ingenia despicio neque enim quasi lassa aut effaeta natura vt nihil jam laudabile pariat I am one of the number of those who admire the ancients yet not as some doe I despise the wits of our times as if Nature were tired and barren and brought forth nothing now that were praise-worthy To which passage of Pliny Viues seemes to allude male de natura censet quicunque vno illam aut altero partu effaetam arbitratur hee that so thinkes or sayes is doubtles injurious and ingratefull both to God and nature And qui non est gratus datis non est dignus dandis hee that doth not acknowledge the peculiar and singular blessings of God bestowed vpon this present age in some things beyond the former is so farre from meriting the increase of more as hee deserues not to enjoy these And commonly it falls out that there the course and descent of the graces of God ceases and the spring is dried vp where there is not a corespondent recourse and tide of our thankfullnes Let then men suspend their rash judgoments nec perseverent suspicere preteritos despicere presentes onely to admire the ancients and despise those of the present times Let them rather imitate Lampridius the Oratour of whom witnesseth the same Sydonius that he read good Authours of all kindes cum reverentia antiquos sine invidia recentes the old with reverence the new without envy I will conclude this point and this chapter with that of Solomon Hee hath made every thing beautifull in his time answereable wherevnto is that of the sonne of Syrach which may well serue as a Commentary vpon those workes of Solomon All the workes of the Lord are good and hee will giue every needfull thing in due season so that a man cannot say this is worse then that therefore prayse ye◅ the Lord with the whole heart and mouth and blesse the name of the Lord. CAP. 3. The Controversy touching the worlds decay stated and the methode held thorow this ensuing Treatise proposed SECT 1. Touching the pretended decay of the mixt bodies LEast I should seeme on the one side to sight with shaddowes and men of straw made by my selfe or on the other to maintaine paradoxes which daily experience refutes it shall not bee amisse in this Chapter to vnbowell the state of the question touching the Worlds decay and therewithall to vnfold and lay open the severall knots and joynts thereof that so it may appeare wherein the adverse party agrees and wherein the poynt controverted consists where they joyne issue and where the difference rests It is then agreed on all hands that all subcoelestiall bodies indiuidualls I meane vnder the circle of the moone are subiect not onely to alteration but to diminution and decay some I confesse last long as the Eagle and Rauen among birds the Elephant and Stagge among beasts the Oake among Vegetables stones and mettalls among those treasures which Nature hath laid vp in the bosome of the earth yet they all haue a time of groweth and increase of ripenesse and perfection and then of declination and decrease which brings them at last to a finall and totall dissolution Beasts are subject to diseases or at least to the spending of those naturall spirits wherewith their life and being as the Lampe with oile is mainetai ned Vegetables to rottennesse stones to mouldering and mettalls to rust and canker though I doubt not but some haue layen in the bowells of the earth vntainted since the worlds Creation and may continue in the same case till the Consummation thereof Which neede not seeme strange since some of the Aegyptian Pyramides stones drawne from their naturall beds and fortresses and exposed to the invasion of the aire and violence of the weather haue stood already well nigh three thousand yeares and might for ought wee know stand yet as long againe And I make no question but glasse and gold and christall and pearle and pretious stones might so be vsed that they should last many thousand yeares if the world should last so long For that which Poets faine of time that it eates out and devoures all things is in truth but a poeticall fiction since time is a branch of Quantity it being the measure of motion and Quantity in it selfe isno way actiue but meerely passiue as being an accident flowing from the matter It is then either some inward conflict or outward assault which is wrought in time that eates them out Time it selfe without these is toothlesse and can neuer doe it Nay euen among Vegetables it is reported by M. Camden that whole trees lying vnder the Earth haue beene and daylie are digged vp in Cheshire Lancheshire Cumberland which are thought to haue layen there since Noahs floud And Verstigan reports the like of finre trees digged vp in the Netherlands which are not knowne to grow any where in that Countrey neither is the soyle apt