civility by this they use to distinguish a Gentleman from a Clown besides they hold it one of the most â—…ertuous ways to employ time I am the more covetous of a punctuall correspondence with you in this point because I commonly gain by your Letters your stile is so polite your expressions so gallant and your lines interspers'd with such dainty flowers of Poetry and Philosophy I understand ther is a very able Doctor that reads the Anatomy Lecture this terme if Ploydon will dispense with you you cannot spend your hours better than to hear him So I end for this time being crampd for want of more matter and rest West 3 Iul. 1631. Your most affectionat loving Cosen J. H. XXI To my Nephew J. P. at St. Johns in Oxford Nephew I Had from you lately two Letters the last was wel freighted with very good stuff but the other to deal plainly with you was noâ—… so Ther was as much difference between them as twixt a Scots Pedlars pack in Poland and the Magazine of an English Merchant in Naples the one being usually full of Taffaty Silks and Satins the other of Calicoes threed-ribbands and such polldavy ware I perceive you have good Comodities to vent if you take the pains your trifles and bagatells are ill bestowed upon me therfore heerafter I pray let me have of your best sort of wares I am glad to find that you have stor'd up so much already you are in the best Mart in the world to improve them which I hope you dayly do and I doubt not when the time of your apprentiship there is expir'd but you will find a good Market to expose them for your own and the publick benefit abroad I have sent you the Philosophy Books you writ to me for any thing that you want of this kind for the advancement of your studies do but write and I shall furnish you When I was a student as you are my practise was to borrow rather than buy som sort of Books and to be always punctuall in restoring them upon the day assign'd and in the intrim to swallow of them as much as made for my turn this obligd me to read them thorow with more haste to keep my word wheras I had not been so carefull to peruse them had they been my own Books which I knew wer always ready at my dispose I thank you heartily for your last Letter in regard I found it smelt of the Lamp I pray let your next do so and the oyl and labor shall not bee lost which you expend upon Westm. 1 Aug. 1633. Your assured loving Uncle J. H. XXII To Sir Tho. Haw SIR I Thank you a thousand times for the choice Stanzas you pleas'd to send me lately I find that you wer throughly heated that you wer inspir'd with a true enthusiasme when you compos'd them And wheras others use to flutter in the lower Region your Muse soars up to the upper and transcending that too takes her flight among the Celestiall bodies to find a fancy your desires I should do somthing upon the same subject I have obeyd though I fear not satisfied in the following numbers 1. Could I but catch those beamy Rayes Which Phaebus at high noon displayes I 'de set them on a Loom and frame A Scarf for Delia of the same 2. Could I that wondrous black com near Which Cynthia when eclips'd doth wear Of a new fashion I would trace A Mask therof for Delia's face 3. Could I but reach that green and blue Which Iris decks in various hue From her moist Bow I 'de drag them down And make my Delia a Summer Gown 4. Could I those whitely Stars go nigh Which make the milky way in skie I 'de poach them and at Moon-shine dress To make my Delia a curious mess. 5. Thus would I diet thus attire My Delia Queen of hearts and fire She should have every thing divine That would befitt a Seraphin And 'cause ungirt unbless'd we find One of the Zones her wast should bind They are of the same cadence as yours and aireable so I am Westm. 5 Sept 1633. Your humble Servitor J. H. XXIII To the R. H. the Lady Eliz. Digbye Madame IT is no improper comparison that a thankfull heart is like a box of precious ointment which keeps the smell long after the thing is spent Madame without vanity bee it spoken such is my heart to you and such are your favors to me the strong aromatic odor they carryed with them diffus'd it self through all the veins of my heart specially through the left Ventricle wher the most illustrious bloud lyes so that the persume of them remains still fresh within me and is like to do while that triangle of flesh dilates and shuts it self within my brest nor doth this perfume stay there but as all smells naturally tend upwards it hath ascended to my brain and sweetned all the cells therof specially the memory which may be said to be a Cabinet also to preserve courtesies for though the heart be the box of love the memory is the box of lastingnes the one may be term'd the source whence the motions of gratitude flow the other the cistern that keeps them But your Ladiship will say these are words onely I confess it 't is but a verball