in the middle Region and by reason of its leightness could not go directly to the bottom but was carried by the Air up and down Some would have it a flowing Water of the Air and others again a flowing Air moved by the blaz of the Stars But the Empress seeing they could not agree concerning the cause of Wind asked Whether they could tell how Snow was made To which they answered That according to their observation Snow was made by a commixture of VVater and some certain extract of the Element of Fire that is under the Moon a small portion of which extract being mixed with Water and beaten by Air or Wind made a white Froth called Snow which being after some while dissolved by the heat of the same spirit turned to VVater again This observation amazed the Emperess very much for she had hitherto believed That Snow was made by cold motions and not by such an agitation or beating of a fiery extract upon water Nor could she be perswaded to believe it until the Fish or Mear-men had delivered their observation upon the making of Ice which they said was not produced as some had hitherto conceived by the motion of the Air raking the Superficies of the Earth but by some strong saline vapour arising out of the Seas which condensed Water into Ice and the more quantity there was of that vapour the greater were the Mountains or Precipices of Ice but the reason that it did not so much freeze in the Torrid Zone or under the Ecliptick as near or under the Poles was that this vapour in those places being drawn up by the Sun-beams into the middle Region of the Air was onely condensed into Water and fell down in showres of Rain when as under the Poles the heat of the Sun being not so vehement the same vapour had no force or power to rise so high and therefore caused so much Ice by ascending and acting onely upon the surface of water This Relation confirmed partly the observation of the Bird-men concerning the cause of Snow but since they had made mention that that same extract which by its commixture with Water made Snow proceeded from the Element of Fire that is under the Moon The Emperess asked them of what nature that Elementary Fire was whether it was like ordinary Fire here upon Earth or such a Fire as is within the bowels of the Earth and as the famous Mountains Vesuvius and AEtna do burn withal or whether it was such a sort of fire as is found in flints c. They answered That the Elementary Fire which is underneath the Sun was not so solid as any of those mentioned fires because it had no solid fuel to feed on but yet it was much like the flame of ordinary fire onely somewhat more thin and fluid for Flame said they is nothing else but the airy part of a fired Body Lastly the Empress asked the Bird-men of the nature of Thunder and Lightning and whether it was not caused by roves of Ice falling upon each other To which they answered That it was not made that way but by an encounter of cold and heat so that an exhalation being kindled in the Clouds did dash forth Lightning and that there were so many rentings of Clouds as there were Sounds and Cracking noises But this opinion was contradicted by others who affirmed that Thunder was a sudden and monstrous Blaz stirred up in the Air and did not always require a Cloud but the Empress not knowing what they meant by Blaz for even they themselves were not able to explain the seuse of this word liked the former better and to avoid hereafter tedious disputes and have the truth of the Phaenomena's of Coelestial Bodies more exactly known commanded the Bear-men which were her Experimental Philosophers to observe them through such Instruments as are called Telescopes which they did according to her Majesties Command but these Telescopes caused more differences and divisions amongst them then ever they had before for some said they perceived that the Sun stood still and the Earth did move about it others were of opinion that they both did move and others said again that the Earth stood still and the Sun did move some counted more Stars then others some discovered new Stars never seen before some fell into a great dispute with others concerning the bigness of the Stars some said The Moon was another World like their Terrestrial Globe and the spots therein were Hills and Vallies but others would have the spots to be the Terrestrial parts and the smooth and glossie parts the Sea At last the Empress commanded them to go with their Telescopes to the very end of the Pole that was joined to the World she came from and try whether they could perceive any Stars in it which they did and being returned to her Majesty reported that they had seen three Blazing-Stars appear there one after another in a short time whereof two were bright and one dim but they could not agree neither in this observation for some said It was but one Star which appeared at three several times in several places and others would have them to be three several Stars for they thought it impossible that those three several appearances should have been but one Star because every Star did rise at a certain time and appear'd in a certain place and did disappear in the same place Next It is altogether improbable said they That one Star should fly from place to place especially at such a vast distance without a visible motion in so short a time and appear in such different places whereof two were quite opposite and the third side-ways Lastly If it had been hut one Star said they it would always have kept the same splendor which it did not for as above mentioned two were bright and one was dim After they had thus argued the Empress began to grow angry at their Telescopes that they could give no better Intelligence for said she now I do plainly perceive that your Glasses are false Informers and instead of discovering the Truth delude your Senses Wherefore I Command you to break them and let the Bird-men trust onely to their natural eyes and examine Coelestial Objects by the motions of their own Sense and Reason The Bear-men replied That it was not the fault of their Glasses which caused such differences in their Opinions but the sensitive motions in their Optick organs did not move alike nor were their rational judgments always regular To which the Empress answered That if their Glasses were true Informers they would rectifie their irregular Sense and Reason But said she Nature has made your Sense and Reason more regular then Art has your Glasses for they are meer deluders and will never lead you to the knowledg of Truth Wherefore I command you again to break them for you may observe the progressive motions of Coelestial Bodies with your natural eyes better then through Artificial Glasses The
