or Stars but may bee now more easily gotten out of the Tables of Peter Appian Gemma Frisius Mercator Ortelius Tycho and that annexed to Mr Hues his Treatise of the Use of the Globes wherein the Longitudes and Latitudes of all the Principal Cities Capes Rivers c. are set down but not accounting all from the same Meridian which therefore also must bee considered off For the named Autors Appian Gemma Frisius and Tycho reckoned from the Canaries the rest from St Michaël in the Azores Of the Difference of Longitude and Latitude and what is to bee observed in the converting of the Degrees of either into Miles THe Respect of several Places one to another is called the Difference of Longitude or Latitude as the Latitude of Oxford is 51 Degrees the Latitude of Durham 55. The Difference of Latitude is 4 Degrees The Use of Longitude and Latitude in the absolute sens was to make out the Position of anie Place in respect of the Whole Sphere In this other meaning the Intent is to shew the Situation and Distance of anie Place from and in respect of anie other The Situation of a Place to another Place is otherwise called the Angle of Position but of the Distance first and how that is to bee made into Miles The several cases put by the Geographers of this Difference are either of Places differing in Latitude onely or Longitude onely or both Places differing in latitude onely are all such as lie under the same Meridian but several Parallels This may so fall out as that either both the Places may bee in North or both in South Latitude or one of them in each If both the Places lie in North or South Latitude then it is plain that if the lesser Latitude bee subduced from the greater the Remanent of Degrees multiplied into Miles by 60 sheweth the Distance as the Isl ' de Maio in the Latitude of 14 Degrees and the Isle of St Michaël 39 Degrees are both under the same Meridian the 14 Degrees are the lesser Latitude which taken from the 39 the greater the remainder is 25 which multiplied by 60 giveth the Distance in Miles If one of the Places lie in North the other in South Latitude add the Degrees of both Latitudes together and do the like The verie same Cours is to be taken if the Places differ in Longitude onely in case they both lie under the Line it self becaus there the measure is in a Great Circle as in the Meridians of Latitude but if otherwise it fall out to bee in anie Parallel on this or that side of the Line the case is altered Wee take for instance the Difference of Longitude betwixt London and Charlton or Charls-Town in Charlton Island so honored with the Name of CHARLS Prince of WALES by Captain Thomas James at his Attempt upon the North-West Passage in the Wintering the 29th of Maie the Year 1632 which was the Daie of His Highness Nativitie The Difference of Longitude is 79 Degrees 30 Minutes as it was taken from an Eclips of the Moon observed there by the Learned Captain Octob. 29 1631 and by Mr Henrie Gellibrand at Gresham College at the same time It is required that this Difference of Longitude bee converted into Miles The Latitude of Charlton is 52 Degrees 3 Minutes that of London much about the same Here the proportion of 60 Miles to a Degree will over-reckon the Distance almost by the half The reason whereof shall bee first reported out of the Nature of the Sphere However it bee certain that the Artificial Globe as the Natural is supposed to bee is of a Form precisely round and may bee drawn upon all over with Great Circles Meridionally yet considered from the Middle Line to the Poles it hath a sensible Inclination or Depression of Sphere as it is termed in their words so that if the Artificial Globe bee turned about upon it's Axel several parts of the same Bodie shall bee more swiftly moved then other at the same time for it is plain that the Equator is moved about in the same duration of time as the smallest Parallel but the Circumferences are of a Vast and Visible Disproportion and therefore is not possible they should go an equal pace It is upon the same grounds that the Autor of the Vse of the Globe per Terram mobilem will tell you that in the Diurnal Motion of the Earth though Amsterdam in the same Latitude with Oxford keep pace with the Isle of St Thomas under the Line yet they are of a very different dispatch for Amsterdam goeth but 548 Miles in an hour whereas the Isle of St Thomas posteth over 900 Miles in the same space of time which is after the rate of 12 Miles in a Minute and more And all this is true that is true to the Paradox from the Inclination of the Sphere But more plainly yet Wee see that the Meridians upon the Globe are set at 10 Degrees Distance but wee may perceiv too that this Distance groweth less and less as the Meridians draw nearer towards their concurrence in the Poles as the Globe it self doth from the Equator upwards and therefore the Degrees however accounted proportionable yet cannot possibly bee equal in the Lesser Parallels to those in the Equator but must needs make an orderlie Diminution from thence to either of the Poles When therefore it was formerly said that 60 Miles of the Surface of the Earthlie Globe answer to a degree in the Heaven it is to bee understood of the Degrees of a Great Circle and so is alwaies true in those of Latitude but in the Degrees of Longitude it holdeth onely in the Equator it self but in the Parallels more North or South the proportion diminisheth from 60 to none at all So that if I would convert the Longitudes of the Molucca's or anie other parts under the Line into Miles it is but multiplying the Degrees of Longitude by 60 and the thing is don but if I would do the like by Oxford or anie other place betwixt the Equator and the Poles I must first know what number of Miles answereth to a Degree in that Parallel of Latitude The knowledg of this dependeth upon the proportion which the Equator beareth to the Parallels which is learned out by the skill of Trigonometrie but need not now bee so hardly attained to for the Proportions are alreadie cast up into a Table by Peter Appian in the first Part of his Cosmographie They are there set down according to the Rate of German Miles one of which maketh 4 of ours According to our own Rate they are as followeth The Proportion of English Miles answering to their several Degrees of Latitude Deg. of Lat. Miles English Seconds 1 59 59 2 59 58 3 59 55 4 59 51 5 59 46 6 59 40 7 59 33 8 59 25 9 59 16 10 59 5 11 58 54 12 58 41 13 58 28 14 58 13 15 57 57 16 57 41 17
College in one of the Windows the Horoscope the same with that of Constantinople now look what Sign of the twelv shall bee found to rise up in the Horoscope or Angle of the East that is the Sign-Regent of that Hous or Citie Prepared thus the Astrologers sit in Judgment upon the Inclinations and Fatalities of States and Men and how little soever it may seem to us or bee in it self it was of moment to som of old for Tiberius an Astrologer himself had the Genitures of all his Nobilitie by him and according as hee found his own or the Kingdom 's Horoscope to bee well or ill look't upon by theirs so hee let them stand or cut them off by Legislative Astrolologie According therefore to this waie of Description the Kingdom of England is Astrologically Sited in the first Trigon of the first Quadrant under the Dominion of Aries for the Sign and for the Planet Mars or otherwise under the Dominion of Pisces now in the Place of Aries and the Influence of the Moon and Mars And Silen saith that the Planet of England is the Moon and Saturn of the Scots Vnde homines illius regionis saith an old Astrologer sunt vagi instabiles ludibrio exponuntur nunc ad summum nunc ad imum delati So the Jews and wee are governed by the same Stars equally as Cardan is pleased to saie of us * Cardan in a Tetrabib Ptolomaei cap. 3. tex 12. A Rebellious and Unluckie Nation ever now and then making of New Laws and Rites of Religion to the better somtimes but for the most part to the worst Now take an Essaie by all the waies of Description in the Geographie of Oxford It lieth in an Oblique Position of Sphere in the Northern Temperate Zone The Elevation of the Pole 51 Degrees 30 Minutes the Longitude from the Great Meridian in Tenariff 15 Degrees under the 8 Clime and 16 Parallel the Longest Daie 16 Hours The Sign-Regent is Capricorn the Noon-Shadows are Heteroscian Wee are Pericoeci to the Baie of S. Miguel in Quivira Antaeci to the Northern parts of Terra Australis incognita below the Promontorie Wee are Antipodes to none The Description and Vse of Maps and ChartsVniversal and Particular IT was said before that as the Whole Earth upon the Globe so the Whole or anie Part thereof may bee Described upon a Plane And howsoever the Description by Globe bee confessed on all sides to bee nearest and most commensurable to Nature Ptolom Geograph lib. 1 cap. 20. Non facilè tamen saith PTOLOMIE magnitudinem praebet quae suscipere possit multa quae necessariò suo collocanda sunt loco neque descriptionem ut unico momento cerni valeat toti figurae adaptare potest sed alterum ad alterius designatonem transferre necesse existit hoc est aut visum aut sphaeram quorum neutrum descriptioni quae in plano fit accidit sed modum quendam ad similitudinem sphaericae imaginis inquirit ut distantias quae in ea statuendae sunt quà m maximè commensuratas faciat ac secundùm eam apparentiam quia cum vera conveniat This manner of Description hath multiplied into several waies of Device not onely from the different Ingenies of the Artificers but from grounds in the Art it self and from the several extents of the Known World at several times Possidonius conceived it into the Form of a Sling as the Archbishop of Thessolonica noteth to that of Dionysius After 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Delineation whereof is made by the learned Bertius who noteth also Ad Fundam Possidonii that Possidonius did not this out of ignorance of the Spherical form of the Earth but pretending onely to exhibit as much of the World as that time was made acquainted with which cast up together was not much unlike to that Figure which hee fancied Mercator describeth it under the Form of two Hearts Orontius of one and under the same Form is the Arabick-Map cited by Scaliger and James Christ-man and not wanting to our Publick Librarie together with the Tabula Bembina In Archiv Bib. Bodleian or Aegyptian Map of the World in Hieroglyphicks wee are now for as great a reason to call it Tabula Laudina by whose vaste expence and Providence wee are possest of that and the like Monuments of the rarest Learning Others have fancied som other waies but leaving what may bee supererogated by Affectation There bee two manners of this Description according to Art The first by Parallelogram The other by Planisphere The Description of the whole by Parallelogram THe Parallelogram used to bee divided in the mid'st by a Line drawn from North to South passing by the Azores or Canaries for the Great Meridian Cross to this and at right Angles another Line was drawn from East to West for the Equator then two Parallels to each to comprehend the Figure in the Squares whereof were set down rather four parts of the World then the whole And this waie of Description howsoever not so exact or near to Natural yet hath been followed even by such as still ought to bee accounted Excellent though it were their unluckiness to light upon those needie Times of Reformation that had to struggle with that great Neglect and Interruption which passed betwixt the Daies of Ptolomie and Our's Mercator himself I mean Peter Plancius and others of about that time and more lately And som of them did not perceiv but that the Meridians might be drawn Parallel throughout utterly against the original Nature and Constitution of the Sphere which the Plain Charts were bound to follow at the nearest Distance Upon the Globe it self wee know the Meridians about the Equinoctials are equi-distant but as they draw up towards the Pole to shew their distance is proportionably diminished till it com to a Concurrence answerably the Parallels as they are deeper in Latitude so they grow less and less with the Sphere so that at 60 Degrees the Equinoctial is double to that Parallel of Latitude and so proportionably This is the Ground It will follow from hence that if the Picture of the Earth bee drawn upon a Parallelogramme so that the Meridians bee equally distant throughout and the Parallels equally extended the Parallel of 60 Degrees shall bee as great as the Line it self and hee that coasteth about the World in the Latitude of 60 shall have as far to go by this Map as hee that doth it in the Equator though the waie bee but half as long For the Longitude of the Earth in the Equator it self is 21600 but in the Parallel of 60 but 10800 Miles So two Cities under the same Parallel of 60 shall bee of equal Longitude to other two under the Line and yet the first two shall bee but 50 the other two 100 Miles distant So two Ships departing from the Equator at 60 Miles distance and coming up to the Parallel of 60 shall bee 30 Miles nearer and yet each
