so strange which for the true proofe and vnderstanding whereof were necessary to be seene with our eyes for confirmation whereof though there be many most sufficient reasons and proofes yet I haue not reade heerein any Author which auoucheth his own knowledge and sight whereas me thinkes if these Regions were so short as by this computation of degrees the Authors seeme to make them there should not haue wanted curious men to discouer the particularities of them howe great so euer the difficulty or danger had beene in doing the same which if they had done they should perchaunce haue found many things farre otherwise then they deemed at least touching some particularities of which some later Writers vaunt to haue in part experience of which seeing we our selues are able to giue no assured testimony of sight I thinke it best that we leaue them to those whose curious industry wil omit no paine to attaine vnto the perfect searching out of things so worthy to be known and seeing the Auncients which went sifting out these matters confesse that from the same Land came Virgins to bring their first fruits to the temple of Apollo in Delos belike there was then some known way the passage betweene nothing so difficill as it nowe seemeth vnto vs which beeing to vs vnknowne and the manner howe to trauaile and passe through those cold Regions beset with deepe Snow thicke Ice wide Riuers painefull high Hils fearefull low Valleyes vnaccessible Desarts and all kinds of cruell wild Beasts we leaue them vnuoyaged not seeking any way whereby we may penetrate into them and attaine the cognition of their particulers in a manner concealed and hidden from vs of which though some fewe of the hether parts thereof were knowne by relation of some painefull and industrious men who affirmed that they had seene them yet the greatest part was by coniectures considerations and probable argumentes though the curiosity of our times hath passed a little farther because as I haue sayde they are eye-witnesses of part of that which wee haue discouered of as I will tell you straight but all shall be little to giue vs such perfect and particuler knowledge of this part of the worlde that we may discourse thereof as of the others which we know Some Authors will haue this Land to be in Asia others in Europe but in whether it be the matter is not great alwayes if it be in Europe then is Europe not so little a part of the earth as they make it of vvhich if they will set the limits there as the Auncients say it finished then must these Regions before time vndiscouered be another nevve part of the world and so they should make foure parts therof or fiue with that which is newly discouered thereof in the West Indies BER I vvonder not much if men haue not so good notice of those partes of which wee haue discoursed neere the one and neere the other Pole and of that vvhich runneth out by the Coast of the North towardes the West because besides the great sharpnes and rigour of the cold we haue no cōuersation at all with the enhabitants of those parts nor they with vs neither is there any cause to mooue eyther them or vs thereunto vnlesse it be the curiositie of some that thirst after the vniuersal knowledge of all things in the world as did Marcus Paulus Venetus who for this cause only trauailed so great a part of the worlde as any man that euer I heard of till this day Truth it is that some Kings and Princes through couetous desire of enlarging their dominions as you shall hereafter vnderstand haue entered so far as they could conquering into these parts which they found neyther ouer all enhabited neyther yet so desert but that it was in manie places and the greater part therof peopled and not so far one from another but that they had knowledge conuersation traffique together And as in these Countries and Prouinces of ours we finde one soyle plaine temperate and pleasant and another quite contrary sharpe barren and vnfruitfull subiect to boystrous winds harsh ayres and continuall snow wherewith some mountaines are all the yeere long couered so that no man will frame in them his habitation So likewise in these extreame Regions of the North no doubt but there are some parts of them vninhabited as those which Pliny Soline and the before remembred Authors terme condemned of Nature yet there want not wayes and compasses in cyrcling about them to discouer that which is enhabited on the other side and though with difficultie yet in fine Nature would not leaue to prouide an open way to the end that this Land should not remaine perpetually hidden and vnknown LV. I remember I haue seene in Paulus Iouius in a chapter which hee made of Cosmography abbreuiated in the beginning of his History these words speaking of the Kingdomes of Denmarke and Norway and the Landes beyond them Of the Nature saith he of these Lands of the peoples that liue beyond them called Pigmaei Ictiophagi which are those that liue by fishes now newly discouered in whose Country by a certaine order of the Heauen of that constellation the dayes and nights are equall which I will make mention in their place AN. Mee thinkes there are many that touch this matter promising to write largely thereof without doing it and if they doe it it is euen as they list themselues because there is no man to controle them and as for Paulus Iouius himselfe all that he wrote of this Country was by the relation of a Muscouian Embassadour in Rome In one place hee saith that the Muscouites border vpon the Tartaryans and that towards the North they are accounted the vtmost dwellers of the worlde and that towardes the West they confine with the Danske Sea And in another place the Muscouites sayth he who are seated betweene Polonia and Tartaria confine with the Ryphaean mountaines enhabite towards the Septentryon in the vtmost bounds of Europe and Asia extending themselues ouer the Lakes of the Riuer Tanays euē to the Hyperborean mountaines and that part of the Ocean which they call the Frozen Sea These are his wordes in which truly he hath little reason for the vtmost Land that the Muscouites possesse is where the day and night continue 3. months long a peece so that they cannot be called the last enhabitants of the earth for those whose day and night is of sixe months are farder North and neerer the Pole then they so that in fine as I sayd before touching these matters which cannot be seene without such difficultie those that entreat of them goe by gesse coniecturing thereat by the probabilitie of reasons considerations LU. As I imagine this countrey must be very great where the daies are so long in encreasing and decreasing and more if there be on the other side of the North before you come at the Sea so much other land of force it
least therefore the time passe away in superfluous reasons seeing we are to intreate of the wonders meruailous workes of Nature I beseech you begin with her definition that wee may thereafter the better vnderstand her effects AN. Aristotle saith that Nature is the beginning of Motion and rest of the selfe same thing in which it is principall and by it selfe alone not by any accident but I will not spende the time in alledging the definitions and opinions of ancient Philosophers seeing they are so far different frō those of later time and because this our discourse shall be altogether Christianlike leauing out all those Authors Philosophers which were Gentiles I will onely followe those which vvere Christians of the which he that went neerest to the marke in my iudgement was Leuinus Lemnius which following Saint Thomas leauing ancient opinions like a Christian in the beginning of his Booke of the Meruailous secretes of Nature sayth That Nature is nothing else then a will or reason deuine causer of all things that are engendred and conseruer of them after they are ingendred according to the qualitie of euerie one of them This word therefore Name of Nature serueth not for other then to represent vnto vs the will and minde of God by which all things are made and created and in theyr times and seasons vnmade and dissolued and therefore it is said that the leafe of a tree cannot wagge without the will and ordinaunce of God from whom as the very onelie foundation and beginning proceed depend all creatures reasonable and vnreasonable euen to the very least Yet I know there want not Philosophers which hearing these definitions will say that there is Natura naturans which is God himselfe and Natura naturata which is the effect which by his deuine will hee worketh in creatures But let vs not stay here but behold the foundation whence al proceedeth which is God indeed which if we well contemplate this aboundant and plentifull spring wee shall finde that those which are so astonished hold for miracles some new things aboue their capacity which happen in the worlde haue small reason of their so great amazement For what can be more worthy of admiration to men vertuous and of cleare iudgement then the wonderfull machine and composition of this world the mouing of the heauens in order so iust and due the admirable effects of the Sunne the Moone and of the other Planets the strange influences of the