acknowledgment but Madame if I wer made happy with an opportunity you should quickly find these words â—…urnd to actions either to go to run or ride upon your arrand In expectation of such a favorable occasion I rest Madame Your Ladiships most humble and enchained Servitor J. H. West 5 Aug. 1640. XXIV To Sir I. B. Noble Sir THat od opinion the Jew and Turk have of women that they are of an inferior Creation to man and therfore exclude them the one from their Synagogues the other from their Meskeds is in my judgment not only partiall but profane for the Image of the Creator shines as clearly in the one as in the other and I beleeve ther are as many female-Saints in heaven as male unless you could make me adhere to the opinion that women must be all Masculine before they be capable to be made Angels of Adde heerunto that ther went better and more refined stuff to the creation of woman than man 'T is true 't was a weak part in Eve to yield to the seducements of Satan but it was a weaker thing in Adam to suffer himself to bee tempted by Eve being the weaker vessell The ancient Philosophers had a better opinion of that Sex for they ascribed all Sciences to the Muses all sweetnes and morality to the Graces and Prophetic Inspirations to the Sybills In my small revolving of Authors I find as high examples of vertue in Women as in Men I could produce heer a whole Regiment of them but that a Letter is too narrow a field to muster them in I must confess ther are also counter instances of this kind if Qu â—…bia was such a precise pattern of
blossoming as it were in every Line I mean those sweet expressions of Love and Wit which in every period were intermingled with so much Art that they seem'd to contend for mastery which was the strongest I must confesse that you put me to hard shifto to correspond with you in such exquisit strains and raptures of Love which were so lively that I must needs judg them to proceed from the motions from the Diastole and Systole of a Heart truly affected certainly your heart did dictat every syllable you writ and guided your hand all along Sir give me leave to tell you that not a dram nor a doze not a scruple of this pretious love of yours is lost but it is safely tresur'd up in my Brest and answer'd in like proportion to the full mine to you is as cordiall it is passionat and perfect as love can be I thank you for the desire you have to know how it fares with me abroad I thank God I am perfectly well and well contented with this wandring cours of life a while I never enjoyed my health better but I was like to endanger it two nights ago for being in som joviall company abroad and coming late to our lodging we were suddenly surprized by a crue of Filous of night Rogues who drew upon us and as we had exchang'd some blowâ—… it pleas'd God the Chevatieur de Guet an Officer who goeâ—… up and down the Streets all night a horseback to prevent disorders pass'd by and so rescued us but Iack White was hurt and I had two thrusts in my Clock Ther 's never a night passeth but some robbing or murther is committed in this Town so that it is not safe to go late any where specially about the Pont-Neuf the New Bridg though Henry the Great himself â—…ies Centinell ther in Arms upon a huge Florentine horse and sits bare to every one that passeth an improper posture me thinks to a King on horseback not longsince one of the Secretaries of 〈◊〉 wherof ther are here always four having bin invited to the Suburbs of Saint Germains to supper left order with one of his Laquays to bring him his horse about nine it so happen'd that a mischance befell the horse which lam'd him as he went a watring to the Seine insomuch that the Secretary was put to beat the hoof himself and Foot it home but as he was passing the Pont-Neuf with his Laquay carrying a Torch before him he might ore hear a noise of clashing of Swords and Fighting and looking under the Torch â—…d perceiving they were but two he bad his Laquay go on they had not made many paces but two armed men with their Pistols cock'd and swords drawn made puffing towards them whereof one had a paper in his hand which he said he had casually took up in the streets and the difference between them was about that Paper therefore they desir'd the Secretary to read it with a great deal of complement the Secretary took out his spectacles and fell a reading of the said Paper whereof the substance was That it should be known to all men that whosoever did passe over that Bridge after nine a Clock at night in Winter and ten in Summer was to leave his Cloak behind him and in case of no Cloak his Hat The Secretary starting at this one of the Camerades told him That he thought that Paper concern'd him so they unmantled him of a new Plush Cloak and my Secretary was content to go home quietly and en Cuerpo This makes me think often of the excellent Nocturnall