other fame then this of the shadows going back without anie mention of the Sun at all Now the Historians hope was that if the more obvious part of the Miracle concerning the shadow could bee perswaded then that must necessarily follow And Josephus might know that there was no caus why the Heathen should misbeliev the Retrocession of the shadow becaus their Mathematicians could tell them that such a thing as this might bee don by Nature For. Let a Plane bee set equidistant to the Horizon of a Right Sphear in anie part of the Earth between the Equator and the Tropicks the point of whose Verticitie let it bee less elevated then the Parallel of the Sun's Declination and let the Plane bee Sciaterically prepar'd and it shall bee necessarie for the shadow of the Sun to go back according to the Rules of that Art c. Let A B C D bee the Horizon A E C the Meridian B the East point and D the West Let B E D bee the Equator cutting the Meridian in E. Let F G H bee for the North Parallel of the Sun cutting the Meridian in G. Let the Semith of the Place supposed to bee between the Equator and the said Parallel bee the Point I by which draw a vertical Circle K L I M touching the Parallel F G H in L and another N O P I Q cutting the same Parallel F G H in the point O between L the point of Contingencie and F the point where the Sun shall begin to rise when hee entreth into the Parallel F G H and again in the Point P between L the said Point of Contingencie and the Point G in the Meridian and draw yet another Vertical F R I S by F the point of the Sun 's rising and therefore cutting the Parallel F G H in R between the Points P and G. Now becaus the Sun beeing in anie great Circle of the Sphear the Shadow of anie Style erected upon a Plane at right Angles is necessarily projected upon the Common Section of the Plane of the Circle and the Style Therefore the Sun beeing in the Vertical Circle F R I S and in the point of his rising F the shadow of a Style perpendicularly erected upon the Horizon of such a Place whose Semith Point shall bee in I cannot recede from the Plane of that Vertical F R I S but shall cut the Western Semicircle of the Horizon in S at the same place where the Parallel T S opposite to the Parallel of the Sun cutteth the Horizon so that the distance of the Shadow in the Horizon from the Meridian Southward shall bee the Arch A S. Again the Sun beeing elevated above the Horizon and plac'd in O commeth to the Vertical N O P I Q and then the Shadow of the said Style shall cut the Horizon in Q and the distance from the Meridian will bee the Arch A Q greater then A S But when the Sun shall com to L the Point of Contingencie and so bee in the Vertical K L I M then the shadow of the Style shall cut the Horizon in M and the distance of the Shadow from the Meridian will bee the Arch A M greater then A Q and the greatest which the Shadow can have that daie Therefore from the time of the Sun 's beeing in F the point of his rising till hee came to L the point of Contingencie the Shadow of the Style went still forward from S by Q to M. Afterwards the Sun moving from L to P shall bee again in the Vertical N O P I Q and the Shadow of the Style shall again cut the Horizon in Q and the distance of the Shadow from the Meridian shall again bee the Arch A Q as before when the Sun was in the point O. Therefore the Shadow is gon back in the Horizon from the Point M to Q nearer to the Meridian Again the Sun moving from P to R shall bee again in the Vertical F R I S and the Shadow of the Style shall cut the Horizon in S and the distance thereof from the Meridian shall bee the Arch A S as before when the Sun was in F the point of his rising Therefore the Shadow is gon back also from M by Q to S. Therefore in anie part of the Torrid Zone where the Elevation of the Pole is less then the Declination of the Sun the Shadow of a Style perpendicularly erected upon a Plane may have a natural visible Retrocession which was required to bee don But Peter Novius however hee acknowledgeth that the Retrogradation of the Shadow is according to nature in the Case proposed yet in the Matter of Hezekiah hee understandeth it to bee miraculous and hee maketh the Miracle to consist in this That it was not don as the Proposition requireth within but without the Tropicks between that of Cancer and the Arctick Circle for in such a position of Sphear the Dial of Ahaz was plac'd But learned Clavius whose waie of demonstration wee follow maketh it plainly to appear that the same thing may bee don as well in the one Place as the other And it must needs bee so for in our own Elevation here at Oxford which lieth in the same Position of Sphear though not under the same Latitude with theirs at Jerusalem a Plane may bee fitted for such a Polar Altitude as shall bee less then twentie three degrees and an half and then it will have the same site in respect of the Sun as if it were plac'd between the Tropicks and so the Retrocession of the Shadow must bee as natural as before Therefore it must bee said against Peter Novius that the Miracle was not in the going back of the Shadow onely but the Sun for so it is set down by Isaiah the Prophet And whereas it was set down in the begining that the most visible part of the Miracle was the Retrocession of the Shadow that shall here bee proved becaus to the strength of our Observation it is required that this should bee The most received opinion concerning the Degree in the Dial of Ahaz is That they should bee meant of Hours so indeed the Targum rendreth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and at the first view it seemeth most reasonable According to this the Sun went backwards ten hours therefore hee had gon forwards 150 Degrees of the Equinoctial line for hee is to go everie hour fifteen therefore also hee had yet to go thirtie degrees which is the complement of 180. the Semicircle of the daie The time then of the Miracle was within two hours of night and the Retrocession of the Sun it self was as visible as that of the Shadow for hee had gon back above three parts of the Hemisphear But this could not bee For the Prophet ask'd the King whether hee would have the Sun go ten degrees forward or ten degrees backward but if degrees bee taken for hours would hee ask him whether hee would have the Sun go 10. hours forward
ad Poloniae Regem delatum cui signis quibusdam indicare videbatur vehementer se cupere ad mare reverti quò deductus statim in id se conjecit Sciens omitto plura quae de hoc Monstro mihi narrata sunt quia fabulosa esse arbitror Ea est enim hominum vanitas ut rei per se satìs mirabili praeter verum plura etiam affingant Ego qualem monstri iconem accepi talem omnino exhibeo vera ea sit annon nec affirmo nec refello So Rondeletius Not to bestow much upon the Translation In short it is That in the Year 1531 a Fish was taken in Polonia Such an one as represented the whole appearance and appointments of a Bishop This Sea-Monster was brought to the King and after a while seemed very much to express to him that his minde was to return to his own Element again which the King perceiving commanded that it should bee so and the Bishop was carried back to the Sea and cast himself into it immediately There is a stranger thing belonging to this Storie then the thing it self that Cromer who lived then Cujus corporis magnitudo facies ac cultus talis erat omnino qualem videmus Episcopi cujusdam Romani and wrote the Historie of Polonia at that verie time should know nothing of the matter Bellonius saith that this Fish was for all the world like to a Romane Bishop suâ mitrâ suÃque reliquis ornamentis c. What Poperie in the Sea too Away with these Bables 't is a marvail that such fopperies should bee pretended to the beating down of substantial Truths becaus you and I must live forsooth and yet the things themselvs should signifie just nothing at all FINIS DE Aeris Epochis SHEWING The Several Accounts of Time among all Nations from the Creation to the present Age. By JOHN GREGORIE Master of Arts of Christ-Church in Oxon. יהוה IVSTVS VIVET FIDE DEVS PROVIDEBIT I. Y LONDON Printed by William Du-gard for Laurence Sadler and are to bee sold at the Golden-Lion in Little Britain 1649. VIA VNA COR VNVM DE AERIS EPOCHIS Shewing The Several Accounts of Time among all Nations from the Creätion to the present Age. TO determine the Confusion of Things Chronologie taketh part with Historie which interweaving the Account of Time with the passages of Storie rendreth the Series more distinct and fitter for comprehension Not to bee curious about the description of Time Confession 11. cap. 14. whereof S. Austin confessed Si nemo ex me quaerat scio si quaerenti explicare velim nescio 'T is the measure of all our Motions and is divided By the two greater Lights of Heaven into Daies and Moneths and Years Gen. 1. The two lesser parts of Time will offer themselvs in the consideration of the greater A Year though it might have been as truly said of anie other Star or Planet yet is it now made proper to the Sun and Moon whose Revolution in the Zodiack is the general definition of this part of Time so that everie Moneth in the stricter sens should bee taken for a Lunar Year but that use hath prevailed against the right acception making the Moon 's Year to bee that space of Time wherein shee measureth the Zodiack twelv times or maketh twelv Conjunctions with the Sun This cours shee dispatcheth in the space of 354 daies 8 hours and som odd minutes eleven daies or well nigh before the Sun The Sun's Year is the Revolution of his Motion in the Ecliptick which if it bee accounted in the Zodiack it useth to bee called Annus Temporalis becaus it so distinguisheth the quatuor Tempora Summer Winter c. It is otherwise termed and indeed most properly Annus Tropicus or vertens becaus the Astronomers of old reckoned this Year from the Tropicks first as it may seem though after also from the Equinoctial's depending upon the Sun's entrance into these Points Cabasil in 3. Ptolem. C. 2. which they used to observ with a great brazen Circle planted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the square Porch at Alexandria mentioned by Hipparchus whom Ptolomie citeth in the third of his Almagest 2. Chap. which is concerning the quantitie of the Year If the Revolution bee accounted from anie fixed Star to the same again the Year is then called Annus Sidereus first appointed by Thebit the Arabian and very much advanced by the late learned Copernicus against the unsounder opinion of Ptolomie in whose judgment it seemed as deceivable as to account from the wandring Saturn or Jupiter A Year therefore in our most useful sens is that space of Time in which the Sun passeth through the twelv Signs reckoning his Motion from under anie one of the fixed Stars but from Aries to chuse unto the same again The precise Quantitie of this Year in Daies is determin'd of by all to bee 365 but the surplus of Hours and Minuts hath verie much and vainly exercised the most curious To saie nothing of Democritus Harpalus Meton Aristarchus Archimedes and others who assigned each of them his several Quantitie Julius Cesar's Mathematician setteth down 365 daies and six hours Hipparchus and Ptolomie found this to exceed as much as made up the three hundredth part of one daie Albategnius doubled this proportion The Correctors of the Romane Calendar like none of these and whereas all the rest adjudged the Surplus to bee less then the fourth part of a Daie Copernicus findeth it to bee more and setteth down 365 daies 6 hours and 40 seconds Censorinus therefore said well that the Year consisted of 365 daies and one part of the sixth but how much saith hee no bodie know's But the Julian proportion as most readie for calculation hath obtein'd in Chronologie Emend Tempor l. 1. Erit igitur so Scaliger said of his instituti nostri fundamentum Annus Julianus CHAP. I. Concerning the Characters of Time A Character in Chronologie is a certain Note whereby an infallible judgment is made of the time proposed They are either Natural or Civil Natural as Eclipses the Cycles of the Sun and Moon c. Civil as the Sabbatical Years the Indictions c. Their importance in Historie is more then their appearance Sine his without these saith Scaliger omnis conatus irritus 't is to no purpose to go to work Character temporis as the same Autor constituit fines audaciae Computatorum ut qui in hoc negotio Characterem negligat non magis fit audiendus quà m qui negat principia Can. Isagog Wee begin with the natural Characters and first CHAP. II. Of the Eclipses EClips is more properly said of the Moon then of the Sun The Eclips of the Moon is caussed by the Interposition of the Earth The Eclips of the Sun by the Interposition of the Moon therefore the Sun cannot bee Eclipsed but when hee is in Conjunction with the Moon nor the Moon but when shee is
