER Greater in my iudgement is the error which wittinglie and wilfully we commit then that which is through ignorance onely neyther can any vse or custome be sufficient to authorize or allow that which in the iudgement of all wise and learned men is held for false and erronious But afore you passe any farther I pray you tell me what you meane in this your last definition whereas you say that Fortune is onely to be vnderstoode in exteriour things AN. It is manifest of it selfe that in thinges spirituall and interiour there can be no Fortune which who so list more at large to see and more particulerly to satisfie himselfe therein may reade S. Thomas in his second booke De Phisicis and in his third Contra Gentiles and S. Anthony of Florence in the second part of his Theologiques LV. As for the opinion of Philosophers you haue sufficiently made vs vnderstand the same now I would you would doe vs the fauour to declare vnto vs what the sacred Doctors of our holy Mother the Catholique Church doe teach and thinke therein AN. Farre different are they from the before alleadged Philosophicall censure for what good Christian soeuer you reason withall concerning Fortune he will aunswer you with the authority of Esay who saith Woe be vnto you that set a table before Fortune and erect Altars vnto her as to a Goddesse for with my knife shall you be cut in peeces The Gentiles as they were passing blinde in all diuine things pertayning vnto God and his omnipotencie so not beeing able to comprehend vnderstand his diuine vniuersall prouidence in all thinges they diuided the same frō God himselfe and made thereof a Goddesse attributing to her gouernment domination power and commaundement all the exterior things of the world which error of theirs herein committed some of themselues doe confesse and acknowledge as Iuuenall where he sayth Where Prudence is thou hast no deitie ô Fortune but wee for want of wisedome doe make thee a Goddesse and place thee in heauen According to which S. Hierome in an Epistle of his to Terentia sayth Nothing is created of GOD without cause neyther is any thing doone by chaunce as the Gentiles thinke the temeritie of blinde Fortune hath no power at all Whereby wee may see that Fortune is nothing else then a thing fained in the fantasie of men and that there is no
and sometimes from low base estate enthroning them in kingdoms as for example King Gygas and almost in our very time Tamberlaine the great and deiecting others that were great and mighty yea Kinges and Monarches into extreame calamitie miserie infinite examples whereof may be seene in the Booke called The fall of Princes and manie others full of such tragicall disastres And it is manifest that this proceedeth from the constellations vnder which they are borne and the operations with which they worke because many Mathematitians and Astronomers knowing the day howre and moment wherin a man is borne vse to giue their iudgement and censure what shall betide vnto him so borne according to the Signes and Planets which then dominate in their force and vigure And many of them doe fore-tell so trulie manie wonderfull thinges that it seemeth scarcely possible to any man but God to knowe them which seemeth to proceede through the will of God whom it hath pleased to place that vertue in those Planets wherby the future successe might be knowne of those persons that are borne vnder thē And though I could here alleadge many examples of Emperours Kings and Princes whose successes to come vvere foretold them by Astronomers truly as indeed they hapned yet omitting them because they are so cōmonly known I will tell you one of Pope Marcellus who came to be high Bishop whose Father liuing in a place called Marca de Ancona where he was also borne beeing a great Astronomer at the birth of his sonne casting presently his natiuitie sayde openly that he had a sonne borne that day which should in time to come be high Bishop but yet in such sort as though he were not which came afterwards to be verified for after he was elected in the Consistorie by the Cardinals hee dyed within twentie daies not beeing able to publish or determine any thing by reason of his short gouernment I knewe also a man in Italie called the Astronomer of Chary who whatsoeuer he foretold the same proued in successe commonlie to be true so that he was held for a Prophet truth it is that hee was also skilfull in Palmestrie and Phisiognomie and thereby strangely foretold many things that were to come and perticulerly he warned a speciall friend of mine to looke wel vnto himselfe in the xxviij yeere of his age in which he should be in danger to receaue a wounde whereby his life shoulde stand in great hazard which fell out so iustly as might be for in that yeere he receaued a wound of a Launce in his bodie whereof he dyed A certaine Souldiour also one day importunating him to tell his fortune declaring vnto him the day and howre wherein he was borne and withall shewing him the palme of his hand and because he excused himselfe growing into choller and vrging him with threatnings to satisfie his demaund he told him that he was loth to bring him so ill newes but seeing you will needs haue it quoth he giue me but one crowne and I will be bound to finde you meate and drinke as long as you liue The Souldiour going away laughing and iesting at him seeing presently two of his fellowes fighting went betweene to part them and was by one of them thrust quite through the body so that he fell downe dead in the place AN. I cannot choose but confesse vnto you that many Astronomers hit often right in their coniectures but not so that they