Albertus Magnus who in his Commentaries vpon the great Coniunctions of Albumazar obserued that before Noahs flood chanced a coniunction of Iupiter and Saturne in the last degree of Cancer against the constellation since termed Argo's ship out of which he would needs collect that the floud of Noah might haue beene fore-showne because Cancer is a watry signe and the house of the Moone being mistrisse of the Sea and all moist bodyes according to Astrologie which opinion was afterwards confirmed by Petrus de Alliaco who affirmes in his Comment vpon Genesis that although Noah did well know this flood by diuine Reuelation yet this coniunction being so notable hee could not bee ignorant of the causes thereof for those were not only signes but also apparant causes by vertue receiued from the first cause which is God himselfe Further to confirme this assertion hee would haue Moses by the cataracts of Heauen to haue meant the the great watry coniunction of the Planets A reason wherof hee seemes to alleage because it is likely that God would shew some signe in the Heauens by which all men might be warned to forsake their wicked courses But notwithstanding this curious opinion I rather cleaue to those which thinke this Deluge to be meerely Supernaturall which I am induced to belieue for diuers causes vrged by worthy writers First because this is set downe in Holy Scripture for a chiefe token or marke of Noahs extraordinary faith dependance vpon Gods promises which had been much diminished and of small moment had it any way been grounded on the fore-sight of second causes For this was no more then might haue beene discouered to the rest of the wicked worldlings who no doubt would in some sort haue prouided for their safety had they receiued any firme perswasion of this dreadfull Deluge To which others adde a second reason that second causes of themselues without any change or alteration are not able to produce such an admirable effect as the drowning of the whole World for it is not conuenient say they that God the Author of Nature should so dispose and direct the second causes that they might of themselues bee able to inuert the order of the Vniuerse and ouer-whelme the whole Earth which hee gaue man for his habitation But this reason is thought very weake for as much as it seemeth to imply a new creation The conceit of a new Creation is pronounced by a learned Countreyman of ours both vnlearned and foolish for whereas it is written saith hee that the fountaines of the deepe were broken open it cannot otherwise be vnderstood then that the waters forsooke the very bowels of the Earth and all whatsoeuer therein was dispersed made an eruption through the face of the Earth Now if wee compare the height of the waters in this deluge aboue the highest mountaines being onely 15 cubits with the depth of the semi-diameter of the Earth to the Center we shall not find it impossible answering reason with reason that all these waters dispersed vnder the Earth should so far extend as to drowne the whole Earth for the semi-diameter of the Earth as Astronomers teach is not aboue 35 â— miles wherein the waters contained and dispersed may bee sufficient for the hight of the greatest mountaines which neuer attaine 30 miles vpright whereas this distance of 30 miles is found in the depth of the Earth 116 times Secondly the extension of the Ayre being exceeding great it might please God to condensate and thicken a great part thereof which might concurre to this Inundation We willingly assent to the worthy Authour that this Inundation might bee performed without any new creation Notwithstanding we cannot hence collect that it was Naturall But to compose the difference the better and to shew how far Nature had a hand in this admirable effect we will thus distinguish that an effect may be called Naturall two manner of wayes First in regard of the causes themselues Secondly in respect of the Direction and Application of the causes If we consider the meere secondary and instrumentall causes wee might call this effect Naturall because it was partly performed by their helpe and concurrence But if we consider the mutuall application and coniunction of these second causes together with the first cause which extraordinarily set them a worke we must needs acknowledge it to be supernaturall For other particular Inundations in particular Regions we may more safely terme them Naturall as directed and stirred vp by second causes working no otherwise then according to their owne naturall disposition Two causes concurring together are here most notable whereof the first is the great coniunction of watry Planets working on the water their proper subiect the other the weaknes of the bounds and banks restraining the water which by processe of time weare out and suffer breaches both these causes sometimes concurring together cause an Inundation which assertion wee may lawfully accept but with this caution that Almighty God working by second causes neuerthelesse directs them oftentimes to supernaturall and extraordinary ends 2 Particular alterations haue happened to Bounds of Regions by Particular Inundations Howsoeuer some inundation haue not continued long but after a small time leâ—t the Earth to her owne possession yet others haue been of such violence as they haue beene found to haue fretted away or added and so