in several Years but Sundaie this Year must fall out upon the next Year's Mondaie and so forwards till seven Years and becaus the Bissextile superaddeth another daie everie fourth Year till four times seven that is twentie eight Years bee gon about This Revolution is called the Cycle of the Sun taking name from Sundaie the Letter whereof called therefore Dominical it appointeth for everie year It is found by adding nine for so far the Circle was then gon about to the Year of our Lord and dividing the whole by 28. So to the year following 1639 if 9 bee added the numerus factus will bee 1648 which divided by 28 leaveth 24 for the Cycle of the Sun CHAP. IV. Concerning the Cycle of the Moon THe Cycle of the Moon is the Revolution of 19 years in which space though not precisely the Lunations do recurr For becaus of the Sun and Moon 's unequal motions the changes falling out inconstantly the time of Conjunction could not bee still the same This varietie the Antients perceiving to bee Periodical endeavored to comprehend what Circle it made in going about Cleostratus the Tenedian persuading himself that the Varietie finished within the space of 8 years proposed his Octaëtris affording thereby no smal direction But the error of this was discovered in part by Harpalus first and after that by Eudoxus but more fully by the learned Meton who finding that the Revolutino was not completed in less time then the space of 19 years set forth his Enneadecaëtris within the Circle whereof the Lunations though not exactly do indeed recur so that if the Quadrature of the Moon shall fall out as this daie of this year the like shall return again the same daie of the 19. year succeeding This Cycle is therefore called Cyclus decennovennalis and from the Autor Annus Metonicus from whose Athenians the Egyptians may seem to have received it as the Romanes from them in letters of gold from whence if not from the more pretious use of it it obtein'd to bee call'd Origan as yet still it is the Numerus Aureus or Golden Number It was made Christian by the Fathers of the Nicene Councel as beeing altogether necessarie to the finding out of the Neomenia Paschalis upon which the Feast or Easter and all the Movable rest depended It self is found by adding an unite to the year of our Lord and dividing the whole by 19 the remainder shall bee the Cycle of the Moon or if nothing remain the Cycle is out that is nineteen CHAP. V. Concerning the Ferial Character THe Character of anie Time propos'd is that which remaineth after all the Septenaries bee cast away from the whole summ converted into daies In rationibus Solis Lunae saith Scaliger de dierum aggregato semper abjicimus omnes septenarios residuum cum horis scrupulis est Character temporis propositi So the Character of a Moneth consisting of 29 daies 12 hours and 793 minutes is 1.12.793 that is Feria primahor 12. min. 793. for so much remaineth more then the Septenaries The Ecclesiastical year of old began at Easter the first Week whereof was all Holiedaie the daies beeing distinguished by prima secunda tertia c. added unto Feria From thence the daies of anie other Week began to bee called Feria prima secunda c. 'T is a Character of good assurance if the Historian set down Quâ Feriâ what daie of the Week the Act was don And if hee set down what Holie or Festival daie it was 't is a double Character An Example shall bee the deceas of great Otho which as som Historians cast happened in the Year of Christ 972 as others in the Year 973 but they saie too that hee died the seventh of Maie upon the fourth daie of the Week and a little before Whitsontide but the seventh of Maie could not fall upon the Feria quarta but in a year whose Dominical letter was E. which was the Letter of 973 as 't is certain from the Cycle of the Sun which that year was 2. Besides the Cycle of the Moon was 5 therefore the Terminus Paschalis that year was March the 22 therefore the 11 of Maie was Whitsundaie which cannot bee said of the years before or after Therefore 't is certain that Otho died that year or els hee died not that daie CHAP. VI. Concerning the great Conjunctions COnjunctio superiorum is not the same thing now as of old The antient Astrologers called no Conjunction great but that of trium Superiorum when Saturn Jupiter and Mars met altogether But the later finding the effects of the two conjoined more strong and prevailing then of the three have given the name of a great Conjunction onely to that of Saturn and Jupiter These two superior Planets finishing their Circles in unequal time they make three Conjunctions in the whole Revolution The twelv Signs in Astrologie are divided into four Trigons or Triplicities each denominated from the connatural Element and so they are three Fierie three Aërie three Waterie and three Earthie Nineteen years and som odd daies and hours gon about Saturn and Jupiter meet together in Signs of the same Triplicitie 198 years gon about they meet in signs of several Triplicitie but not altogether in complying 794 years and 214 daies gon about they meet in Signs of contrarie Triplicitie The first of these is called Conjunctio Minor the second Media This latter Magna the great Conjunction when Saturn joineth force with Jupiter in the fierie Trigon or Triplicitie which though it happen in 794 years and 214 daies yet it useth to bee accounted by the Numerus rotundus of 800. By these Conjunctions Cardinal Aliac undertook to reform the whole State of Chronologie and make infallible demonstration of the years of the World To bring this about hee first of all supposed out of Albumazar the figure of Heaven when the World began That the Horoscope was in the seventh of Cancer and that the Sun was in the 19 of Aries the rest of the Planets accorâ—ingly assigned This taken for granted hee brought himself to that first and great Conjunction which falling out in the wateris Triplicitie insinuated such an influence into the Inferior bodies as brought upon the World that universal Deluge as Aoniar and Albumazar delivered out of their Antients By this Conjunction hee assigned 2242 years for the Interval betwixt the Flood and the begining of things but which was neither true in it self nor following his own Principles And therefore wee may imagine what Conclusion hee was likely to make whose foundation was not better appointed though otherwise a great Conjunction may bee set down among the Characters of Chronologie but rather to assure then to finde out the moments of time and more concerning that which is to com then those which are gon and past Concerning the Civil Characters and first of the Sabbatical Years AS the Jews everie seventh Daie so their Land everie seventh year kept a Sabbath which
necessarie that som one term or other must bee taken why not the true to choos If the Question were asked indefinitely whether the World began in the Spring the Summer the Winter or the Autumn the answer must bee That it began in all For so soon as the Sun set forth in his Motion the seasons immediately grew necessarie to several positions of the Sphear so divided among the parts of the Earth that all had everie one of these and each one or other at the same time The Question therefore is to respect som particular Horizon and becaus it is not doubted but that the Sun first to this upper Hemisphear and in special from the Horizon of our first Parents The Quere is to bee mooved concerning the Holie-Land at what time of the year the World there began 'T is agreed upon by all that it began in som Cardinal point that is that the Motions began from the Eastern Angle of the Holie-Land the Solstitial or Aequinoctial points one or other of them asscending in the Horoscope Nay Mercator excepted scarce anie man doubteth but this point was Aequinoctial either in the Spring or Autumn Whether in this or that was antiently a great Question between the Doctors Eliezer and Joshua as the Seder Olam relateth Scaliger Joseph and becaus hee did Sethus Calvisius Torniellus and others fix this begining in the Autumn which also was the Opinion of our Bacon long ago But the Father Julius was not of his son's minde Mundum saith hee primo vere natum Sapientes autumant credere par est So the more part Maintein and for the best reasons And if it were not otherwise evident Nature it self is very convincing whose Revolutions begin and end in the vernal Aequinox Nor can anie other good reason bee given why the Astronomers should deduce all their Calculations from the Head of Aries The Aera of the Flood falleth within the 1656 year of the Worlds Creätion as the Hebrew Scripture is plain why 't is otherwise in the Greek accompt shall bee said hereafter CHAP. VI. Nabonassar's Aera WAs of all prophane ones of the greatest note and use Altraganus Albategnius and the King Alphonso's Tables call him Nebuchadonosor or Nebuchadnezar deceived as it seem's by the Almagest So Ptolomie's Book entitled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Magnae Constructionis is call'd by the Arabick Translators Althazor and Serig who at the instance of Almamon their King turn'd this book into that language and that they might speak Ptolomie's title in one word they set down Almageston that is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Great Work The Translators of this Almagest use to render Ptolomie's Nabonassar by Bechadnetzer giving too much heed to the likeness of Names Alfraganus and Albategnius followed the Arabick Translation of Ptolomie and the Alphonsine Tables the Latine Translation of that Mercator Funccius the Prutenick Tables Origanus and manie others confound this Name with Shalmanesser's the Assyrian King But James Christman maketh demonstration that the times agree not besides other circumstances added by Scaliger inducing the same truth with the evidence whereof Origanus holding himself convinced was not ashamed to make his retractation Yet Christman and Scaliger themselvs found it an easier matter to tell who Nabonassar was not then who hee was It seemed to Christman that hee might bee the same with Beladan the father of Merodach or at least that hee was a King of Babylon whose own name was unknown Nabonassar beeing the Royal Name of that Kingdom as hee thinketh and common to them all Scaliger putteth this together and assuring himself that Nabonassar was the same with Beladan maketh no doubt but that was the name of the King this of the man So the 5 book of his Emendations but the third of his Isagogical Canons confesseth this also to bee a mistake This Error was first discovered by the Appearance of Ptolomie's Canon which setteth down a List of the Babylonish Persian and Romane Kings from Nabonassar's time to the time of Ptolomie Mention was made of this Canon by Panodorus Anian and George the Syncellus amongst whom Scaliger but lately and not intirely met with it Sethus Calvisius received a Transcript of a more perfect Copie from D. Overal Dean of S. Paul's the Original whereof is exstant in Biblioth Bodlian and set out with Ptolomie's Hypothesis by D. Bambrigge The Canon begineth Κανων Βασιλειων 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ιδ. Nabonassari 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 β Nadii 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ε Chinceri Pori 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ε