various sorts and productions of Animal Creatures I desire you to tell me what you have observed of their sensitive perceptions Truly answered they Your Majesty puts a very hard question to us and we shall hardly be able to give a satisfactory answer to it for there are many different sorts of Creatures which as they have all different perceptions so they have also different organs which our senses are not able to discover onely in an Oyster-shell we have with admiration observed that the common sensorium of the Oyster lies just at the closing of the shells where the pressure and reaction may be perceived by the opening and shutting of the shells every tide After all this the Empress desired the Worm men to give her a true Relation how frost was made upon the Earth To which they answered That it was made much after the manner and description of the Fish and Bird-men concerning the Congelation of Water into Ice and Snow by a commixture of saline and acid particles which relation added a great light to the Ape-men who were the Chymists concerning their Chymical principles Salt Sulphur and Mercury But said the Empress if it be so it will require an infinite multitude of saline particles to produce such a great quantity of Ice Frost and Snow besides said she when Snow Ice and Frost turn again into their former principle I would fain know what becomes of those saline particles But neither the Worm-men nor the Fish and Bird-men could give her an answer to it Then the Empress enquired of them the reason Why Springs were not as salt as the Sea is also why some did ebb and flow To which it was answered That the ebbing and flowing of some Springs was caused by hollow Caverns within the Earth where the sea-Sea-water crowding thorow did thrust forward and drew backward the Spring-water according to its own way of ebbing and flowing but others said That it proceeded from a small proportion of saline and acid particles which the Spring-water imbibed from the Earth and although it was not so much as to be perceived by the sense of Taste yet was it enough to cause an ebbing and flowing-motion And as for the spring-Spring-water being fresh they gave according to their Observation this following reason There is said they a certain heat within the Bowels of the Earth proceeding from its swift circular motion upon its own axe which heat distills the rarest parts of the Earth into a fresh and insipid water which water being through the pores of the Earth conveighed into a place where it may break forth without resistance or obstruction causes Springs and Fountains and these distilled Waters within the Earth do nourish and refresh the grosser and drier parts thereof This Relation confirmed the Empress in the opinion concerning the motion of the Earth and the fixedness of the Sun as the Bird-men had informed her and then she asked the Worm-men whether Minerals and Vegetables were generated by the same heat that is within the Bowels of the Earth To which they could give her no positive answer onely this they affirmed That heat and cold were not the primary producing causes of either Vegetables or Minerals or other sorts of Creatures but onely effects and to prove this our assertion said they we have observed that by change of some sorts of Corporeal motions that which is now hot will become cold and what is now cold will grow hot but the hottest place of all we find to be the Center of the Earth Neither do we observe that the Torrid Zone does contain so much Gold and Silver as the Temperate nor is there great store of Iron and Lead wheresoever there is Gold for these Metals are most found in colder Climates towards either of the Poles This Observation the Empress commanded them to confer with her Chymists the Ape-men to let them know that Gold was not produced by a violent but a temperate degree of heat She asked further Whether Gold could not be made by Art They answered That they could not certainly tell her Majesty but if it was possible to be done they thought Tin Lead Brass Iron and Silver to be the fittest Metals for such an Artificial Transmutation Then she asked them Whether Art could produce Iron Tin Lead or Silver They answered Not in their opinion Then I perceive replyed the Empress that your judgments are very irregular since you believe that Gold which is so fixt a Metal that nothing has been found as yet which could occasion a dissolution of its interior figure may be made by Art and not Tin Lead Iron Copper or Silver which yet are so far weaker and meaner Metals then Gold is But the Worm-men excused themselves that they were ignorant in that Art and that such questions belonged more properly to the Ape-men which were Her Majesties Chymists Then the Empress asked them Whether by their Sensitive perceptions they could observe the interior corporeal figurative Motions both of Vegetables and Minerals They answer'd That their Senses could perceive them after they were produced but not before Nevertheless said they although the interior figurative motions of Natural Creatures are not subject to the exterior animal sensitive perceptions yet by their Rational perception they may judg of them and of their productions if they be regular Whereupon the Empress commanded the Bear-men to lend them some of their best Microscopes At which the Bear-men smilingly answered her Majesty that their Glasses would do them but little service in the bowels of the Earth