altered the bounds and limits of places which besides diuerse examples produced by vs in our former chapter Aristotle seemes to acknowledge in the 1 booke ofhis Meteors the 14 Chapter where he saith that by such Accidents sometimes the Continent and firme land is turned into the Sea and other-where the Sea hath resigned places to the Land for sith the agitation or mouing of the water depends ordinarily vpon the vertue of Heauenly bodyes if it should happen that those Starres should meet in coniunction which are most forceable and effectuall for stirring vp of Tempests and Flouds the Sea is knowne to rage beyond measure either leauing her ancient bounds or else vsurping new By this meanes as we haue shewed in the former Chapter some Ilands haue been ioyned to the Land and some Peninsula's separated from the Land and made Ilands somewhere the Sea hath beene obserued for a great space to leaue the Land naked as Verstegan coniectures of the most part of Belgia which hee sayes was in ancient time couered with water which besides many other arguments hee labours to proue out of the multitude of fish-shells and fish-bones found euery-where farre vnder ground about Holland and the coasts thereabouts which being digged vp in such abundance and from such depthes could not saith hee proceed from any other cause then the Sea which couered the whole Countrey and strewed it with fishes Lastly that the Sea might seeme as well to get as lose shee hath shewed her power in taking away and swallowing vp some Regions and Cities which before were extant Such fortune had Pyrrha and Antisâ—a about Meotis
continue black Yet so as they by little and little declining from their former hue will in time become white as the rest of the European Inhabitants For otherwise it must needs follow that Scythia should at this day breed many Blackmores and Ethiopia many white because no question can bee made but that all nations almost of the world since the beginning haue suffered mixture Wee reade that the Gothes being a warlike people of the North long after their first inuasion of Spaine France Italy and other Territories of Europe retained their owne disposition and nature altogether disagreeing with the nations amongst whom they liued gouerning as is the manner of Northerne Potentates rather by Strength then Policy better able to winne then establish an Empire But in processe of time it came to passe that putting off their harsh temper they grew into one nation with the natiue Inhabitants as in France and Italy or at least as in Spaine establishing a gouernment of their owne by little and little declined from their rudenesse to ciuility turning their armes to Arts their strength to stratagemmes hauing of late yeeres by witty pollicy established a greater empire then euer their Ancestours could atcheiue by multitudes of men and strength of armes And it is worth obseruation that as these haue suffered a change of Lawes customes gouernment which they owe more to the nature of the Climate then to Education so in their very language For the language of the Gothes heretofore differed little from the language of the ancient Germans which as most Northerne languages was very rough consisting of many hard and harsh aspirations with vnpleasant collision of many consonants together But at this day is changed into a very elegant tongue pleasant to the eare consisting of many vowels and the softest aspirations Finally such haue beene the alterations of this people that being heretofore farre North and branded with all the markes of Northerne rudenesse they are now esteemed in the Catalogue of Southerne Inhabitants Not in regard as much of place as nature The like may wee obserue of the Turkes and Tartars who spreading their empire from the North towards the South a long time retained their rude barbarous nature which they haue not at this day altogether cast off yet so much hath time and place gained vpon their temper that they are much mollified and farre more tractable to humanity addicting themselues euery day more and more to the study of artes and ciuility in so much that as one obserues had they not preserued their strict discipline in training vp their youth to armes they had long since lost much of their large empire and haue yeelded to the Polonian and Muscouite This change may we find not onely in mankinde but also in beasts and plants which being transported into other regions though a long time retaining their natiue perfection will notwithstanding in time by little and little degenerate As I haue heard by relation of some of our Virginian colony in America who finde a great alteration in our Corne and Cattle translated thither This might also bee obserued in the Danes Saxons and Angles comming into Britanny who partly by the Climate partly by mixture with them by little and little deposed their disposition and became more ciuill The like may be spoken of the Saxon-colonies sent by Charles the great into Belgia who since that time becomming more ciâ—ill haue proued lesse warlike loosing as much by the one as they obâ—ained by the other This point I will no further prosâ—cute because I hold it sufficiently demonstrated out of that I haue spoken of the variety of naturall dispositions according to the heauenly situation and the soile For sith all nations came at first from one originall we must