this cause any should so prevaile against him as to cause his ruine or disgrace Therefore he would write to Druina's King and send a particular Ambassador if neede requird to represent the true state of things in regard that Sophronio had servd him with that exactnesse of fidelity which was well knowne to the world and to Elaiana in particular that it deservd not onely to be assisted with all good offices but it was fit to be rewarded and published And that the Royall Olive for the example of his owne subjects and encouragement of those that did or hereafter should serve other Princes with that punctuality as Sophronio had done had commanded him to offer him a blanke signd by the Royall Olive himselfe wherein he might set downe his owne conditions both in point of title and fortune And this hee did in no way to oblige another Prince his subject but only as an encouragement to honest and faithfull proceedings and therefore he would not make these offers in private but justifiable to the world and would accompany all hee should doe with a declaration that this hee had done was for the service hee had done his owne Master Sophronio replied that he was much afflicted to heare such language and that hee desird it might be knowne and understood that Elaiana was not any way beholden to him for what ever he had done he did it for that he thought it fittest for his Masters service and his own honour without having any relation to Elaiana And that he servd a Master from whom he was assurd of justice and due reward And for those who were thought his enemies hee knew their power to bee great but hee servd so just a Master that hee doubted not but his innocency would prevaile against any wrong they should intend him And though his own integrity would not give him leave to apprehend any kind of danger or disfavour from his said Master and were he assured to runne into eminent danger yet would he rather goe home to cast himselfe at his feete for mercy and thereby comply with the duty and honour of a faithfull servant then to bee the greatest of Elaianas Princes So I leave this mighty businesse for a Riddle as I said before both to the present and all future ages For the bookes of Kings are written in darke Characters which few can uncypher and their Actions like deepe foords wherein Elephants may only swimme Or as great Rivers whereof we see the course of the streame but know not the source So I leave also Sophronio preparing for his journey and inexpressible it is what a blacke kind of obstupefaction and regret all the world was possesd withall in Elaianas Court specially the La Amira who wee thought would have turnd into one of the Heliades those amber weeping-trees for sorrow Many arguments of a reall love appeard from her towards Rocalino amongst others one was that she caused many divine duties to be performed for his safety in his returne to Druina where being landed he fell down and kissd the very earth for joy And being come to Thamisond one would have thought that huge body composd of such numberlesse peeces had beene all one fire and turnd to one flame from those huge piles of sacrifices of universall joy notwithstanding those huge cataracts of water that powrd downe from the meteors But greater farre and more ardent were those inward flames of gladnesse wherewith all hearts did burn and sparkle to see their Rocalino againe All mouths were full with Oken leafs and in the Wood so wide c. with other such songs and catches of airie mirth The very inanimat creatures as steeples and walles did shake with joy yea the very pavements and channels pledgd healths for this happie returne Amongst other forren congratulations which came from farre and neare CARBASILIS suddenly sent but with this Complement That next to the hand of divine providence he might thanke her and her numerous graffs that hee came so safely and freely backe so that I cannot but deride their shallownesse and poverty of judgment who thinke Elaiana had any designe to detaine him there The Royall Oke summond hereupon a generall assembly wherein by the relations of Villerio and indeed he for his own particular had little reason to love Elaiana ever after for some disrespects that had passd the two treaties touching the alliance with Elaiana and restitution of Baccharia were quite dissolvd by the unanimous vote of that great Assembly not one dissenting from it which made his Majestie say That he thought they were led by one spirit as the seventy Interpreters And nothing could be more pleasing to the Druinians then the rupture of these treaties as the case then stood for they were extreamely nettled to see the Princely standell of their Royall Oke returne from Elaiana with a branch of willowes Nor indeed did the poplars and coppices and vulgar sort of Druinas Trees specially Thamisond ever affect this match for they were transported with such a reasonlesse aversenesse to it that whosoever did speake but in favour of it or discoverd any good wishes to it hee was presently held a Petropolitan and to have swallowed a leafe of the Ivie The