Government of our City of London wher one may passe and repasse securely all hours of the night if he give good words to the Watch. Ther is a gentle calm of Peace now throughout all France and the King intends to make a progresse to all the Frontier Towns of the Kingdom to see how they are fortified The Favourit Luines strengthneth himself more and more in his minionship but he is much murmured at in regard the accesse of Suiters to him is so difficult which made a Lord of this Land say That three of the hardest things in the world were To quadrat a Circlâ—… to find out the Philosophers Stone and to speak with the Duke of Luines I have sent you by Vacandary the Post the French Bever and Tweeses you writ for Bever-hats are grown dearer of late because the Iesuits have got the Monopoly of them from the King Farewell dear child of Vertue and Minion of the Museâ—… and continue to love Paris 1. of May. 1620. Your J. H. XVIII To Sir James Crofts from Paris SIR I Am to set forward this week for Spain and if I can find no commodity of embarcation at Saint Malos I must be forc'd to journey it all the way by Land and clammer up the huge Pyreneyhills but I could not bid Paris adieu till I had conveyed my true and constant respects to you by this Letter I was yesterday to wait upon Sir Herbert Croft at Saint Germains where I met with a French Gentleman who amongst other curiosities which he pleased to shew me up and down Paris brought me to that place where the late King was slain and to that wher the Marquis of Ancre was shot and so made me a punctuall relation of all the circumstances of those two acts which in regard they were rare and I beleeve two of the notablest Accidents that ever happen'd in France I thought it worth the labour to make you partaker of som part of his discours France as all Christendom besides for ther was then a truce twixt Spain and the Hollander was in a profound Peace and had continued so twenty yeers together when Henry the fourth fell upon some great Martiall design the bottome whereof is not known to this day and being rich for he had heap'd up in the Bastile a mount of Gold that was as high as a Lance he levied a huge Army of 40000 men whence came the Song The King of France with fourty thousand men and upon a sudden he put this Army in perfect equippage and some say he invited our Prince Henry to come unto him to be a sharer in his exploits But going one afternoon to the Bastile to see his Tresure and Ammunition his Coach stopp'd suddenly by reason of some Colliers and other Carts that were in that narrow street whereupon one Ravillac a lay Jesuit who had a whole twelve month watch'd an opportunity to do the act put his foot boldly upon one of the wheels of the Coach and with a long Knife stretch'd himself over their shoulders who were in the Boot of the Coach and reach'd the King at the end and stab'd him right in the left side to the heart and pulling out the fatall Steel he doubled his thrust the King with a ruthfull voice cryed out Ie suis blesse I am hurr and suddenly the bloud issued at his mouth The Regicide villain was apprehended and
is wonderfull pleasing for the tryall of so many rare conclusions it carries with it but withall 't is costly and an enchanting kind of thing for it hath melted many a fair Mannor in crusibles and turn'd them to smoak One presented Sixtus quintus Sice-cinq as Queen Elizabeth call'd him with a Book of Chymistry and the Pope gave him an empty purse for a reward Ther be few whom Mercury the father of miracles doth favour The Queen of Sbeba and the King Crown'd with fire are not propitious to many He that hath water turn'd to ashes hath the Magistery and the true Philosophers stone ther be few of those Ther be som that commit fornication in Chymistry by Heterogentous and Sophisticall citrinations but they never com to the Phoenix nest I know you have your share of wisdom therfore I confess it a presumption in me to give you Counsell So I rest Westm. 1 Feb. 1638. Your most faithfull Servitor J. H XLII To Simon Digby Esquire at the gran Moseo in Russia SIR I Return you many thanks for your last of the first of Iâ—…ne and that you acquaint me with the state of things in that Countrey I doubt not but you have heard long since of the revolt of Catalaâ—…nia from the King of Spaine it seems the sparkles of those fires are flown to Portugall and put that Countrey also in combustion The Duke of Braganza whom you may well remember about the Court of Spaine is now King of Portugall by the name of El Rey Don Iuan and he is as generally obey'd and quietly setled as if he had bin King these twenty yeers there for the whole Countrey fell suddenly to him not one Town standing out When the King of Spain told Olivares of it first he slighted it saying That he was but Rey de Havas a Bean-cake King But it seems strange to me and so strange