needs ascribe this mutation to the places which they inhabite 2 The mixture of Colonies begets in the same nation a greater disparity and variety of the Inhabitants amongst themselues This proposition is by naturall consequence deduced from the former Because all Colonies transplanted retaining some-what of their former nature the Mixture must produce variety First because the number of people of any region by this is supposed to consist of more kindes of dispositions Secondly because the promiscuous mixture of these kindes being vnequally tempered must according to their seuerall combinations produce people as vnlike one to the other as to the former Hence a reason may bee giuen why the Inhabitants of the extreame regions either North or South are found to bee amongst themselues as well in temper as in externall face and habite more like one to the other whereas the middle partake of more variety For the Cimbrians Danes and other Scythians are for the most part of a whitish hue with flaxen and yellow haire on the other side the Ethiopians for the most part are blacke-haired and curled The French Germans and the English admit of all variety hauing some white-haired some black some yellow some tawny some smooth and some curled-pates This diuersity the Stoicks would ascribe to the phantasie or image conceiued in the minds of men Whence they would giue a cause why beasts commonly bring forth yong more like one the other then men because say they wanting a reasonable soule they are not stirred vp as men with sundry cogitations but onely with sense So the Scit hian and Northerne man being by nature more simple and affecting those pleasures which are agreeable to nature and lesse distracted by variety of thoughts is found to beget children more like their parents then those of the middle climate This cause wee should admit probable enough but for a reason vrged by Bodin and others that in Aethiopia where the people of all other is more Acute and more violent in lust they are most like one to the other For euen all are found to be small of stature curle-pated black-skinned flat-nosed smooth-skinned great-lip't white-toothed black-eyed Wherefore this infinite diuersity in the middle region we cannot well ascribe to any other reason then the manifold intermixtion and combination of both the extreames Whence it comes to passe that by how much more we wander from the middle region so much the more shall wee finde the people amongst themselues In so much as Tacitus spake of the Germans that amongst themselues they were very like in respect of other nations This mixture in the middle region out of the extreames may easily be shewed out of diuerse Colonies which from the extreames haue beene translated into the middle region as the better place of habitation For hither came the great and extraordinary armies of the Scythians Gothes Turkes and Tartars None besides the Vandalls passed into Africke from whence they were in short time expulsed The Arabians and Punicaeans called by the ancient Saracens leading their Colonies into Europe and Asia setled themselues in the middle region None came into Scythia for when they had inuaded Spaine Italy and France they were in France altogether
time or incertainty of tradition neglected and obliterated they fell backe into such wayes as their owne depraued nature dictated or the diuell malitiously suggested 2 By Discipline nations become moâ—e wise and politicke in the preseruations of states yet lesse stout and couragious As Discipline hath been the chiefe cause of the establishment of all states so hath it on the other side been occasion to soften and weaken the courage of many nations For it hath beene many times seene that such people who haue beene commended for wit haue yeelded to such who are of a ruder disposition as at this day the Greeks and Macedons to the Turkes the ancient Gaules to the French the Egyptians to the Persians the Chaldeans to the Saracens Hence some giue a reason why the French did inuade and runne ouer Italy without controle vnder Charles the 5 because the Italian Princes at that time were giuen to study and learning and it is obserued that the ancient courage of the Turke is much abated since the time that they grew more ciuill and more strictly imbraced discipline And this some thinke to haue giuen occasion to Alexander the great to conquer the Persian Monarchie the Persians hauing beene before reduced to ciuility and lost their hardnesse And we daily see by experience that no men are more desperate and aduenturous then those which are rude and barbarous wanting all good manners and education None more fearefull and many times more cowardlike then such as are most wise and politick an example of the former we haue in Aiax of the other in Vlisses wherevpon the wisest lâ—aders and commanders haue not been esteemed the most valiant A certaine English gentleman writing military obseruations affirmes the French nobility to bee more valorous and coragious then the English Because of the loosenesse of their discipline and the strictnesse of ours But I will neither grant him the one or the other neither can I auerre their courage to be greater or our discipline stricter If their valour bee more it must needs follow their wit is lesse out of this ground But how soeuer it be I am sure that Caesar and Tacitus giue the