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
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
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
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
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
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