by nature to produce them they growing in cold hillie places or vpon high mountaines so that it is most likely they might from those places during the deluge by the rage of the waters be driuen thither Yet all these consisting of the Elements as they doe I make no doubt but without any outward violence in the course of nature by the very inward conflict of their principles whereof they are bred would by degrees though perchance for a long time insensibly yet at last feele corruption For a Body so equally tempered or euenly ballanced by the Elements that there should be no praedominancie no struggling or wrastling in it may be imagined but surely I thinke was neuer really subsisting in Nature nor well can be SECT 2. Touching the pretended decay of the Elements in regard of their quantity and dimensions I Come then in the next place from the mixt Bodies to the Elements themselues wbereof they are mixed Of these it is certaine that they decay in their parts but so as by a reciprocall compensation they both loose and gaine sometime loosing what they had gotten and then again getting what they had formerly lost Egregia quaedam est in elementis quaternarum virium compensatio aequalibus iustisque regulis ac terminis vices suas dispensantium saith Philo in his book de Mundi incorruptibilitate there is in the Elements a singular retribution of that foure-fold force that is in them dispensing it selfe by euen bounds and just rules The Element of the fire I make no doubt but by condensation it sometimes looses to the aire the aire againe by rarefaction to it Again the aire by condensation looses to the water the water by rarefaction to it The earth by secret conveyances sucks in steales away the waters of the Sea but returns them againe with full mouth And these two incroach likewise make inrodes interchangeably each vpō other The ordinary depth of the sea is cōmonly answerable to the ordinary hight of the
forceably consequently hath a greater power of making men not outwardly formally but really inwardly vertuous And if we should look back into Histories compare time with time we shall easily finde that where this Profession spred it selfe men haue generally beene more accomplished in all kind of morall civill vertues then before it took place It is true indeed that in processe of time thorow the ambition covetousnes luxury idlenesse ignorance of them who should haue bin lights in the Church it too much degenerated from its Originall purity therevpon manners being formed by it were generally tainted this corruption like a leprosie diffusing it selfe from the head into all the body But together with the reviving of the Arts Languages which for sundry ages lay buried in barbarisme the rust of superstition was likewise in many places scowred off from Religion which by degrees had crept vpon it fretted deepe into the face of it and the Arts being thus refined Religion restored to its primitiue brightnes manners were likewise reformed euen among them at least in part in shew who as yet admit not a full reformation in matter of Religion A foule shame then it were for vs who professe a thorow reformation in matter of doctrine to be thought to grow worse in matter of manners GOD forbid it should be so I hope it is not so I am sure it should not be so That grace of God which hath appeared more clearely to vs then to our fore-fathers teaching vs to adorne our profession with a gracious and vertuous conversation to deny vngodlinesse and worldly lusts and to liue soberly and righteously and godly in this present world soberly in regard of our selues righteously in regard of others and godly in regard of religious exercises If then we come short of our Auncestors in knowledge let vs not cast it vpon the deficiencie of our wits in regard of the Worlds decay but vpon our own sloth if we come short of them in vertue let vs not impute it to the declination of the World but to the malice and faintnesse of our owne wills if we feele the scourges of God vpon our Land by mortality famine vnseasonable weather or the like let vs not teach the people that they are occasioned by the Worlds old age and thereby call into question the prouidence or power or wisedome or iustice or goodnes of the Maker thereof but by their and our sins which is doubtles both the truer more profitable doctrine withall more consonant to the Sermons of Christ his Apostles the Prophets of God in like cases And withall let vs freely acknowledge that Almighty God hath bestowed many blessings vpon these latter ages which to the former he denyed as in sending vs vertuous and gracious Princes and by them the maintenance of piety peace plenty the like Lest thorow our ingratitude he vvithdraw them from vs and make vs know their worth by