Starres the exceeding strength of the Poles vpon whom all these things not straying one iote out of compasse are moued with a Harmony so meruailous the reason wherewith the foure Elements stand and containe them selues in their places appointed them each of them affording vnto vs that part of himselfe of which we haue neede the cloudes forming and thickning them selues in the region of the ayre the raine haile snow and ice the vehement force and terrible violence of the winds thunders lightnings and blazing-starres Besides these the world daily bringeth foorth and yeeldeth to our view so many thinges new rare and full of wonder that if we would busie our selues to admire and contemplate the variety strangenes of each of them we should haue leasure to doe nothing else For how wonderfull is it to see that amongst so many men as are in the world and daily are borne of new though they beare all one proportion and shape of eyes mouth nose forehead lippes cheekes eares c. Yet it is almost impossible to finde one like another and though it happen somtimes that one resemble another yet there neuer wanteth some difference of diuersity Besides this behold the difference of trees plants hearbs and flowers which in each Countrey groweth with such diuersity of colour tast smell property and vertue and if these things because we see them daily with our eyes and handle them with our hands as thinges common doe not amaze vs why should wee then so much wonder in seeing some things which passe this common agreement and order of nature Which for all that doe not exceede nature neither are vnnaturall though the conceite thereof passe the grosnes of our reach and vnderstanding To see a dead man raysed a dumb man made speake or a man borne blind restored to sight such a thing we may well terme vnnatural miraculous But as for things monstrous of which som we see some are out of vse some vtterly vnknowne me thinks in a vvise man they should work no alteration nor breed any astonishment at all Look amongst the green plants hearbs you shall there somtimes find litle creepers worms some of one sort some of another painted with sundry colours some with many feet some with great hornes in the forehead some with wings some with 2. heads one before and another behind that they go moue as well of the one side as the other if we should see these great huge how would they thē wonder be amazed that are ignorant of their causes But perchance he that created al things aboue vnder the heauēs in the aire the earth the Sea of nothing with his only wil hath lost his force or his hand is become vnable to doe all the rest which in respect therof is nothing No no without dout now is the selfe same God which than our soueraigne Lord maker which as he easily without any trauaile by his only will of nothing made all things so can he whē it pleaseth him by the selfe same wil only turne to vndoe them make of all things nothing as they were before LU. It is all as you haue saide Signior Anthonio your definition of nature is true agreing to our Christian beleefe according to the which all things may be termed naturall but yet I remaine in dout of som part of that which you haue said therfore I pray you before you passe any farther declare it better vnto me First making all things so easie in the hand wil of God which you term nature it self when it cōmeth by the same to work great meruailous things as raising of the dead you say they are supernaturall miraculous in the which vnder correction me thinks you contrary your selfe seeing the one is as naturall to God as the other AN. This cōmeth proceedeth not from God but from the things thēselues which being so ful of difficulty neuer before seen of vs for their great strangenes we cal thē miracles which is as much to say as meruailous supernaturall Because nature or rather to speak more properly God is not wont often to work them therefore not finding any other word or maner to expresse them we say they are miracles supernaturalli so you must vnderstand it not that it is to God any more difficulty to worke the one then the other LV. You haue satisfied me in this point but
stopping their eares fast close with pelets of wax taking some few victuals with thē put themselues onward in their enterprize not without exceeding wearines trauel insomuch that the one fainting by the way was forced to bide behind The other two with chereful labor vertuous alacrity ouercōming all difficulties cam at last with much ado vnto the top of the mountain wher they found a great Plain without any trees in the midst a lake the water of which was obscure black as inke boiling bubling vp as though all the fire in the world had been flaming vnder it making a noise so terible thundring that though they had stopped their eares with all possible care diligence yet the intollerable roring noise thereof wrought such a humming and giddines in their heads that they were constrained with all possible hast to returne without bringing any certaine relation then this which you haue heard BE. Such a matter as this cannot be without great mistery for put case that there were vnderneath some mine of Sulphur or brimstone sufficient through the heat of the fiery matter therein to make the water seeth vp and boile yet could not the same cause a noyse so tempestuous horrible as you said the same is and besides me thinks this continuall boiling should in time consume the water and so the Lake by consequence become dry LU. Perchaunce there may be some Spring or Fountaine there neere which feedeth the Lake with as much warer as the fire consumeth by which meanes it can neuer be voyde or empty AN. Let vs leaue these secrets of Nature to him onely which hath made them for though we through some causes represented in our vnderstanding would seeke to yeeld reasons thereof yet when we thinke to hit the white we shall finde our selues far wide returning therefore to our former matter of Springs Waters me thinks it were not reason that speaking of things so farre off we should ouer-slip these which we haue heere at home in our owne Country hauing in this our Spaine two Fountaines whose effects are not a little to be admired at the one of which is in a Caue called de la Iudia by the Bridge of Talayuelas neere the Castle of Garcimunios which though I my selfe haue not seene yet I haue been thereof so certified that I assuredly know it to be true It yeeldeth a vvater which in falling congealeth and becommeth hard in manner of a stone which hardnes it alwayes after retaineth without dissoluing in such sort that they apply it to theyr buildinges BER It were neede of great Philosophy to know the mistery of this that vvater should in such sort harden that it should neuer afterwards dissolue the contrary reason whereof we see in great heapes of Ice which how hard so cuer they be yet change of weather maketh them to dissolue and melt LV. This is because the heat vndoeth that which is done by the cold as in snow haile ice which seeing it worketh not the like effect in these stones we may thereby gather that not the cold but som other secret to vs hidden vnknown is the cause of this obduration hardnes I haue heard with great credite affirmed that there is also neere the towne called Uilla Nueua del obyspo a Fountaine in which during sixe moneths of the yeare from such time as the sunne entreth into the signe of Lybra which beginneth about the midst of September called the Equinoctiall of the Autumne till the middest of March there is no one drop of water and all the other halfe yeare there runneth a most cleere abundant streame and thys is euery yere ordinary Of thys Fountaine maketh mention also Lucius Marineus Siculus Sinforianus Campegius wryteth of another in Sauoy which breedeth by miraculous operation stones of exceeding vertue BER If this be true then am I deceaued for I neuer thought that stones could be bred but that they were as the bones of the earth alwayes of one bignes neyther decreasing nor increasing for otherwise if stones should grow in time they would come to be of such quantitie and greatnes that they would be in diuer parts very combersome AN. And doubt you of this Assure your selfe that stones waxe and diminish according to the qualitie of which they are the place where they are and the property nature and condition of the earth where they are founde Though those which wee here call peble stones remaine alwayes in one greatnes or els grow so little and so slowly that it can in many yeeres hardly be perceaued yet all those stones which are any thing sandie contracting drawing the earth about them conuert the same into theyr owne nature hardning it in such sort that in short space a little stone becōmeth to be exceeding great yea and in such sort that sometimes we see things of different nature and kinde enclosed shut vp within them still retaining their owne substance and essence which if you desire better to vnderstand behold but the stone in the Earle Don Alonsos garden which hee hath caused to be placed there as a thing meruailous to be viewed of al men which though it be hard and sound hath in the midst therof a great bone seeming to