hee at last with his whole army shall be overthrowne and so the Earth shall be disburthened of her wicked inhabitants For it is probable that there must be a great clensing and extirpation of all Earthly impurities before that peaceable and happie age whereof the Prophets have spoken shall come but to shew the particular manner thereof is above humaine knowledge wee purpose onely to make some coniectures in generall for the event will shew it selfe Moreover because a certaine ancient Prophesie of Sibylla Tiburtina which was found in the yeare 1520. in Switzerland engraven in a Marble stone in old latine Characters which was discovered by the force of the water washing away the earth may be fitly applyed to this Starre I will heere insert it and ioyne it to our coniectures for it is worthy of observation beeing recited by Cornelius Gemma in his Treatise of Supernaturall Apparitions in these words The Sybils Prophesie A Starre shall arise in Europe over the Iberians at the great house of the North whose beames shall vnexpectly inlighten the whole World And this shall bee in a most desired time when all Nations shall lay by their weapons and imbrace Peace but they shall contend during the Interregnum and strive to obtaine the reynes of Government yet the ancient House shall prevaile and shall be prosperous in Warre vntill contrary fates shall encounter one with another For in the same time after this Starre is gone another great Light shall shine foorth with Martiall sparkling beames and shall inlarge his Empire even to the bounds of the Antipodes After this there shall bee bloudy Comets and flashings of fire seene in the Heavens so that there shall be no safety any where The firmament of Heaven shall bee dissolved the Planets shall forget their courses and the Spheares shall iustle one another the fixed Starres shall out-goe the Planets The Heavens shall bee leveld with the Seas and after these thinges come to passe there shall be continuall Night destruction ruine condemnation and eternall darknesse G. S. G. There were divers expositions of this Prophesie at that time when it was first found out some interpreting it of CHARLES the Fift others drew the meaning of it to PHILIP King of Spaine and some thought that the King of France was meant thereby but I thinke that it doth rather point out those Iberi which inhabite Northward toward Moschovia So that this Oracle of Sibilla Tiburtina did not denote the Spaniards but those Iberians which are neare unto the Moschovites especially when she useth these words Supra Iberos ad magnam Septentrionis domum Over the Iberi at the great house of the North. And truly Moschovia Scythia and Tartaria doe make a great part of Europe so that it may well be called the great house of the North. And therefore seeing we have formerly shewed that this unusuall Starre did cast his perpendicular beames and influence on the Country of Moschovia it is not to be doubted but that this Starre together with that tract of Land doth agree with the Sybilline Oracle But concerning the other matters which are mentioned I will not touch upon them in particular but leave them to other mens judgments Moreover some of the other Sybils have prophesied concerning Gog and Magog who should come in the latter times and have expresly foretold of the rising of this Starre and among the rest Sybilla Babilonica thus saith Then a great Signe shall from above be given And a bright Starre shall then arise in Heaven Which shall like to a glistring Crowne appeare And many dayes it shall stand fixed there What can be more evident concerning this cleere Starre which was beheld in our time for that was more bright and shining than any of the rest and was round in forme like unto a Crowne having no beames right shooting from it as Comets have besides it continued for a whole yeare and kept his Station in the Firmament with the other Starres And therefore this Sybilline prediction doth fitly describe the forme light scituation duration and consumption of this Starre as if it had beene then seene Besides shee speaketh of that great Commet which immediatly followed after this Starre in these word Within the West a Blazing-Starre Shall rise which named Comets are And in another place thus After this Starre within the fourth yeare A flaming Comet shall appeare Which on the deepest Seas below His gloring beames abroad shall throw Behold how iustly we doth limit out the time betweene the apparition of this new Starre and the Comet following for there were almost foure yeares betweene the vanishing of this new Starre and the rising of the Comet which followed And by the Sea shore meaneth the Westerne Ocean for in this part of the world presently after the setting of the Sunne this Comet was seene those who would know more concerning these predictions let them reade the bookes of the Sybils in which it doth appeare that there shall bea Catastrophe and change of things before the vniversall consummation of the world Yet in what order things shall come to passe it is hard to guesse either by the signification of this Starre or by the Sybilline Oracles or by Divine Prophesies