that it transforms me to wonder that the Spaniard being accounted so politic a Nation and so full of precaution could not foresee this specially ther being divers intelligences given and evident symptoms of the generall discontentment of that Kingdom because they could not be protected against the Hollander in Brasil and of som designes a yeer before when this Duke of Braganza was at Madrid I wonder I say they did not secure his person by ingaging him in som employment out of the way Truly I thought the Spaniard was better sighted and could could see further off than so You know what a huge lim the Crown of Portugall was to the Spanish Monarchy by the Islands in the Atlantic Sea the Towns in Afric and all the East-Indies insomuch that the Spaniard hath nothing now left beyond the Line Ther is no offensive war yet made by Spain against King Iohn she only stands upon the defensive part untill the Catalan be reduc'd and I beleeve that will be a long-winded busines for this French Cardinall stirs all the devills of Hell against Spain insomuch that most men say that these formidable fires which are now raging in both these Countreys were kindled at first by a Gâ—…anado hurl'd from his brain Nay som will not stick to say that this breach 'twixt us and Scotland is a reach of his Ther was a ruthfull distaster happen'd lately at Sea which makes our Merchants upon the Exchange hang down their heads very sadly The Ship Swan wherof one Limery was Master having bin four yeers abroad about the Streights was sailing home with a Cargazon valued at eight hundred thousand pounds wherof four hundred and fifty thousand was in Money the rest in Jewells and Merchandise but being in sight of shore she sprung a leak and being ballasted with Salt it choak'd the Pump so that the Swan could swim no longer Som sixteen were drown'd and som of them with ropes of Pearl about their necks the rest were sav'd by an Hamburgber not far off The King of Spain loseth little by it only his affairs in Flanders may suffer for his Money was insur'd and few of the Principalls but the Insurers onely who were most of them Genowayes and Hollanders A most infortunat chance for had she com to safe port she had bin the richest ship that ever came into the Thames so that Neptun never had such a morfell at one bit All your frends here are well as you will understand more particularly by those Letters that go herewith So I wish you all health and comfort in that cold Countrey and desire that your love may continue still in the same degree of heat towards Lond. 5 of Mar. 1639. Your faithfull servitor J. H. XLIII To Sir K. D. Knight SIR IT was my fortun to be in a late communication wher a Gentleman spoke of a hideous thing that happen'd in High Holborn how one Iohn Pennant a young man of 21 being dissected after his death ther was a kind of Serpent with divers tails found in the left Ventricle of his heart which you know is the most defended part being thrice thicker than the right and in the Cell which holds the purest and most illustrious liquor the arteriall blood and the vitall spirits This Serpent was it seems three yeers ingendring for so long time he found himself indisposed in the brest and it was observ'd that his eye in the interim grew more sharp and firy like the eye of a Cock which is next to a Serpents eye in rednes so that the symptome of his inward Disease might have been told by certain exterior Rays and Signatures God preserve us from public calamities for Serpentin Monsters have been often ill favoured presages I remember in the Roman story to have read how when Snakes or Serpents wer found neer the statues of their gods as one time about Iupiters neck another time about Minerva's thigh ther follow'd bloudy Civill War after it I remember also few yeers since to have read the relation and deposition of the Carrier of Tewxbury who with divers of his servants passing a little before the dawn of the day with their packs over Cots-hill saw most sensibly and very perspicuously in the air Muskettiers harnassed men and horse-men moving in Battell-aray and assaulting one another in divers furious postures I doubt not but that you heard of those fiery Metcors and Thunderbolts that have fallen upon sundry of our Churches and don hurt Unless God be pleas'd to make up these ruptures 'twixt us and Scotland we are like to have ill days The Archb. of Canterbury was lately out-rag'd in his House by a pack of common peeple and Captain Maâ—…un was pittifully massacred by his own men lately so that the common peeple it seems have strange principles infus'd into them which may prove dangerous for I am not of that Lords mind who said That they who fear any popular Insurrection in England are like boys and women that are afraid of a Turnip 〈◊〉 like a Deaths head with a candle in 't I am shortly for France and I will receive your