Jugaie 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ιβ Mardocempadi 12 c. Nabonassar therefore was King not as som thought of Egypt but Babylon who for delivering his People from the subjection of the Medes was made the Aera of their Kingdom from whom the Chaldeans and the Egyptians therefore accounted their Celestial Calculations For his Synchronism The Canon setteth him down the fifth before Mardocempad or Merodach-cen-pad the same with Meredach Baladan who sent Messengers to K. Ezechia to enquire concerning the Retrocession of the Sun But for a more certain demonstration of the time three Lunar Eclipses noted by Hipparchus are set down by Ptolomie in the fourth of his Almagest The first was seen at Alexandria the 16 daie of Mesori in the 547 year of Nabonassar This Eclips by the Julian Calculation and Tables of Calvisius fell out upon Fridaie the 22 of September at 7 of the Clock in the afternoon and 20 minutes the Sun then beeing in the 26 of Virgo It was the Year 4513 of the Julian Period that is the 3749 from the Worlds Creätion out of which if wee deduct the 547 years of Nabonassar the remainder will bee 3203 the year of the Worlds Creätion wherein this Aera was fixed The daie as the King Alphonsus and before him the Translators of the Almagest have delivered was Dies Thoth or Mercurii answering to the 26 of the Julian Februarie begining so Ptolomie at high noon the Sun then entring into Pisces and the Moon beeing in the 11 degree and 22 minutes of Taurus And the same conclusion will follow from the two other Eclipses reduced in like manner to our Calculation And to put all out of doubt Censorinus saith that the 986 Year of Nobonassar was the 238 of Christ but that was the 4951 of the Julian Period Therefore Nabonassar's Aera began in the 3967 year of the same Period which was the 3203 Year from the World's Creätion So that the Aera is undoubtedly assured This Aera still accounteth by Epyptian years which are therefore called Anni Nabonassarei and becaus it began upon Wednesdaie the first daie of their first Moneth which as the daie it self they hold holie to Thoth or Mercurie useth to bee called Nabonassar's Thoth CHAP. VII The Aera of the Olympiads THe Olympick Games were instituted for the exercise of the Grecian Youth by Hercules as the Tradition go's to the honor of Jupiter Olympius
Luke that the thirtieth year of Christ is Synchronical to the fifteenth of Tiberius Hee noteth an Eclips of the Moon set down by Tacâ—tus in the first year of Tiberius the two Sexti Pompeio Apuleio Coss This Eclips hapned upon Thursdaie the 27 of September in the 4727 of the Julian Period which was the 3963 from the Worlds Creätion And seeing as most certain it is that this Eclips fell out in the first year of Tiberius and that the fifteenth of Tiberius answereth to the 30 of our Saviour's age it followeth that the first of Tiberius was the fifteenth of our Saviour and the first of our Saviour was the 4712 year of the Julian Period one year sooner then the Dionysian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as it may bee the verie same for 't is doubted what S. Luke meaneth by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our own Translation rendreth that Jesus began to bee about thirtie years old c. which considering and that the first of Tiberius was but the begining of a year the difference may seem to com within compass of som reconciliation For the time of the year The Alexandrian and therefore the Ethiopian and Armenian Churches deliver that our Saviour was born the 6 of Januarie the same daie hee was baptized accordingly they celebrate both the Festivals in one daie of the Epiphanie which for that it hath been of som standing in those parts prevailed so far with Causabon as to forsake the more received opinion but not considering how slenderly this Tradition pretendeth Som question of of old there was in the Church of Alexandria so their Clement reporteth as concerning the daie of this Nativitie To resolv this doubt they observed this cours The daie of his Baptism supposed which as wee they held to bee the Epiphanie they supposed also out of the forequoted place of S. Luke that our Saviour was born and Christ'ned the same daie for that hee was 30 years old when hee was baptized Their conclusion therefore was that our Saviour was born the sixth of Januarie which how consequent it is I need not saie The forenamed Bishop of Middleburgh setteth down our Saviour born in April Beroaldus thinketh hee was born about the begining of October So Scaliger Calvisius about the end of September As for the daie saith Scaliger Vnius Dei est non Hominis definire and Hospinian persuadeth that the Christians did not celebrate the 25 of December as thinking Christ was then born but to make amends for the Saturnalia How much better had it been for these men to content themselvs with the Tradition of the Church then by this elaborate unfruitful search to entangle the Truth The Religion of this 25 daie though Scaliger saie it non est nupera neque novitia 't is Apostolical by the Constitutions of Clement c. Antiquitat Lib. 11. Nor doth Chrysostom's Oration saie much less The Catholicus Armeniorum in Theorinus Dialogue make's this good by Antient Monuments brought from Jerusalem to Rome by Titus Vespasian or if this Autoritie could bee rendred suspicious wee cannot elude the Persian Ephemeris nor the Astronomical Tables of Alcas in both which our Saviour is set down born the 25 of December And truely the strange and rare position of Heaven at this Nativitie doth not a little reinforce my belief though otherwise not much given to admire matters of this nature for Cardan finde's it in the Figure of our Saviour there hapned this daie a Conjunction of the two great Orbs which is of that kindle which Nature can shew the World but once except the World endure more then fourty thousand years CHAP. XVII Aera Passionis Dominicae NO less question hath been made about the Year of our Saviour's Passion then that of his Nativitie Thus much is certain That hee suffered upon Fridaie the fourth of Nisan Not to take notice of the Acts of Pilate cited by the Hereticks in Epiphanius Clemens of Alexandria delivereth That our Saviour suffered in the 16 of Tiberius and 25 of Phamenosh which answereth to the 21 of March but our Saviour suffered upon Fridaie therefore the Dominical that year was E but the 16 of Tiberius had 11 for the Cycle of the Sun therefore the Dominical Letter was not E but A therefore either the Passion was not upon that daie or els it was not that year Epiphanius affirmeth that our Saviour suffered the 20 of March but hee suffered as before upon the feria sexta therefore the Dominical must bee D for otherwise Fridaie could not fall upon March the 20. This hap'ned Anno 19 of Tiberius but the Cycle of the Moon for the year was 15 therefore the Passover that year was not celebrated March the twentieth but the fourth of April and feria not sexta but septima Manie other forms of this opinion are set down by the Antient but which will not endure the touch of these Characters Phlegon Trallianus noteth an Eclips of the Sun the fourth year of the 202 Olympiad the most horrible that ever was No man ever doubted but this was that which the Scripture noteth at our Saviour's Passion observed also by the Astronomers in Egypt reported to have said those words Aut Deus Naturae patitur c. The Reverend Father Dionysius may bee seen in his Epistle to Polycarpus and to Apollophanes but who when hee saith that this was don by the Interposition of the Moon doth not a little betraie his Tradition for the Sun and Moon were then Diametrically opposed and the Moon her self totally Eclipsed in Libra to the Antipodes of Jerusalem therefore the Eclips was supernatural The fourth year of the 22 Olympiad answereth to the 19 of Tiberius and the 33 of the Nativitie which was the 4745 of the Julian Period and 3982 of the World in the 78 Julian year and 780 of Nabonassar and becaus it was feria sexta therefore it was the third daie of April there hapning the verie same daie a natural Eclips of the Moon in the 11 of Libra which began at Jerusalem at 5 of the clock and 49 minutes in the afternoon Therefore this daie was exceeding terrible for the Sun was totally once and the Moon once totally and twice Eclipsed CHAP. XVIII Hegira Muchammedis MAhomet having introduc'd a new Superstition which the men of Mecha impatient as all other of alteration resented not was forced to flie that place This flight of his or persecution as hee had rather it should bee thought in allusion to that of Dioclesian and compliance with the Christians Aera Martyrum was called Hegira Muchammedis that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the flight of the persecuted Prophet It fell out upon Fridaie the 16 of Julie and 622 of the Incarnation begining as their years are Lunar from the new Moon of that time but which they account not as others from the Conjunction it self but from the Horning which is the caus why they set up in their Steeples a Crescent as
so called from α the Particle Privative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But this is a Fable befitting the Greeks whose Nation hath been seriously taxed by its own Autors for their luxurie of invention in fabulous discourses In the next place wee are to free the Description insuing from the equivocation and ambiguitie of the word Assyria which is somtimes taken for it self at other times for the whole Region of Syria in that sens comprehending in it more then it self to wit Palestine Syrophoenicia Syria Damascena Arabia Mesopotamia Babylonia Chaldoea somtimes more somtimes less according to Strabo Plinie and manie others But our Master Ptolomie to deliver the delineations of the world from the Ataxie and confusions of the Antients dealt more accurately in his observations Ptolemaeus Asiae tab 5. cap. 1. Hee therefore in his first Chapter of the fifth Table of Asia describeth our Countrie in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. In which description Ptolomie hath vindicated this Countrie to her proper limits aptly sequestring Assyria from the rest comprehending the Countrie within the confines of the great America upon the North Mesopotamia upon the West Susian upon the South and Media towards the Sun rising The chief of Ptolomie's followers in this are Dominicus Marius Niger in his Geographical Commentarie upon Asia whose words I forbear to insert becaus they are but the meer Metaphrase of the description alreadie given Besides him * Pag. 159. Tigurinae editionis Vadian hath don the like in the Chapter which treateth of the Situation of Assyria So also Gemma Frisius in his 22 Chapter of the Division of the Earth and Marcianus Heracleotes who in the description of Susian the Province Marcianus Heracleωtes in cap. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus writeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hee saith that the North limit of Susian is Assyria and Ptolomie had said before That the South limit of Assyria was Susian The agreement of these Autors I oppose to the distraction of others in reading whereof diligent heed would bee taken of the ambiguitie of the word Assyria lest the Reader not beeing sufficiently cautelous might happily bee then least acquainted with the Countrie when hee hath travelled most about it Longitudo Latitudo Assyriae The Latitude of Assyria is Northern cutting off from the Equinoctial towards the Pole Arctick an Arch of a greater Circle containing about 5 degrees and ⅓ from the 34 degree to the 39 and 20 scruples The Longitude accounted in the middle Line from the great * In the assigning Geographical Longitude wee finde an observable difference The Moderns accounting from the Isles called Azores guided by the variation of their compass the Arabians account from the Pillars of Hercules or the Streights of Gebaltarck corruptly called Gibralter Titus-Abelfeldea Som also from Arius under the Line and others otherwise but Ptolomie from the fortunate Isles and him here wee follow Meridian of the World is from the 78 degree to the 84. In assigning this Position wee wee have rather inclined to Ptolomie then the modern conjectures of later Writers for though instruments bee more exact and men's experience more universal yet what shall all that do cùm jam Seges ubi Troia fuit Ninus in ipsa Nino requiratur when 't is brought to such ruine that if the founder himself should rise again Ninus would scarce finde Ninive through hee sought it in it self According therefore to the Longitude and Latitude assigned The site of this Countrie is in the North part above the Torrid Zone between the Tropick of Cancer and the Arctick Circle under and about the fourth Clime the longest daie beeing som 14 hours and one second part This Situation is approved by Rabbi Abraham in his description of the Climes his words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The fourth Clime begineth at the end of the third to the Latitude of 36 degrees of the equal line in the North portion and his daie is fourteen hours and one second and passeth through Assur So far the Rabbin Wee conclude therefore That the position of this Region is an Oblique Sphear whose Phaenomena are these They enjoie as wee do both a Vernal and Autumnal Equinox the Sun beeing in Aries and Libra Their site is in the South part of the North temperate Zone therefore their air is pleasant Vitello Alhazen The Sun never culminate's in their Senith point that beeing placed beyond the Tropick of Cancer which is the extremest circle of the Sun's Motion in his Northern declination And becaus the Opticks teach that everie Opacous bodie projecteth his Shadow to a part directly opposite to the bodie luminous therefore the Sun beeing either in the Northern or Southern Signes their shadowes are never directed to the South but contrariwise therefore they are Heteroscii Lastly they have the Pole Artick alwaies elevated and the Antarctick alwaies hid For the Astrological site of this place it is comprehended within the first Quadrant in the part Oriental and Meridional and is therefore subject to the second Triangle under the Dominion Taurus Virgo and Capricorn the Planetarie Lords beeing Saturn and Venus Oriental in regard of whose rule in that earthly Triplicitie the inhabitants must needs bee of a disposition wanton and lascivious in apparel gorgeous in Religion Idolaters And becaus the Assyrian in special is subjected to Virgo and her influence is Mercurial therefore our inhabitants must bee great Astronomers Thus Ptolomie Cardan c. But whether it bee so or no let their Ghosts dispute before Minos and Rhadamanthus Thus much is certain That the manners of the Antient inhabitants most aptly corresponded with this Prognostication and if anie urge the contrarie at this daie these Autors may easily finde an answer that besides the translation of the Perigaeum and Apogaeum of the Planets the precession of the Equinox and the Suns lesser Excentricitie 't is apparent that the Signs in the eight Sphear have forsaken their places in the first Moover Aries now beeing in the dωdecatemorie of Taurus and Pisces in the place of Aries And so much may suffice for the general application of Theoretical Geographie to the Practical description of this Countrie Before wee enter the particular parts our discours shall tread awhile upon the Borders Where first on the North part wee meet with the Armenian Mountains which might have been slightly passed over but that they shew the place where once Noah's Ark rested That it rested in Ararat or Armenia Moses beareth witness that it rested in that part of Armenia wherein wee have placed it may bee a conjecture not without probabilitie becaus Ptolomie placeth the Countrie Gordiena directly upon the North adjoining in Situation to these Mountains Now that Countrie was so called from the Gordiaean Mountains upon which the Ark rested as is approved by a double Paraphrase of two Antient Chaldeans Jonathan the son of Vziel
parties might enjoie their vanitie with an equal participation Not far from Susis wee have placed the plain of Dura where Nebuchadnezar erected the golden statue that stately Trophie of his Idolatrous worship Thus Junius hath noted upon that place in Daniel Dan. 3.1 Next unto Susian also upon the South is placed the land of Nimrod Babylon or Babylonia and therein not far from Tigris the Citie Erce which Ptolomie in a pardonable error calleth Aracca From hence passing over the River wee draw near to that pregnant Relique of the new world's ambition Babel by name so called from the event of that becaus there their Language was confounded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For so the Hebrews intimate by the word Babel a word which in our mother tongue wee yet retain from our Saxon Ancestors as they from Askenaz for when wee hear a man speak confusedly wee saie hee bable's The foundation of this Citie was laid in Nimrod's pride and therefore must needs have a fall and the fall thereof was great upon these ruines King Ninus built again but with more humble intentions and more happie proceedings Semiramis continued the work and enclosed all within a wall of that height and thickness that wee shall hereafter in her life make bold to ask the question whither 't was hers or no in the mean time doubting lest it will prove too great a work for a woman This Citie hath been deservedly set forth by the industrie of manie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herodotus saith the wall was 52 of the Kings cubits in thickness Q. Curtius 32 foot in thickness Quintus Curtius lib. 5. and those most famous Writers as Strabo Diodorus Herodotus Solinus Plinie and Fustathius upon Dionysius Afer c. For the form of the Citie it was four square as Herodotus saith the walls so thick that two Coaches might meet upon the breadth for the Circuit the Autors above mentioned agree not The most exact Tradition for this is that of Clitarchus that the wall was 365 furlongs about which divided by 8 set off for the Quotient 45 â… the number of English miles in the whole compass allowing eight furlongs for one mile Clitarchus addeth that the wall was finished in one year each daie one furlong till the 365 was compleatly ended which is the just complement of the Julian Solar year in daies not respecting that fraction of Hours and minutes in which the Astronomers agree no better then our Clocks and Dials 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Proverb is The height of the wall was 200 Cubites the Towers 10 foot higher then the Wall To approve what hath been said concerning this spacious Citie hear what the great philosopher discourseth in the third of his Politicks that Babylon was so wide and ample that three daies after it was taken one part of the Citie knew nothing of it The buildings in this place were not continued to the Walls nor to themselvs and if there had been no more societie among the inhabitants then there was among their houses they had scarce ere com together for their dwellings were all assunder but the reason was politick to avoid the furie of fire and undergo a seige in war for the wast which laie between the houses in time of a siege was sowen and the increas sufficient to maintein themselvs within themselvs by reason whereof it was impossible to win this citie for against a famine they had thus provided and other waie there could bee none for the wall of the citie was an impregnable fence against the strongest Rampiers and hence it was that Darius could not attein to the conquest of Babylon without a famous stratagem as Justine relateth out of Trogus Pompey Justin lib. 1 This Citie opened it self at an hundred gates and those all of brass In the midst of the Citie upon the one side of Euphrates stood the Kings palace a statelie and sumptuous structure on the other side of the river likewise in the midst stood the Temple of Jove Bell and in the midst of that were erected 7 loftie towers upon the eighth that beeing a furlong high and as much in breadth from the top of this Tower the Chaldeans made their Astronomical observations as the noble Tycho in his Vraniburgum See in Tycho's Astronomical Epist the discription 〈◊〉 thâ—s Vraniburgu In â—his Temple was placed the golden Image of Jupiter which was to bee seen in the daies of Diodorus the Sicilian in height fourtie foot Wee have reserved for the last place that bold attempt of Art in the Horti pensiles that pleasant Paradise which the Syrian King planted upon the battlements of a Tower the top whereof was the base of the whole work the foundation of the garden was laid in stone above that were placed Hurdles compacted together with slimie sulphur these were covered over with brick and that overlaied with Sheets of lead upon which was cast abundance of earth manured with that dexteritie that plants grew there as properly as in their native soil Strange indeed it was to see a wood upon the top of an hous and that trees rooted in stone should grow 50 foot in heighth and yet the credit hereof hath an interest in the best Autors both among the Greeks and Latines And this was once the flourishing estate of Babylon that fierie furnace in which it pleased God to dissolv the hardest hearts of the most refractarie Jews But now Bel is bowed down and Nebo stoopeth no Arabian pitcheth his tent there nor Shepheard his fold But Jiim crieth in the Palaces Isa 13.19 and the Houses are full of Ohim The Ostriches dwell there and the Satyres dance there * Ibid. Mesopotamia Thus leaving Babylon the beautie and pride of the Chaldeans wee com unto Mesopotamia which bordereth upon this Countrie South and by west This is called in Scripture Aram naharaim that is Aram between the two Rivers to wit Tigris and Euphrates here Abraham sojourned at Carras famous for the sight of Crassus this also was the Countrie of Laban the Syrian L. Florus Further West Tigris boundeth Ashur Moses calleth it Hiddekel which Rabbi Chimchi derive's from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either saith hee becaus the waters are of a sharp taste or els becaus they are of a swift cours The Chardeans call it diglath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Arabians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aldiglath all for the same reason for the word Diglath or Diglito as Plinie hath preserved it is corrupted out of Hiddekel or if Diglath bee a primitive the reason is notwithstanding the same for that also signifieth a thing narrow and swift Aristoteles ad Scholiast Dionys Af. Alexand. Let Josephus bee the interpreter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this caus also it was called Tigris though Aristotle himself hath said otherwise who as hee is introduced by the Scholiast of
of this Meridian so far as in Degrees they are concern'd require not above that Number As for an Example One use of the Meridian is to shew the Elevation of the Pole but the Pole cannot bee elevated above 90 Degrees Another is to shew the Latitude or Distance of a Place from the Equator which also can never exceed the 4th part of the Circle for no Place can bee further distant from the Equator then the Pole which is just that Number of 90 Degrees Upon one of the North Quadrants of this Meridian of som Great Globes the Climes are set to the several Degrees of Latitude and the Length of the longest Daie under the several Climes which if the Geographers would think so might very fitly bee placed on the Lesser Globe's for it were but dividing a Quadrant of the wrong side of the Meridian into 90 Degrees and there would be room enough In som other Globes the Climes are cast into a Table and pictured upon som void space of the Globe But the Division upon a Quadrant of the Meridian is much more artificial as hereafter shall bee understood And the reason why a North Quadrant onely need to bee divided is becaus for the Climes of the Southern Latitude the reason is the same And the reason why the Division is made upon a North Quadrant rather then the South is becaus our Globes are fitted for our Selvs and all our share of the Earth lieth in the North Latitude Of the Axel and Poles of the Globe and of the Hour Circle FRom the North and South Ends of this Meridian a strong Wyer of Brass or Iron is drawn or supposed to bee drawn for the Artificers do not alwaies draw it quite through by the Center of the Globe representing the Axel of the Earth The North End whereof standeth for the North the South End for the South Pole of the Earth Upon the North End a small Circle of Brass is set and divided into two equal parts and each of them into twelv that is twentie four in all This Circle is the onelie one above the Globe which is not imagined upon the Earth but is there placed to shew the hour of the daie and night in anie place