But yet is likely that those happy times shall not preceed but follow after a more troublesome time even as this Starre at the first did shine with a bright and cleare lustre and with a Ioviall light but afterward did assume a Martiall sparkling colour as may bee gathered out of the words of the same Sybilla And God who dwelleth in the Heavens shall then Save the remainder of the Sonnes of men Then Peace and knowledge of the truth shall flourish The Earth her plentious fruits shall likewise cherish It shall not bee devided as before Nor to the plough be subiect any more Which also the holy Prophets doe seeme to intimate who foretell that the happy peaceable estate of the Church shall be after the destruction of this Gogus But I thinke it not fit to proceed any further in unfolding these mysteries having promised to handle them sparingly as also in regard that these Prophesies are not to be declared by humaine coniecture neither can be Geometricially demonstrated as those matters which belong to the knowledge of Astronomie And so leaving these my coniectures to the consideration of the Reader I will heere leave of to entreat any further concerning this Starre FINIS LONDON Printed by B. A. and T. F. for Michael Sparke at the blue Bible in Greene-Arbor 1632. Deus Rex This King of Swed Gustavus is by Name And both words doe include an Anagram For SVVED is DEVS GVSTAVVS it doth make Augustus shewing that hee doth pertake Of Gods great power and of Augustus Fame Which both this Starre and Titles doe proclaime Besides God-acre-field which hee did winne Where God did give the Victorie to the King Deus Rex Tempore posterior Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere fidus Interpres Astrologie is a word compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying The speech of the Starres Or Time
such new formed bodies which doe presage nothing to the world Yet truly the Prognostication and fore-knowledge of and concerning such strange appearances in the heavens is very hard to finde out and doth oftentimes delude the understanding of man seeing we doe not certainly know the influences of the other Starres Whence it may come to passe that Astrology which entreateth of the effects of the Starres may deliver that which is true as well as Astronomy which onely declareth their motions and appearances since the cause cannot want an effect whether it is to be knowne or not Neither hath humaine industry beene able to search out the motions of the Starres although they are most certain So that it is lesse marvaile that their effects which are not obvious to the sense should lye so deeply hidden and oftentimes deceive mens judgements For if there were ever any difficulty in discerning and foretelling the significations of the Starres truly this new Starre which appeared in our age for a whole yeare together doth require much labour and diligence in revealing the Portent thereof and in shewing what it might signifie Especially since there were never any apparitions like unto it from whence any knowledge might be gathered by the likenesse of events for Arts of divination are not grounded on any Principles but upon experimentall observation But no apparition like this was ever testified by any monument of antiquity to have beene seene and beheld of men except that which Pliny mentioneth to have beene observed by Hypparchus which in regard it had a proper motion as wee may gather from the words of Pliny cannot be compared with this new Star which alwayes stood fixed in one place Yet it is probable that as the Starre which Hypparchus beheld did fore-signifie the declining of the Graecian Monarchy and the enlarging of the Roman Empire So farre that the whole world should be in subjection to this one City so likewise some strange alteration in the publike government of Estates and Commmon-weales shall ensue in the following yeares For as this was a rare and wonderfull Starre shining forth in the heavens unexpectedly so it is likely and probable that it will produce strange great and wonderfull effects but what they shall be in particular I thinke no mortall man is able to guesse being as farre distant from our knowledge as the rising of this Starre was before it did appeare Yet the forme of it when it shewed it selfe from the beginning shining forth with a joviall cleere and bright lustre doth seeme to fore-shew a prosperous and peâ—câ—able estate of humane affaires but yet the Martiall fiery glistering thereof doth foresignifie that some violence and trouble shall be intermingled with it And besides by this joviall figure it seemeth to portend a great alteration if not an utter subversioÌ„ of Religion so that those devices which by outward shewes and Pharisaicall Hypocrisie have long time bewitched ignorant people shall now come to their full point and end and even as this new false Starre shined foorth at the beginning with a cleare and amiable aspect but yet at last did change in colour and lessen in proportion untill at length it vanished quite away So those false Planets which by an outward plausible appearance doe seduce and leade men from the light of