GUSTAVUS ADOLPHVS KING OF THE SWEDS GOTHS VANDALS GREAT PRINCE OF FINLAND etc. Behold the beames of this bright Northen starr Enflam'd by Mars but sweetned more by Ioue He hands and Lands subdues by dint of warr But farr more hearts by goodnes win̄ing love By both before he came he overcame Owing of Victory as swift as Fame Etiam juriusquam venj vicj MD sculpsit Sold by R Mylbourne at the Greyhound in Paules Church yard THE NEVV STARRE OF THE NORTH SHINING VPON the Victorious King of SVVEDEN LONDON Printed by AVGVSTINE MATHEVVES for ROBERT MILBOVRNE and are to be sold at the Signe of the Greyhound in Pauls Church-yard 1631. THE NEW STARRE OF THE NORTH Shining vpon the Victorious King of Sweden IN the yeere one thousand fiue hundred seuentie two there appeared in the heauens a new strange Light exceeding in the apparant bignesse thereof all the fixed Starres and shewing forth a bright and Maiesticall lustre which was beheld not onely in the night time but also by some at Noone day and became at that time the gaze of the world and taske of all the Astronomers of Europe many of them in divers Countreyes publishing their Observations and Opinions concerning the nature of this Star and future events fore-signified thereby but none comparably with the most famous Astronomer of our time called Tycho Brahe a Nobleman of Denmarke who by the advantage of his large and curious Instruments and vncessant paines in Astronomicall Observations more exactly then any other setteth downe the true Place Forme Motion and Height of this wondrous heauenly Lampe Whereunto hee addeth also his Iudgement what euents it portendeth like to befall in the yeeres neere following the said Apparition Accordingly hee treateth of the sayd Starre in aboue 500 pages of his Booke called by the name of Astronomica Progymnasmata which Booke in the yeere 1593 was honoured by the Attestation of King Iames our late Soueraigne of blessed memory in manner following James by the grace of God King of Scots to the Noble Tycho Brahe Lord of Knudstrup the chiefe Astronomer of this age WHereas Wee haue vnderstood as wel by your letters written to Vs as also by Our seruant Young that you intend to publish those Workes of yours which with invincible paines and manifold watchings haue been composed by you namely those your excellent Astronomicall Exercises stiled by you Astronomica Progymnasmata Towards the publishing whereof you haue made suite vnto Vs that Wee would vouchsafe thereunto our Commendation to be written by vs in Verse as also our Royall Priuiledge to the Impression of them We haue thought fit to affoard both those fauours to your singular good Deserts and admirable Learning whereof wee are not now to take notice by other mens report or by the only view of your Writings hauing in presence with our owne eyes and eares been made spectator and hearer in that very House or Tower erected and dedicated by you vnto Vrania the Heauenly Muse where We receiued such content by that goodly spectacle by the learned conference which you had with vs that it is hard to determine whether be greater the delight or the admiration wherewith we now call the same to remembrance c. Then followeth the Tenour of the Kings Priuiledge that none for the space of thirtie yeeres within the Dominions of Scotland presume to Print the said Workes without the consent of the said Tycho or his heyres This Letter of Priuiledge is dated from his Maiesties Court in Halyroodhouse that last of Iuly 1593 in the sixe and twentieth yeere of his Raigne Then the Latine Verses with this Title The commendation of Tycho Brahe his Astronomicall Treatises by Iames the 6. King of Scots In which verses after the description of the artificiall modell of the motion of the Planets fixed Starres represented in those incomparable engines erected in that house by Tycho Brahe followeth also the intent of Astrologicall prediction in these words Vt miti aut torvo aspectu longe ante futura Praemonstrant Regnisque Tonans quae fata volutet Tychonis pandunt operae Lege disce videbis Mira domi Mundum invenies Caelumque libello c. Iacobus Rex F. manuque propria scripsit Great Tycho's labours also doe foreshow Events which shall befall on earth below And by disasterous or faire aspects What destinyes on Kingdomes God directs Reade heere and learne If you for wonders looke Loe heere the world at hand the heavens by booke Made by King Iames and written with his owne hand Tycho in this his booke after generall observations of the motions of the heavens treateth at large of this much admired newe Starr whereupon that whole Treatise is intitled De nova Stella anni 1572. giving the description of the forme place motion and durance thereof and demonstrating out of his owne and other Astronomers experimentall observations that it was not seated in the aire but aboue in the throne of the highest Heavens being fixed in the very chaire of Cassiopeia a figure of Starres so called he very certainly concludeth that it could not possibly be any Comet supposed to arise out of the vapours of the Earth elevated into the vpper Region of the