Three proper, and wittie, familiar letters: lately passed betvveene tvvo vniuersitie men: touching the earthquake in Aprill last, and our English refourmed versifying With the preface of a wellwiller to them both.

A Pleasant and pitthy fami∣liar discourse, of the Earthquake in Aprill last.

To my loouing frende, M. Immerito.

SIgnor Immerito, after as many gentle Godmorrowes, as your self, and your swéete Harte listeth: May it please your Maistershippe to dispense with a poore Oratour of yours, for breaking one principall graund Rule of our olde inuiolable Rules of Rhetorick, in she∣wing himselfe somewhat too pleasura∣bly disposed in a sad matter: (of purpose, to méete with A coople of shrewde wittie new marryed Gentlewomen, which were more Inquisitiue, than Capable of Natures works) I will report you a prettie conceited discourse, that I had with them no longer agoe, than yesternight, in a Gentlemans house, here in Essex. Where being in the company of cer∣taine curteous Gentlemen, and those two Gentlewomen, it was my chaunce to be well occupyed, I warrant you, at Cardes, (which I dare saye I scarcely handled a whole twelue moonth before) at that very instant, that the Earth vnder vs quaked, and the house shaked aboue: besides the moouing, and ratling of the Table, and fourmes, where wée sat. Where vpon, the two Gentlewomen hauing continual∣ly béene wrangling with all the rest, and especially with my selfe, and euen at that same very moment, making a great

loude noyse, and much a doo: Good Lorde, quoth I, is it not woonderful straunge that the delicate voyces of two so prop∣per fine Gentlewoomen, shoulde make such a suddayne ter∣rible Earthquake? Imagining in good fayth, nothing in the worlde lesse, than that it shoulde be any Earthquake in déede, and imputing that shaking to the suddayne sturring, and remoouing of some cumberous thing or other, in the vp∣per Chamber ouer our Heades: which onely in effect most of vs noted, scarcely perceyuing the rest, béeing so closely and eagerly set at our game, and some of vs taking on, as they did. But beholde, all on the suddayne th••re commeth stumbling into the Parlour, the Gentleman of the house, somewhat straungely affrighted, and in a manner all agast, and telleth vs, as well as his Head and Tongue woulde giue him leaue, what a woonderous violent motion, and shaking there was of all things in his Hall: sensibly and visibly séene, as well of his owne selfe, as of many of his Seruauntes, and Neighbours there. I straite wayes be∣ginnyng to thinke somewhat more s••riously of the matter: Then I pray you, good Syr, quoth I, send presently one of your seruauntes farther into the Towne, to enquire, if the like h••th happened there, as most likely is, and then must it néedes be some Earthquake. Whereat the good fearefull Gentleman being a little recomforted, (as misdoubting, and dreading before, I knowe not what in his owne House, as many others did) and immediately dispatching his man into the Towne, wée had by and by certayne woord, that it was ge••erall ouer all the Towne, and within lesse than a quarter of an howre after, that the very like be happened the next Towne too, being a farre greater and goodlyer Towne. The Gentlewoomens hartes nothing acquaynted with any such Accidentes, were maruellously daunted: and they, that immediately before were so eagerly, and gréedily praying on vs, began nowe forsooth, very demurely, and deuoutely to pray vnto God, and the one especially, that was euen nowe in the House toppe, I beséeche y••u hartily quoth shée,

let vs leaue off playing, and fall a praying. By my truely, I was neuer so scared in my lyfe, Me thinkes it maruellous straunge. What good Parte••er? Cannot you pray to your selfe, quoth one of the Gentlemen, but all the House must heare you, and ring Allin to our Ladyes Mattins? I sée woo∣men are euery way v••hement, and affectionate. Your selfe was liker euen nowe, to make a fraye, than to pray: and will you nowe néedes in all hast bée on both your knées? Let vs, and you say it, first dispute the matter, what daunger, and terror it carryeth with it. God be praysed, it is already cea∣sed, and héere be some present, that are able cunningly, and clearkly to argue the case. I beséeche you master, or my∣stresse, your zealous and d••uoute Passion a while. And with that turning to me, and smiling a little at the first: Nowe I pray you, Master H. what say you Philosophers, quoth he, to this suddayne Earthquake? May there not be some sensible Naturall cause therof, in the concauities of the Earth it self, as some forcible and violent Eruption of wynde, or the like? Yes no doubt, sir, may there, quoth I, as well, as an Intel∣ligible Supernaturall: and peraduenture the great aboun∣daunce and superfluitie of waters, that fell shortly after Michaelmas last, béeyng not as yet dryed, or drawen vp with the heate of the Sunne, which hath not yet recouered his full attractiue strength and power, might minister some occasion th••reof, as might easily be discoursed by Naturall Philosophie, in what sorte the poores, and ventes, and crannies of the Earth being so stopped, and fylled vp euery where with moysture, that the windie Exhaltations, and Uapors, pent vp as it were in the bowels thereof, could not otherwise get out, and ascende to their Naturall Originall place. But the Termes of Arte, and verye Natures of things themselues so vtterly vnknowen, as they are to most héere, it were a péece of woorke to laye open the Reason to euery on••s Capacitie.