be the shinbone of some beast which the same stone embraced by all likelihood lying neere it on the ground and continually growing came at last to compasse it rounde about which beeing afterwards carued by a Mason was found lying in the very bosome midst therof and that thys should be a very perfect bone there is no doubt to be made thereof for I my selfe haue made most sufficient proofe and try all of the same BER I haue also viewed it very narrowly and am of your opinion AN. Turning to our discourse of Fountaines I am perswaded that there are many of rare and great vertues vtterly to vs vnknowne and sometimes it hapneth that the vertue of the water worketh through the ayde of some other thing ioyntly together matters verie admirable as that which Alexander writeth in his booke De diebus genialibus that in those partes of England vvhich bende toward the West when any shyps are broken and the ribbes or planches of them remaine a while in the water that with the continuall moystnes they engender bring forth certaine Puscles like Mushromps which within fevve dayes seeme to be aliue and to haue motion and by little and little grow gather feathers That part wherewith they are fast to the rotten tymber is like vnto a water-foules bill which comming lose of it selfe thys miraculous foule beginneth to heaue it selfe vp and by little and little in short space of time to flie and mount into the ayre Pope Pius whose name was Aeneas Siluius rehearseth this in another sort saying that in Scotland vpon the bankes of a Riuer there growe certaine Trees whose leaues falling into the water and putrifying
and debating a matter so pleasant and delectable though it were to no other end then to moue vs to seeke and aspire vnto that heauenly Paradice which this terestriall representeth vnto vs. AN. Well then seeing it so pleaseth you I will recite the opinions of such as vnderstand it better than I doe and you may thereof iudge that which seemeth most agreeing to our Catholique faith and to reason I will with the greatest breuity I may make you pertaker of that which I remember Many Diuines especially those which haue written vpon Genesis haue discoursed vpon this matter of earthly Paradice amongst whose opinions though there be some diuersity yet they shoote all at one marke though in the meane time it be some confusion to those which curiously procure to sift out the truth thereof But seeing their opinions are all Christianlike and of good zeale I account it no error in following eyther of them But leauing a while the Christians and Diuines let vs first see what was the old Philosophers opinion though it were at blindfold concerning Paradise and the place on earth where they thought it to be If wee take this name of Paradice generally it signifieth a place of delight and so sayeth Saint Hierome in his Translation that Heden in the Hebrew Text signifieth delight according to the 70. Interpreters which hauing said that God planted Paradice in the place of Heden turne presently to declare the same calling it a Garden of delight of these delightful places there are many in the worlde for their exceeding beauty and pleasantnes called by this name and so Casaneus alleadging Philippus Bergamensis the one very late the other not very auncient sayeth that there is one in the Oryent towards the side of Zephyrus and this hee thinketh to be the same of which we now speake another in the Aequinoctiall betweene the winds Eurus Euronotus the third betweene the tropick of Cancer and the circle of the South pole a fourth in the Orient on the other side of the Aequinoctiall where the Sunne scorcheth with so vehement heate a fifth at the Southerne pole of which he sayth that Solinus also maketh mention and as I take it it is in his discourse of those that dwell on the other side of the Hyperbores The sixth he placeth in the Occident and withall he alleadgeth that the Senate of Rome had made a decree that none should be chosen high Pontif vnlesse he were in the Garden of delights in the prouince of Italy But me reemeth that Casaneus Philippus reckoning vp such places as these are calling them paradices and taking the word so largely might haue found a great many more For Salomon also sayeth he maketh Gardens and paradices and planteth in them fruitfull trees And Procopius writeth of a paradice in a certaine part of Affrica whose wordes are these There was saith he builded a royall pallace by a King of the Vandales in the most delightfull paradice of all those that euer I haue seene for there were many delicious Fountaines of which it was bedewed and watered and the vvoods round about were continually most fragrant greene flourishing These paradices are vnderstood as I haue said to be all the purest pleasantest places of the earth refreshed with sweet gales temperate wholesome ayres though perchance also such as haue written of them haue added somwhat to the truth and as for those of which Phillip of Bergamo speaketh they are described in places so far distant from vs that it is almost vnpossible to know the truth The Gentiles likewise according to their fals sects opinions fained the Elisian fields to be paradice whether they imagined the soules of those that liued well to be transported after their death Which some dreamed to be in the prouince of Andaluzia in this our Spain because it is a plat most pleasant delectable Others held opinion that they were not any where else then in an Iland called Phrodisia consecrated to Venus neere vnto Thule which was the most delicious and comfortable place that might be found in the whole world which sodainly sinking into the Sea vanished was seen no more But the commonest opinion was that the Elisian fields were those which we now call the fortunate Ilands the enhabitants of which are saide to liue so long that they are held to be as it were immortall Plato in his fourth book called Phedon writeth that there is a place on the earth so high aboue the clouds that they cannot raine vpō the same neither though it be neere the region of the fire feeleth it any immoderate heate but that there is alwaies a temperature of aire most pure perfect in such sort that many are of opinion that al things grow there in greater fertility abundance then in any other part of the earth and that the men are of purer complexion longer life then we whose bodies are such that many think them to be formed the greater part of fire aire as for water and earth they participate thereof very little neither feed they of such fruits victuals as we doe heere but differ far from vs in customs alwaies enioy a perfect freshnes of youth These words rehearseth Caelius Rodiginus which were saith he of a man that went serching out the certaine knowledge of our faith who was not far of frō being a Christian if there had been any man to haue instructed him wherin he was found to say so of him I know not for Plato spake wrote many other things wherein he deserued the name of Diuine out of which greater argument may be taken then out of these words to iudge as he doth of him That agreeth very well with this of Plato which Lactantius Firmianus writeth in verse in a little Treatise of the Phaenix discoursing of that Country whether after shee hath burned her selfe in Arabia and turned to reuiue againe of a vvorme engendered in her owne ashes she taketh her flight to passe her life till such time as of necessity she must returne to renue her selfe againe His very words are these There is saith he in the farthest part of the East a blessed place where the high gate of the eternall pole is open it is neyther anoyed with the heate of the Sunne nor the colde of the Winter but there whence the Sunne sendeth discouereth to vs the day there are neyther high mountaines nor low Valleyes the fields are all flat in a great and pleasant Plaine which notwithstanding the euen leuell thereof is ten fadoms higher then the highest mountaine of ours There is a flourishing vvood adorned with many beautifull trees whose braunches and leaues enioy perpetuall greenes and at such time as through the ill guiding of the chariot and horses of the Sunne by Phaeton the whole world burned this place was vntouched of the flame and when Deucalions flood ouerwholmed the whole