ayre according to the vulgar errour of some Philosophers but that it was a true and proper Starr made of heavenly matter being none of the originall first borne lights made by the hand of God in the Creation which possesse an indefeisible freehold of their station to the worlds end but a kinde of adopted childe of the heavens admitted onely for a Termer in that habitation which he possessed about sixteene Moneths This Starre as it was scituated in that part of the heavens which is called via lactea the milke white way so it is not vnprobably supposed by Tycho to haue beene composed of the matter of that part of the heavens Wherein Tycho avoweth that he beholdeth since the vanishing of that Starre a kind of vacuity or diversity of colour in that very place where the Starre stood as shewing the consumption and absence of so much white ethereall matter as was vsed to the composure of that Star By some it was deemed to be the very same Starre which appeared vnto the Sages of the East at the birth of our Saviour and thereupon coniectured to be the neerefore-runner of the second comming of Christ as that was the attendant of his first comming Accordingly as Tycho in this booke recordeth Vir admodum celebris de literis tam sacris quam philosophicis praeclare meritus de hac stella eleganti Epigrammate sic lusit Theodore Beza a man famous in this age for his great abilities in learning both of Humanity and Divinity made an elegant Epigram which thus endeth Et qui nascenti praeluxit nunciat idem Ecce redux reducem rursus adesse Deum Hinc igitur felix ô turba applaude piorum Tu vero Herodes sanguinolente time That lampe which
at our Saviours birth did burne By this returning light shewes Christs returne O therefore now reioyce ye sonnes of God But bloody Herod tremble at this rodde As then Tycho so much more we now may say that Master Beza heerein did not so much intend Historicall certainty as morall application in this his pious Poeticall rapture And therefore well may we take vp his conclusion as applyable to the event of Gods mercies to his Church and iudgements against the enemies thereof Our learned and noble Tycho Brahe in the conclusion of this his worke setting downe his Astrologicall iudgment professeth the same to bee but coniecturall ascribing vnto God onely the certaine foreknowledge of all such events vpon earth as are caused or intimated by extraordinary apparitions of Comets or new Starres in the Heavens And in the leading motiues to his opinion heerein he proceedeth not boldly like a rash heathenish Starre-gazer but modestly warily and in generall First he layth this ground most probable in it selfe that if there be any certaine portending inclination in such rare and admirable apparitions surely most in the most rare and extraordinary But none like this sayth Tycho was ever testified by any monument of antiquity to haue bin seene in the world except that which Pliny avoweth to haue beene seene and observed by Hipparchus who lived toward the end of the Grecian Monarchy about 120. yeares before the birth of our Saviour Now if by interpretation of event consent of the learned that new starr then appearing â—id foreshew the declining of the Greeke Monarchy the rise strength of the Roman Empire why may not this new Star being of the like kind foreshow also rarissimos ingentes atque improvisâ—s â—ffectus strange great and vnexpected effects to come in the neare succeeding times in the estate of Kingdomes or Common-weales Which what they will be in particular nulli mortalium satis perspectum iudico I thinke no mortall man is of counsayle Then stepping forwarder to the nearer view of the kind of effects to come he gathereth out of the Ioviall lustre of it ending in a more fiery and Martiall glaring rednesse that it promiseth prosperous successe but intermingled with violence and trouble as also by the place of it in the Aequinoctiall Colure vbi sacrorum indicatio that some great alterations are like to befall in matter of Religion so that those devises which by outward shew and Pharisaicall hypocrisie haue long time bewitched ignorant people shall come to their full poynt and end And because the Star fixed neere the Colure yet possessed the first degree of Aries being the place of the Spring when the day getteth advantage of the night therby is portended some new light which shall abate and vanquish former darknesse These generals leade but a little way vnlesse some direction follow of quando and vbi by the maine index of this Dyall pointing vnto time and place As for the time hee proiecteth first by the direction of the Poles of the world Si ex Astrologicis temporum mensurationibus prima initia quando aliquatenus huius Stellae significata pullulabunt coniectare licebit ex directione Coniunctionis maximae cui Stella haec Prodromus c. If we take leaue by Astrological calculation of time to make coniecture concerning the first beginning of that which is portended we guesse it will be in the bud about nine yeeres after the great Coniunction following shortly after the appearing of this Star And so in Computation with