I know well, it is we that you meane, quoth one of y^e Gen∣tlewomen (whom for distinction sake, and bicause I imagine

they would be loath to be named, I will hereafter call, My∣stresse Inquisitiua, and the other, Madame Incredula:) now I beséeche you, learned Syr, try our wittes a little, and let vs heare a péece of your déepe Uniuersitie Cunning. Séeing you Gentlewomen will allgates haue it so, with a good will, quoth I: and then forsooth, very solemnly pawsing a whyle, most grauely, and doctorally procéeded, as followeth.

The Earth you knowe, is a mightie great huge body, and consisteth of many diuers, and contrarie members, & vaines, and arteries, and concaui••ies, wh••rein to auoide the absur∣ditie of Vacuum, most necessarily be very great store of sub∣stantiall matter, and sundry Accidentall humours, & fumes, and spirites, either good, or bad, or mixte. Good they cannot possibly all be, whereout is ingendred so much bad, as name∣ly so many poysonfull, and venemous Hearbes, and Beastes, besides a thousand infectiue, and contagious thinges else. If they be bad, bad you must néedes graunt is subiect to bad, and then can there not, I wa••rant you, want an Obiect, for bad to worke vpon. If mixt, which séemeth most probable, yet is it impossible, that there should be such an equall, and proportionable Temperature, in all, and singular re••pecte••, but sometime the Euill (in the diuels name,) will as it were interchaungeably haue his naturall Predominaunt Course, and issue one way, or other. Which euill working vehement∣ly in the partes, and malitiously encountering the good, for∣cibly tosse••h, and cruelly disturbeth the whole: Which con∣flict indureth so long, and is fostred with aboundaunce of cor∣rupt putrified Humors, and ylfauoured grosse infected mat∣ter, that it must néedes (as well, or rather as ill, as in mens and womens bodyes) brust out in the ende into one perillous disease or other, and sometime, for want of Naturall voyding such fe••erous, and flatuous Spirites, as lurke within, into such a violent chill shiuering shaking Ague, as euen nowe you sée the Earth haue. Which Ague, or rather euery fitte thereof, we schollers call grossely, and homely, Terrae motus, a moouing, or sturring of the Earth, you Gentlew••men, that

be learned, somewhat more finely, and daintily, Terr•• metus, a feare, and agony of the Earth: we being onely mooued, and not terrified, you being onely in a manner terrified, & scarce∣ly mooued therewith. Nowe here, (and it please you) lyeth the poynt, and quidditie of the controu••rsie, whether our Motus, or your Metus, be the better, & more consonant to the Princi∣ples and Maximes of Philosophy? the one being manly, and deuoyde of dreade, the other woomannish, and most wo••ully quiuering, and shiuering for very feare. In sooth, I vse not to dissemble with Gentlewoomen: I am slatly of Opinion, the Earth whereof man was immediately made, and not wooman, is in all proportions and similitudes liker vs than you, and when it fortuneth to be distemp••red, and disseas••d, either in part, or in whole, I am p••rsuad••d, and I belé••ue Reason, and Philosophy will beare me out in it, it only moo∣ueth with the very impulsiue force of the malady, and not trembleth, or quak••th for dastardly feare.

Nowe, I beséeche you, what thinke ye, Gentlewomen, by this Reason? Reason, quoth Madame Incredula: By my truly, I can neither picke out Rime, nor Reason, out of any thing I haue hearde yet. And yet me think••s all should be Gospell, that commeth from you Doctors of Cambridge. But I sée well, all is not Gould, that glist••reth. In déede, quoth Mistresse Inquisitiua, héere is much adooe, I trowe, and little helpe. But it please••h Master H. (to delight himselfe, and these Gentlemen) to tell vs a trim goodly Tale of Ro∣binhood, I knowe not what. Or suer if this be Gospell, I dowte, I am not in a good beléefe. Trust me truly, Syr your Eloquence farre pass••th my I••telligence. Did I not tell you aforehand, quo••h I, as muche? And yet would you néedes presume of your Capacities in such profound mysteries of Philosophie, and Priuiti••s of Nature, as these be? The very thinking whereof, (vnlesse happily it be per fidem implicitam, in beléeuing, as the learned beléeue, And saying, It is so, by∣cause it is so) is nighe enough, to caste you both into a fitte, or two, of a daungerous shaking feauer, vnlesse you presently

séeke some remedie to preuent it. And in earnest, if ye wyll giue me leaue, vpon that small skill I haue in Extrinsecall, and Intrinsecall Physiognomie, & so foorth, I will wager all the money in my poore purse to a pottle of Hyppocrase, you shall both this night, within somwhat lesse than two howers and a halfe, after ye be layed, Dreame of terrible straunge Agues, and Agonyes as well in your owne prettie bodyes, as i•• the mightie great body of the Earth. You are very me∣rily disposed, God be praysed, quoth Mistresse Inquisitiua, I am glad to sée you so pleasurable. No doubt, but you are mar∣uellous priuie to our dreames. But I pray you now in a lit∣tle good earnest, doo you Schollers thinke, that it is the very reason in déede, which you spake of euen now? There be ma∣ny of vs, good Mistresse, quoth I, of that opiniō: wherin I am content to appeale to y^e knowledge of these learned Gentle∣men here. And some a ••••••ne, of our finest conceited heades defend this Positiō, (a very straūge Paradox in my fancie:) y^t the Earth hauing taken in too much drinke, & as it were o∣uer lauish Cups, (as it hath sensibly done in a maner all this Winter past) now staggereth•• & réeleth, & tottereth, this way and that way, vp & downe, like a drunken man, or wooman (when their Alebench Rhetorick cōmes vpon them, & speci∣ally the moouing Patheticall figure Pottypôsis,) & therefore in this forcible sort, you lately sawe, payneth it selfe to vomit vp againe, that so disordereth, and disquieteth the whole body within. And, forsoothe, a fewe new Contradictorie fellowes make no more of it, but a certaine vehement, and passionate néesing, or sobbing, or coffing, wherewithall they say, and as they say, say with great Physicall, and Naturall Reason, The Earth in some place, or other, euer lightly after any great, and suddayne alteration of weather, or diet, is excée∣dingly troubled, and payned, as namely this very Time of the yeare, after the extréeme pynching colde of Winter, and agayne in Autumne, after the extréeme parching heate of Sommer. But shall I tell you, Mistresse Inquisitiua? The soundest Philosophers in déede, and very déepest Secretaries