man may certainly attaine to know where the place of terestriall Paradise is vnlesse it be by reuelation diuine which selfe same hee might haue saide of the foure riuers that issue there out But seeing this is a matter which the more wee penetrate into the greater difficulties we shall finde it were better that wee lefte the same to be discussed and determined of men whose learning and capacity is more profound then ours alwayes submitting our selues to their iudgement and censure BER It pleaseth me very wel which you say but there is one thing in the which you must first satisfie mee that is my first demaund of the vertue with which by all reason the waters of these Riuers should be enriched with for this was the beginning of our present discourse AN. I confesse that by reason these Riuers should haue more vertue then all the others of the world and so I thinke they had at such tyme as they issued out of Paradise and whiles with their waters they refreshed that blessed soyle but after as they changed their Springes and Issues the cause ending the effect also might cease and end without retayning any more the former vertue but whether Paradise be as yet and whether at their beginning they enter into the same enriching ennobling themselues with the vertue therof is to vs vtterly vnknown perchance God hath herein darkned our vndestanding because through our wickednes we deserue not to enioy so great a good or that a thing so excellent proceeding from so sacred a place should be communicated vnto vs so that we remain in obscurity darknes vnable to iudge of Paradise but by signes coniectures which lead vs to beleeue the one and the other without any assured certainty so that I meruaile not if in so diuers a matter there be diuers opinions LU. Will you haue my opinion vve are so fewe and so ill Christians in the world that we deserue not to haue this matter of Paradise reuealed by God vnto vs. AN. Fewe Christians say you nay we are many in the world if we were all good and would liue as we ought to doe BER Of all friendship I pray you make me vnderstand this for in my opinion we are so few that in many parts of the world there is scarcely any knowledge or notice of vs. AN. You are farre deceaued as you shal presently vnderstand First therfore the deuill is so mighty that he hath beene able to blind the vnderstanding of many wise prouident men to the end that they might not attaine vnto the knowledge of the truth so that the world is deuided into three principall sorts of Religions besides ours which is the vniuersal true Christian and Catholique beleefe The first is of the Iewes which still remaine in their law The second is of the Moores and Turks who follow the law of Mahomet The third is of Pagans and Gentiles who adore Idols and thinges which are bare creatures leauing to adore him vvho of nothing made and created them all BER This is that whereat I wonder exceedingly that these false lawes and sects should so maintaine them selues in manifest errors and deceites without any substance or foundation especially those of the Pagans and Moores which in a manner take vp and possesse the whole Lands and Countries of the worlde that are knowne and enhabited for take the three parts into which the world is by the auncient Philosophers deuided and you shall finde that they possesse so much thereof that there is scarcely any place left for the Christians so that we are thrust and as it were shouldered into the least part thereof which is Europe yea and of that also wee possesse but a part AN. I tell you once againe that you are deceaued for Christendome stretcheth very wide and farre and there are fewe places in the world where Christians inhabite not as you shall straight vnderstande though in truth all that beare the name are not true Catholique Christians But leauing this for another time I say that the blindnes of the Gentiles consisted not in that they followed the simplicity of the Lawes of Nature the which if in those dayes they had vsed well they might rightly haue called themselues wise But that they became to frame and forge new Sects and Religions Whereas I can not perswade my self but that they knew that there was one only God onely puissant and almighty who of nothing created the whole word and all things therein contained but such was theyr malice that they would needes put vp exalt into the heauens other men deifying and making them Gods by their owne authoritie Of the beginning and originall of Idolatry though there be many and diuers opinions yet for breuities sake I will omit them onely the commonest is that Ninus King of the Assirians after the death of his Father King Belus made and erected an Idol of his likenes ordayning the same to be a suretie and defence to all those that had theyr refuge thereunto howe capitall and haynous soeuer were the offences by them committed so that the offenders finding there a securitie inuiolable against those by whō they were persecuted began with all reuerence to worshippe that Idoll and to doe sacrifice vnto the same as though it had been God From that time forward the ignorant blindnesse of the common people began to adore theyr Kings Princes and to call them Gods imagining that as they had been mighty on the earth while they liued so shoulde they be in heauen after theyr death Against the grossenes of this error furdered by the deuill which put himselfe into the Idols they made and to deceaue them the more spake and gaue aunsweres many haue written chiefely Lactantius Firmianus in his Booke of Diuine Institutions highly and cleerly making them vnderstand the error and deceite wherein they were abused in adoring creatures leauing to adore the Creator Neyther doe you thinke but that the wiser sort had in detestation theyr ignorant errors laughing at the foolish multitude and though in publique they did like the rest because they would not lose theyr worldly estimation yet in theyr secrete breast they were of a farre different opinion which they shewed as cleerly as they might namely Diuine Plato Aristotle Porphirius Socrates and Cicero who in his Treatise of the Nature of the Gods gaue to vnderstand howe differently hee iudged of those false Gods if it had beene lawfull freely to haue vttered that which in his breast hee conceaued To be short there were fevve Philosophers eyther Latines or Greekes which vnderstood not this common blindnesse hauing the same in abhomination and horror If you doubt heereof aske Hermes Trismegistus who confesseth that there is no more but one true and onely God Looke in Lucians workes and you shall finde them full of scoffs iestes in derision of his Gods whom as there was then no man to lighten and instruct them in
other such like tales of which the common people speaketh AN. There are some certainly yea and very many which I take to be meere fictions and fables inuented by men for their pastime or some other cause that moued them others there are which are vndoubtedly of most assured truth as it appeareth by sundry examples successes which cannot be denied LU. Truly Signior Anthonio I shold be very glad throughly to vnderstand this matter of Spirits whether they be illusions deceits of the deuill who representeth thē in imagination fancy only or whether they are truly seene discerned with our bodily eyes for according to the diuersity of tales which I haue heard and of such diuers sorts I knowe not what I should iudge thereof AN. You haue entred into a matter very deepe me thinks you go about to make me a Diuine perforce as yesterday you did in that of terestriall Paradise wherin because I found you then easie to be contented I am the readier now to satisfie you so far as my knowledge extendeth Let vs therfore repose our selues on this greene banke where with the shadow of those trees of one side the freshnes of this Fountain on the other we shal sit to our ease contentment BER We are ready to fulfill obey your cōmaundement in all things especially in this tending to so good an end surely I haue oftentimes beaten my braines about this matter of which you will nowe entreate but still in the end finding the conceite thereof intricate aboue my capacity I gaue it quite ouer AN. Well therfore I wil begin to say what I know as there ariseth any doubt aske and I wil doe my best to resolue satisfie you as wel as I can with the greatest breuity possible for otherwise the matter is so great so much thereof written that we should neuer bring it to an end and because these illusions apparitions of Spirits chiefely proceed of the deuils let vs first see what the ancient Philosophers thought of them not touching our Christian Religion The Peripatetikes chiefely Aristotle were of opinion that there were no deuils at all and so saith Aueroes that hee knew no spirituall substances but those which moue the heauens which he calleth also Angels seperated substances intelligences mouing vertues so that the deuils being spirituall substances he seemeth to deny that there be any Of the same opinion was Democrites therin so obstinate that certaine yong men clothing themselues one night in deformed vgly attire seeming to be very deuils in deed thinking to make him afraide when they came into the place where he was vsing horrible feareful gestures he shewed himselfe secure without any alteration at all bidding thē cease to play the fools because he knew wel there were no such bugs as they represented And when these Philosophers were asked what griefe that was which those endured who were possessed of Spirits they answered it was a passion proceeding of a melancholly humor affirming melancholly to be able to worke those effects and as yet the most part of Phisitions maintaine the same affirming that when the deuill speaketh in diuers tongues yea though often very highly and mistically yet that all this may well proceed through the operation of a vehement melancholly But this is a manifest error for amongst the Ethnike Philosophers them selues there were diuers of a contrary opinion as Pythagoras Plato Socrates Trismegistus Proculus