cause of the great stature and courage of the Germans to be their loosenesse and liberty which howbeit it bee not the sole cause it must needs bee a great helpe For wee plainely finde by experience that those countries which be most mountanous where is lesse discipline are found to produce men for the most part most warlicke Such as the Suitzers in Germany and Biscaynâ—s and Arragonians in Spainâ— Whence as some obserue such countries as are partly Mountanous partly plaine are seldome at quiet the one part willingly submitting themselues to gouernment the other affecting warre and rebellion Which hath been the cause of the troubles of Naples and in England before Henry the eight's time betwixt the Welsh and English Why discipline should in this sort mollifie and weaken the courage of men many causes may bee giuen The first and greatest is Religion then the which there is no greater curbe to the courage not meerely of it selfe but by accident Because Death being the greatest hazard of a souldier religion giues a more euident apprehension and sense of the immortality of the soule of man and sets before the eye of his vnderstanding as it were the images of Hell-paines and Caelestiall ioyes weighing in an aequall scale the danger of the one and the losse of the other Whereas ignorant people wanting all sense of religion lightly esteeme of either holding a temporall death the greatest danger Whence grew the vsuall Prouerbe amongst profane Ruffians that conscience makes cowards But this as I said is meerely accidentall For as much as nothing spurres on a true resolution more then a good conscience and a true touch of religion witnesse the holy Martyrs of the Church of all ages whose valour and constancy hath outgone all heathen presidents But because souldiers for the most part being a most dissolute kinde of people hauing either a false religion which can suggest no setled resolution or an ill conscience grounded vpon no assurance Religion must needs beget in them a more fearefull disposition Another cause may bee the seuerity of discipline which especially in the training vp of youth is mixed with a kind of slauery without which our yonger yeers are very vntractable to tast the bitter roots of knowledge This feare as it were stamped in our affections cannot but leaue behind it a continuall impression which cannot suddainly bee razed out Such as we find in vs of our masters and teachers whose friendship we rather imbrace then familiarity A third reason why discipline would weaken and mollifie a Nation may be the delight which men reape in Contemplatiue studies and morall or politicke duties whence followes a neglect of the other For people of knowledge must needs finde a greater felicity in giftes of the minde which is vsually seconded with a contempt of externall and military affaires The last cause may bee the want of vse and practise of military affaires in most common-wealths for many states well established continue a long time without warres neither molesting their neighbours nor dissenting amongst themselues except very seldome and that by a small army without troubling the whole state whence the generall practise being lesse knowne becomes more fearefull Notwithstanding all this it were brutish to imagine discipline any way vnnecessary or hurtfull either to a Captaine or Statesman For as much as it more strengthens the wit then abates the courage of a nation Neither is it properly said to breake and weaken but rather to temper and regulate our spirits For it is not valour but rather rashnesse or fiercenesse which is not managed with policy and discretion And although it hath sometimes beene attended with notable exploites as that of Alexander the great of the Gothes the ancient Gaules and many other Yet shall we obserue such conquests to bee of small continuance For what they atcheiued by strength they lost for want of policy So that it is well said by one that moderation is the mother of continuance to States and Kingdomes Thus haue we run ouer by Gods assistance the chiefe causes of diuersity of dispositions of Nations Wherein if any man will informe himselfe as hee should hee must compare one circumstance with another and make his iudgement not from a man but a nation and not censure any Nation out of one obseruation For practise in Art cannot alwayes come home to speculation So experience in this kinde will oftentimes crosse the most generall rules wee can imagine T is enough to iudge as wee finde and walke where the way is open If any man will desire more curiosity hee may spend more labour to lesse purpose Let euery man by beholding the nationall vices of other men praise Almighty God for his owne happinesse and by seeing their vertues learne to correct his owne vices So should our trauaile in this Terrestriall Globe bee our direct way to Heauen And that eternall guide should conduct vs which can neuer erre To whom be ascribed all Glory Prayse and Power for euermore Deo triuni Laus in aeternum FINIS Ptolom geogr l. 1. sec. 1. Seneca in Medeâ Act. 2. De gen cor 〈◊〉 de caelo cap. 4. L. de Sphaer Lib. 1 geog cap. 4. Lib. 2. c. 72. Lib. 1. De Mundi fabr part 3. cap. 2. Psal. 104. Fundauit Terram super bases suas ne dimoueatur in saeculum vers 5. Ptol. dict 1. cap. 5. Alph. 6. diff 6. Prop. 11. lib. 1. * Pag. 149. R. Ld. D. 1 Meteor Lib. 4. Sr Walter Rawleigh