of Nature, holde, if it please you, an other Assertion, and maintayne this for truth: (which at the leastwise, of all o∣ther séemeth maruellous reasonable, and is questionl••sse far∣th••st off from Heresie:) That as the Earth, vppon it, hath many stately, and boysterous & fierce Creatures, as name∣ly, Men and Women, and diu••rs Beastes, wherof some one is in maner continually at variaunce and fewde with an o∣ther, euermore séeking to be reuenged vpō his enimie, which eft soones breaketh forth into profess••d and open Hostilitie: and then consequently followe set battels, & mortall warres: wherin the one partie bendeth all the force of his Ordinance and other Martiall furniture against the other: ••o likewise within it too, it hath also some, as vengibly and frowardly bent, as for Example, Woormes, and Moules, and Cunnyes, and such other valiauntly highminded Creatures, y^e Sonnes and daughters of Mars, & Bellona•• that nurrish ciuill debate, and contrarie factions amongst them selues: which are sel∣dome, or neuer ended too, without miserable bloudshed, and deadly warre: and then go me their Gunnes lust••ly off; and the one dischargeth his Péece co••tagious••y at the other: and there is suche a Generall dub a dubbe amongst them, and such horrible Thundering on euery syde, and suche a mon∣strous cruell shaking of one an others For••es and Castels, that the whole Earth agayne, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 at the least, so muche of the Earth, as is ouer•• or néere them, is terribly hoysed, and — No more An••s, or Ifs, for Gods sake, quoth the Madame, and this be your great Doctorly lear∣ning. Wée haue euen Enoughe alreadie for our Money: and if you shoulde goe a little farther, I feare mée, you woulde make vs nyghe as ••unning as your selfe: and that woulde bée a great disgrace ••o the Uniuersi••i••. Not a whi••te, gentle Madame, quoth I••, there be of vs, that haue greater store in our bowgets, than we can well occupie our selues, and therefore we are glad as you sée, when by the fa∣uourable, & gratious aspect of son••e bl••ssed Planet, and spe∣cially our Mercury, or your Venus, it is our good Fortune,

to lighte on such good friendes, as you, and some other good Gentle woomen be, that take pleasure, & comfort in such good things. Wherat Mistresse Inquisitiua, laughing right out, and beginning to demaunde I know not what, (me thought, shée made, as if it shoulde haue béen some goodly plausible Iest, wherat shée is, and takes her selfe prettily good:) Well, well, Master H. quoth the Gentleman of the house, now you haue playde your part so cunningly with the Gentlewoomen, (as I warrant you shall be remembred of Inquisitiua•• when you are gone, and may happely forget her: which I hope, Mistresse Incredula will do sometyme too, by hir leaue:) I pray you in earnest, let vs men learne some thing of you too: and especially I would gladly heare your Iudgement, and resolution, whether you counte of Earthquakes, as Natu∣rall, or Supernaturall motions. But the shorter, all the better. To whom I made answere, in effect, as followeth:

Master H^s. short, but sharpe, and learned Iudgement of Earthquakes.

TRuely Syr, vnder correction, and in my fancie: The Earthquakes themselues I would saye are Naturall•••• as I veryly beléeue the Internall Causes there of, are: I meane those two Causes, which the Logicians call, the Materiall, and the Formall•• Marr••, the Exter••••ll ••auses, which are the Efficient and Finall, I take rather of the two, to be sup••rnaturall. I must ••ra••e a little lea••e to l••ye open the matter.

The ••••teriall Cause of Earthquakes, (as was superfi∣cially ••ouche•• in the begin••ing of our speache, and is suffici∣ently proo••ed by Aristotle in y^e seconde Booke of his Meteor••,) is no doubt great aboundance of wynde, or stoare of gros•••• and ••••y•• ••••••••••s, and spirites, fast shut vp, & as a man would saye, emprysoned in the Caues, and Dange••ns of the Earth••

which winde, or vapors, séeking to be set at libertie, and to get them home to their Naturall lodgings, in a great fume, violently rush out, and as it were, breake prison, which for∣cible Eruption, and strong breath, causeth an Earthquake. As is excellently, and very liuely expressed of Ouid, as I re∣member, thus:

Vis fera ventorum caecis inclusa cauernis, Exspirare aliquò cupiens, luctata{que} frustra Liberiore fru•• coelo, cùm carcere Rima Nulla foret, toto nec peruia flatibus esset, Extentam tumefecit humum, ceu spiritus oris, Tendere vesicam solet, and so foorth.