Petropolitans throughout all Druina were exceedingly dejected and crest-fallen at these proceedings and that matters went so crosse in Elaiana And as it was observed to be an ill favourd augury that a peece of the royall tarrasse fell under Mordogan at his first audience when he came Hoc agere when the treaty of alliance begun to be in serious agitation so a little before this dissolution of it another fatall accident or rather tragique presage fell out in Thamisond For as the Petropolitans were in midst of divine exercise and some say inveighing against the Eusebians the Oratory suddenly tumbled downe so that a great number of them were quashd to death by the very inanimat creatures of stones and rubbish to the consternation of all the world And this happened when they were a gogge and building of Castles in the aire and at the height of their hopes that by vertue of the said alliance they should have a kind of liberty of conscience equall to a Toleration The Royall Oke following the advise of the foresaid great Counsell prepared for a warre which quite turnd the match to powder Mars thrusts Hymen out of dores and Ianus gates flew wide open Then which nothing could bee more thwarting and opposite the one to his disposition the other to his desires which had beene so vehemently carried that way for many yeares They promised to make him belovd at home and feard abroad as much as any Prince that was to which end they gave him round sommes of moneys A polemicall Counsell was erected for the conduct of the martiall affaires and by the gracious condescent of Majesty they were to dispose of the pecuniary levies that were made to that end As matters were reducd to this passe behold a notable
ΔΕÎΔΡΟΛΟΓΙΑ DODONA'S GROVE OR THE VOCALL FORREST By I. H. ESQr. By T.B. for H. Mosley at the Princes Armes in St Paules Church-yard 1640 To the Common Reader OPinion is that high and mighty Dame Which rules the World and in the Minde doth frame Distast or liking for in humane race She makes the fancy various as the face Sometimes the Father differ's from the Sonne As doth the Gospell from the Alcharon Or Loyola from Calvin which two brands In strange Combustions hurle faire Europe's Lands So that amongst such Atomes of mankinde You scarce can two encounter of one minde This makes my Trees all Aspen 'cause they must Lye ope to every Winde and vulgar gust Yet much they feare not any Critickes knockes Vnlesse they chance to stumble 'mongst the blockes Ex quovis stipite non fit Mercurius To the Criticall READER IF Satyres here you find thinke it not strange 'T is proper Satyres in the Woods should range And for free speech why may not Verse or Prose Sit under Trees as safely as the Rose Yet here is nothing though a Grand Inquest You should empannell but may bide the Test For pettie Iuries let the Reader know Composures of this kind stoupe not so low To the rarely accomplishd and vvorthy of best employment Master HOVVEL upon his Vocall FORREST BEleeve it Sir you happily have hit Vpon a curious Fancie of such wit That farre transcends the vulgar for each Line Me thinks breathes BARCLAY or a BOCCOLINE I know you might none better make the Vine The Olive Ivie Mulbery and Pine With others their owne Dialects expose But you have taught them all rich English Prose I end and envie but must justly say Who makes Trees speak so well deserves the Bay Henry VVotton On the Vocall Forrest to I. H. Esq. COme THEOPHRASTUS and resigne thy Pen Thy Trees are taught to speake th' are growne to Men Men were transformd to Trees and some are still Meere Blocks but MERCURIE now proves his skill And charmes the Grove the wagging leaves first mutter At'he change and streight State-Language they doe utter The pleasant Arbour gently whispers This Trees have their Keyes as well as ARGENIS Hedges have eares the rurall Proverb sayes Court-Proverb tells th 'ave toungs and toungs of Bayes 'T was IOTHANS style to wrap in toungs of Trees As sacred Rolls report State-Mysteries No Poplar here no Medlar succour findeth True-heart of Oke the loyall Author mindeth Spring stately Grove be thousand Winters greene And in thy Rind be names of Princes seene Though VULCAN Iron-marks our Forrests beare Nor Axe nor Fire APOLLO'S Grove doth feare T. P. S. T. D. DODONA'S GROVE OR THE VOCALL FORREST IT fortun'd not long since that Trees did speake and locally move and meet one another Their ayrie whistlings and soft hollowe whispers became Articulate sounds mutually intelligible as if to the soule of vegetation the sensitive faculties and powers of the intellect also had been co-infus'd into them They traveld to strange Countries crossd Seas made peace and warre alliances and leagues assumed names and Characters of distinction and discharged all the functions of Rationall creatures In the sacred Oracles wee read of one that discernd men to walke like Trees but here cleane contrary you shall see Trees walke like men We read also there of a mighty Monarck that was meant by a Tree And it is no new Character of man that He is a Tree revers'd The great Sicilian Antiquary