because there was no light for said they our Glasses do onely represent exterior objects according to the various reflections and positions of light and wheresoever light is wanting the glasses wil do no good To which the Worm-men replied that although they could not say much of refractions reflections inflections and the like yet were they not blind even in the bowels of the Earth for they could see the several sorts of Minerals as also minute Animals that lived there which minute Animal Creatures were not blind neither but had some kind of sensitive perception that was as serviceable to them as sight taste smell touch hearing c. was to other Animal Creatures By which it is evident That Nature has been as bountiful to those Creatures that live under ground or in the bowels of the Earth as to those that live upon the surface of the Earth or in the Air or in Water But howsoever proceeded the Worm-men although there is light in the bowels of the Earth yet your Microscopes will do but little good there by reason those Creatures that live under ground have not such an optick sense as those that live on the surface of the Earth wherefore unless you had such Glasses as are proper for their perception your Microscopes will not be any ways advantagious to them The Empress seem'd well pleased with this answer of the Worm-men and asked them further Whether Minerals and all
their Optick observations through the several sorts of their Glasses would be a tedious work and tire even the most patient Reader wherefore I 'le pass them by onely this was very remakable and worthy to be taken notice of that notwithstanding their great skil industry and ingenuity in Experimental Philosophy they could yet by no means contrive such Glasses by the help of which they could spy out a Vacuum with all its dimensions nor Immaterial substances Non-beings and Mixt-beings or such as are between something and nothing which they were very much troubled at hoping that yet in time by long study and practice they might perhaps attain to it The Bird and Bear-men being dismissed the Empress called both the Syrens-or Fish-men and the Worm-men to deliver their Observations which they had made both within the Seas and the Earth First she enquired of the Fish-men whence the saltness of the Sea did proceed To which they answered That there was a volatile salt in those parts of the Earth which as a bosom contain the Waters of the Sea which Salt being imbibed by the Sea became fixt and this imbibing motion was that they call'd the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea for said they the rising and swelling of the Water is caused by those parts of the volatile Salt as are not so easily imbibed which striving to ascend above the Water bear it up with such a motion as Man or some other Animal Creature in a violent exercise uses to take breath This they affirmed to be the true eause both of the saltness and the ebbing and flowing-motion of the Sea and not the jogging of the Earth or the secret influence of the Moon as some others had made the World believe After this the Empress enquired Whether they had observed that all Animal Creatures within the Seas and other waters had blood They answered That some had blood more or less but some had none In Crea-fishes and Lobsters said they we perceive but little blood but in Crabs Oysters Cockles c. none at all Then the Empress asked them in what part of their Bodies that little blood did reside They answered in a small vein which in Lobsters went through the middle of their tails but in Crea-fishes was found in their backs as for other sorts of Fishes some said they had onely blood about their Gills and others in some other places of their Bodies but they had not as yet observed any whose veins did spread all over their Bodies The Empress wondring that there could be living Animals without Blood to be better satisfied desired the Worm-men to inform her whether they had observed Blood in all sorts of Worms They answered That as much as they could perceive some had Blood and some not a Moth said they had no Blood at all and a Lowse had but like a Lobster a little Vein along her back Also Nits Snails and Maggots as well as those that are generated out of Cheese and Fruits as those that are produced out of Flesh had no blood But replied the Empress If those mentioned creatures have no blood how is it possible they can live for it is commonly said That the life of an Animal consists in the blood which is the seat of the Animal spirits They answered That blood was not a necessary propriety to the life of an Animal and that that which was commonly called Animal spirits was nothing else but corporeal motions proper to the nature and figure of an Animal Then she asked both the Fish-and Worm-men whether all those Creatures that have blood had a circulation of blood in their veins and arteries But they answered That it was impossible to give her Majesty an exact account thereof by reason the circulation of blood was an interior motion which their senses neither of themselves nor by the help of any Optick Instrument could perceive but as soon as they had dissected an Animal Creature to find out the truth thereof the interior corporeal motions proper to that particular figure or creature were altered Then said the Empress If all Animal Creatures have not blood it is certain they all have neither Muscles tendons nerves c. But said she Have you ever observed Animal Creatures that are neither flesh nor Fish but of an intermediate degree between both Truly answered both the Fish and Worm-men We have observed several Animal Creatures that live both in Water and on the Earth indifferently and if any certainly those may be said to be of such a mixt nature that is partly Flesh and partly Fish But how is it possible replied the Empress that they should live both in Water and on the Earth since those Animals that live by the respiration of Air cannot live within Water and those that live in Water cannot live by the respiration of Air as Experience doth