The formall Cause, is nothing but the very manner of this same Motion, and shaking of the Earth without: and the violent kinde of striuing, and wrastling of the windes, and Exhalations within: which is, and must néedes be done in this, or that sort, after one fashion, or other. Nowe, syr, touching the other two Causes, which I named Externall: The first immediate Efficient, out of all Question, is God himselfe, the Creatour, and Continuer, and Corrector of Na∣ture, and therefore Supernaturall: whose onely voyce car∣rieth such a reuerend and terrible Maiestie with it, that the very Earth againe, and highest Mountaines quake & trem∣ble at the sounde and noyse thereof: the text is rife in euery mans mouth: Locutus est Dominus & contremuit Terra: how∣beit, it is not to be gainesayd, that is holden of all the aunci∣ent Naturall Philosophers, and Astronomers, for the princi∣pall, or rather sole Efficient, that the Influence, and heate of the Sunne, and Starres, and specially of the thrée superior Planets, Saturne, Iupiter, and Mars, is a secondarie Instru∣mentall Efficient of such motions.

The finall, not onely that the wynde shoulde recouer his Naturall place, than which a naturall reasonable man goeth no farther, no not our excellentest profoundest Philosophers themselues: but sometime also, I graunt, to testifie and de∣nounce the secrete wrathe, and indignation of God, or his

sensible punishmen•• vppon notorious malefactours, or, a threatning Caueat, and forewarning for the inhabitantes, or the like, depending vppon a supernaturall Efficient Cause, and tending to a supernaturall Morall End.

Which End, (for that I knowe is the very poynt, where∣on you stande) albeit it be acknowledged Supernaturall and purposed, as I sayd, of a supernaturall Cause, to whom nothing at all is impossible, and that can worke supernatu∣rally, and myraculously without ordinarie meanes, and in∣feriour causes: yet neuerthelesse is, we sée, commonly perfor∣med, by the qualifying, and conforming of Nature, and Na∣turall things, to the accomplishment of his Diuine and in∣comprehensible determination. For being, as the olde Phi∣losophers call him, very Nature selfe, or as it hath pleased our later schoolemen to terme him, by way of distinction, Na∣tura Naturans, he hath all these secondarie inferiour thinges, the foure Elementes, all sensible, and vnsensible, reasonable, and vnreasonable Creatures, the whole worlde, and what soeuer is contayned in the Compas of the worlde, being the workmanship of his owne hands, and, as they call them, Na∣tura naturata, euer pliable and flexible Instrumentes at his Commaundement: to put in execution such Effectes, either ordinarie or extraordinarie, as shall séeme most requisite to his eternall Prouidence: and now in these latter dayes, very seldome, or in manner neuer worketh any thing so myracu∣lously, and extraordinarily, but it may sensibly appeare, he vseth the seruice and Ministerie of his Creatures, in the at∣chóeuing thereof. I denie not, but Earthquakes (as well as many other fearefull Accidentes in the same Number,) are terrible signes, and, as it were certaine manacing forerun∣ners, and forewarners of the great latter day; and therefore out of controuersie the more reuerendly to be considered vp∣pon: and I acknowledge considering the Euentes, and se∣queles, according to the collectiō and discourse of mans Rea∣son, they haue séemed to Prognosticate, and threaten to this, and that Citie, vtter ruyne and destruction: to such a Coun∣try,

a generall plague and pestilence: to an other place, the death of some mightie Potentate or great Prince: to some other Realme or Kingdome, some cruell imminent warres: and sundry the like dreadfull and particular Incidentes, as is notoriously euident by many olde and newe, very famous and notable Histories to that effect. Which of all other the auncient Romaines, long before the Natiuitie of Christ, did most religiously or rather superstitiously obserue, not without a number of solemne Ceremonies, and Holly∣dayes for the nonce, euer after any Earthquake, making full account of some such great rufull casualtie or other, as otherwhyles fell out in very déede: and namely, as I re∣member, the yeare Ante bellum Sociale, which was one of the lamentablest, and myserablest warres, that Italy e∣uer sawe: and Plinie, or I knowe not well who, hath such a saying: Roma nunquam tremuit, vt non futurus aliquis porten∣deretur insignis Euentus.

But yet, notwithstanding, dare not I aforehand presume thus farre, or arrogate so much vnto my selfe, as to deter∣mine precisely and peremptorily of this, or euery the like sin∣gular Earthquake, to be necessarily, and vndoubtedly a su∣p••rnaturall, and immediate fatall Action of God, for this, or that singular intent, when as I am sure, there may be a sufficient Naturall, eyther necessarie or contingent Cause in the very Earth it selfe: and there is no question, but the selfe same Operation in Genere, or in specie, may at one tyme, procéeding of one Cause, and referred to one End, be preternaturall, or supernaturall: at another tyme, pro∣céeding of an other, or the same Cause, and referred to an other End, but Ordinarie, and Naturall. To make shorte, I cannot sée, and would gladly learne, howe a man on Earth, should be of so great authoritie, and so familiar acquaintance with God in Heauen, (vnlesse haply for the nonce he hath lately intertained some few choice singular ones of his priuie Counsell) as to be able in such specialties, without any iusti∣fyable certificate, or warrant) to reueale hys incompre∣hensible