leaveth upon record that in the nonage of the world mens voyces were indistinct and confus'd And sojourning chiefly in VVoods by a kind of assimilation and frequent impressions in the eare they resembled those soft susurrations of the Trees wherewith they conversd untill Time which ripeneth and Art which perfecteth all things hath a greater interest in speech then Nature her selfe did distinguish these mishapen sounds into syllables and so by degrees into language At that time when this parley of Trees begun I my selfe was but a little little Plant newly sprung up above ground And passing through the terrible Birch to Boetia where I tooke in my best Sap and came by degrees to a consistent growth which was not very high in so much that some thinke I was set in the wane of the Moone I was transplanted from Boetia to Tamisond And thence as my Genius strongly led me I often crossed the Seas and rangd up and down through most of the Forrests of the lower world And as I passed along I observed the motions and studied the properties of sundry sorts of Trees as well forren as home sprung and of them I intend to relate some passages In the narration whereof I will endevour to goe between the Bark and the Tree as neere as possibly I can with safety to sift out and set down the truth of things for the prime vertue of story is verity Wherefore I hope to obtaine a candid construction of this rough hewen ill timberd discourse and that the Reader will be pleased as he shall passe along through these woods to affoord mee somtimes his second thoughts and observe also the constant veine of impartiality which runnes through the whole worke which he shall find to be such that it will infranchise his judgment everywhere And such I know will dispense with my errors and slips for it is very hard but one passing through so many Forrests as I intend may meet with some stumbling blocks in his way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacra Jovi Quercus A Character of DRVINA THere is a goodly Forrest Druina by name anciently called the White Forrest wherein the royall Oke rules in chiefe and with such a latitude of power that Hee stretcheth forth his branches to the Sea and his boughes unto the great Rivers It was ordained by Heaven that She should be principally protected by Neptune who with a flying gard of brave winged Coursers doth engarrison her so strongly that lying safe in his bosome she may be said to be Media insuperabilis Vnda She being endowed with those two properties which that great Register of natures secrets requires in an invincible Country viz. A secure and easie going out for the Native and a doubtfull hard comming in for the stranger which made the Caerulean God so indulgent of his Druina and to repose in her such a rare confidence that besides the clustre of Diadems which begirt her high fronded fore-head by land he transmitted to her long since his very Trident making her Impresse yea Empresse of the Sea and that in so high a degree of Soveraignty that in her owne waves hee gave her an Exclusive propriety in so much that the utmost extent of her desmenes royall are adjudged by some great Clarkes to bee the shoares of the neighbouring Forrests Whereby she is growne so famous through all the inhabited earth and formidable to the next adjacent regions that maugre all their menaces pretensions and practises she gives them the law upon salt water which
strongly conjecture was found out by a straying Prince of Monticolia seven ages since And this presumption is drawne from the analogy of speech wherein there are diverse words that are the same in both languages both for sound and sense with other traces and markes The most admird of all prophane Prophets whose predictions have beene so much scann'd and cried up and are yet valued up and downe the world did vaticinate here And the first Monastery that ever the world had wherein the sacred fire of Christian piety did burne was amongst these mountaines the sparkles whereof flew so far that diverse Regions which groapd before in the darke corners of paganisme were enlightned thereby Beside observable it is what a precious blessing is lately found out having beene reserved and lockd up as it were all this while in Natures bowels to make this most ancient part of Druina happy now in the decrepit age of the world A rich mine and generative mint of treasure the gainefull returnes whereof exceed more and more the labour and charge of those multitudes that are hourely set a worke thereby A CHARACTER OF LVRANA OPposit to Monticolia Lurana stands separated by a most boysterous and working sea she is replenish'd and very thicke set with strong and well trunked Trees of all sorts reduc'd at last to a perfect obedience to Druinas diademe partly by voluntary reddition desire of protection and partly by conquest A multiplying and healthy spacious Forrest she is plentifully furnishd with all those benefits that aire earth and water use to affoord for necessity or pleasure There are no where such huge ponds and fresh lakes with goodly rivers and safe maritime