sufficiently witness They answered her Majesty That as there were different sorts of Creatures so they had also different ways of Respirations for Respiration said they is nothing else but a composition and division of parts and the motions of nature being infinitely various it is impossible that all Creatures should have the like motions wherefore it was not necessary that all Animal Creatures should be bound to live either by the Air or by Water onely but according as Nature had ordered it convenient to their Species The Empress seem'd very well satisfied with their answer and desired to be further informed Whether all Animal Creatures did continue their Species by a successive propagation of particulars and whether in every Species the off-springs did always resemble their Generator or Producer both in their interior and exterior Figures They answered her Majesty That some Species or sorts of Creatures were kept up by a successive propagation of an off-spring that was like the producer but some were not Of the first rank said they are all those Animals that are of different sexes besides several others but of the second rank are for the most part those we call Insects whose production proceds from such causes as have no conformity or likeness with their produced Effects as for example Maggots bred out of Cheese and several others generated out of Earth Water and the like But said the Empress there is some likeness between Maggots and Cheese for Cheese has no blood nor Maggots neither besides they have almost the same taste which Cheese has This proves nothing answered they for Maggots have a visible local progressive motion which Cheese hath not The Empress replied That when all the Cheese was turned into Maggots it might be said to have local progressive motion They answered That when the Cheese by its own figurative motions was changed into Maggots it was no more Cheese The Empress confessed that she observed Nature was infinitely various in her works and that though the species of Creatures did continue yet their particulars were subject to infinite changes But since you have informed me said she of the
other Creatures within the Earth were colourless At which question they could not forbear laughing and when the Empress asked the reason why they laught We most humbly beg your Majesties pardon replied they for we could not chuse but laugh when we heard of a colourless Body Why said the Empress Colour is onely an accident which is an immaterial thing and has no being of it self but in another body Those replied they that informed your Majesty thus surely their rational motions were very irregular For how is it possible that a Natural nothing can have a being in Nature If it be no substance it cannot have a being and if no being it is nothing Wherefore the distinction between subsisting of it self and subsisting in another body is a meer nicety and non-sense for there is nothing in Nature that can subsist of or by it self I mean singly by reason all parts of Nature are composed in one body and though they may be infinitely divided commixed and changed in their particulars yet in general parts cannot be separated from parts as long as Nature lasts nay we might as probably affirm that Infinite Nature would be as soon destroyed as that one Atom could perish and therefore your Majesty may firmly believe that there is no Body without colour nor no Colour without body for colour figure place magnitude and body are all but one thing without any separation or abstraction from each other The Empress was so wonderfully taken with this Discourse of the Worm-men that she not only pardoned the rudeness they committed in laughing at first at her question but yielded a full assent to their opinion which she thought the most rational that ever she had heard yet and then proceeding in her questions enquired further whether they had observed any seminal principles within the Earth free from all dimensions and qualities which produced Vegetables Minerals and the like To which they answered That concerning the seeds of Minerals their sensitive perceptions had never observed any but Vegetables had certain seeds out of which they were produced Then she asked whether those seeds of Vegetables lost their Species that is were annihilated in the production of their off-spring To which they answered That by an Annihilation nothing could be produced and that the seeds of Vegetables were so far from being annihilated in their productions that they did rather numerously increase and multiply for the division of one seed said they does produce numbers of seeds out of it self But repli'd the Empress A particular part cannot increase of it self 'T is true answer'd they but they increase not barely of themselves but by joining and commixing with other parts which do assist them in their productions and by way of imitation form or figure their own parts into such or such particulars Then I pray inform me said the Empress what disguise those seeds put on and how they do conceal themselves in their Transmutations They answered That seeds did no ways disguise or conceal but rather divulge themselves in the multiplication of their off-spring onely they did hide and conceal themselves from their sensitive perceptions so that their figurative and productive motions were not perceptible by Animal Creatures Again the Empress asked them whether there were any Non beings within the Earth To which they answered That they never heard of any such thing and that if her Majesty would know the truth thereof she must ask those Creatures that are called Immaterial Spirits which had a great affinity with Non-beings and perhaps could give her a satisfactory answer to this question Then she desired to be informed What opinion they had of the beginning of Forms They told her Majesty That they did not understand what she meant by this expression For said they there is no beginning in Nature no not of Particulars by reason Nature is Eternal and Infinite and her particulars are subject to infinite changes