the truth shall be quite extinguished Also it is worthy of consideration that albeit this Starre was so neare to the Semicircle of the Colure that his beames almost touched it yet his whole body was seated toward the Vernall Quarter and in respect of the Poles of the world in the middle of the first degree of Aries which may seeme to declare that some great Light is now at hand which shall enlighten and by degrees expell the former darknesse as the Sunne having passed the Vernall poynt of the Aequinoctiall doth make the day longer than the night which before had the advantage of the day And as this Starre appeared in the highest heavens to the view of the whole world so it is credible that there shall happen a great Catastrophe and universall change throughout all the chiefe Nations of the Earth especially those which are scituated Northward from the Aequinoctiall Moreover forasmuch as this Starre was placed in the eight Spheare above the Orbes of the Planets it seemeth that the predictions issuing from it do not only concerne one peculiar tract of Land but all the Nations of the world and therefore it will bee the longer before the effects will be declared by succeeding events Which as they shall not begin untill some yeares after the apparition so they shall continue for a long time afterward And if wee may take leave to conjecture by Astrologicall computation of time concerning the first beginning of that which is portended we may guesse it will be nine yeares after the great conjunction whereof this Starre was the Prodromus or fore-runner If therefore wee frame our Astrologicall direction by the place of this CoÌ„junction which was in the one and twentieth degree of Aquarius the events of this Starre shall begin to shew themselves nine yeares after this Conjunction And when this is finished in the yeare of Christ 1583. and in the latter end of the Moneth of Aprill the confirmation and end of this Equinoctiall progression to the place of the new Starre will fall out in the yeare 1592. when the third Septinary of yeares after the first appearing of the Starre shall be accomplished And those Noble Heroes which shall happen to be borne at the first rising of this Starre being ordained to be the Authors and atchievers of those great mutations shall about that time come to full ripenesse of age that they may be fit and able for the performance of such great enterprises and for the reducing of these Predictions into act And in the fourth Septenary of yeares when they have attained to their chiefe strength they shall make the truth of these conjectures appeare most plainly But if we take our direction by comparing the place of this Conjunction from the Zodiacke or the degrees of the Eclipticke unto the place of this new Starre then it is likely that the force and influence of this Starre will chiefly shew it selfe in the yeare of our Lord 1632. for all the significations of this Star doe depend on the Trigonall revolution and tansmutation of the Planets And therefore if this rbee the seventh revolution of the Planets the first whereof was in the dayes of Enoch the second in Noahs time and at the Vniversall Deluge the third in the dayes of Moses when the people were freed from the Egyptian servitude the fourth in the dayes of the Kings of Israel the fift in the time of Christs Incarnation when the Roman Empire was at the highest and the sixt in the dayes of Charles the Great when the Empire was translated to the Germanes this last and seventh is as it were the Sabbath to all the rest and doth foreshew something of
greater consequence than all the former wherein it is worthy of observation that all the trigonall revolutions as the first third and fift were very profitable and advantagious to the world and so it is not unlikely that this seventh revolution being an unequall number doth point out and fore-signifie the happy estate of things which is to come Neyther doth this conjecture differ from the Prophesies of wise men which were illuminated with divine knowledge who have foretold that before the universall consummation end of all things there shall be a peaceable and quiet age wherein the divers formes of Religions and politike government shall be changed and be made agreeable and conformable to the will of God Which assertion we may collect out of the Prophets who did fore-tell that at last there should be a golden age In which they shall breake their swords into Plough-shares and their speares into pruning-hookes Nation shall not life up a sword against Nation neither shall they learne Warre any more But they shall sit every man vnder his Vine and vnder his Fig-tree and none shall make them afraid As the Prophet Micah hath it Chap. 4. And Isaiah Chap. 11. doth foretell of it in this manner The Woolfe also shall dwell with the Lambe and the Leopard shall lye downe with the Kid and the Calfe and the young Lyon and the Fatling together and a little Childe shall leade them and the Cow and the Beare shall feed their young ones shall lye downe together and the Lyon shall eate straw like an Oxe And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the Aspe