harbours inviting forren commerce the soyle fatt and luxurious in diverse places and antipatheticall to all venemous creatures as Druina her neighbour is to all ravenous Her lower region is stird and rarified with fresh quickning windes more frequently then other Forrests which makes her lesse subject to contagious diseases so that I beleeve the saying of that Elaianian Generall who being asked what he thought of Lurana answered That when the ill spirit profferd our Saviour all the kingdomes of the earth he verily beleeved he intended to have still reserv'd Lurana for himselfe proceeded rather from the resentment of the ill successe and disgracefull repulses hee had there then from any sound judgment or demerit of the Country Nor can I subscribe to him that said LVRANA was a good Countrey for them onely to live in who wanted a Countrey that shâ—e is a fripperie of Bankerupts who flie thither from Druina to play their after-game The plants here are of a strenuous Bulke agile and very patient of hardnesse though not of labour for the greatest fault of this great FORREST is that shee swarmes with too many Drones whereby Shee may bee called insignis sed segnis terra Somewhat incomposed they are in their trimming extraordinary tender and so are the brute Animalls also of their young ones crafty and of a passable reach of understanding light of beliefe and great listners after newes which may bee imputed to the long time of their unsettled government fearing alwaies some innovation or imminent danger And by reason of their frequent revolts they have drawn upon themselves the pressures of war so often that it seems to have somewhat cowed their spirits as may be gather'd from the very accent of their words which they prolate in a whining kind of querulous tone as if they were still complaining crest-fallen nor do they beleeve to have come yet to the worst for they have an old prophecy that the time will come when Lurana shall weepe o're the Druinians graves Before this rough forrest was civillizd and trim'd by Druina she had peculiar lawes customs of her own but some of them were such that as one said if they had been practis'd in Hell they would have turnd up tupsiturvie the very kingdome of Satan Some of Druinas Monarckes made voyages thither in their own persons and many of the royall stemme were sent to governe but alwayes one of her prime Elmes to whom I read of foure generall submissions that were made but the conquest could not bee consummated till of late yeares which may be imputed to some errors in the course of civill and martiall policy It was the practise of that selfe admiring mistresse of the last Monarchy into all Countries where she tooke footing with the lance to bring in her language and lawes This was not done here but the Natives were left still incapable of Druinas lawes which only extended to her owne plantations So that the law of the Conqueror did neither protect their lifes nor revenge their deaths for it was no felony to fell downe any of them yea in time of peace Nor in civill causes could they implead or commence sute against any of the Druinians or imbud ingraffe insoliat or inoculat upon any of them unlesse he were formerly infranchizd by charter of denization so that the meere Luranians were reputed out-lawes enemies and Aliens in their owne soyle But this may be ascrib'd not so much to the policy of Druina as to the great ones that came thither from her to plant themselves and push on a fortune who disswaded the communication of Druinas lawes to the natives because they might oppresse spoyle rob peele proyne and grubbe them up at pleasure In these unsettled times many of Druina and of late yeares of Cardenia also tooke firme rooting in the best and fattest soyles of Lurana so that they are growne since to a notable height Amongst whom now that I treat of Trees the Corke did thrive wonderfully and no doubt but by a singular benediction from above the dew of heaven falling so plentifully upon his endeavours as appeares in all his branches which he sees grafted upon noble scutcheons and honourable shields so that he may be call'd the miracle of his time all things considered Another reason that hindred a settled peace and period of this conquest was those vast proportions of lands which were distributed among Druinas Adventurers which were such that the whole Forrest was in a manner cantonizd amongst a very few in number of whom some had regall rights there being eight County Palatines at once where the royall writ could not runne They had also implicit Commission left to discretion and not tied to any regular forme of plantation And those huge tracts of ground they lorded over begat wealth wealth usherd in pride and pride tumultuary contentions amongst themselves which gave the Luranians advantage to fish in those troubled waters for their liberty and make often encroachments upon them But had the Oke himselfe gone to the Forrest the inferior Trees had not shot up so high Another mistake was that the first undertakers made ill choice of the seates of their habitations for they erected forts and houses in the open plains turning the Natives into the Woods and places of fastnesse whence