the place of the new Star this designed time wil fall out at the accomplishment of the third Septenary of yeeres viz. the 21. yeere after the first appearing of the Star being the yeere 1592. But if one and twentie yeeres complete which Tycho seemeth to intend bee added the time will reach rather to the yeare of our Lord 1593. The second way of this Calculation of the time is by the Direction of the Zodiaque from the place of that Great Coniunction by the Longitude of the new Starr vnto the seuenth Degree of Taurus which Coniunction happeneth neere the ende of the seuenth Septenary 48 yeeres after the first appearing of the New Starr viz about the yeare 1620. About that time saith Tycho in all probabilitie will inure the vigour and operation of this new Starr Annis praesertim aliquot sequentibus especially some yeares after that time post viz. completum a nato Christo annum 1632. aut circiter namely after the yeare of Christ 1632. or thereabouts As for the designing of the place where the influence of this Starr shall worke first in generall it must needs concerne the Northerne part of the World on this side of the Aequator because the Starr appeared and dwelt in this Hemisphere and consequently must be held to haue most operation where it was most verticall that is on those parts where the Star was most direct over the head and sent forth the beames of his influence most perpendicular Not that mutations must needs happen in those places onely or necessarily in those very places but as may well be noted out of the words of Tycho prae caeteris aliquid ominis those parts are ominous aboue the rest insomuch as INDE mutationum tantarum occasio atque author expectanda from thence are to be expected the occasion and author of so great alterations Which much conduceth to the interpretation hereafter following Now because the fixed seat of the new Star was in distance from the Aequator Northward about 62. degrees that tract of the earth which lieth in the Northen latitude of 62. is to be taken as principally intended which in our part of the knowne world rangeth along from the West through Norvegia Swedia Finlandia Livonia Moscovia and Tartaria In all which Countries those parcells which lye vnder the forenamed latitude had once every day that new Starre in their Zenith that is iust over the head But in this Diurnall motion how and vpon what poynt of this circle to fixe the dint of the influence Hic labor hoc opus est There lies the businesse Learned Tycho guided his Contemplation by the very first New Moone after the first appearing of the Starr which New Moone fell vpon the fifteenth of Nouember seauen houres thirteene minutes â…” in the afternoone accounting the time by the Meridian of Tycho's Iland at which instant the new Starr was in the Meridian of 53 Degrees from the West and so became in that instant verticall and highest to that place of the earth which lyeth in the longitude of 53 and latitude of 62 being situated in respect of the Citie of London twentie Degrees more Easterly and about ten Degrees more Northerly So now in regard of the ayme of this eiaculation of prediction the parallell of 62 may be called the Butt the Meridian of 53 where it cutteth that parallell the white or marke designed For the finding whereof and
touching it with the finger of Evidence we need no other guidance then Cogimur è tabula pictos ediscere Mundos Of all the world the seuerall parts by name Wee cannot chuse but learne by tabled frame View we therefore our most approued and current Mapps whether Vniversall or Nationall and particular wherin the severall Countries are Geographically distinguished by the regular lines of latitude which is the situation from South to North and of longitude being the respect vnto West and East and therein shall we find that the very place of this forenamed posture is either a part of Finicus Sinus the Bay or Gulfe of Finland or some border of the Land and Townes seated vpon that Gulfe If we take counsell of Gerad Mercator in his Atlas Major either by viewing his Mapps or reading the numbers designed in his Alphabeticall tables he affordeth vs at least 4 degrees to spare whereby the verge of Finland is extended Eastward in the parallele of 62. beyond the Meridian of 53. as evidently appeareth by the situation of Kinaveb Egrepe Iegaborg and other Townes neere bordering Some other Mapps draw those parts a little more to the West which is not to be accompted strange when as in many parts of the world especially those that are lesse frequented by travellers or lesse furnished with inhabitant Astronomers the true longitude is not so certainely knowne as the latitude And therefore a small diversity of this kind occurring in variouse Mapps is not much to be stood vpon True it is that our Tycho expresseth that designed concurrence of longitude and latitude as lighting vpon Illam Moscoviae plagam qua cum Boreali ortum simul respiciente Finlandiae parte coniuâ—gitur That coast of Muscovy which bordereth vpon the Northerly and Easterly part of Finland Whether ledd thereto by the composure of Mapps in his time