and the weaned child shall put his hand on the Cockatrice Den they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountaine for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea Also in the sixty Chapter of Isaiah speaking of the mysticall Hierusalem and perfect state of Christianity he saith For brasse I will bring gold and for yron I will bring silver and for wood brasse and for stones yron I will also make thy Officers peace and thine exactor Righteousnesse Violence shall no more be heard in thy land wasting nor destruction within thy borders but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation and thy gates praise at length he concluded thus for I the Lord will hasten it in his time Besides many other places are found both in the Prophets and the Revelation which doe promise this unexpected happinesse Therefore that this Prophesie may be fulfilled which was delivered by divine inspiration it must needs come to passe even before the end and consummation of the world But seeing the event of these things shall come to passe in the new revolution of the Planets before which this Starre appeared some doe suppose that the light of Religion doth now shine out cleerely having over come the darknes of Error but if it were so whence are then those Controversies and varieties of opinions which are defended by Learned men insomuch that the warre of Pennes is more dangerous than that of Swords Truely it is rather to bee feared least wee take this dawning and breake of day to be the cleere noone-light Therefore I suppose that this Starre doth signifie that there shall be a new change both in Religion and the estate of humaine affaires Ventum ad supremum est patientur summā ruinam qui Deus in Coelis regit reget omnia terris That is to say Wee are come now to the highest perfection the power of Antichrist and the Pope shall decay and bee brought to ruine and GOD who ruleth in Heaven shall rule all thinges on Earth But if any doe obiect that the end of the world is at hand and that therefore there will not be sufficient time to bring about a new Change I answere that Saint Paul doth assure us that the Iewes shall be engraffed into the Church before the finall consummation of the world which by humaine coniecture must needs require some time before they being scattered over the whole face of the Earth shall be gathered into one Nation Yet I thinke it not unnecessary to admonish and stirre up the mindes of men to thinke upon the end of the world that so they may remember the Eternity which shall follow after it But yet it is impossible to limit and set forth a certaine time for the consummation of the world which only dependeth upon the good-will and pleasure of God and is not reuealed to the Angels and therfore cānot be knowne by any humain prescience But if some doe suppose that the tract of Hand to which this Starre was verticall is ominous aboue the rest as if from thence the occasion and author of so great mutations are to bee expected we must then chuse out those parts of the Earth which had the new Starre in their Meridian at the time of the new Moone next following which fel out accounting the time by our Meridian upon the fifteenth of November seaven houres thirteene minutes ⅔ in the afternoone to which if we apply the latitude or distance from the Equinoctiall agreeable to the declination of the Starre which was in 61. ¾ so that the place on the Earth answerable thereunto must needs be Russia or Moschovia especially that part thereof which is ioyned unto Finland for in that tract of Earth this new Starre in the new Moone following was in their Zenith and iust over their heads where it stood equally distant from the Horizon and with a right angled aspect beheld this Countrey Therefore if this position of the Starre doe point out the place of the Earth from whence these events shall arise Moschovia seemes especially to be designed before any other Regions which are scituated towards the North to whom this new Starre was every day Verticall Whither therefore the first occasions of so great disturbances and mutations shall arise from hence which afterward shall be sowed and dispersed into other parts of the world I leave it to be decided by others Truely that Gogus whereof mention is made in the eight and thirtieth Chapter of Ezekiel and to whom Esay Chapter 17. 56. and Micha Chap. 5. doe allude and with whom Magog is named in the Revelation Chap. 20. may be rightly understood of the Msochovite as Castellio hath interpreted it in the 38. and 39. of Ezekiel That Gog should be the leader of the Moscovites and Iberians because the old translation reades it that he should be the Prince of Mosoch and Thubal For seeing the Hebrewes reade it Mesech and the Greekes and Latine interpreters doe reade it Mosoch it is probable that the Moschovites are signified heereby or else by this name the whole Northerne tract of Earth is included Therefore it is very likely that Moschovia is principally denoted by this Starre and Gogus the leader of the Moschovites of whom it is foretold in the Prophets and the Revelation who having made great slaughters in Europe