And my heart trembleth when I thinke how few there are of this upon the surface of the Earth For as one who had conversd farre and neere with the Citizens of the world doth avouch if the Globe of the Earth were divided into thirtie parts they would hardly make up three parts of thirtie But whither am I thus transported I hope to be dispensd withall for the qualitie of the subject which is the unum necessarium which made me dwell so long upon it I should now post back to Druina but that before I part with Bombycina I must needs salute the amorous Myrtle and her Metropolis Adriana in regard she hath beene alwayes a true Confederate to the Royall Oke A CHARACTER OF ADRIANA ANd here behold a thing of wonder Adriana sited upon an assembly of Islands in the very jawes of Neptune where being planted at the very first a Christian a prerogative she worthily vaunts of above all other she hath continued a Virgin ever since neere upon twelve long Ages under the same forme and face of Government without any visible token or least wrinckle of old Age. The great Arch-Flamin espousd her once to Neptune and a Prophecie there is That she shall continue a Virgin untill he forsakes her and he of late yeares is observd to shrinke and grow weaker about her as if she had made him over-labour himselfe too much upon her And it is well knowne no place swimmes more in all manner of wanton pleasure witnesse those multitudes of Medlars which make their Beds and are permitted to grow about the Myrtle for which she is so much spoken of all the world over Most renowned Adriana hath beene for brave exploits up and downe the World having wrestled with the greatest of Earthly Potentates She re-establishd the Easterne Cedar more then once in his Throne she restord the Ivie twice in his holy Seat being chasd out of Petropolis which made the great Arch-Flamin of late yeares to be foulely taxd of a kind of ingratitude in offering to cause her Armories to be defacd in his Court having so well deservd of him But it is thought since she expelld the Loyolists out of her Territories Petropolis hath still a grudge to her which lyeth yet indigested and is in her like Lees in the bottome of a Tub of Wine which at the least stirring of the Vessell is readie to rise up By the Charter of her Saint she is to have in her Arsenall as many warlike Vessels as there be dayes in the yeare and in the Summer season as many in course as there be houres in the naturall day to scoure three hundred miles of Sea whereof she is Protectresse And some kind of Vessels she hath which knew not how to be beaten untill of late yeares that top of Druina's Cavaliers one that hath spirit enough to actuate that goodly tall Bulke receiving from them some affronts met with them handsomely and bangd them to good purpose In that dangerous League when most of the Occidentall Potentates were banded against her and in a manner conspird to sinke her shee bore up above water against them all But her custome hath beene to piece the Lyons skinne with a Fox tayle and so to supply the weakenesse of Force by wilinesse of Art and advantage of Treatie And it is well knowne how the Myrtle hath taught the Willowes of late yeares part of her Cunning betweene whom there is an irrefragable Confederacie to bayt Elaiana and stoppe the further growth of the Olive Amongst other things Adriana is much cryed up for her rich Treasure is one which Elaiana hath often attempted to exhaust And one of her Embassadours desiring on a time to see it seemd to slight it in comparison of his great Masters Treasure which is perpetually growing and hath no bottome as that had Which made one say That Adriana in relation to the foure Elements hath her Citie in Water her Treasure in the Ayre her Vertue in Fire which makes the Earth so to flye away from her True it is that of late yeares the Myrtle hath beene at a stand in improving the Treasure of her Saint since Elaiana hath crossd the Equinoctiall and found out a Track by Sea to Levantina whence Adriana did use to receive not farre from her owne home and dispense through all the Westerne world those aromatique and daintie Fruits the Indian Trees affoord but she gives out that the losse of that Trade is recompenc'd by certaine singular Immunities she hath through some of the Dominions of Alcarona So that of late yeares she is shrewdly suspected to be a Concubine to the huge Bramble who hath often loppd her Myrtle and cut off the onely Regall Branch she had And against him it must be confessd shee is the greatest Rampart and best Securitie all the Westerne Princes have any where by Sea Thus the Myrtle flourisheth still And truly a rare and wonderfull thing it is that for so long a tract of Time considering the violent stormes that have shaken her so often she should still continue fresh and without warping or any considerable change or the least symptome of old Age as I sayd before Whereas other Politicall Bodies of a farre greater