can assuredly affirme those thinges which they foretell of force and necessity to fall out there being so many causes and reasons to alter and change that which the signes and Planets doe seeme to portend the first is the will of God as being the first cause of all things who as he created and made the starres with that vertue and influence so can he by his only will change and alter the same when it pleaseth him Also all the starres are not knowne nor the vertues which they haue so that it may well be that the vertue of the one doth hinder make lesse or cause an alteration in the effect of the other and so an Astronomer may come to be deceaued in his calculations as vvas the selfe same Astronomer of Chary which you speake of when he fore-told that Florence being besieged with an Army imperiall with the forces of Pope Clement should be put to sackage and spoile of the Souldiours This Prophecie of his had like to haue cost him his life if hee had not made the better shift with his heeles for the Souldiours by composition that the Towne made finding themselues deluded made frusttate deceaued of their prophecied booty would haue slaine him if he had not with all possible diligence made away Besides if this were so there must of necessity follow a great inconuenience and such as is not to be aunswered for if when so euer any one is borne vnder such a constellation that of force the good or euill thereby portended must happen vnto him the selfe same then by consequence must needs happen to all those which are borne in that instant vnder the same signe and Planet for according to the multitude of the people which is in the worlde there is no houre nor moment in which there are not many borne together of which some come to be Princes and some to be Rogues When Augustus Caesar was borne it was vnpossible but that there were others also borne in the very same poynt and moment which for all that came not to be Emperours and to gouerne the whole worlde in so flourishing a peace as he did yea and perchaunce some of them went afterwards begging from dore to dore And thinke you that Alexander the great had no companions at his birth Yes without doubt had he though they had no part of his good Fortune and prosperity This matter is handled very copiously by S. Austine in his fifth booke De ciuitate Dei aunswering the Mathematitians and Astronomers which say that the constellations and influences are momentary whereby it should ensue that euery part and member of the body should haue a particuler constellation because the whole body together cannot be born in one moment nor in many moments to be short therefore they are many times deceaued that giue such great credite to the abusiue coniectures of Astronomy spending their whole time about the speculation and fore-knowledge of future things pertaining not onely to the birth of men fore-shewing their fortunes and successes but also to those of plagues earth-quakes deluges tempests droughts and such like things that are to happen BER If I vnderstand you well your meaning is that the influence of the Planets worketh not in men with any necessity or constraint but onely as it were planting in them an inclination to follow the vertue of their operations which may with great facility be euited in such thinges as are within the vse of free will and Lybre arbitrement In
the rest they may sometimes fall out according as by the vertue and property of the signes and planets may be coniectured and iudged yea and sometimes also otherwise because it may please the first cause which imparted vnto them that vertue to change or alter their property or that there may be diuers other causes in the way which may hinder the effect of their influence AN. You haue in few wordes briefly knit vp the very pith and substance of the whole BER Well then let vs leaue this and come to Palmestrers which are they that tell Fortunes by seeing the lines of the inside of the hand whose diuinations they say prooue oftentimes true I would faine therefore know what credite we may giue them AN. I haue great suspition of those who confidently affirme their diuinations by Palmestry that they deale also in Negromancy that the deuill being farre craftier and subtiler then man and through his long experience and by certaine coniectures being able to knowe certaine thinges that are to come doth reueale vnto them the most part of those things for otherwise by the lines of the hand onely it were not possible to diuine so right though somtimes also the things simply thereby coniectured may proue true neyther can the Phisiognomers affirme that the same must needs be true which by their Science appeareth likely to happen For Aristotle which wrote a booke of Phisiognomy entreating of all the signes marks by which the conditions of men may be knowne sayeth that they are but casuall and by Chaunce As for those that seeing the Phisiognomy of a man doe iudge that he must come to be rich or that his end must be the Gallowes or that hee must be drowned and such like such must thinke that they be deceaued and ought therefore to reserue the successes of all thinges to the will of God whereby they may couer their error and remaine excused if the sequell fall otherwise out then they coniectured it should LU. This matter seemeth sufficiently debated of onely out of the former discourse resulteth one doubt which mee thinks were against reason that it should remaine so smothered vp and that is of the speech of Signior Anthonios where he sayd that of the influence of the signes planets and starres are engendered pestilences and new diseases inundations