wanting them which by injoying them wee vnderstood not But I will not presume to advise where I should learne only I will vnfainedly wish and heartily pray that at leastwise your practise may still make good mine opinion maintained in this Booke refute the contrary common errour opposed therein that you may still grow in knowledge and grace and that your vertues may alwaies rise increase together with your buildings These latter without the former being but as a body without a soule Yours to doe you service to the vtmost of his poore abilitie G. H. THE PREFACE TRuth it is that this ensuing Treatise was long since in my younger yeares begunne by me for mine owne private exercise and satisfaction but afterward considering not onely the rarity of the subject and variety of the matter but withall that it made for the redeeming of a captivated truth the vindicating of Gods glory the advancement of learning the honour of the Christian reformed Religion by the advise and with the approbation and incouragement of such speciall friends whose piety learning and wisedome I well know and much reverence I resolved permissu superiorum and none otherwise to make it publique for the publique good and the encountring of a publique errour which may in some sort be equalled if not preferred before the quelling of some great monster Neither doe I take it to lye out of my profession the principall marke which I ayme at throughout the whole body of the Discourse being an Apologeticall defence of the power providence of God his wisedome his truth his justice his goodnes mercy and besides a great part of the booke it selfe is spent in pressing Theologicall reasons in clearing doubts arising from thence in producing frequent testimonies from Scriptures Fathers Schoolemen and moderne Divines in proving that Antichrist is already come from the writings of the Romanists themselues in confirming the article of our faith touching the Worlds future and totall consummation by fire and a day of finall judgement from discourse of reason and the writings of the Gentiles and lastly by concluding the whole worke with a pious meditation touching the vses which we may and should make of the consideration thereof seruing for a terrour to some for comfort to others for admonition to all And how other men may stand affected in reading I know not sure I am that in writing it often lifted vp my soule in admiring and praysing the infinite wisedome and bounty of the Crator in maintaining and managing his owne worke in the gouernment and preservation of the Vniverse which in truth is nothing else but as the Schooles speake continuata productio a continuated production often did it call to my mind those holy raptures of the Psalmist O Lord our governour how excellent is thy Name in all the world Thou Lord hast made me glad through thy workes I will reioyce in giuing praise for the operations of thy hands O Lord how glorious are thy workes thy thoughts are very deepe An vnwise man doth not well consider this a foole doth not well vnderstand it And againe The workes of the Lord are great sought out of all them that haue pleasure therein His worke is worthy to be praised had in honour his righteousnes endureth for euer And though whiles I haue laboured to free the world from old age I feele it creeping vpon my selfe yet if it shall so please the same great and gratious Lord I intend by his assistance spating mee life health hereafter to write Another Apologie of his power providence in the government of his Church which perchaunce by some may be thought both more proper for mee and for these times more necessary though he that shall narrowly obserue the prints of the Almighties footsteppes traced throughout this ensuing discourse may not vnjustly from thence collect both comfort and assurance that as the Heauens remaine vnchangeable so doth the Church triumphant
then I will examine the truth of this proposition whether every thing the farther it departs from its originall the more it looses of its perfection because vpon it the weight of the argument is grounded and secondly I will consider how iustly it is applied to this present purpose For the first whether wee behold the workes of Art or Nature or Grace wee shall finde that they all proceede by certaine steps from a more imperfect and vnpolished being to that which is more absolute and perfect To begin with the workes of Grace in the course of Christianity wee grow both in knowledge and vertue in illumination sanctification as the blind man in the Gospell having recovered his sight first saw men walking like trees confusedly and indistinctly but afterwards more cleerely in knowledge wee grow by leauing the principles of the doctrine of Christ and going on vnto