Bulk have met with their Grand Climacterique and receiv'd Changes in a farre shorter Revolution of Time For Politicall Bodies as well as Naturall have their degrees of Age Declinings and Periods which I cannot so properly tearme Periods as Successions or Vicissitudes Common-weales have often turnd to Kingdomes and Realmes have beene cut out into Republiques the ruine of one being still the raysing of the other as one foot cannot be lifted up till the other be downe Witnesse those foure mightie Monarchies which were as Spokes upon Fortunes Wheele or as so many Nayles driving out one another And so is it also in Naturall Bodies the corruption of one is still the generation of another so that it seemes Nature hath her Wheele also as well as Fortune and these Changes and Chances tend to preserve the whole from decaying So that the opinion of that Adrianian since much enrichd by a Learned Druinian is farre from deserving to be exploded for a Paradox viz. That the Vniverse doth not decay or impaire at all in the whole but in its individuals and parts For as the preservation of the World is a continuall Production so in this Production as I sayd before the corruption of one fore-runnes the generation of another Therefore to beare up the whole if there be a decay in one place 't is recompencd in some other so that one may say Nature danceth in a Circle and by this Circulation preserves the visible World The Meteorologists observe that amongst the foure Elements which are the ingredients of all sublunarie Creatures there is a notable kind of correspondencie the Fire by condensation looseth to the Aire the Aire by rare-faction looseth to the Fire Water attenuated becomes Aire Aire thickned becomes Water the Earth by secret
conveyances le ts in the Sea and sends it back fresh her Bowels serving as it were for a Lymbique So that wee see hereby there is a punctuall retribution and a kind of mutuall compensation betweene them which doubtlesse tends to the propagation and encrease of all compounded Bodies amongst which there is also a perpetuall and restlesse succession of Individuals to keepe the whole from fayling For as a Shippe as one made a very apposite comparison riding at anchor tosseth and tumbleth up and downe perpetually yet cannot goe beyond the length of the Cable to which shee is tyed and so in this turbulent motion sheweth a constancie so is it with the Vniverse wherein all things hang by the Plummets of Providence Therefore I cannot subscribe to their speculation that thinke the World hath beene long since in a Hectique Feaver and so drawing on to a Consumption That neither Vegetable Sensitive nor Rationall Creatures are in that height of perfection as in former times That Vertue shines not with so strong a lustre That Invention is farre shallower and Age shorter That the Moderne World compard with the Ancient is as a Dwarfe upon a Gyants shoulders or as Noone shadowes compard to the Mornings I must confesse Antiquitie is venerable which makes us extenuate things present and extoll things passd and make it still the Burden of our Song VVell fare the old Times implying thereby a palpable decay or dotage in all things Yet we find that the two great Luminaries of Heaven and the rest of the Celestiall Bodies have still the same vertue and operation without the least imaginarie diminution all Elementarie Bodies receive vigour and strength from their influence Therefore I doe not see how the present can be so farre inferiour in point of perfection to them of former Ages considering the virtuall Causes remaine still in the same strength and as for Invention Wisedome and Learning I doe not see but the second thoughts of latter Ages may be as wise as those of elder Times I know the time must come that Heaven and Earth shall passe away and that there will be a finall Dissolution though no Annihilation of the Matter but a destruction of the Old Forme and introduction of a New And of late yeares some would be so foole-hardie as to presume to be more of the Cabinet Counsell of God Almightie then the Angels themselves by whose ministerie some say he created the World as to point at the precise Time of this Dissolution amongst other arguments they fetch downe one from Heaven it selfe which is that the Polar Starre which is in the tayle of the lesser Beare was in Ptolomey's time twelve Degrees from the Pole of the Equator this Starre hath insensibly still crept nearer the Pole so that now 't is but three Degrees off when it comes to touch or make the nearest approach that can be to the Pole which may well come to passe in 500 yeares Nature her selfe they say must expire or some notable Period But I have beene carryed away too farre by this Speculation causd by Adriana which of any Politicall Body may be producd for an instance against a generall decay and impairing of the Moderne World Though some which repine at the Myrtles prosperitie say That those stout and ventrous Trees wherewith she was usd to be fencd are lately degenerated in point of valour to weake Reeds for their Pusillanimitie and too much