where the Daie and night exceed not 24 hours therefore it is called Cyclus Horarius The Hour Circle for which purpose it hath a little Brass pin turning about upon the Pole and pointing to the several hours which therefore is called the Index Horarius The small Circle is framed upon this ground that in the Diurnal Motion of the Heaven 15 Degrees of the Equinoctial rise up in the space of everie one hour that is 360 Degrees or the whole Circle in the space of 24. So that the Cyclus Horarius is to bee framed to that Compass as that everie 24th part of it or one hour is to bear proportion to 15 Degrees of the Equator below it And so in turning the Globe about one may perceiv that while the Pin is moved from anie one hour to another just 15 Degrees of the Equinoctial will rise up above the Horizon upon one side and as manie more go down below it on the other side But this Circle is not much for the Geographer's use Of the Horizon THe other Great Circle without the Globe is the Horizon upon which yet not as due to this Circle more then anie other but becaus there is more room the Geographers set down the 12. Signs with their Names and Characters And becaus everie Sign of the Zodiack containeth 30 Degrees which is 360 for the whole Circle the Horizon is divided into 360 Degrees indeed as it ought but not from 10 20 30 40 so throughout but by Thirties that is 10 20 80. and 10 20 30. and so along to make the division conform to the 12 Signs to each of which as I said is allotted the Number of 30 Degrees And the reason of that is in reference to the Suns Annual Motion in the Cours whereof hee dispatcheth everie daie one degree under or over So that hee passeth through each of the Signs in or in much about the space of 30 Daies So that though som of the 12 Moneths answering to the 12 Signs consist of one Daie more then thirtie and one of 2 Daies less yet take them one with another and the Daies of everie Moneth correspond to the several Degrees of everie Sign or without anie considerable difference And after that rate or much about it they are placed upon the Horizon to shew in what Degree of what Sign the Sun is everie daie of the year And to this purpose there is set down upon the same Horizon a Calendar and that of three sorts in som Globes Of two in the most the one whereof is called the Julian or Old the other the Gregorian or New Accompt reckoning this latter 10 daies before the former and the third sort where it is found thirteen Now though it bee true that the greatest part of that which is written upon the Horizon more nearly concerneth the Celestial then the Terrestrial Globe yet it is not altogether unuseful here and especially it will bee nothing out of the Geographer's way to take along with him the ground of Difference in the 3 principally in the 2 sorts of Calendars The Reason of the Difference in Computation betwixt the Old and New Accompts A Year is that space of time in which the Sun goeth through the whole Circle of the Zodiack as from the Tropick of Cancer to the Tropick of Capricorn and so to the Tropick of Cancer again or from the Equinoctial to the Equinoctial or from anie other Point of the Zodiack to the same again Now becaus of the unequal Motion of the Sun depending upon reasons deeply engaged in the Theorical Part of the Spheer and therefore here to bee taken upon trust it ever was and yet is a very hard matter to determine exactly in what space of time this Revolution of the Sun in the Zodiack is made insomuch that one said Censorinus de Die Natali that the Year consisted of so manie daies and how much more or less no bodie knoweth This uncertaintie brought so much confusion upon the Old Romane Calendars that Time with them was grown a Commoditie and bought and sold at a price Their Priests who had to do with this Affair having in their power to make anie year longer or shorter at their pleasure which the Emperor Julius Caesar looking upon as a matter no waie below his greatest consideration advised with som Egyptian Mathematicians about it by whose Instructions hee found that the Sun 's yearlie Motion in the Zodiack was performed in the space of 365 daies and one 4th part of a daie or 6 hours The 6 odd hours hee caussed to bee reserved in store till everie fourth year that is till they made 24 hours or one whole daie so accounting that the 3 first years should consist of 365 daies and the
fourth of 366 one daie more and everie fourth year was therefore as still it is called the Leap Year and the thing it self Intercalation or putting in betwixt the Calendar 'T was verie much that the Emperor did and hee left as much to do for though it cannot yet bee found out exactly in what space of the time the Sun goeth his yearlie cours yet thus much is made good by infallible experience that the Emperor's Mathematicians allotted too much for the Number of daies they were in the right for it is certain no year can consist of more then 365 but for the odd hours it is as certain that they cannot bee fewer then five nor so manie as 6 so that the doubt is upon the Minutes 60 whereof go to the making up of an Hour a small matter one would think and yet how great in the recess and consequence wee shall see Julius Caesar allotted 365 daies and 6 hours to this Revolution but the Sun goeth about in less time that is according to the most exact Accompt in 365 daies 5 hours 49 Minutes and a little more so that the Emperor's year is much about 10 Minutes greater then the Sun 's which must of necessitie breed a difference of so manie Minutes everie year betwixt the Year which the Sun it self describe's in the Zodiack and That which is reckoned upon in the Calendar which though for a year or two may pass insensibly yet in the space of 134 years it will rise to an whole daie that is the Begining of the year in the Calendar must bee set one daie back As for Example Let the year begin at the Vernal Equinox or Spring In the Emperor's time that fell out to bee at the 24th of March but now this year it fell out upon the 10th of March 13 daies backwards and somwhat more and so if it bee let alone will go back to the 1 of March and 1 of Februarie till Easter com to bee on Christmas Daie and so infinitely To reform this difference in the Accompt som of the later Romane Bishops earnestly endeavoured And the thing was brought to that perfection it now standeth in so much as it is by Gregorie the 13th in the Year 1582. His Mathematicians whereof Lilius was the chief advised him thus That considering there had been an Agitation in the Councel of Nice somwhat concerned in this matter upon the motion of that Question about the Celebration of Easter And that the Fathers of that Assemblie after due deliberation with the Astronomers of that time had fixed the Vernal Equinox at the 21 of March and considering also that since that time a difference of 10 whole daies had been past over in the Calendar that is that the Vernal Equinox or Spring which began upon the 21 of March had prevented so much as to begin in Gregorie's daies at the 10th of the same 10 daies difference or thereabouts they advised that 10 daies should bee cut off from the Calendar which was don and the 10 daies taken out of October of that Year 1582 as being the Moneth of that Year in which that Pope was born so that when they came to the 5 of the Moneth they reckoned the 15 and so the Equinox was com up to it's place again and hapned upon the 21 of March as at the Councel of Nice But that Lilius should bring back the Begining of the Year to the Times of the Nicen Councel and no further is to be marvelled at Hee should have brought it back to the Emperor 's own time where the mistake was first entered and instead of 10 cut of 13 daies however this is the Reason why these 2 Calendars written upon the Horizon differ the space of 10 daies one from the other And as the Old Accompt was called the Julian from the Emperor so the New is called from Gregorie the Pope and Lilius the chief Agent the Gregorian or Lilian Accompt and the Julian is termed the Old Style the Gregorian the New as in the conversation of Letters betwixt Us and Those on the other side of the Seas wee may perceiv Theirs to Us bare date for the most part such a daie of such a Moneth Stylo Novo Ours to them such a daie Stylo Veteri And Theirs may bee dated There by their Accompt and received here before they were written by Ours For the third Calendar there need not much bee said though it bee more absolute then the second for it reduceth the Beginings of the Year to the Emperor 's own Time and so leaveth the Old Style 13 daies behinde as it ought to do But it is very rarely found upon the Horizons of anie Globes neither as yet translated to anie Common Use In the outermost Limb of the Horizon are set down the Names of the 32 Windes of the Compass to what end will bee shewed hereafter Why the Meridians and Horizons which are so several upon the Earth are but single without the Globe THe Reason of this will bee plain if it bee considered that the Horizons and Meridians in the use of the Globe are to be a fitted to anie particular place at pleasure at Oxford Woodstock Abingdon c. this could never have been don upon the Globe it self for there must a several Horizon and a several Meridian have passed through everie Citie Town or Castle upon the Globe which if it had been don besides the confusion the Circles would have put out the Places therefore it was ingenuously devised of those who first thought upon it to set one Meridian and one Horizon without the Globe to serv for all For in this case the Globe it self may bee turned and applied to the Horizon and Meridian with as much eas as the Horizon and Meridian with impossibilitie could not bee applied to the Globe as it will hereafter more plainly appear then it can do yet Of the Quadrant of Altitude and the Compass MOreover then the Circles framed without the Globe two other Appendents are to bee noted upon the one relating to the Meridian the other to the Horizon the first is the Quadrant of Altitude and is a thin brass Plate representing the fourth part of a Great Circle and so divided into 90 Degrees called therefore the Quadrant and the Quadrant of Altitude becaus it measureth the height of the Stars upon the Celestial Globe to which it most properly belongeth The business it hath to do in Geographie is to set out the Zenith of anie Place and consequently to shew the Angle of Position or Bearing of one Place to another as hereafter shall bee taught It is therefore affixed to the Meridian with a little Screw-pin to bee removed at pleasure from anie Vertical Point of anie Place to the Vertical Point of anie other The second is the Compass which is a Needle touched with a Loadstone and set in a Box upon the Foot of the Horizon upon the South side such another as wee see in ordinarie Pocket Dyals