and transmutations by vertue of their own Corporeal figurative self-motions so that there 's nothing new in Nature nor properly a beginning of any thing The Empress seem'd well satisfied with all those answers and enquired further Whether there was no Art used by those Crearures that live within the Earth Yes answered they for the several parts of the Earth do join and assist each other in composition or framing of such or such particulars and many times there are factions and divisions which cause productions of mixt Species as for example weeds instead of sweet flowres and useful fruits but Gardeners and Husbandmen use often to decide their quarrels and cause them to agree which though it shews a kindness to the differing parties yet 't is a great prejudice to the Worms and other Animal-Creatures that live under ground for it most commonly causes their dissolution and ruine at best they are driven out of their habitations What said the Empress are not Worms produced out of the Earth Their production in general answered they is like the production of all other Natural Creatures proceeding from the corporeal figurative motions of Nature but as for their particular productions they are according to the nature of their Species some are produced out of flowers some out of roots some out of fruits some out of ordinary Earth Then they are very ungrateful Children replied the Empress that they feed on their own Parents which gave them life Their life answered they is their own and not their Parents for no part or creature of Nature can either give or take away life but parts do onely assist and join with parts either in the dissolution or production of other Parts and Creatures After this and several other Conferences which the Empress held with the Worm-men she dismissed them and having taken much satisfaction in several of their Answers encouraged them in their Studies and Observations Then she made a Convocation of her Chymists the Ape-men and commanded them to give her an account of the several Transmutations which their Art was able to produce They begun first with a long and tedious Discourse concerning the Primitive Ingredients of Natural bodies and how by their Art they had found out the principles out of which they consist But they did not all agree in their opinions for some said That the Principles of all Natural Bodies were the four Elements Fire Air Water Earth out of which they were composed Others rejected this Elementary commixture and said There were many Bodies out of which none of the four Elements could be extracted by any degree of Fire whatsoever and that on the other side there were divers Bodies whose resolution by Fire reduced them into more then four different Ingredients and these affirmed That the only principles of Natural Bodies were Salt Sulphur and Mercury Others again declared That none of the forementioned could be called the True Principles of Natural Bodies but that by their industry and pains which they had taken in the Art of Chymistry they had discovered
to be all in a flaming-fire The other Chappel which was lined with the Star-stone did onely cast a splendorous and comfortable light both the Chappels stood upon Pillars just in the middle of a round Cloyster which was dark as night neither was there any other light within them but what came from the Fire-and Star-stone and being every where open allowed to all that were within the compass of the Cloyster a free prospect into them besides they were so artificially contrived that they did both move in a Circle about their own Centres without intermission contrary ways In the Chappel which was lined with the Fire-stone the Empress preached Sermons of Terror to the wicked and told them of the punishments for their sins to wit That after this life they should be tormented in an everlasting Fire But in the other Chappel lined with the Star-stone she preached Sermons of Comfort to those that repented of their sins and were troubled at their own wickedness Neither did the heat of the flame in the least hinder her for the Fire-stone did not cast so great a heat but the Empress was able to endure it by reason the water which was poured on the Stone by its own self-motion turned into a flaming-fire occasioned by the natural motions of the Stone which made the flame weaker then if it had been fed by some other kind of fuel the other Chappel where the Star-Stone was although it did cast a great light yet was it without all heat and the Empress appear'd like an Angel in it and as that Chappel was an embleme of Hell so this was an embleme of Heaven And thus the Empress by Art and her own Ingenuity did not onely convert the Blazing-World to her own Religion but kept them in a constant belief without inforcement or blood-shed for she knew well that belief was a thing not to be forced or pressed upon the people but to be instilled into their minds by gentle perswasions and after this manner she encouraged them also in all other duties and employments for Fear though it makes people obey yet does it not last so long nor is it so sure a means to keep them to their duties as Love Last of all when she saw that both Church and State was now in a well-ordered and setled condition her thoughts reflected upon the World she came from and though she had a great desire to know the condition of the same yet could she advise no manner of way how to gain any knowledg thereof at last after many serious considerations she conceived that it was impossible to be done by any other means then by the help of Immâ—terial Spirits wherefore she made a Convocation of the most learned witty and ingenious of all the forementioned sorts of Men and desired to know of them whether there were any Immaterial Spirits in their World First she enquired of the Worm-men whether they had perceived some within the Earth They answered her Majesty That they never knew of any such Creatures for whatsoever did dwell within the Earth said they was imbodied and material Then she asked the Fly-men whether they had observed any