Pophirius Iamblicus many others though S. Austine in his ninth booke De ciuitate Dei sayeth that Plato and his followers called the superiour Angels Gods and that they were the selfe same whom Aristotle called Angels and in this sort is to be vnderstoode the spirit of Socrates so famous in Platos works and of which Apuleius writeth a whole booke and whosoeuer attentiuely readeth the Tymeus of Plato and his Cratilus in the tenth Dialogue De legibus shal find that he meant the same Aristotle him selfe sayeth that Lemures and Lamiae dwell in a sad Region LV. I vnderstand not these names if you declare thē not plainlier vnto me AN. The deuils are called by sundry different names which though for certaine respects keepe their particuler significations Lamiae properly signifie a kind of deuils yet vnder the same name are also contayned Hags and Witches as persons who haue confederation and agreement with the deuill and Lemures or Lares are such as wee call Hobgoblins or domesticall Spirits and as these are Spirits it seemeth to make against that which in other places he maintained But leauing these men who went so blindly and obscurely to worke Let vs come to the trueth it selfe which is Christ and to our Christian Religion which manifestly teacheth vs to vnderstand what we should beleeue as touching these maligne Spirits whose being is proued by so many examples and testimonies of the holy Scripture and by the misteries and miracles wrought by the same God our Sauiour in casting them foorth of humaine bodies The which afterwards the Apostles and holy men did in like sort The Philosophers which confessed that there were deuils though they vnderstood that theyr office was to torment the soules of euill liuers as saith Plato and Xenocrates in his booke which he made of death yet they drawe diuers waies for they make good spirits and euil spirits and they call the departed soules of great wise men Spirits halfe Gods feyning thē through the excellencie of their merrits to be assumpted into heauen where though they neuer entered into the Consistory with the other Gods but when they were called and appointed yet were they Mediators for men that liued on the earth carrying and offering vp theyr messages requests demaunds supplications to the Gods in heauen Neyther made they heere an end but they called also the Gods Daemons as it appeareth by the words of Trismegistus which are thus When the separation saith he shall be of the soule from the bodie the examination thereof shall be tryed by the power iudgment of the chiefe Daemon who finding it righteous godlie will assigne it a conuenient happy place but if he find it spotted with wickednes and defiled with sinnes and offences hee will throw it into the deepe Abysmes where there is alwayes horror and confusion terrible tempests violent waters and vnquenchable fires And so by degrees downewardes towards the earth they place other Gods still declyning till they come to the ill Spirits which they say are those who dwell vnder the earth in the deepe Abysmes thereof Feyning besides a hundred thousand other such like toyes vanities which if you desire to see you may reade the Phylosophers before named and besides them Caelius Rodiginus Protinus Pselius and many others who haue perticulerlie written of this matter But one thing I will assure you that he had neede of a very diuine iudgement whom they
confound not with theyr intricate and obscure contrarieties it is best therefore that we referre our selues to the Church following for Pylots in this matter the holy Doctors who cleerelie expresse the pure truth hereof and so shall we attaine to the vnderstanding of that which we pretend BER You say well but first declare vnto vs whether Lucifer those other Angels that offended with him in ambition and pryde fell altogether into hell or no AN. They fell not altogether into the very Abysme of Hell though they all fell into the truest hell which is Punishment Those which remained in the places betweene was because they had not offended with so determinate an obstination and vehemence as the others had and they remained also there because it was necessary conuenient for our merite that we should haue Spirits for our enemies in such place where they might vexe vs with theyr temptations For which cause God permitted a great part of them to remaine in the ayre the earth and the water vvhere they shall continue till the day of iudgement and then they shall be all damned into the very dungeon of Hell so that we haue with them a continuall warre who though they be in the places which I haue said yet are they not out of Hell in respect of torment for theyr paine is all alike All this is out of S. Thomas in the first part Quest. 64. Ar. 4. The difference of the degrees of Spirits is rehearsed by Gaudencius Merula taking the same out of Pselius who maketh 6. kinds of Spirits betweene Heauen Hell The first who are those that remained in the highest region of the Ayre hee calleth Angels of fire because they are neere vnto that Region and perchance within it The second kinde saith hee is from the middle region of the Ayre downeward towardes the Earth The third on the earth it selfe The fourth in the waters The fift in the Caues and hollow vautes of the earth The sixt in the very dungeon and Abysme of Hell LU. In such sort that they are as it were enter-linked one with another but tell mee haue all these Spirits one selfe dutie and office AN. No if we will beleeue Gaudencius Merula but manie and those of diuers sorts For the cheefest greefe and paine of the first which vvere those that had least offended seeing themselues so neere Heauen is the contemplation that through theyr wickednes they haue lost so great a Beatitude though this be generall to them all and these are nothing so harmfull as the others are For those which are in the middle of the region of the Ayre and those that are vnder them neerer the earth are those which sometimes out of the ordinary operation of Nature doe mooue the windes with greater fury then they are accustomed doe out of season congele the clowes causing it to thunder lighten haile and to destroy the grasse Corne Vines and fruites of the earth and these are they whose helpe the Negromancers do often vse in their deuilish operations Amongst other things which are written in the Booke called Mallcus Maleficarum you shall finde that the Commissioners hauing apprehended certaine Sorceresses willed one of them to shew what she could doe assuring her life on condition that from thence forward shee should no more offend in the like Wherupon going out into the fields in presence of the Commissioners many other besides she made a pitte in the ground with her hands making her vvater into the same which being done she stirred about the vrine with one of her fingers out of the which by little little after shee had made certaine Characters and mumbled a few wordes there arose a vapour which ascending vpwarde like a smoake began to thicken of it selfe in the midst of the region of the ayre gathering and making there a blacke fearfull Clowde which cast out so many thunders lightnings that it seemed to be a thing hellish and infernall the vvoman remaining all thys while still asked at last the Commissioners where they woulde haue that clowde to discharge a great quantitie of stones they poynting her to a certaine place where it could doe no hurt at all the clowde of a suddaine began to moue it selfe with a great furious blustering of winds and in short space comming ouer the place appointed dyscharged a great number of stones like a violent shower directly within the compasse thereof And in this sort may the Witches and Negromancers worke many such like thinges through the help of those Spirits as we wil hereafter declare But turning to the third kind of Spirits beeing on the earth whose principall office function is to persecute men and to tempt and allure them to sinne and thereby to worke theyr damnation enuying that those glorious places which they once enioyed in heauen should bee possessed replenished with men These vex vs these trouble vs these deceiue vs and entise vs to all those wicked offences which we cōmit against the maiestie of him who made created vs of nothing these lie in waight day and night to entrap vs sleeping and waking they allure vs to euill thoughts and naughty works tempting our soules perswading vs to run the way of perdition the which because they are Spirits they may very well do in vexing and tempting our Spirit yea and many times so that wee are not not able to perceaue it And though Gaudencius Pselius attribute to sundry kindes of Spirits sundry functions in perticuler yet in generall each of thē can indifferently vse them though they be of another kinde For in dooing euill they agree all in one malice and most earnest desire to worke our damnation by all meanes possibly they may BER Is that true which they say that there is no man but hath at his right hand a good Angell and at his left hand a bad AN. Doubt not of this for as God for our good and benefit hath ordeyned to each one of vs a good Angel to accompanie vs whom we call our Angel of gard who as by the holy church we are taught keepeth defendeth vs frō many dangerous temptations by which the deuil procureth to work our damnation so also haue we at our left hand an ill Spirit which stil is solliciting perswading and alluring vs to sin and offend by all meanes possibly he may And the Gentiles though they were not so illuminated as we are yet did they in part acknow ledge this calling the good Angell Genium Hominis though this of the euill Angell I haue not found approoued by ame Author onely that it is an opinion which the common people holdeth and is generally allowed and besides the readines of them at hande to procure vs to sin is confirmed by the holy Scripture in sundry places BER What power hath God giuen vnto these good and bad Angels which wee carry daily in our company AN. That