destroying vvhole Countries long drinesse vvhich causeth dearths infirmities scarsity of corne fruit with diuers other the like AN. This is a question in which the Astronomers and Philosophers doe disagree eyther holding of them their seuerall opinions For the Astronomers in community doe hold and affirme that all this which you haue said proceedeth from the constellations and that through their causes these domages do happen vnto men all the other euils also with the which we are afflicted alleadging for the proofe thereof the authority of Ptolome in his Centiloquium The man sayth he that is skilfull in the Science of Astronomy may fore see and auoide many euils to happen according to that which the starres doe shew portend and also they alleadge Gallen in his third book of Iudiciall daies whose words are these Let vs saith hee imagine that a man is borne the good Planets being in Aries and the euill in Taurus there is no doubt to be made but all thinges shall goe prosperously with this man while the Moone shall be in Aries Cancer Libra or Capricornus but when she shall possesse any signe in Quadrat aspect or in Diameter to the signe of Taurus he shall be molested with many troubles and vexations and hee goeth farther and sayth that this man shall begin to be perplexed with many infirmities when so euer the Moone shall be in the signes of Taurus Leo Scorpio or Aquarius and contrarily shall enioy perfect good health while the Moone shall be in the signes of Aries Libra Cancer or Capricornus They recite besides another authority of Auicenna in his fourth booke where he saith the configuration of the caelestiall bodies to be sometimes the cause of pestilentiall infirmities as when Saturne and Mars are in coniunction And so doth Gentil exemplifie it alleaging the selfe same place but what should I trouble my selfe in reciting their authorities when finally there is no Astronomer or Phisition which holdeth not the same but the Philosophers as I haue said maintaine a contrary opinion affirming that no domage or euil can proceede from the Planets signes or starres into the inferiour bodies and so diuine Plato in his Epynomide I surely thinke saith he the starres and all the caelestiall bodies to be a kinde of diuine creatures of a very beautifull body and constituted with a soule most perfect and blessed and to these creatures as farre as I vnderstand must be attributed one of these two things eyther that they and their motions are eternall and without any domageable preiudice or if not yet at the least that their life is so long that it is not necessary for them to haue any longer These are the words of Plato by the which is vnderstood that if the Caelestiall bodies haue no euill in them as beeing diuine pure cleane and sempiternall without any preiudiciall domage and free from all corruption and euill they can then by no means be causers of those domages euils which happen in the world to the inferior bodies Going on farther in the same booke This is sayth he the nature of the stars in sight most beautiful goodly in their moouings obseruing a most magnificent order imparting to inferiour creatures such things as are profitable for them By these authorities they inferre that seeing the starres are of such excellencie and that from them are imparted to creatures things profitable and wholesome they can by no meanes be the occasion of harme or mischiefe theyr nature office which they continuallie vse being contrarie thereunto But farther the same Author goeth on declaring the same more plainly Finally saith hee of all these thinges we may inferre this as a true and conclusiue opinion that it were vnpossible for the heauen the Planets the starres and the caelestiall bodies which appeare therein vnlesse they had a soule or vnlesse they dyd it through God by some exquisite reason to be able to reuolue the yeeres monthes dayes beeing the cause of all our good and so being of our good they cannot be of our euill And this explaneth Calcidiê° vpon the same Plato in his Tymaeus by these words Either sayth he all the starres are diuine and good without doing any euill or some of theÌ„ onely are euill and domageable But howe can this agree or howe can it be said that in a place so holy and so full of all bounty and goodnes there can be any euill And the starres beeing replenished with caelestiall wisedome euilnes and malice proceeding of the contrary which is folly howe can wee then terme the starres to be malicious or causers of any euill
vnlesse we shold say that which is not lawfull that they are at one time good and at another time euill and that they cannot mixtly be the cause both of good and euill the which is not to be thought or beleeued that all the starres haue not one selfe caelestiall substance none of them separating themselues from theyr owne nature so that all the starres beeing good they may be the cause of good but not of euill BE. These authorities me thinks conclude not throughlie the purpose of their intention for there are manie thinges that can cause both good and euill and therefore the caelestiall bodies also may doe the same AN. This is when there is in any thing both good euill working effects according to the nature thereof but there is no euill in the heauens not in any thing therein contained for according to Aristotle in his seconde Booke De Coelo the motion thereof is life to all things in the ninth of his Metaphisickes also he affirmeth that in those things which are sempiternall there can be found no euill error or corruption And Auerroes entreating of this matter vseth these wordes It is a thing manifest saith