in the Air for you having numerous Eyes said she will be more able to perceive them than any other Creatures To which they answered her Majesty That although Spirits being immaterial could not be perceived by the Worm-men in the Earth yet they perceived that such Creatures did lodg in the Vehicles of the Air. Then the Empress asked Whether they could speak to them and whether they did understand each other The Fly-men answered That those Spirits were always cloth'd in some sort or other of Material Garments which Garments were their Bodies made for the most part of Air and when occasion served they could put on any other sort of substances but yet they could not put these substances into any form or shape as they pleased The Empress asked the Fly-men whether it was possible that she could be acquainted and have some conferences with them They answered They did verily believe she might Hereupon the Empress commanded the Fly-men to ask some of the Spirits Whether they would be pleased to give her a Visit This they did and after the Spirits had presented themselves to the Empress in what shapes or forms I cannot exactly tell after some few Complements that passed between them the Empress told the Spirits that she questioned not but they did know how she was a stranger in that World and by what miraculous means she was arrived there and since she had a great desire to know the condition of the World she came from her request to the Spirits was To give her some Information thereof especially of those parts of the World where she was born bred and educated as also of her particular friends and acquaintance all which the Spirits did according to her desire At last after a great many conferences and particular intelligences which the Spirits gave the Empress to her great satisfaction and content she enquired after the most famous Students Writers and Experimental Philosophers in that World which they gave her a full relation of amongst the rest she enquired Whether there were none that had found out yet the Jews Cabbala Several have endeavoured it answered the Spirits but those that came nearest although themselves denied it were one Dr. Dee and one Edward Kelly the one representing Moses and the other Aaron for Kelly was to Dr. d ee as Aaron to Moses but yet they proved at last but meer Cheats and were described by one of their own Country-men a famous Poet named Ben. Johnson in a Play call'd The Alchymist where he expressed Kelly by Capt. Face and d ee by Dr. Subtle and their two Wives by Doll Common and the Widow by the Spaniard in the Play he meant the Spanish Ambassador and by Sir Epicure Mammon a Polish Lord. The Empress remembred that she had seen the Play and asked the Spirits whom he meant by the name of Ananias Some Zealous Brethren answered they in Holland Germany and several other places Then she asked them Who was meant by the Druggist Truly answered the Spirits We have forgot it being so long since it was made and acted What replied the Empress Can Spirits forget Yes said the Spirits for what is past is onely kept in memory if it be not recorded I did believe said the Empress That Spirits had no need of Memory or Remembrance and could not be subject to Forgetfulness How can we answered they give an account of things present if we had no Memory but especially of things past unrecorded if we had no Remembrance Said the Empress By present Knowledg and Understanding The Spirits answered That present Knowledg and Understanding was of actions or things present not of past But said the Empress you know what is to come without Memory or Remembrance and therefore you may know what is past without memory and remembrance They answered That
consequently indivisible But when the Soul is in its Vehicle said the Empress then methinks she is like the Sun and the Vehicle like the Moon No answered they but the Vehicle is like the Sun and the Soul like the Moon for the Soul hath motion from the Body as the Moon has light from the sun Then the Empress asked the Spirits Whether it was an evil Spirit that tempted Eve and brought all the mischiefs upon Mankind or Whether it was the Serpent They answered That Spirits could not commit actual evils The Empress said they might do it by perswasions They answered That Perswasions were actions But the Empress not being contented with this answer asked Whether there was not a supernatural Evil The Spirits answered That there was a Supernatural Good which was God but they knew of no Supernatural Evil that was equal to God Then she desired to know Whether Evil Spirits were reckoned amongst the Beasts of the Field They answer'd That many Beasts of the field were harmless Creatures and very serviceable for Man's use and though some were accounted fierce and cruel yet did they exercise their cruelty upon other Creatures for the most part to no other end but to get themselves food and to satisfie their natural appetite but certainly said they you Men are more cruel to one another then evil Spirits are to you and as for their habitations in desolate places we having no communion with them can give you no certain account thereof But what do you think said the Empress of good Spirits may not they be compared to the Fowls of the Air They answered There were many cruel and ravenous Fowls as well in the Air as there were fierce and cruel Beasts on Earth so that the good are always mixt with the bad She asked further Whether the fiery Vehicles were a Heaven or a Hell or at least a Purgatory to the Souls They answered That if the Souls were immaterial they could not burn and then fire would do them no harm and though Hell was believed to be an undecaying and unquenchable fire yet Heaven was no fire The Empress replied That Heaven was a Light Yes said they but not a fiery Light Then she asked Whether the different shapes and sorts of Vehicles made the Souls and other Immaterial Spirits miserable or blessed The Vehicles answered they make them neither better nor worse for though some Vehicles sometimes may have power over others yet these