doe her vttermost diligence to constraine him perforce to that whereto by his most solemne protestation hee was bound The Gentleman strooken heerewith into greater admiration then before aunswered her that he thought her not to be in her right sences for neuer in his life had he promised marriage nor once spoken to her in secret neyther was of meaning to satis-fie anie such demaund of hers The poore vvench welnigh out of her wits after infinite exclamations calling heauen and earth to witnes began perticulerly to recite vnto him all such thinges as had passed betweene her and the deuill asking him how he could be so impudent to deny the same she mingled with threatning teares wishing him to haue the feare of Gods vengeance before his eyes The Gentleman with great confusion began to blesse himself protesting vnto her by the most solemne sort of oaths he could that she was deceaued and that of this matter hee knew nothing at all Oh God quoth shee and howe is this possible doe you not remember that on such a very day to mee most vnfortunate naming a great feastiuall day you sware and vowed to accomplish with mee the holy estate of marriage in the open face of the Church which you said you were constrained to deferre as yet for some respects But he hauing heere no longer patience to the end quoth he that you shal fully and plainly perceaue your owne error I will by sufficient information and vnrefusable witnesses proue vnto you that I was not in this Towne the day you say neither 20. dayes before nor 20. dayes after if any man therefore in my name haue deceaued you I am not to be blamed and to the end shee might be the better resolued he sent incontinently for seauen or eight persons of credite as well of his house as others which without knowing the cause wherfore solemnly swore and declared that this Gentleman had beene the very day and all the time mentioned absent in another Towne aboue fifty leagues from thence The young Mayden remained confused and ashamed as well for this as for other particuler things passed betweene her the deuill which seemed to her impossible to haue beene done by any humaine man so that her iudgement waxing clearer she nowe began to suspect this her detestable Louer to be him who indeed he was and there-vpon entring into a wonderfull deepe repentance and vtterly giuing ouer the world shee placed her selfe in a Monastery where shee continued most deuoutly the rest of her life in Gods seruice BER She tooke in my iudgment the best and surest course both for her owne saluation and to reuenge her selfe of the iniury receaued by her enemy But seeing you haue set vs in this matter I pray you tell vs what power and authority they haue ouer the deuill that vse and exercise the Art of Negromancie for it is manifest that Negromancers and Witches constraine the deuils make them perforce obey and accomplish their commaundements and many also carry them bound and enclosed in rings boxes little viols and many other things applying their helps to such vses as they themselues will and such deuils they commonly call Familiars AN. It cannot be denied but that there is such an Art called Negromancie vsed in old times by faithfull and vnfaithfull and now in these our dayes also by diuers But this Art may be exercised in two sorts the first is naturall which may be wrought through things whose vertue property is naturall to doe them as hearbs plants and stones and other things as the planets constellations and heauenly influences and this Art is lawfull and may without scruple or offence be vsed and practised of those that can attaine vnto the knowledge of their hidden properties and such is that of which S. Thomas writeth in his Treatise De ente et essentia though some doubt whether the same be his or no where he alleageth that Abel the Sonne of Adam made a booke of all the vertues properties of the planets which foreknowing that the world should perish through the generall flood he enclosed so cunningly in a stone that the waters could not come to corrupt the same whereby it might be preserued and knowne to all people This stone was found by Hermes Trismegistus who breaking it and finding the booke therein enclosed profited wonderfully by applying the contents thereof to his vse which booke comming afterwards to the hand of S Thomas it is said that he did there-with many great experiences amongst the which one was that being sicke and troubled with the noise of Beastes and carriages that passed through the streete remedied that trouble by making an Image such as the booke prescribed him which being buried in the streete none of all the Beasts had power to passe thereby but cōming thither staid or went backward not being by any man to be constrained to do the contrary He also telleth of a certaine friend of his who by the selfe same booke made an Image putting the which into a Fountaine it caused all such vessels as touched the water thereof presently to breake which came by obseruations of certaine houres and points in working of those Images of which they tooke great reckoning and heede to the end that the planets might the better vse their influences in working those thinges which seemed supernaturall The vse of all this is so lawfull that there is nothing to be sayde to the contrary The other kinde of Negromancie or Art Magique is that which is vsed and practised through the helpe and fauour of the deuill which hath beene of long time as we know exercised in the world And of this the holy Scriptures giue vs sufficient testimony as well in the old Testament speaking of the Magitians of Pharaoh who contended with Moyses and Aaron as in the new Testament in the Acts of the Apostles making mention of Simon Magus rebuked by S. Peter and besides to satisfie your demaund you must vnderstand that the deuils may also be forced and constrained by the good Angels and this is because of the grace which the one lost and the other as yet retaine But leauing a-part the examples vvhich wee finde in the newe Testament of that which our Sauiour Christ as very GOD and manne wrought with them Let vs come to the Apostles and Saints who by the vertue of wordes and in the onely name of Iesus made them obey and accomplish all that which they commaunded them But the Magitians neyther by themselues neyther by their wordes Characters or signes haue power or force to constrayne the deuills to any thing howe so euer they persvvade them selues to the contrarie vvhich because you shall fully vnderstand to be so you must knowe that none canne vse or exercise this Arte of Negromancie vnlesse hee first make a secrete agreement or expresse couenaunt vvith the deuill and such deuilles vvith vvhom they deale in these couenauntes are not of the
night at last the dawning of the day began to appeare the student saw before him a goodly countrey ful of gardens plesant trees not far of a very great citty asking of his companion what countrie and cittie the same was hee made him aunswere that they were within the precincts of Granada and that the same was the Cittie vvhich they saw before them instantly desiring him in recompence of his easie voyage not to vtter this matter of him his horse to anie man liuing and so tooke his leaue of him bidding him to goe where it pleased him for hee was to take another way The Student after many thankes dispatching himselfe out of his cōpany went to the towne the most amazed man of the world thinking it vnpossible to finish a voyage of so many miles in one night vnlesse there had beene some deuill within the horse as it is most likelie there was BER It is most manifest that this could not be without the work of the deuill and I will recite vnto you another the like which a most substantiall friende of mine a man of verie good reputation told mee was most certaine and true and it hapned on the selfe same way of Granada to his father which in companie of another of his friendes going homewardes hauing parted from Valladolid and past the Towne of Olmedo met by the way with a stranger who told him that hee was also to goe the same way and that if it pleased them he would be glad to beare them company with which they beeing very well contented rode on together entertayning them selues with diuers kindes of discourses and pastimes till hauing ridden eight or nine miles theyr newe companion