perfection by leauing milke fitte for babes and vsing stronger meate belonging to them that are of full age who by reason of an habit haue their senses exercised to discerne both good and evill In vertue wee grow not only by adding vertue to vertue as it were linke to linke but by increasing in those vertues as it were by inlarging the links that the man of God may be made perfect thorowly furnished vnto every good worke For the workes of Arts wee see the Limmer to begin with a rude draught and the Painter to lay his grounds with shaddowes and darksome colours the weauer out of a small threed makes a rich and faire peece and the Architect vpon rubbish laies a goodly pile of building which at first consists of naked walles but at last is furnished with variety of houshold stuffe and garnished with hangings and pictures Lastly for the workes of Nature out of what a confused Chaos was the goodly frame of this world raised out of what vnworthy little seedes spring the tallest trees and most beautifull flowers nay what a base beginning at the first Creation had and still hath man himselfe the Lord of the Creatures so as himselfe euen blushes to mention it how impotent and vnable to helpe himselfe is he brought into the world how slowly doth hee come forward to the vse of his senses his strength his reason yet at length by degrees if hee liue and be of a sound constitution hee arriues vnto it By which it appeares that at leastwise individuals in the severall workes both of Grace and Art and Nature the farther they proceed from their originall the more perfect they are till they arriue to their state of perfection though heerein they differ that Art and Nature then decline but Grace is turned into Glory And for the species or kinds of things which is it that specially concernes our present question as I cannot affirme that by degrees they grow on still to greater perfection so neither can I finde that they daily grow more imperfect For Grace wee know it was more abundantly powred out by the incarnation and passion of the Sonne of God in this latter age of the world then at any time before since the first creation thereof And of Art it is commonly thought that neere about the same time the Romane empire was at the highest and Souldiers Poets Oratours Philosophers Historians Polititians never more excellent which withall should argue that Nature was at that time rather strengthned then enfeebled in as much as both Art and Grace are built vpon Nature I meane the naturall faculties of the soule which commonly follow the temper of the body the more vigorous they are the more happily are both Art and Grace exercised by them Now for the application of the proposition to the present purpose touching the worlds decay it is evident that if it were indeed of that force as is pretended it would therevpon follow that in the course of Nature Adam should haue beene the tallest and longest-liu'd man that euer breathed vpon the face of the earth whereas notwithstanding wee reade not of any Gyants till a little before the floud and Noah who liued after the floud saw twenty yeares more then Adam himselfe did the latter being nine hundred and fiftie and the former but nine hundred and thirtie yeares old when he died Nay Methusaleth the eight from Adam out stripped him by forty yeares wanting but one and wee see by daily experience that a weake or foolish father often begets a strong and a wise sonne and that the grandchild sometimes equalls the age of the father and grandfather both together If a thousand candles or torches should be successiuely lighted one from another it cannot be discerned by their dull or bright burning which was first or last lighted nay the last sometimes yeelds a brighter light then the first if it meete with matter accordingly prepared The water which runnes a thousand miles thorow cleane passages is euery whit as wholesome and sweete at its journeys end as when it first issued from the fountaine The seede that is cast into the earth seldome failes to bring forth as good as it selfe and sometimes better and if at any time it proue worse it is not because it is further distant from its originall which is the very point in controversie but because it meetes with a worse soyle or a worse season and the soile and season are worse perchance then in former times nor by reason of the revolution of so many ages since the Creation but either by reason of Gods Curse vpon sinne or some other accidentall cause which being removed they returne againe to their natiue and wonted properties For did they grow worse worse only by a farther distance from their first being then would the Creatures haue decayed in processe of time whether man had sinned or no and man himselfe should haue beene