The Meridians set at that Distance must make an hours difference in the Rising or Setting of the Sun to the several places as if the Sun Rise at such an hour such a daie of the year at Oxford In a place 15 Degrees more distant towards the East the Sun riseth an hour sooner In a place 15 Degrees distant towards the West an hour later the same daie of this or that year Now becaus the Spaces of time are reckoned by the same Degrees of the Equator as the Distances of Place The Degrees of Longitude have been called Tempora which word Camden somtimes delighteth to use as in the Longitude of Bath hee saith it is 20 Temporibus 20 Times that is 20 Degrees distant from the Great Meridian Hee expresseth by the same word in setting down the Latitude but not so cunningly as I think Of the Equator and the Lesser Circles THe Equator is the Middle Circle betwixt two Poles graduated throughout and plainly dividing the Globe into two equal Parts from North to South This is the Circle of Longitude as the Meridian of Latitude for Longitude is reckoned in the Equator from the Meridian Latitude in the Meridian from the Equator Crossing this Circle obliquely in the Middle is the Zodiack the utttermost extent whereof towards the North noteth out the Tropick of Cancer towards the South the Tropick of Capricorn each of them distant from the Equator 23 Degrees or not much more as may bee accounted in the Great Meridian Equi-distant from these and at the same distance from the Poles as the Tropicks from the Equator are set down the Artick and Antartick Circles all offering themselvs to sight by their Names and distinction of Bredth and Color more notably then the rest by the rest I mean the black blinder Circles equi-distantly remooved from the Equator at 10 Degrees difference and serving the same turn in the accounting of Latitude as the Meridians at the same distance in the reckoning of the Longitude And these are called the unnamed Parallels And so much of the Description of the Earth and Water together Now of the Waterie-Part by it self The Description of the Waterie-Part of the Globe by the Rumbes of the Mariner's Compass THe Cours of a Ship upon the Sea dependeth upon the Windes The Designation of these upon the certain Knowledg of one Principal which considering the Situation and condition of the whole Sphere ought in nature to bee North or South The North to us upon this side of the Line the South to those in the other Hemisphere for in making this observation Men were to intend themselvs towards one fixed part of the Heavens or other and therefore to the one of these In the South Part there is not found anie Star so notable and of so near a distance from the Pole as to make anie precise or firm Direction of that Winde But in the North wee have that of the second Magnitude in the Tail of the Lesser Bear making so smal and for the Motion so insensible a Circle about the Pole that it cometh all to one as if it were the Pole it self This pointed out the North-winde to the Mariners of old especially and was therefore called by som the Load or Lead-Star But this could bee onely in the night and not alwaies then It is now more constantly and surely shewed by the Needle touched with the Magnete which is therefore called the Load or Leadstone for the same reason of the leading and directing their Courses in the Nature and Secret of which Stone becaus the whole business of Navigation is so throughly concern'd somthing is to bee borrowed out of that Philosophie The Original of the Mariner's Compass from the Magnetical Constitution of the Earth A Magnetical Bodie is described to bee That which hanging in the Aërial or Aetherial Parts of the Univers firmly seateth it self upon it's own Poles in a Situation natural and unchangeable consisting also of som such parts as separated from the rest can take upon them the nature and conditions of the whole Under this Description the Magnetical Philosopher's comprehend the Globes of Saturn Jupiter the Sun c. but becaus these Bodies are placed so far above the reach of our Experience and purpose it shall bee sufficient to make the Description good upon the Earth To do this I think I may suppose First that the Constitution of the Whole Earth may bee gathered from the prevailing parts such parts especially as do bear upon them the Marks and Signatures of the Whole Then secondly That the parts of the Earth which lie couched about the Center are not of a different or degenerous compliance from these which lie scattered about the Surface which if anie bodie list to rais suspicions upon as Mr White hath don they may but I am sure they were no nearer Him when hee lai'd the Foundations of the Earth then wee The prevailing parts about the Surface of the Earth are the Mines of Loadstone Steel Iron c. of all which it is certain that they are indued with a virtue Magnetical which enableth them to place themselvs in a set position betwixt North and South And not onely these but even Claie it self burnt to Brick and cooled North and South if it bee hanged up in a close place and left to it's libertie will seat it self in the same Situation But the most vigorous Magnetes are the Stone and the Steel the Stone especially And the Steel hath a capacitie to receiv a stronger virtue from the Stone whereby it more firmly seateth it self in the North and South-Position of the Earth directly pointing out those Windes to the Mariner not in all parts directly becaus in following the Constitution of the Great Magnete of the Whole Earth it must needs bee here and there led aside towards the East or West by the unequal temper of the Globe consisting more of Water then of Earth in som places and of Earth more or less Magnetical in others This Deviation of the Needle the Mariners call North-Easting or North-Westing as it falleth out to bee otherwise and more Artificially the Variation of the Compass which though it pretend uncertainly yet proveth to bee one of the greatest helps the Sea man hath for the Degrees of Variation which the place it self exactly observed giveth him a shrewd guess of the same when hee meeteth with the same Variation again unless the Variation it self should bee subject to a Change of Admirable Diminutions as the Late Discoverer calleth it in his Discours Mathematical c. This Needle touched with the Stone and directing towards the North and South the Mariners as the Magnetical Philosophers call their Directorie-Needle Mr Henrie Gellibrand not onely for the reason intimated but to distinguish it also from their other called the Inclinatorie-Needle becaus it is also found that the Needle touched with the Stone will not onely turn towards the North but make an Inclination under the Horizon
Men themselvs Wee must not think they all spake this of their own Knowledg for it is certain the thing might have been and is don though not without anie at all yet without anie considerable disagreement I saie the Longitudes for a very great part are exactly enough agreed on The perfection is not one Man 's nor one Ages Work and must bee waited for It must not seem strange if I tell you that you may distinguish the more certain from the doubtful by their dsconvenience for where you finde them to agree you have caus to suspect for the most part that they have lien long upon the Lees of Time not as yet enquired into But if you finde them to disagree you may conclude that they have been brought to a new Examination And of these you are to take the latest and from such if it may bee as have don it by their own Observation as out of the Tables of Tycho before others The difference of Longitude by Tycho's Tables betwixt Rome and Norenberg is under 4 Degrees which cometh nearest to Kepler who also took it himself from two several observations of the Moon There will still seem to bee som want of satisfaction but it is sufficient for anie man to know in this as much as anie other man doth If you would convert the Degrees of Longitude into Hours for this also may bee don as well into Miles you are to allow 15 Degrees to one Hour upon the Reasons taught before and that which will bee gained by this is to know by how much sooner or later the Sun Riseth or Setteth to one Place then to another As the Difference of Longitude betwixt Oxford and Charlton is 79 Degrees 30 Minutes that is 5 Hours 18 Minutes and becaus Charlton lieth West from London the Sun Riseth so much sooner here then there To finde out the several Positions of Sphere Clime Parallel c. THe Latitude and Longitude of a Place once resolved upon the other Accidents of Sphere will follow of themselvs the Position of Sphere you cannot miss of for if the Place you trie for have no Latitude at all you know alreadie that it must of necessitie lie under the Line it self and therefore in a right Position If it have less or more the Position is oblique If it have as much as it can have that is the Whole Quadrant or 90 Degrees the Position is Parallel the reasons were told before and may evidently bee discerned upon the Globe For the Climes and Parallels and consequently the length of the longest Daie The fore-knowledg of the Latitude leadeth you directly in case the Climes bee set down upon the Brass Meridian or in anie void part of the Globe otherwise it is but entring the Table of Climes and Parallels proportioned to everie Degree of Latitude and you have your desire And as by the Latitude you may finde out the Clime so if it happen that you knew the Clime before as it may in the reading of the Estats du Monde or the like Describers you may by the Clime finde out the Latitude And you cannot know either of these but you must needs know the Zone And if you know that you can as easily conclude upon the Distinction of Shadows for you knew before that the Inhabitants of the Mid Zone are alwaies Ascii or Amphiscii those of the two Extreme Periscii those of the two Temperate or Intermedious Heteroscii To finde out the other Distinction of Habitation you may do thus Let Oxford bee the Place bring it to the Meridian where you finde it to bee 51 Degrees lifted up above the Equator account so manie Degrees of Southern Latitude below the Equator and you meet with the Antaeci if anie bee in the Terra Australis incognita remove Oxford from the Meridian 180 Degrees and you shall finde your Periaeci under the Meridian where Oxford was before about the Bay of S. Michaël in the Kingdom of Quivira and your Antipodes in the place where their Antaeci stood before but they are not for the Place is covered over with Water There yet remaineth one waie of Description but out of Curious Art and of no great Instruction yet becaus it is made use of by som Geographers and not left out by M. Camden himself in his Britannia I may tell what it meaneth Of Astrological Geographie and to tell under what Sign or Planet a Region or Citie is subjected THe Wisdom of the Antients it was called so held an Opinion that not our selvs onely the Little Worlds but the Great Globe of the EARTH also is particularly reigned over by the Dominion of the 12 Signs and Influence of the 7 Planets upon which Principle as wee receiv it by Ptolomie's Tradition they divided this Globe into 4 Quadrants by the Intersection of the Equator with the Great Meridian passing by the Canaries Every of these Quadrants they again divided into 4 Trigons consisting each of them of 3 Signs of the Zodiack not orderly but so as that everie Trigon night bee made up of one Fixt Sign one Moveable and the third Common as they distinguish The first Quadrant was reckoned from the Vernal by the Pole to the Autumnal Intersection and was called the Quadrant of the Habitable World for every one of the other three was to that Time a Terra incognita The first Trigon of this Quadrant falleth to the Dominion of Aries Leo and Sagittarius The Second to Taurus Virgo and Capricornus and to the Influence of such Planets as are connatural to such Signs So Britain France Germanie c. fall to the share of Aries and his Planet Mars Italie Sicilie c. to Leo Norwaie Bavaria c. to Scorpio and so forwards concluding all and every Part and Province of the Globe under one or other of the Twelv But this emptie Speculation stopped not here but would make us believ too that not Whole Countries onely but everie Citie Castle Village nay not a private Hous or a Ship that ride's upon the Oceän but is thus distinctly governed by their Planets They do it upon this ground Those men allow as earnest a livelihood to the Beam in the Timber and Stone in the Wall as to themselvs And when the first Stone of a Building is laid a Citie or Hous is said to bee born and as Formal a Figure erected of that as of the Owner's Nativitie The Emperor Constantine though you would not think it at the Building of his new Rome commanded Valens a named Astrologer of that Time to Calculate the Nativitie and make Judgment of the Life and Duration of that Imperial Citie The Asscendent was Cancer and the Astrologer said that the Empire should stand 696 years and whether hee knew so much or not hee said true the Citie lived longer indeed but all the rest was but labor and sorrow And for a more private Mansion there is yet now to bee seen the Nativitie of the Warden's Lodgings of Merton