perswaded them to light downe in a greene Medow by the high way side which was to the eye very greene and pleasant and there spreading a great cloake which he ware drew out of his Budget prouision to eate and so did the others also and sate themselues all downe vpon the cloake and two of theyr Lacquaies with them and the newe commer would needs haue theyr horses also sette theyr feete vpon the same great cloake of his and so breaking theyr fast with great leysure and deuising of sundry things such as best pleased them after they had sitten a good space without scarcely thinking of their iournie they began to make hast to get a horsebake but theyr nevve companion byd them take leysure for they shoulde come in good time to Granada shewing them with his finger the citty not aboue a quarter of a league from thence bidding them thanke his cloake requesting them withall not to vtter this to any man which they promised him not without singuler astonishment vpon which he tooke his leaue of them departing by a contrary way LU. Truly eyther of both these things heere rehearsed are passing strange but if as you say the deuils lost not their nature though they lost grace then is the power and force which they haue if they be in liberty not restrained like vnto that of the good Angels and so as the Angell carried by the haire the Prophet Abacuck out of Iury into the denne of Lyons which was in Babilon where Daniel was might the deuill likewise carry in an houre these men so great a way as is betwixt Olmedo and Granada and in this manner doe I thinke that they carry those men and women whom wee call Sorcerers and Hags whether they will themselues AN. This is a lynage and kinde of people which are expresly agreed and accorded with the deuill holding and obeying him as their soueraigne Prince and Maister and suffering thēselues to be marked of him as his slaues which mark some say they beare in one of their eyes fashioned like a Toades foote by which they know and haue notice one of another for they haue amongst themselues great companies and fraternities making often generall meetings together at which times they pollute themselues with all filthines in accomplishing most abhominable villanies brutish lusts and infernall ceremonies and alwayes when so euer they meete so together they doe lowly homage and reuerence to the deuill who most cōmonly appeareth to them in the figure of a great Ram-goate where the wicked hellish abhominations that they commit are such that they are not to be vttered I will therefore onely tell you one which was told me for a matter most assured and approued by infinite testimonies and informations that were taken thereof which was thus A certaine man well learned and very discreete suspected vehemently a neighbour of his to be a Sorcerer and through the great desire he had to be assured thereof began to vse conuersation and to enter in a great league of familiarity and friendshippe with him couering so finely his dissimulation that the other assuring him selfe of his secrecie discouered him selfe vnto him with great instance perswading him also to enter into their society in which doing he should enioy all the pleasures delights and contentments of the world who faining himselfe to be very desirous of the same it was agreed betweene them that at the next assembly of theirs hee should goe to make his couenant and confederation with the deuill putting himselfe vnder his baner and protection The day assigned being come and gone after it was darke night the Sorcerer tooke the learned man out of the Towne and carried him along certaine valleyes and thickets in which to his iudgment he had neuer beene before though hee knew the Countrey round about very well and in short space hee thought that they had gone very farre comming at last into a plaine field enclosed round about with mountaines where he saw a great number of people men and women that went vp and downe in great mirth who all receaued him with great feast gladnes giuing him many thankes for that it had pleased him to become a member of their society assuring him that there was no greater happines in the world then that which he should enioy In midst of this field was a throne built very sumptuously on which stoode a great filthy Ram-goate to whom at a certaine houre of the night they all went to do reuerence and going vp certain degrees one after another they kist him in the foulest part behind The learned man seeing an abhomination so great though hee were by his companion thoroughly instructed how he should behaue himselfe could no longer haue patience but began to call vnto God at which very instant there came such a terrible thunder and tempest as though heauen and earth should haue gone together in such sort that he became for a time through great astonishment sencelesse and without all iudgement and vnderstanding in which sort he knew not himselfe how long he continued but when hee came to himselfe it was broade day and hee found himselfe amongst certaine rough mountaines so brused and crushed as though hee had scarcely any one sound bone in
must haue the same encrease and decrease for the selfe same cause and reason as is of the other side and if the same goe lengthning on inwards it must be greater then it hath seemed vnto vs. AN. Whether this land extend it selfe on the other side of the North forward or whether the Sea be straight at hande I cannot resolue you for there is not any Author that writeth it neither do I thinke is there any that knoweth it the cause wherof as I said is that in passing by the coast of the West beyond the Iles of Thule the coldes are so bitterly sharpe that no ship dareth to aduenture farder by reason of the huge floting Rockes and flakes of Ise vvhich encomber that Sea threatning eminent danger and vnauoydable destruction to those that attempt to saile thereinto Of the other side of the East giuing a turne about to the very same North is discouered so far as the Prouince of Aganagora which is the last of all the knowne Countries on that side the Gulfe being past which is called Mare magnum for by land they say it is not to be trauailed by reason of the great Deserts the earth in many places full of Quagmyres with many other inconueniences which Nature seemeth to haue there ordained Some say that earthly Paradise standeth there and that therefore no earthly man in the world hath knowledge thereof but of this we haue before sufficiently entreated with the opinions of those that haue written thereupon Some there are also who write that in this Lande are certaine great mountains amongst the which are enclosed many peoples of India from which they haue no issue nor meanes at all to come out but I rather beleeue this to be a fiction because I find the same confirmed by no graue allowed Authour But howsoeuer it be beyond this Countrey called Aganagora is much vnknowne and vndiscouered Land neyther by sea thence Northward hath there been any nauigation or discouery of which also the extreame cold and the sea cōtinually frozen and choked vp with heapes of Ise may be the cause the feare of which hath hindred men from attempting the discouery therof onely that which we may hereby vnderstand is that there is a most great quantity of Land from the coast which goeth by the west turneth towards the North and that which compasseth about the East and turneth likewise to the North of which till this time there is not anie man that can giue direct notice in midst of all which is that which we intreated of which is vnder the North whose daie and night is reparted into a yeere BER I knowe not in vvhat sort the moderne Geographers doe measure or compasse the world but I know that they say that the whole Rotundity of all the Land and water in the worlde containeth not aboue sixe thousand leagues of which are discouered 4350. reckoning from the Hauen of Hygueras in the Occident or West Indies to Gatigara where the Prouince of Aganagora is cōtayned which is in the Orient so that there are yet to discouer 1650. leagues in discouering of which the ende and vtmost boundes of the Indies shoulde be knowne as well as that of this part of the earth which we inhabite AN. To those that will measure the world in this maner may be answered as a Boy in Seuilla to those that would deuide the conquest thereof between the King of Castile and the King of Portugale who in mockage of theyr folly puld downe his breeches and shewing them his buttocks badde them draw the line there along if they would needes deuide the world in the midst by measure as for those which mesure in such sort the worlde they take but the length of the earth fetching their way by the midst of the Equinoctiall and so the Astronomers and Cosmographers may goe neere the mark reckoning by degrees and giuing to euery degree 16. leagues a halfe a minute of way as they do but though they discouer this yet they can hardly come to discouer the many parts nookes that are of one side and another of the world being so wide that in one corner thereof may lye hydden many thousands of miles and Countries which beeing seene known wold perchance seem to be some new world so