of lesse strength and stature and continuance though hee had not failed in the temperaâ—… vse of the creature or of any other meanes making for the preservation of his life and health 〈◊〉 I suppose the Patrons of the adverse part will not maintaine oâ—…ce I am sure that the common teâ—…et of Divâ—…es is that whatsoever defect or swarning is to be found in the nature either of man himselfe or the Creature made to serue him ariseth from the sin of man alone as being the only causâ—… of all the jarre and disorder in the world Now to impute it to sin and yet withall to affirme that 〈◊〉 is occasioned by â—…he â—…ll of the Creature from its 〈◊〉 exâ—…ce implies in my judgment a manifest and irreconciliable contradiction To conclude this answeare this axioâ—…e 〈◊〉 quo magis elongatur a suo principio eo magis defiâ—…it languâ—…scit Euery thing the farther it is remou'd from its originall the more faint and feeble it growes in violent motions is most true As an arrow shot out of a bow or a dart flung vpward from the hand of a man the higher they mount the slower
they may apparell their wals and to snatch their meate from their mouthes that they may giue it to their hawkes and dogges For if they shall stand among the goates on the left hand and heare that dolefull sentence Goe y◅ cursed who cloathed not the naked and fed not the hungry tell me what shall become of them who by extortion and oppression by vnconscionable racking of rents and wresting from them excessiue fines make them naked hunger-starved nay grinde the face of the poore and eate their flesh to the bare bones Let the Iudges shew that they beleeue it by forbearing to giue sentence for feare or favour much lesse for gold or gifts as well knowing remembring that themselues must one day giue a strict account to this supreame Iudge from whose sentence lyeth no appeale Let the Lawyer shew that he beleeues it by forbearing to spin out the suites of his Clients to whip him about from Court to Court and to set his tongue to sale for the bolstering out of vnjust causes which his owne Conscience tells him to be such least that cause which here perchance he gained to his Client and got credit by proue there to be his greatest shame and vtter ruine where all his sophistrie subtile quirks will not serue his turne Let the merchant shew that he beleeues it by for bearing lies aswel as oathes by putting his confidence in God not in his wedge of gold and by often calling to minde that whither soever he trauell or what bargaine soeuer he make Hee stands by him as a witnes who shall hereafter be his Iudge And what folly were it for a theefe to steale in the presence of the Iudge before whom he must be arraigned Let the Farmer and Countryman shew that he beleeues it by their just laying out of the Lords portions to his Ministers as knowing that though they haply deceiue his Ministers yet the Lord himself they cannot deceiue that the double damages thē of their bodies souls wil be infinitly more grievous thē their treble damages here Finally let all sorts make it appeare that they indeed doe not professe it only but beleeue it by shewing that reverence respect to the word to the Sacraments to the Ambassadours to the house to the day to the servants to the members of him who then shall be the reiudge that they may with comfort confidence appeare in his presence The least good worke now done for his sake and to his honour shall then steed vs more then the treasure of both the Indies then all the kingdomes of the world the glory of them Then our indignation revenge vpon our selues our compunction and contrition for our sins committed against this Iudge shall refresh vs and cheare vs. For if we would iudge our selues we should not be iudged Then shall our resisting of alluring temptations our patient induring bitter afflictions chastisements our sufferings losses disgraces banishments for the Truths sake serue vnto vs as so many soveraigne and pretious Cordials for when we are iudged we are chastened of the Lord because we should not be condēned with the world Let vs heare the end of all Feare God and keepe his commaundements for this is the whole duty of man For God will bring euery worke vnto iudgment with euery secret thing whether it be good or euill Euen so come Lord Iesus come quickly How long Lord how long holy and true Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the glory BOETHIVS lib. 1 metr 7. Tu quoque si vis Lumine claro cernere verum Tramite recto carpere coelum Gaudia pelle pelle timorem Spemque fugato Nec dolor adsit Nubila mens est Vinctaque frenis Haec vbi regnant If with cleare eye thou wilt see Truth and in the right way tread Ioy and hope chase farre from thee Banish sorrow banish dread Cloudy fettered fast with