Caution when they come to any Warlike encounter And now it is high time for me to shake hands with Adriana and Bombycina also whereof I must not forget to tell you that the Olive now occupyeth foure parts of seven if she were so divided And to his Greatnesse and the apprehension of feares and jealousies they have that he would fish in troubled waters may be ascribd the Concord and Calme of Bombycina's Princes who as once the Mice would have hung a Bell at the Cats Neck but after consultation could not agree who should venture first to put it on would plot something still against the Olive Adde hereunto that besides this Peace there is plentie of Treasure that comes to Bombycina by the Olive who makes one of her proudest Cities his Scale for remitting his Moneyes to Leoncia But that Citie in respect of him may be sayd to be as a Partridge under a Faulcons wings who can seize upon her at pleasure but doth not for politique respects Bombycina was usd to be most under the Mulberry the wisest of all Trees for he never puts forth his Buds till all the cold weather be passd And so indeed the Plants Bombycina produceth are accounted the wisest politiquest and most reserved and cautious of all other 'T is a Rule amongst them That he cannot be essentially wise who openeth all the Boxes of his Brest to any They are for the most part of a speculative complexion And he is accounted little lesse then a foole who is not melancholy once a day They are onely bountifull to their betters from whom they hope to receive a greater benefit To others the Purse is closest shut when the Mouth opens widest nor are you like to get a piece of Cake there unlesse yours be knowne to be in the Oven Yet are they the greatest embracers of Pleasure of any other upon Earth and they esteeme of Pearles as Pebbles so they may satisfie their gust in point of Pleasure or Revenge Here you shall find Love and Hatred Vertue and Vice Atheisme and Religion in their Extremes for the greatest Wits depravd are the most dangerous Corruptio optimi est pessima Yet the Character one lately gave of them seemes to savour too much of the Satyre viz. That the Bombycinian is unnaturall in his Lust irreconcilable in his Hatred and unfoordable in his thoughts That with one breath hee bloweth hot and cold and to compasse his owne ends he will light a Candle to the Devill I know there is no Countrey without her Nick. As Ampelona to be a great Bedlam Bombycina a great Bordell Rhenusium a huge Brew-house Elaiana Natures Sweating-Tub Druina a Stage of Mimiques Lurana a Fripperie of Bankrupts Monticolia a Conventicle of Hills Cardenia the Vrinall of the Planets And Itelia the Suburbs of Hell being situated lowest of any other upon the Earthly Globe For my owne particular were I to associate with a stranger I would single out a Bombycinian before any other for my conversation for of those twelve severall sorts of Forreners I have had occasion to converse withall I never knew any yet symbolizing so much with them of Druina or complying more with their humour OF THE ARRIVALL OF Prince ALTAPINVS in DRVINA BVt it is high time for mee to returne now to my Rhenusian Prince Altapinus newly arrivd in Druina upon a high designe of love and no lesse then to the fairest branch of the Royall Oke that Mirror of all perfections The Itelians and the old Fox of Ardennes with Druinas greatest Arch-Flamin did mainely advance
world which by the iron teeth of time and injury of the meteors had so mouldred away that she was upon point of being reducd to her first principles a confusd Chaos of stone and rubbish is like to looke as youthfull as ever she did When the Eagle built his nest every bird brought in a feather And certainely a good spirit cannot dwell in him who grumbles to send a stone towards the bearing up of the House of the Almighty Nor doth Tamisond encrease this way by houses Palaces or streets onely but she hath a whole new Towne reard up lately to enlarge her skirts And whereas before her walls were of light combustible matter they are now of a new solid structure and stuffe Though some would thinke that in regard she drawes on in this kind so much to the West she is towards her declining times and they ground this augury upon the height of bravery and profusenesse shee is come to which commonly bring with them luxury and softnesse and they have beene alwaies observed to be symptomes of a waining state For navall strength since Druina sate in Thetis lap and had her white cliffs washd with her waves she was never so well appointed Not long since the world thought shee had beene fallen to so low an ebbe that she was not able to set out a fleet Royall to Sea which made some so insult over her that they questiond her Soveraignty yea in her owne waves But lately shee hath appeard like her selfe and put them all to silence unbeguiling the world of this erroneous opinion The late moving Castle she hath built hath already purchasd such renowne that it is confessd by all her neighbours there never floated the like upon salt waters She hath restord a Forren Emperour to his