lieth this part of which I speake on the coast of the Sea quite without notice or knowledge BER Some will say that the shippe called Victoria which is yet as a thing of admiration in the Bay of Seuilia went round about the world in the voyage which she made of fourteen thousand leagues AN. Though she did compasse the world round about in one part yet it is not said that she compast the same about in all parts which are so many that to thinke onely of them is sufficient to amaze a mans vnderstanding Amongst the rest we neuer heard that the Coast from the West to the East by the way of the North or at least the greater part thereof hath beene compassed about as yet by any ship neither haue we knowledge of any thing at all neither by Sea nor Land nauigating from thence forward LV. If you reade Pomponius Mela in his Chapter of Scithia where he discourseth of this matter you shall finde that he bringeth the authority of Cornelius Nepos alleadging for witnesse Quintus Metellus whom he had heard say that when he was Proconsull of the Gaules the King of Swethland gaue him certaine Indians of whom demanding which way they came into those Countries they aunswered that through the terrible force of a great tempest they were so furiously driuen from the streame of the Indian Sea that after long attending nothing else thē to be swallowed vp of the waues they came at last violently to bee striken into a Riuer on the Coast of Germany which being true then they made that nauigation by those partes which you say are vndiscouered from the West to the East by the way of the North whereby it is to be thought that the Sea is not so frozen as they say but that it is nauigable AN. Truth it is that Mela saith so though it be doubted whether the Indians came this way or no and Mela himselfe in the ende of the Chapter turneth to say that all the same Septentrionall side is hardened with Ice and therefore vninhabitable and desert but as I haue said all this is not directly proued and confirmed by sound experience exact knowledge seeing we know not howe farre the Land extendeth it selfe on the other side of the North without comming to the Sea and if we would seeke to sift this secrete out and aspire to the knowledge of that which might be found in nauigating that Sea fetching a compasse about the world from North to North God knoweth what Lands would be found and discouered BER The likeliest to beleeue in this matter in my iudgement is that the same
Sea of the North though being frozen the greatest part of the yeare yet that the same at such time as the Sunne mounteth high and their day of such length should through the heate of the Sunne thaw and become nauigable and so in that season the Indians might be driuen through the same with a tempest all which though it be so yet the people assuredly knowing that the same Sea freezeth in such sort euery yeere will not dare or aduenture to saile therein or to make any voyage on that side so that we come not to the knowledge of such thinges as are in that Sea and Land vnlesse wee will beleeue the fictions that Sylenus told to King Mydas LV. Of all friendship tell vs them I pray you for in so diffuse a matter any man may lye by authority without controlement BER That which I will tell you is out of Theopompus alleaged by Aelianus in his book De varia Historia This Sylenus saith he was the Sonne of a Nimph and accounted as inferiour to the Gods but as superiour vnto men who in one communication among many others that hee had with King Mydas discoursed vnto him that out of this Land or world in which wee liue called commonly Asia Affrique and Europe whom he termeth Ilands enuironed rounde about with the Ocean there is another Land so great that it is infinite and without measure in the same are bred Beastes and Fowles of admirable hugenes and the men which dwell therein are twise so great as we are and their life twice as long They haue many and goodly Citties in which they liue by reason hauing lawes quite contrary vnto ours among their Citties there are two that exceede the rest in greatnes in customes no whit at all resembling for the one is called Machino which signifieth warlike and the other Euaesus which signifieth pittifull the enhabitants of which are alwayes in continuall peace and plentifully abounding in great quantity of riches in whose Prouince the fruites of the earth are gathered without being sowed or planted They are alwayes free from infirmities spending their whole time in mirth pleasure and solace they maintaine iustice so inuiolably that many times the immortall Gods disdaine not to vse their friendship and company but on the contrary the enhabitants of Machino are altogether warlike continually in Armes and Warre seeking to subdue the bordering Nations This people doth dominate and commaund ouer many other proud Citties and mighty Prouinces The Cittizens of this Towne are at least 200000. in number they sildome die of infirmity but in the Warres wounded with stones and great staues Iron nor steele hurtes them not for they haue none Siluer gold they possesse in such quantity that they esteeme lesse therof then we doe of Copper Once as he said they determined to come conquer these Ilands of ours and hauing past the Ocean with many thousandes of men and comming to the Hiperborean mountaines hearing there vnderstanding that our people were so ill obseruers of Religion and of so wicked manners they disdained to passe any farther accounting it an vnwoorthy thing to meddle with so corrupt a people and so they returned backe againe He added heere-vnto many other meruailous things as that there were in other Prouinces thereof certaine people called Meropes who enhabited many and great Citties within the bounds of whose Country there was a place called Anostum which worde signifieth a place whence there is no returne this Country saith he is not cleare and light neither yet altogether darke but betweene both through the same runne two Riuers the one of delight the other of greefe vppon the shore both of the one and the other are planted trees about the bignes of Poplar-trees those that are on the banks of the Riuer of griefe bring forth a fruite of the same nature quality causing him that eateth thereof to spend the whole time of his life in sad and melancholly dumps bitter teares perpetuall weeping The fruite of those that grow on the banks of the other Riuer haue a contrary effect and vertue yeelding to the eater thereof a blessed course of life abounding in all ioy recreation and pleasure without any one moment of sadnes When they are in yeeres by little and little they waxe young againe recouering their former vigour and force and thence they turne still backward euen to their first infancie becomming little babes againe then they die LV. These things were very strange if they were true but be howe they will they carry some smell of that of which we entreated concerning the Land which is on the other side of the Riphaean and Hiperborean mountaines seeing he saith that determining to conquer this our world which he calleth Ilands they returned backe after they came to those mountaines and so it is to be vnderstoode that they came from the other part of the North-pole as for that Land which he saith to be so tenebrous obscure it may be the same which as we sayd hath continuall obscurity and is a condemned part of the world I doe not wonder at all if amongst the other works of Nature she made this part of the earth with so strange properties I meane not that which Silenus spake but the other by vs entreated of before the ayre of which by reason of som constellation or other thing we comprehend not is so troubled that it is not onely vninhabitable but also not to be passed through wherby the secreets therein contained remaine concealed though perchance on the other side therof the time temperature may be such and so contrary that it may excell these very Countries wherein we now liue AN. You haue reason for without doubt the Land which is in those parts vndiscouered must be very great and containe in it many things of admiration vtterly vnknowne to vs But comming now to particularize somewhat more of that which is now in these our times known discouered I wil tell you what some very new moderne Authors doe say thereof and principallie Iohn Zygler whom I alleadged before who in person visited viewed some part of these Septentrionall Countries though hee passed neither the Hiperborean neyther the Riphaean mountains who meruaileth greatly at that which sundry Authors haue left written of these parts for he found many things so different and contrary that theirs conformed in no one poynt with the truth as well touching the situation of mountaynes and heads of Riuers as the sundry properties and qualities of the Regions and Prouinces for hee sayeth that he was in that part where they all affirme the mountaines Ryphaeus to be and hee found there no mountaynes at all neyther in a great space of Lande round about it but all a plaine and leuell Country the selfe same is affirmed by Sigismund Herberstain in his voyage so that if they erre in the seate of a thing so common and