mysteries, and definitiuely to giue ••entence of his Maiesties secret and inscrutable purposes. As if they had a key for all the lockes in Heauen, or as if it were as cleare and resolute a case, as the Eclipse of the Sunne, that darke∣ned all the Earth, or at the least all the Earth in those Coun∣tries, at Christes Passion, happening altogether prodigious∣ly and Metaphysically in Plenilunio, not according to the per∣petuall course of Nature, in Nouilunio: in so much that Dio∣nisius Areopagita, or some other graunde Philosopher, vpon the suddayne contemplation thereof, is reported in a certaine Patheticall Ecstasie to haue cryed out, Aut rerum Natura pa∣titur, aut Mundi machina destruetur: as my minde giueth me, some of the simpler, and vnskilfuller sort, will goe nye to doe vpon the present sight, and agony of this Earthquake. Mar∣ry the Errour I graunt, is the more tollerable, though per∣happes it be otherwhiles, (and why not euen nowe,) a very presumptuous Errour in déede, standing only vpon these two weake and deceitfull groundes, Credulitie and Ignoraunce: if so be inwardly (not onely in Externall shewe, after an Hy∣pocriticall, and Pharisaicall manner) it certainly doo vs good for our reformation, and amendment, and séeme to preach•• vnto vs, Paenitentiam agite, (as in some respect euery suche straunge and rare Accident may séeme:) how Ordinarie, and Naturall so euer the Cause shall appeare otherwise to the best learned: especially, as the Earthquake shall be knowne to endure a longer, or a shorter Tyme, or to be more or lesse generall, in more, or fewer places. Which two differences, touching the quantitie of Tyme, and Place, after I had a lit∣tle more fully prosecuted, alledging certaine particuler Ex∣amples thereof, howe in some places huge Castels, in some Townes, in some great and mightie Cities, in some Shires and Seigniories, and Prouinces, in some whole Countryes, and Regions haue béen perillously mooued and shaken there∣with: in one place, a long time together: in an other place, not so long, or at seuerall and parted times: in another, very short, as•• God be thanked here euen nowe: and finally by the

way, shewing a thirde and most notable difference of all, (as well for the present or imminent terrour and daunger, as o∣therwise) by the sundry species, and formes which Aristotle, Plinie, and other Meteorologicians haue set downe of Expe∣rience, as they haue heard, or read, or séen the earth to quake, to sturre, and hoyse vp Houses, Walles, Towers, Castelles, Churches, Minsters, whole Townes, whole Cities, whole Prouinces, without farther harme: to ruinate and ouer∣throwe, and destroy some: to yawne and gape, and open lyke a graue, and cons••quently to swallow vp and deuour other: and sometime also to drinke vp whole riuers, and mightie bigge running waters withall, or to chaunge and alter their common woonted course some other way: to sinke and fall downewardes: to cast out and vomitte vp either huge vaste heapes, as it were Mountaines of Earth, or large Ilandes in the mayne Sea, neuer remembred, or séen before: or great ouer flowing waters, and fountaynes: or hotte scalding sul∣phurous lakes: or burning sparkles and flames of fire: to make a horrible hissing, gnashing, ratling, or some like woon∣derfull straunge noyse, (which all Effectes are credibly re∣ported, and constantly auouched, of our most famous & best allowed Philosophers) a fewe such particularities, and di∣stinctions, compendiously and familiarly coursed ouer. The good Gentleman gaue me hartily, as appeared, very great thankes, and tolde me plainly, he neuer either read, or heard halfe so much of Earthquakes before: confessing withall, that he yéelded resolutely to my opinion: that an Earth∣quake might as well be supposed a Naturall Motion of the Earth, as a preternaturall, or supernaturall ominous worke of God: and that he thought it hard, and almost impossible, for any man, either by Philosophie, or Diuinitie, euermore to determine flatly the very certaintie either way. Which also in conclusion was the verdit, and finall resolution of the greater and sager part of the Gentlemen present: & namely of an auncient learned common Lawyer, that had béen Gra∣duate, and fellow of a Colledge in Cambridge, in Quéene

Mari••s dayes. Who tooke vpon him, to knit vp the matter, & as he said, determine the controuersie, with the authoritie of all the naturall Philosophers, old or newe, Heathen or Chri∣stian, Catholique or Protestant, that euer he read, or heard tell of. Th••re Physickes quoth he, are in euery mans hands: they are olde enoug•• to speake for them selues, and wée are young enough to turne our Bookes. They that haue Eyes and Tongues, let them sée, and reade. But what say you nowe, quoth I, to the staying and quieting of the Earthe, béeing once a moouing? May it not séeme a more myracu∣lous woorke, and greater woonderment, that it shoulde so suddainely staye againe, being mooued, than that it shoulde so suddainely mooue, beyng quiet and still? Mooue or turne, or shake me a thing in lyke order, be it neuer so small, and lesse than a pynnes Head, in comparison of the great migh∣tie circuite of the Earth, and sée if you shall not haue much more a doo to staye it presently, béeing once sturred, than to stu••re it at the very first. Whereat the Gentleman smyling, and looking merrily on the Gentlewoomen, héere is a schoole poynt, quoth he, that by your leaues, I beléeue will poase the better scholler of you both. But is it not more than tyme, thynke ye, wée were at Supper? And if you be a hungered, Maister H. you shall thanke no body but your selfe, that haue holden vs so long with your pro∣founde and clerkly discourses, whereas our manner is to suppe at the least a long howre before this tyme. Beyng set, and newe occasion of spéeche ministered, our Supper put the Earthquake in manner out of our myndes, or at the least wise, out of our Tongues: sauing that the Gen∣tlewoomen, nowe and then pleasauntly tyhyhing betweene them selues, especially Mystresse Inquisitiua, (whose minde did still runne of the drinking, and Néesing of the Earth,) repeated here, and there, a broken péece of that, which had béen already sayde before Supper. With déepe iudgement no doubt, and to maruellous great purpose, I warrant you a••ter the manner of woomen Philosophers, and Diuines.