he that in those things which are Eternall and whose essence is without beginning there can be no euill error or corruption the which cannot be in any thing but where euill is and heereby may be knowne the impossibilitie of prouing that which the Astronomers say that there are some of them luckie and others vnluckie this only may be knowne of them that there are som better then others By these words we may vnderstand that the starres are all good but not in equalitie neither haue they all equall vertue goodnes and as in them there is no euill at all so can they not be the cause of any harme at all neither can wee say that their influences cause any contagious or pestilentiall infirmities so thinketh Mercurius Trismegistus in his Asclepius Where the heauen saith he is that which engendreth and if the office thereof be to engender it cannot be to corrupt Proclus in his booke De Anima holdeth the same The Heauens saith hee founded with a harmony in reason containe all worldly thinges putting them in perfection accomodating them and benefiting them which being so how then can they damnifie destroy or corrupt them Auerroes also alleadgeth another reason by the testimonie of Plato who sayth That euill is found in those things which haue no order nor agreement and all diuine thinges are framed and constituted in most excellent order whereby it followeth that the starres and other caelestiall bodies haue no euill in them and hauing none in them they cannot worke or cause any This opinion followeth Iamblicus in his Booke De Misterijs Egiptiorum and Plotinus in his tenth Booke where he demaundeth if the stars be the causes of any thing iesting and scoffing at the Astronomers who affirme that the Planets with their motions are not onely the causes of riches and pouertie but also of vertue vices health and diseases that in diuers times they worke vpon men diuers operations And finally he will by no meanes permit that there are any euill starres or that they can be sometimes good and somtimes euill which opinion is also maintained by Auerroes in his 3. booke of Heauen Where whosoeuer sayth hee beleeueth that Mars or any other planet or starre howsoeuer set in coniunction or opposition can hurt or doe domage he beleeueth that which is contrary to all Philosophy Marcilius Ficinus in his Comentaries vpon the sixth Dialogue of Lawes sayth thus One thing we must vnderstande and beleeue that all forces and mouings of the superior Bodies which discende into vs are of their owne nature alwaies causers of our good and guide vs thereunto wee must not therefore iudge that viciousnes of ill conditioned men proceedeth of Saturne or rashnes and crueltie of Mars or craft and deceit of Mercury or lasciuious wantonnes of Venus Let vs see what reason thou hast to attribute vnto Saturne that frowardnesse and vice which thy euill custome conuersation exercise or dyet hath engendred in thy body or minde or to Mars that fiercenes and crueltie which seemeth to resemble that magnanimitie and greatnes to which he is enclined or to Mercurie that subtiltie and craft called by a better name industrie or to Venus thy lasciuious loue and wantonnesse Hapneth it not often that men loose their sight yea and sometimes their liues vnder the flaming blasts of the Sunne-beames which is ordained onely for our comfort and to giue life and nourishment to things And doe wee not see diuers that in open ayre receaue the warmenesse thereof to theyr comfort who in enclosed places are with a small heate smothered sluft choaked And euen as these men through the heate of the Sun whose nature is to helpe cherrish and comfort doe receaue domage by theyr owne faulte in not vsing the same as they shoulde doe so may the successes of those which are borne vnder these planets which by their nature are al good throgh euil vicious education proue naught though the inclination of their planets be neuer so good and fauourable So that by these wordes of Marsilius the opinion of Astronomers Mathematitians and Phisitions seemeth not to be wel grounded but that how commonly held or allowed soeuer it be he holdeth it to be reprouable by many and euident arguments LU. The Philosophers are not a little beholding to you for strengthning their opinion with so many authorities effectual reasons no doubt but if this matter were put to your arbytrement they should finde of you a fauourable iudge AN. I haue not so good opinion of my selfe as to take vpō me the arbitrement of this matter though it were of lesse substance then it is especially so many wise learned men maintaining either side I haue therfore onely rehearsed touched some of their allegations on both sides leauing you in your choyse to leane vnto that opinion which liketh you best referring alwaies the iudgement therof to those that are of greater learning deeper studie and more grounded wisedome thē my selfe though it seemeth vnto me to be a matter scarcelie determinable considering the varietie of effectuall reasons that may be alleaged of either side LVD For all this I account you halfe partiall and therefore I pray you aunswere mee to one obiection which might be of the Astronomers side opposed the which is thus We see that there are diuers venomous and hurtfull hearbes and manie other Wormes Vermins and Serpents so contagious that they are thorough theyr poysons and infections noisome vnto men yea and often causers of their death And seeing that all inferiour bodies are ruled receauing their forces and vertues from the influence of the heauenly and superior bodies it then seemeth that they should be cause of the domage which is wrought by the