chaines Is the minde where passion raigne Whatsoeuer I haue written in this or any other booke I humbly submit to the censure of the Church of England FINIS A REVISE WHen my booke was almost past the presse I met with one Iohannes Fredericus L◅nius a Netherlander de extremo dei judicio Indorum vocatione who lib. 2. cap. 19. indevouring to proue the vicinity of the last judgement by the worlds decay makes this a maine argument thereof Constat saith he illos qui supra annos viginti prodierunt in lucem non pauciores habuisse dentes quam 32 cum iam in eis qui infra decennium nati sunt non nisi 20 aut 24 inveniantur A bold assertion of a graue divine that man kind should so speedily decrease as in the compasse of tenne yeares to loose 12 or 8 teeth of 32 and his booke being printed in the yeare 1567 had the like measure of decay gone on in proportion since that time no man long before this day should haue had a tooth left in his head to chew his meate But I wonder he durst so confidently publish that to the world which daily experience and the writings of moderne Anatomists so evidently convince of falshood and in truth I thinke there cannot lightly a better argument be brought for the confirmation of the contrary opinion against himselfe in that point in asmuch as according to Hippocrates longaevi plurimos dentes habent and Aristotle quibus pauciores rariores hi brevioris sunt vitae so that the full number being a signe of longaevity and that of naturall strength if it appeare as vndoubtedly it doth that men now adayes haue ordinarily the same number of teeth as anciently they had then must it consequently follow that likewise ordinarily they are as strong and long-lived as anciently they were yet heerein are we beholding to the same Authour that what he takes from the age and strength of men he addes to their wits Sed quod humanorum corporum decedit conditionibus hoc ingenijs accedit quod de membrorum robore perit hoc accumulatur intellectus acumine sagacitate Pag. 45. is a great mistake about a pound of bloud being printed for almost halfe a pound of bloud notwithstanding which abatement yet is the proportion there mentioned altogether incredible for if Galen vsually drew six pounds of bloud and we vsually stoppe at six ouuces as Sir Walter Rawleigh would haue it and we allow for every pound twelue ounces then in reason should men in Galens time bee ordinarily twelue times as strong and tall as now they are so that if men be now ordinarily fiue foote high they must then haue bin three score and allowing the like proportionable decrease since the Creation in the like distance of time before Galen they must haue beene aboue seaven hundred foote high and if we should thus rise vpward to the Creation it selfe wee must then measure men by miles and not by feet which I wonder the great wit of Sir
nothing else in the language of that countrey but What is that or What say you For when the Spaniards asked the name of that place no man conceiuing their meaning one of the Saluages answered Iucatan which is What aske you or what say you Thus farre Sir Walter Rawleigh yeelding the reason of his dissent from Montanus Vatablus holding that Ophir to which Salomons Navy sayled for gold was Peru in the West Indies Wherevnto may be added out of Salmuth in his Commentary vpon Pancirollus that in all likelihood this land of Ophir tooke its name from Ophir the sonne of Ioctan as the land of Hauilah likewise did from another sonne of his mentioned in the same place who as Iosephus witnesseth fixed his seate in the Eâ—…st placing the countrey of Ophir about Chersonesus with whom accords Gaspar Varrerius in his Commentaries purposely written de Ophyra Regione where he plainely proues Ophir to be that Aurea Chersonesus in the East Indies which is now called Malaca Moreouer one of the principall commodities which Solomons fleete brought home was yvory of which in the West Indies there is none to be found it being knowne to want Elephants And lastly out of the Text it appeares that Salomon prepared his Navy for a voyage into the East inasmuch as his ships set forth at Ezion-Geber bordering vpon the Red sea thither as to the Rendevouz came the Tyrians Sydonians Hirams men to joyne with them which had beene a most indirect course had they intended their voyage toward the West Now for Pineda his making of Tharshis to bee Tartessus in his owne Countrey of Spaine though herein he follow Goropius Becanus yet in the judgment I suppose of most men recitasse est refutasse the very recitall of it is refutation sufficient For if I should demaund Pineda where those Spanish mines are now to be seene from whence Salomons shippes brought so much treasure he must tell me that either they are dryed vp or transported