And this summarily in Effect was our yesternyghtes graue Meteorologicall Conference, touching our Earth∣quake here in the Country: which being in so many neigh∣bour Townes, and Uillages about vs, as I heare say of this morning, maketh me presuppose, the like was wyth you also at London, and elsewhere farther ••f. And then forsoothe, must I desire Maister Immerito, to send me with∣in a wéeke or two, some odde fresh paulting thréehalfepen∣nie Pamphlet for newes: or some Balductum Tragicall Ballet in Ryme, and without Reason, setting out the right myserable, and most wo••ull estate of the wicked, and dam∣nable worlde at these perillous dayes, after the deuisers best manner: or whatsoeuer else shall first take some of your braue London Eldertons in the Head. In earnest, I could wishe some learned, and well aduized Uniuersitie man, woulde vndertake the matter, and bestow some paynes in déede vppon so famous and materiall an argument. The generall Nature of Earthquakes by definition, and the speciall diuersitie of them by diuision, beyng perfectly knowen: (a thing soone done) and a complete Induction of many credible and autenticall, both olde and newe, diuine and prophane, Gréeke, Lattine, and other Examples, (with discretion, and iudgement, compyled and compared togi∣ther) being considerately and exactly made, (a thing not so easily done) much no doubt myght be alledged too or fro, to terrifie or pacifie vs, more or lesse. If it appeare by generall Experience, and the foresayde Historicall In∣duction of particulars, that Earthquakes, sine omni ex∣ceptione, are ominous, and significatiue Effectes, as they saye of Comets, and carrie euer some Tragicall and horrible matter with or after them: as eyther destructi∣on of Townes and Cities, or decay of some mightie Prince, or some particular, or generall plague, warre, or the lyke, (vt supra) whatsoeuer the Materiall, or For∣mall cause be, Natural, or supernaturall, (howbeit for myne owne part I am resolued, as wel for the one, as for the other,

that these two I speake of, both Matter and Fourme, are ra∣ther Naturall in both, than otherwise) it concerneth vs, vpon the vewe of so Effectuall and substaunciall euidence, to con∣ceiue seriously, and reuerently of the other two Causes: the first, supreme Efficient, whose Omnipotent Maiestie hath nature self, and all naturall Creatures at commaundement: and the last finall, which we are to iudge of as aduisedly, and prouidently, as possibly we can, by the consideration, & com∣parison of Circumstances, the tyme when: the place where? the qualities, and dispositions of the persons, amongst whom such, and such an Ominous token is giuen. Least happily through ouer great credulitie, and rashnesse, we mistake Non causam pro causa, and sophistically be entrapped Elencho Finiū. Truely, I suppose, he had néede be an excellent Philosopher, a reasonable good Historian, a learned Diuine, a wise discrete man, and generally, such a one as our Doctor Still, & Doctor Byng are in Cambridge, that shoulde shew himselfe accor∣dingly in this argument, and to the iudgement and conten∣tation of the wisest, perfourme it exactly. My selfe remem∣ber nothing to the contrarie, either in Philosophie, or in Hi∣stories, or in Diuinitie either, why I may not safely & law∣fully subscribe to the iudgement of the noble Italian Philoso∣pher, and most famous learned Gentleman, whilest he liued, Lord of Mirandola, and Erle of Concordia, Counte Ioannes Franciscus Picus, in my opinion, very considerately, and part∣ly Philosophically, partly Theologically set downe, in the sixt Chapter of his sixt Booke, against Cogging deceitfull A∣strologers, and Southsayers, De rerum Praenotione, pro verita∣te Relligionis, contra Superstitiosas vanitates. In which Chap∣ter, (if happely you haue not read it already,) you shall finde m••ny, but specially these thrée notable places, most effectuall and directly pertinent to the very purpose. The first more vniuersal••. Naturae opere fieri non potest, vt Ostentis, vt Monstris magni illi, seu dextri, seu sinistri euentus portendantur, & ab aliqua pendeant proxima causa, quae & futura etiam proferat. Impostura Daemonum, vt id fiat, videri potest. Sed & plaera{que} non monstrosa,

non prodigiosa per se••e, pro monstri•• tamen, & portentis, haberi pos∣sunt, & solent à quibusdam, quibus Rerum Natura non satis com∣perta est, causarum enim ignoratio, noua in re Admirationem parit. Propter quam, philosophari homines capisse, in exordys primae philo∣sophiae scribit Aristoteles. Wherein those two seuerall points, Impostura Daemonum, and Ignoratio causaerum, are no doubt mar∣uellous probable, and moste worthy bothe presentlye to bée noted nowe, and more fully to be discussed hereafter: appea∣ring vnto me the verie right principall Causes of so manye erroneous opinions, and fantasticall superstitious dreames in this, and the like behalfe.