it were not so the oversight is the greater This Meridian is of necessitie doubled upon the Plane and yet is to bee supposed as one which is easily don if you reflect your conceit back upon the Nature of the Sphere for do but fancie the two Faces into a Globe again and the two Meridians will becom one You are to conceiv as much upon the lesser Meridians And you maie see too that they do not equally concur for those two which are drawn quite cross to the Equator precisely in the middle from 90 to 90 are straits Lines all the rest as they more depart from the strait Lines so to follow the Nature of the Globe they are more and more Circles and at a farther distance In the Northwest Quadrant of the East Hemisphere you have the nine Southerly Climes set down as in the brass Meridian of Saunderson's Globe The Northern Climes the Autor thought not fit to distinguish but in the East Semicircle of the same Hemisphere you have the length of the longest Daie in hours and minutes to everie several Degree of Northern and of Southern Latitude which by a more exact and shorter cut doth the Business of the Clime and Parallel without more ado which therefore by som are accounted but superfluous Terms of this Art In the East Semicircle of the other Hemisphere you have the proportion of English Miles to the several Degrees of Latitude for both Quadrants to the use whereof there is nothing here anew to bee said The Line crossing the two Hemisphers is the Equator in the Degrees whereof the Longitude is to bee reckoned from S. Michael and so the Latitude in the Great Meridian no otherwise then as it was taught upon the Globe it self though not with equal Art and assurance from the reasons of Deficiencie in this waie of Projection rendered before Neither ought any thing to bee repeted over upon the Zodiack the Tropical the Polar or Parallel Cirles for they are all the same and of the same use as upon the Globe the Cards and Rumbs are alike The little Circles or Roundlets dispersed here and there about the Hemispheres for the most part give account of the several Degrees of Variation of the Compass in North-easting or North-westing as also in what Places there 's no Variation at all so as the Straits of Magellan the Roundlet there saith Ad fauces freti Magellanici deviatio Acû 6 Grad Orientem versus That the Needle North-easteth six Degrees In the Southern Quadrant of the Eastern Hemisphere you have set down three wayes of measuring the Distance of Places The first performeth by a Globe the second by an Astrolabe the third by a Semicirle but the second and third as not of that readiness in working as the first may bee passed over The first in effect is the Geometrical waie Accipe Globum quamvìs exiguum c. Horidius adviseth you to have a kinde of Terella or little Globe not adorned with all the requisites of the Sphere but onely traced over with Meridians the Equator and the Parallels the Meridian and Equator to bee divided into Degrees No more but so Let the two Places into whose Distance you enquire bee London and Paris finde the Longitude and Latitude of both the Places in the Planisphere then again finde the same Longitude and Latitude upon the Globe then set one foot of your Compass upon the Place where London and the other foot where Paris should bee upon the Globe and bring your Compass with that Distance to the Equator And the Degrees intercepted multiplied into Miles by 60 shew the Distance This is as much as to tell us that in measuring the Distances of Places there is no great trust to bee had to any Planispherical Projection whatsoever for though that by the Section of the Equator bee nearer to the Sphere then this by the Section of the Meridian yet they are both equally engaged in this Imperfection that they cannot satisfie for the gibbositie of the Globe The Description and Use of Particular Charts PArticular Maps are but Limbs of the Globe and therefore though they are drawn asunder yet it is still to bee don with that proportion as a remembring Eie may suddenly acknowledg and join them to the whole Bodie They are most commonly described upon a Parallelogramme but their relation to the Bodie it self is not to bee judged by this It is not don to that end but that beeing but Parts and Members severed from the Whole they yet might make shew of as great an appearance of Integritie as could bee allowed Their Place in their Bodie is to bee esteemed from their proper Lineaments drawn within the Square that is such Portions of Meridians and Parallels as they consisted of in the Globe it self Briefly to the Constitution of a particular Chart These Moments especially make up the Projection the Graduation The Reference to the great Meridian the Scale and the Compass Projection The Projection is most commonly as I said upon a Parallelogramme somtimes inscribed with an Oval as the Map of Flanders and Germane Basse in Ortelius or upon a Circle as that of the North Pole in Mercator's Atlas And becaus no Region is exactly square or round so much of the bordering Territories are usually thrust in as may not onely declare the Bounds but fill up the Square too The Projection is mainly concerned in the fore-knowledg of the Longitude and Latitude of the Countrie And the Latitude is to bee expressed by Parallels from North to South as the Longitude by Meridians from West to East each of them at 10 Degrees distance or the Meridians at 15 as the Geographer shall pleas and may bee drawn either by Circle as the Maps of Asia and America in Ortelius his Theatrum or by right Line and that either extended as in the Map of Africa there or onely begun upon the Parallelogramme as in the Map of Europe and then the two extreme Parallels may bee the North and South sides of the Parallelogramme but if they bee right Lines they are not that is the Meridians are not to bee drawn direct or parallel but inclining and concurring to confess the Nature of the Whole whereof they are such parts and the named Parallels are more notably to bee distinguisht then the rest if they have place in the Map as in that of Africa you have the Equator and both the Tropicks either graduated as the Equator or drawn double at least as the Tropicks c. For the Graduation Graduation The Degrees of Longitude are most commonly divided upon the North and South sides of the Parallelogramme The Degrees of Latitude upon the East and West sides or otherwise upon the most Eastern and Western Meridian of the Map within the Square as in the Descriptions of Ptolemie continually or if the Projection bee upon a Circle as that of the North Pole in the Atlas the Degrees of Longitude are set upon the
taken from that Meridian which passeth through the Azores But whether from that in S. Michaël or from the other in Corvo is not set down and yet the Difference is 7 Degrees and more But hear lastly the Kingdom 's Geographer in the Preface to his Britannia At insimulabunt jam Mathematici in crimen vocabunt quasi in Geographicis Latitudinis Longitudinis Dimensionibus toto Coelo aberrârim Audi quaeso Tabulas Astronomicas novas antiquas manuscriptas Oxonienses Cantabrigienses Regis Henrici Quinti diligenter contuli In Latitudine à Ptolomeo plurimùm discrepant inter se ferè conspirant nec tamen Terram è suo Centro dimotam esse cum Stadio existimo His igitur usus sum In Longitudine autem nullus consensus concentus nullus Quid igitur facerem Cum Recentiores perpendiculum navigatoria pyxide Magnete illitum inter Azores insulas rectà Polum Borealem respicere deprehenderim indè Longitudinis Principium tanquam à Primo Meridiano cum illis dixi quam nec ubique 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 permensus sum So the Learned Cambden Where note by the waie that if the Translator hath rendered the Book no better then hee hath this Claus of the Preface the best cours will bee for those that can to read it in the Latine The Autor's meaning I think was this But now saith hee the Mathematicians will accuse and call mee in question as if I were altogether out in my Geographical Dimensions of Latitude and Longitude But praie heare mee I diligently compared the Manuscript Astronomical Tables of Henrie the Fifth as well the old as the new Calculated for the Meridians som of Oxford others for that of Cambridg In Latitude I found them to differ from Ptolomie very much but well enough agreeing among themselvs and yet I cannot think that the Earth is any whit startled aside from it's Center as Stadius did These Tables therefore I made use of But in the Longitude I found no agreement at all What should I do Considering that the Modern Geographers had found that the Needle of the Mariner's Compass touched with the Loadstone directly pointeth to the North-Pole by the Azorian Isles I did as they did and took the begining of Longitude from thence as from the First Meridian but which I have not alwaies set down exactly or to a Minute And now the least that can bee exspected is that the Longitudes of all Places in the Britannia are accounted from the Meridian which passeth by the Azores But from which of the Meridians If it bee as the book expresseth ab Vltimo Occidente 't is from that of Corvo then the Mathematicians have caus to complain for all the Longitudes are fals But I can perceiv that the Geographer though otherwise most accomplished yet was not so well seen in this piece of the Skill for though it bee pretended in the Preface that all the Longitudes in the Description shall bee taken from the Azores yet in setting down the Longitude of Oxford hee saith That as hee hath it from the Mathematicians of the Place it is 22 Degrees from the Fortunate Islands which can never bee true for 't is but 19 from the Azores reckoning by S. Michaël But this is not all In assigning the Longitude of Pen-von-las or The Land's-end in Cornwall Hee saith that is 17 Degrees à Fortunatis Insulis vel potiùs Azoris from the Fortunate Islands or rather from the Azores But is is the Difference so small did hee think But 9 Degrees at least But I finde by the Longitudes that Mercator was the Man that set up all these for Geographers Mercator first of all kept himself to the Greek Meridian as Appian Gemma Frisius Maginus and others but understanding by Francis of Deip an experienced Mariner that the Compass had no Variation in the Islands of Capo Verde And by others that it had very little in Tercera and S. Marie of the Azores but not anie at all in the Isle Corvo that hee might go a mean waie to work and compile with the Common Meridian of the World as hee took it to bee Hee made his Great Meridian to pass as himself saith betwixt the Isles of Capo Verde and the Azores that is Through the Isles of S. Michaël and S. Marie which was afterwards taken for Example by Plancius Saunderson and the common sort of others so that little or no notice at all was taken of the Meridian by Corvo no not by those of the biggest exspectation as M. Carpenter M. Camden M. Speed and the rest although this also was the known Meridian of som Globes of the very same Times and before that that is before they had set their last hand to their Descriptions And 't is no mervail for Mercator's Longitudes were more exactly accounted then before and therefore they might well take his Meridian along with them And 't was not amiss to go by the most received but then they should have said so and withall have set down the three severall Meridians at least and the difference of Longitude betwixt them and all this with more distinction then so that another man should com after them to tell themselvs what Meridian they went by And thus much of the First or Great Meridian Of the Lesser Meridians THe Lesser are those Black Circles which you see to pass through the Poles and succeeding to the Great at 10 and 10 Degrees as in most Globes or as in som at 15 and 15 Degrees Difference Everie place never so little more East or West then another hath a several Meridian Shot-over hath a distinct Meridian from Oxford becaus more East Osney hath not the same as near as it is for it lieth West of the Citie The exact Meridian whereof must pass directly through the middle yet becaus of the huge distance of the Earth from the Heavens all these Places and Places much further off may bee said to have the same Meridian as the Almanack-makers Calculate their Prognostications to such or such a Meridian where they pretend to make their Observations But saie too that it may generally serv c. And indeed there is no verie sensible Difference in less then 60 Miles upon which ground the Geographers as the Astronomers allow a New Meridian to everie other Degree of the Equator which would bee 130 in all but except the Globes were made of an Extreme and Unuseful Diameter so manie would stand too thick for the Description Therefore most commonly they put down but 18 that is at 10 Degrees distance one from the other the special use of these Lesser Meridians beeing to make a quicker dispatch in the account of the Longitudes Som others as Mercator set down but 12 at 15 Degrees difference aiming at this That the Meridians might bee distant one from the other a full part of time or an hour for seeing that the Sun is carried 15 Degrees off the Equinoctial everie hour as was said before