by turns may get some power again over them according to the several advantages and disadvantages of particular Natural parts The Empress asked further Whether Animal life came out of the spiritual World and did return thither again The Spirits answered They could not exactly tell but if it were so then certainly Animal lives must leave their bodies behind them otherwise the bodies would make the spiritual World a mixt World that is partly material and partly immaterial but the Truth is said they Spirits being immaterial cannot properly make a World for a World belongs to material not to immaterial Creatures If this be so replied the Empress then certainly there can be no world of Lives and Forms without Matter No answered the Spirits nor a world of Matter without Lives and Forms for Natural Lives and Forms cannot be immaterial no more then Matter can be immovable And therefore natural lives forms and matter are inseparable Then the Empress asked Whether the first Man did feed on the best sorts of the Fruits of the Earth and the Beasts on the worst The Spirits answered That unless the Beasts of the field were barred out of manured fields and gardens they would pick and chuse the best Fruits as well as Men and you may plainly observe it said they in Squirrels and Monkies how they are the best Chusers of Nuts and Apples and how Birds do pick and feed on the most delicious fruits and Worms on the best roots and most savoury herbs by which you may see that those Creatures live and feed better then men do except you will say that artificial Cookery is better and more wholsome then the natural Again the Empress asked Whether the first Man gave Names to all the several sorts of Fishes in the Sea and fresh Waters No answered the Spirits for he was an Earthly and not a Watery Creature and therefore could not know the several sorts of Fishes Why replied the Empress he was no more an Airy Creature then he was a Watery one and yet he gave Names to the several sorts of Fowls and Birds of the Air. Fowls answered they are partly Airy and partly Earthly Creatures not onely because they resemble Beasts and Men in their flesh but because their rest and dwelling places are on Earth for they build their Nests lay their Eggs and hatch their Young not in the Air but on the Earth Then she asked Whether the first Man did give Names to all the various sorts of Creatures that live on the Earth Yes answered they to all those that were presented to him or he had knowledg of that is to all the prime sorts but not to every particular for of Mankind said they there were but two at first and as they did encrease so did their Names But said the Empress who gave the Names to the several sorts of Fish The posterity of Mankind answered they Then she enquired Whether there were no more kinds of Creatures now then at the first Creation They answered That there were no more nor fewer kinds of Creatures then there are now but there are without question more particular sorts of Creatures now then there were then She asked again Whether all those Creatures that were in Paradise were also in Noah's Ark They answered That the principal kinds had been there but not all the particulars Then she would fain know how it came that both Spirits and Men did fall from a blessed into so miserable a state and condition as they are now in The Spirits answered By disobedience The Empress asked Whence this disobedient sin did proceed But the Spirits desired the Empress not to ask them any such questions because they went beyond their knowledg Then she begg'd the Spirits to pardon her presumption for said she It is the nature of Mankind to be inquisitive Natural desire of knowledg answered the Spirits is not blameable so you do not go beyond what your Natural Reason can comprehend Then I 'le ask no more said the Empress for fear I should commit some error but one thing I cannot but acquaint you withal What is that said the Spirits I have a great desire answered the Empress to make a Cabbala What kind of Cabbala asked the Spirits The Empress answered The Jews Cabbala No sooner had the Empress declared her Mind but the Spirits immediately disappeared out of her sight which startled the Empress so much that she fell into a Trance wherein she lay for some while at last being come to her self again she grew very
and of the Characters she was pleased to give of him to the Emperor Amongst other Relations she told him all what had past between the Empress and the several Monarchs of that VVorld whither she went with the Empress and how she had subdued them to pay Tribute and Homage to the Monarch of that Nation or Kingdom to which she owed both her Birth and Education She also related to her Lord what Magnificent Stables and Riding-Houses the Emperor had built and what fine Horses were in the Blazing-world of several shapes and sizes and how exact their shapes were in each sort and of many various Colours and fine Marks as if they had been painted by Art with such Coats or Skins that they had a far greater gloss and smoothness than Sattin and were there but a passage out of the Blazing-world into this said she you should not onely have some of those Horses but such Materials as the Emperor has to build your Stables and Riding-Houses withall and so much Gold that I should never repine at your Noble and Generous Gifts The Duke smilingly answered her That he was sorry there was no Passage between those two VVorlds but said he I have always found an Obstruction to my Good Fortunes One time the Duchess chanced to discourse with some of her acquaintance of the Empress of the Blazing-world who asked her what Pastimes and Recreations her Majesty did most delight in The Duchess answered That she spent most of her time in the study of Natural Causes and Effects which was her chief delight and pastime and that she loved to discourse sometimes with the most Learned persons of that World And to please the Emperor and his Nobles who were all of the Royal Race she went often abroad to take the air but seldom in the day-time