The seconde more speciall, as it were hitting the white in déede, and cleauing the Pinne in sunder.

Idem in Terraemotibus etiam, quod in fulguribus, fulminibus{que} interpretandis, obseruauit Antiquitas. Cuius Reiliber, Graeco elo∣quio, nuper ad manus peruenit, in Orpheum relatus Autorem: sed perabsurdum nimis, vt quod frequentissimè fit, pro vario terrae anhe∣litu, pro ventorum v••••lentia, vaporum{que} conductione, (marke you that?) ex e•• rerum futurarum significationem petere, quorum nec effectus esse possunt, nec causa, praeterq forte mortis inferendae illis, qui fulmen exceperit, aut qui terrarum hiatu perierit. Sed nec ab eadem proxima deduci causa possunt, à qua & futurae pendeant res, vt supra deductum est.

And then shortly after, the thirde, moste agréeable to the seconde, as flatlye determining on my side, and as directlye concluding the same position as may be.

Nec sanè Orpheus ille, si tamen Orpheus fuit, vllam affert om∣ninò causam, cur quispiam ex terrae motibus, vrbium, hominum, re∣gionum euenta praesagire possit. Solùm va•••• narrat arbitrio: si ter∣rae contigerit motus, nocti, si aestate, si hyeme, si ••urora, si interdus, quid portendatur: Quae certè, & saniore possunt a••bitrio refelli, & Expe∣rientiae testimonio, vt arbitror, non secus irrideri, ac supra Tagis por∣tenta irrisimus, Haruspicinae Autoris.

A moste excellent sounde Iudgement in my conceit: and ful wel beséeming so Honorable and admirabl•• a Witte, as out of Question, Picus Mirandula had: who b••ing yet scarce∣ly

thirty yeres of age, for his singularitie in al kind of know∣leege, as wel diuine as prophane, was in Italy and France•• as Paulus Iouius reporteth, surnamed Phoenix, as the odde, and in effecte the onely singular learned man of Europe: and to make shorte: suche a one, in moste respectes, as I woulde wis••e nowe to be tempering with this newe notorious inci∣dent: staying my selfe in the meane while vpon this probable and reasonable Interim of his: and preferring it before al the friuolous coniecturall Allegations, and s••rmises, that o••ce counterfaite, and reasonlesse Orphes oppose to the contrarye. But, Iesu, what is all this to Master Immerito? For soothe I knowe not by what mischaunce, these miserable balde odious thrée halfe penny ••ellowes, alas, a company of silly béetlehea∣ded Asses, came into my minde, that wil néedes be sturring, and taking on in euerye suche rare and vnaccustomed euent, as if they sawe farther in a Milstone, than all the worlde be∣sides, whereas euerie man, that hathe but halfe an eye in his ••ead•• séeth them to be more blinde, than anye Buzzarde, or Bayarde, Scribimus indocti, docti{que} Poemata passim, and surely, as the worlde goeth nowe in Englande, rather the firste, for aught I sée, than the laste. O interim miseras Musas, & misera∣biles: Where the faulte shoulde rest, viderint Oculi, at{que} capitae Reip. Mihi quidem ist hic, ne{que} seritur admodùm, ne{que} metitur. Non valdè me•• nou••s Bibliotheca libros desiderat, s••ipsa, id est, quos ha∣••et, veteribus contenta est. Quid plura? T•• vale, mi Immerito, at{que} ita tibi persuade, Aliquid esse eum, qui istorum longè est dissimilimus, quos Typographi nostri habent venales maximè. Commende mée. to thine owne good selfe, and tell thy dying Pellicane, and thy Dreames from me, I wil nowe leaue dreaming any longer of them, til with these eyes I sée them forth indéede: And then againe, I imagine your Magnificenza, will holde vs in sus∣pense as long for your nine Englishe Commoedies, and your Latine Stemmata Dudleiana: whiche two shal go for my mo∣ney, when all is done: especiallye if you woulde but bestow one seuennights pollishing and trimming vppon eyther. Whiche I praye th••e hartily d••e, for my pleasure, if not for

the••r sake, nor thine owne profite. My Schollers Loue, or Reconcilement of contraries, is shrunke in the wetting: I hadde purposed to haue dispatched you a Coppie thereof, long ere this: but, no remedie, hitherto it hath alwayes gone thus with me: Some newe occasion, or other, euer carrieth me from one matter to another, & will neuer suffer me to finishe eyther one or other. And truly, Experto crede, it is as true a Uerse as euer was made, since the first Uerse, that euer was made: Pluribus intentus minor est ad singula sensus: whiche my Anticosmopolita, thoughe it gréeue him, can beste testifye, re∣mayning still as we saye, in statu, quo, and neither an inche more forward, nor backewarde, than he was fully a twelue-month since in the Courte, at his laste attendaunce vpon my Lorde there. But the Birde that will not sing in Aprill, nor in May, maye peraduenture sing in September: and yet me thinkes, Sat cit••, si sat bene, if I coulde steale but one poore fortnight, to peruse him ouer afreshe, and coppy him out a∣newe. Whiche I hope in God to compasse shortly. But I besé••ch you, what Newes al this while at Cambridge? That was wont to be euer one great Question. What? Det mihi Mater ipsa bonam veniam, eius vt aliqua mihi liceat Secreta, vni cuidam de eodem gremio obsequentissimo filio, reuelare: & sic pau∣ci•• hab••to. Nam aliàs fortasse pluribus: nunc non placet, non va∣cat, molestum asset. Tully, and Demosthenes nothing so much studyed, as they were wonte: Liuie, and Salust possiblye ra∣ther more than lesse: Lucian neuer so much: Aristotle muche named, but little read: Xenophon and Plato, reck••ed amon∣gest Discoursers, and conceited Superficiall fellowes: much verball and sophisticall iangling: little ••ubtile and effectuall disputing: noble and roy••ll Eloquence, the best an•• persuasi∣blest Eloquence: no such Orators againe, as re••headded A••∣gelles: An excéeding greate difference, betwéene the coun∣tenaunces, and portes of those, that are braue and gallaunt, and of those, that are basely, or meanly apparelled: betwene the learned, and vnlearned, Tully, and Tom Tooly, in effect none at all.