pulling Moscouy more West or thinking that huge continent of Moscovy and other Eastern parts more fit for the title of Magna septentrionis domus The great house of the North hereafter mentioned in Sybills prophecy or lastly which is most likely for that divers distasts and quarrells happening between his Soveraigne the King of Denmark the neighbouring King of Sweden it had bin over open to envy and iealousies to haue deuoted in direct termes any part of the Dominions of the Swâ—de for the seminary of great and violent alterations and so he chose rather to expresse the place by the phrase of Russia bordering vpon Finland then of Finland bordering vpon Russia Sutable heereunto is that his modest or cautelouse demurre wherewith the events of this signe are by his penn tenderly tacked vpon the designed place with submission to other mens iudgements in these words An igitur HINC tantarum turbarum mutationum quae per hoc insolens ostentum innuebantur primae occasiones pullulabunt atque post-modum in alias Mundi Plagas late magna diuturna vi disseminabuntur aliis expendendum decidendumque relinquo I leaue it to be weighed and determined by other mens iudgments whether or no the first occasions of those great turmoyles alterations implyed by this extraordinary wonderous Starr shall budd foorth out of this place designed by me and shortly after be shed abroad thence into other Regions of the world farr and wide with great and durable forces Thus Tycho Brahe It is a true saying that in predictions especially humane and coniecturall event and experience is the best Comment If therefore about a place and time thus decyphered there now appeare evidence of vnexpected immutations being the streames issuing from a fountaine lately breaking forth and getting more strength with full Tide of prosperous successe why may not we acknowledg herein Gods extraordinary handy-work as performed in the event so also fore-described in the heavenly Characters of such miraculous signes If Eclipses of the two great lights and coniunction of Planets vnder some portions of fixed star haue at any time or may portend events vpon earth much more may new Starrs moulded by the hand of God in the highest heavens challenge the like propheticall language Those Eclipses and coniunctions are meerly naturall and haue their certaine revolution and concurrence which many yeares before their apparition may be infallably set downe by the observation of Gods ordinary Power in the motion of the creature but this admirable Sarr in the essence and place thereof sheweth the finger of God reaching higher then to the support of Naturall agents and therefore much more probably may be presumed to be an obiect not onely of the eye by beauty and lustre but also of the vnderstanding in being a messenger of Divine future operation In the times now mentioned by the learned Tycho and in and about the places whereupon he especially fixeth the influence of this new Herald of Heaven we can finde no other fit subiect of application then the new risen Starr radiant in virtue and goodnesse sparkeling with the beames of Martiall Valour the prosperous and admired Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden who by his manifold and sudden Conquests is now made the spectacle of the Christian World beheld and spoken of with no lesse admiration then that new Starr of the North which seemeth to be his fore-runner As for the time the three termes of revolution inteÌ„ded by Tycho viz. the yeares 1593. 1620. 1632. or therabouts may decipher him the first well neare his Birth the second his Ingresse the third his Progresse in successefull Conquests Then likewise the place pointed at by the Heavens or rather appointed by the God of heaven to be the Seminary or Nest which shall send forth the Author of great alterations is found to be the Countrey of Finland a part of his Dominions belonging to the Kingdom of Sweden and recited in his Title Great Prince of Finland Seeing that time and place so conveniently concurr with incomparable successe in his Victories wherein he deporteth himselfe so admirably that it is hard to say whether be greater his Valour in subduing or his Iustice in the vndertaking and well vsing his Victories to the reliefe of the oppressed we shall not need here to describe the particulars of his Atchiuements blowne abroad by the Trumpet of publique Fame and ecchoed vnto vs by the weekly tell-tale Corantoes Such cleare beames of Vertue and Glory Envy it selfe can neither out-face nor suppresse Yet to set vnder one view some part of that which otherwise may dispersedly be gathered by certaine Information we will take leaue to shadow out some few lineaments of his worth and happinesse Gustavus Ericus King of Sweden the first crowned Protestant of our Age was his Grandfather to whom that Kingdome oweth their liberty from the yoake of the Danes whose sonne Charles likewise freed them from the pressures of the Polacks This Charles marryed the daughter of Adolph Duke of Holstein and by her begate this Gustavus Adolphus borne at Stockholm the last of November 1594 stilo vet Who