always at night if it might be called Night for said she the Nights there are as light as Days by reason of the numerous Blazing-Starrs which are very splendorous onely their Light is whiter than the Sun 's Light and as the Sun's Light is hot so their Light is cool not so cool as our twinkling Starr-light nor is their Sun-light so hot as ours but more temperate And that part of the Blazing-world where the Empress resides is always clear and never subject to any Storms Tempests Fogs or Mists but has onely refreshing-Dews that nourish the Earth The air of it is sweet and temperate and as I said before as much light in the Sun's absence as in its presence which makes that time we call Night more pleasant there than the Day And sometimes the Empress goes abroad by Water in Barges sometimes by Land in Chariots and sometimes on Horse-back her Royal Chariots are very Glorious the Body is one intire green Diamond the four small Pillars that bear up the Top-cover are four white Diamonds cut in the form thereof the top or roof of the Chariot is one intire blew Diamond and at the four corners are great springs of Rubies the Seat is made of Cloth of Gold stuffed with Ambergreece beaten small the Chariot is drawn by Twelve Unicorns whose Trappings are all Chains of Pearl and as for her Barges they are onely of Gold Her Guard of State for she needs none for security there being no Rebels or Enemies consists of Giants but they seldom wait on their Majesties abroad because their extraordinary height and bigness does hinder their prospect Her Entertainment when she is upon the Water is the Musick of the Fish and Bird-men and by Land are Horse and Foot-matches for the Empress takes much delight in making Race-matches with the Emperor and the Nobility some Races are between the Fox and Ape-men which sometimes the Satyrs strive to out-run and some are between the Spider-men and Lice-men Also there are several Flight-matches between the several sorts of Bird-men and the several sorts of Fly-men and Swimming-matches between the several sorts of Fish-men The Emperor Empress and their Nobles take also great delight to have Collations for in the Blazing-world there are most delicious Fruits of all sorts and some such as in this World were never seen nor tasted for there are most tempting sorts of Fruit After their Collations are ended they Dance and if they be upon the Water they dance upon the Water there lying so many Fish-men so close and thick together as they can dance very evenly and easily upon their backs and need not fear drowning Their Musick both Vocal and Instrumental is according to their several places Upon the Water it is of Water-Instruments as shells filled with Water and so moved by Art which is a very sweet and delightful harmony and those Dances which they dance upon the Water are for the most part such as we in this World call Swimming-Dances where they do not lift up their feet high In Lawns or upon Plains they have Wind-Instruments but much better than those in our World And when they dance in the Woods they have Horn-Instruments which although they are of a sort of Wind-Instruments yet they are of another Fashion than the former In their Houses they have such Instruments as are somewhat like our Viols Violins Theorboes Lutes Citherins Gittars Harpsichords and the like but yet so far beyond them that the difference cannot well be exprest and as their places of Dancing and their Musick is different so is their manner or way of Dancing In these and the like Recreations the Emperor Empress and the Nobility pass their time THE EPILOGUE TO THE READER BY this Poetical Description you may perceive that my ambition is not onely to be Empress but Authoress of a whole World and that the Worlds I have made both the Blazing-and the other Philosophical World mentioned in the first Part of this Description are framed and composed of the most pure that is the Rational parts of Matter which are the parts of my Mind which Creation was more easily and suddenly effected than the Conquests of the two famous Monarchs of the World Alexander and Cesar. Neither have I made such disturbances and caused so many dissolutions of particulars otherwise named deaths as they did for I have destroyed but some few men in a little Boat which dyed through the extremity of cold and that by the hand of Justice which was necessitated to punish their crime of stealing away a young and beauteous Lady And in the formation of those Worlds I take more delight and glory than ever Alexander or Cesar did in conquering this terrestrial world and though I have made my Blazing-world a Peaceable World allowing it but one Religion one Language and one Government yet could I make another World as full of Factions Divisions and VVarrs as this is of Peace and Tranquility and the Rational figures of my Mind might express as much courage to fight as Hector and Achilles had and be as wise as Nestor as Eloquent as Ulysses and as beautiful as Hellen. But I esteeming Peace before VVarr VVit before Policy Honesty before Beauty instead of the figures of Alexander Cesar Hector Achilles Nestor Ulysses Hellen c. chose rather the figure of Honest Margaret Newcastle which now I would not change for all this Terrestrial World and if any should like the World I have made and be willing to be my Subjects they may imagine themselves such and they are such I mean in their Minds Fancies or Imaginations but if they cannot endure to be Subjects they may create Worlds of their own and Govern themselves as they please But yet let them have a care not to prove unjust Usurpers and to rob me of mine for concerning the Philosophical-world I am Empress of it my self and as for the Blazing-world it having an Empress already who rules it with great Wisdom and Conduct which Empress is my dear Platonick Friend I shall never prove so unjust treacherous and unworthy to her as to disturb her Government much less to depose her from her Imperial Throne for the sake of any other but rather chuse to create another World for another Friend FINIS