right And it is the duty of Soveraigne Princes to see wrong vindicated and right take place though amongst Barbarians being sought unto And besides the glory of that action there is a speciall benefit accrues thereby to Druina for that nest of base ravenous birds which so much impeachd her commerce is pulld down and many of her own plants who languished in that hot scorching soylein most miserable slavery brought home They cannot therefore have their hearts well planted in them who repine at such contributions which the sages of the law have once avouched legall since they daylie see such necessary and glorious effects thereof And the legall leavies the Soveraigne raysers of the subject are as vapours which the sunne exhales up into the middle Region the wombe of the Meteors which fall downe afterwards in sweet silver showres to fructifie the earth The golden chaine of policy hath beene alwayes held to be That the defense of a kingdome is the office of the Prince the honour of the Peeres the service of the Souldier and the charge of the subject for Qui sentit commodum sentire debet onus Adde hereunto that alleageance is an act of reciprocation as it bindes the King to protect so it ties the subject to contribute and by this correspondence there is a quid pro quo But as in Druina so in all other Forrests it is usuall for the Poplars to clash their branches and still make a noise at the present times and soloecismes in government though they know neither the disease nor the remedy They think to discerne the least moat in the body politicke building certaine fantasticke formes of ruling and soothing their shallow imaginations that they could set the state in such frames the particular application whereof would prove absurd and grosse impertinencies Touching eminent or imminent danger though there be some Arcana Imperii in every state which the Soveraigne and his sages should onely know and not disperse amongst the vulgar It was apparently visible how the fairest flower of Druinas diademe the dominion of the Seas was aymd at and like to be pluckd off was it not high time then for her to rigge her vessels and put her selfe upon an extraordinary gard Moreover they are far wide who think Druina can joyne security and peace together as long as the Olive with the Cedar and the Vine are up in actuall armes by Sea and Land hard before her for a peace may bee clapd up betweene them with that suddennesse that some of those forces which are now in motion may inexpectedly fall upon her skirts Touching Ampelona some have beene over-heard to say that the late invasion upon her Islands for reliefe of Petrina stickes still in her stomacke but halfe disgested thinking she hath not repaird her honour to the height nor taken equall revenge according to the rules of retaliation by that successefull repulse only And for Elaiana some hold though I do not never yet made hearty peace with any Eusebian Prince and the peace she makes proceeds either from disability or unseasonablenes to hurt And since she holds the Canons of the last great Counsell whither t' was said the holy Ghost was usd to be sent in cloake-bagges from Petropolis in so much reverence and authority as the sacred Oracles themselves which were immediately inspird from heaven of which Canons one was that Haereticis meaning the Eusebians non est tenenda fides since I say that Elaiana stands so readily appointed and so neare it would very ill become the policy of Druina to let her vessels lye rotting upon the Carine and not to be ready upon a preventive gard least she re-incurre that aspersion which in former ages stuck fowlly to her which was to be wise a posteriori after the blow was given when Hannibalis Ante Portas And now that all the neighbouring Forrests which had been formerly shaken and riven with the thunderbolts of war did admire and envie the sweete peace and serenity of Druina her Royall Oke being onely Medijs tranquillus in undis Behold an unhappy mist did rise in the North in Cardenia and Cardenia is knowne to bee much subject to mists Some say Cardenia hath the same quarrell to her Soveraigne that she hath to the Sun for dwelling too far distant from them but it was discovered that this cloud was engendred of the exhalations of divers discontented spirits specially some of the great ones who did suscitat the inferior sort of Flamins that depended upon them for their subsistence to vent seditious doctrine against the Hierarchy and chiefest governours in holy things fearing that by a post-liminous way something should bee re-annexd both to Church and Crowne which had alwayes beene possessd by them time out of mind These obstreperous Sermocinators who in Cardenia sway as much if not more upon the conscience then the Loyalists else where doe make easie impressions upon the minds of the vulgar specially the femalls who first broak out into acts of violence so that it may be said this sedition came in as sin did first into the world by the female sexe who relying upon the immunity of their kinde did many unbefitting and strange barbarisms little