to the Indies from whence in fleetes they are yearely brought back into Spaine as Sarrarius sports with him in novâ—…m orbem translata magnis classibus revehuntur So as had not Spaine it selfe an Ophir or Tarshis to furnish it with gold the poverty of it would doubtlesse soone appeere to the world Besides Pineda heerein dissents from Acosta his owne countryman brother of the same societie who thinkes that by Tarshis the Hebrewes indefinitely vnderstand some remote strange and rich place as we saith he doe by the Indies And if we should say that Salomons Tarshis by a little chaunge of letters was Paules Tarsus a famous citty in Silicia which seemes likewise to haue its name from Tarsis the 2 son of Iavan we therein should I thinke shoot neerer the mark then Pineda but I must confesse for mine own priuate judgment I rather incline to their opinion who by Tarshis vnderstand none other then the Sea The Israelites Phenicians because they knew no other Sea then the Mediterranean in the beginning that the people of Tarshis had the greatest shippes and were the first Navigators in those parts with such vessels they were therefore called Men of the Sea the word Tharshis vsed often for the Sea Thus S. Hierome in his commentaries on Daniel Ionas fugere cupiebat non in Tharsâ—… Siliciae sed absolutè in pelagus Ionas desired to flye not to Tarsâ—…s in Silicâ—…a but to the Sea But Iunius and Tremelius goe farther translating Tharshis by Oceanus thus Nam classis Oceani pro Rege cum classe Chirâ—… erat semel ternis annis veniebat classis ex Oceà no afferens aurum argentum c. which we thus render in our last English Translation For the King had at Sea a navy of Tharshis with the navy of Hiram once-in-three yeares came the navy of Hiram bringing gold and silver And from this opinion that by Tarshis is or may be vnderstood the sea the learned Drusius in his sacred observations dissents not onely hee affirmes that not Tharshis but Iam is the commoâ—…â—…ame for the sea and that not in Syriack as S. Hierome would haue it but in Hebrew Whereas then it is said or vnderstood that the shippes of Salomon went euery three yeares to Tharshis if by Tharshis we vnderstand the Sea the phrase is not improper or strange at all for we vse it ordinarily wheresoeuer we navigate namely that the Kings shippes are gone to the Sea or returned from the Sea by which it appeares not to touch their opinion who deceiued by the Chalde Paraphrast by Tharshis vnderstand Carthage that the voyage of Salomons Navy was neither to Peru in the West Indies nâ—…r Tartessus in Spaine but to Ophir in the East Indies which being performed by coasting needed perchaunce more time but lesse skill in navigation The perfection then of this Art seemes by Gods providence to haue beene reserued to these latter times of which Pedro de Medina Baptista Ramusio haue giuen excellent precepts But the Art it selfe hath bin happily practised by the Portugals the Spanyards the Hollanders our owne Nation whose voyages and discoveries Master Hackluit hath collected reported in three several volumes lately inlarged perfected by Master Purchas and it were to be wished aswell for the honour of the English name as the benefite that might thereby redound to other Nations that his collections and relations had beene written in Latin or that some learned pen would be pleased to turne them into that Language Among many other famous in this kinde the noble spirited Drake may not be forgotten who God being his Guide wit skill valour and fortune his attendants was the next after Magellanus that sayled round about the world wherevpon one wrote these verses vnto him Drake peragrati novit quem terminus orbis Quemque semel mundi vidit vterque polus Si taceant homines facient Te sydera notum Sol nescit comitis immemor esse sui Sir Drake whom well the worlds end knew Which thou didst compasse round And whom both Poles of Heau'n once saw Which North and South doe bound The starres aboue will make thee knowne If men here silent were The Sun himselfe cannot forget His fellow traveller And for the better breeding continuance and increase of such expert Pilots amongst vs it would doubtlesse bee a good profitable worke according to Master Hakcluits honest motion in his Epistle Dedicatory to the Lord Admirall then being if any who hath the meanes had likewise the minde to giue allowance for the reading of a Lecture of Navigation in London in imitation of the late Emperour Charles the fift who wisely considering the rawnesse of his Seamen and the manifold shipwracks which they sustained in passing repassing betweene Spain and the West Indies established not only a Pilot Maior for the examination of such as were to takâ—… charge of shippes in that voyage but also founded