Matchiauell a great man: Castilio of no small reputati∣on: P••trach, and Boccace in euery mans mouth: Galateo•• and Guazz•• neuer so happy: ouer many acquainted with V∣nico Are••••no: The French and Italian when so highlye re∣garded of Scholiers? The Latine and Greeke, when so light∣ly? The Queene mother at the beginning, or ende of euery•• conference: many bargaines of Mounsieur: Shymeirs a no∣ble gallant fellowe: all inquisitiue after Newes, newe Boo∣kes, newe Fashions, newe Lawes, newe Officers, and some after newe Elementes, and some after newe Heauens, and Helles to. Turkishe affaires familiarly knowen: Castels builded in the Ayre: muche adoe, and little helpe: Iacke would faine be a Gentlemanne: in no age so little so muche made of, euery one highly in his owne fauour, thinking no mans penny, so good siluer as his own: Something made of Nothing, in spite of Nature: Numbers made of Ciphars, in spite of Arte: Geometricall Proportion seldome, or neuer vsed, Arithmeticall ouermuch abused: Oxen and Asses (not∣withstandiug the absurditie it séemed to Plautus) draw both togither in one, and the same Yoke: Conclusio ferè sequitur de∣teriorem partem. The Gospell taughte, not learned: Chari∣tie key colde: nothing good, but by Imputation: the Cere∣moniall Lawe, in worde abrogated: the Iudiciall in effecte disanulled: the Morall indéede abandoned: the Lighte, the Lighte in euery mans Lippes, but marke me their eyes, and tell me, if they looke not liker Howlets, or Battes, than E∣gles: as of olde Bookes, so of auntient Uertue, Honestie, Fidelitie, Equitie, newe Abridgementes: euery day freshe span newe Opinions: Heresie in Diuinitie, in Philosophie, in Humanitie, in Manners, grounded muche vpon heresay: Doctors contemned: the Text knowen of moste, vnderstood of fewe, magnified of all, practised of none: the Diuell not so hated, as the Pope: many Inuectiues, small amendment: Skill they say controlled of Will: and Goodnesse mastered of Goods: but Agent, and Patient muche alike, neither Bar∣rell greatly better Herring: No more adoe aboute Cappes

and Surplesses: Maister Cartwright nighe forgotten: The man you wot of, conformable, with his square Cappe on his rounde heade: and Non resident at pleasure: and yet Non-residents neuer better bayted, but not one the fewer, either I beléeue in Acte, or I beléeue, in Purpose. A nūber of our prea¦chers sibbe to French Souldiors, at the first, more than Men, in the end, lesse than Women. Some of our pregnantest and soonest ripe Wits, of Hermogenes mettall for al the world: Olde men and Counsailours amongst Children: Children a∣mongst Counsailours, and olde men: Not a f••we ••ubble fa∣ced Iani, and chaungeable Camelions: ouer-manye Claw∣backes, and Pickethanks: Réedes shaken of euerie Wind: Iackes of bothe sides: Aspen leaues: painted Sheathes, and Sepulchres: Asses in Lions skins: Dunglecockes: slipperye Eles: Dormise: I blush to thinke of some, that wéene them∣selues as fledge as the reste, being, God wot, as kallowe as the rest: euery yonker to speake of as politique, and as great a Commonwealths man as Bishoppe Gardner, or Doctor Wutton at the least: as if euerie man nowe adayes hauing the ••raming of his own Horoscope, were borne in decimo coeli domicilio, and had al the Wit, Wisedome, and Worshippe in the world at commaundement. Sed heus in aurem: Meministin' quod ait Varro? Omnes videmur nobis esse belli, festiui, saperdae, cùm sumus Canopi: Dauid, Vlisses, and Solon, fayned them∣selues fooles and madmen: our fooles and madmen faine thē∣selues Dauids, Vlisses, and Solons: and would goe nigh to de∣ceiue the cunningest, and best experienced Metaposcopus in a country: It is pity faire weather should euer do hurt, but I know what peace and qui••tnes hath done with some melan∣choly pickstrawes in the world: as good vnspoken as vnamē∣ded. And wil you néedes haue my Testimoniall of youre ol••e Controllers new behauior? A busy and dizy heade, a brazen forehead: a l••dden braine: a woodden wit: a copper face: a sto∣ny breast: a factious and eluish hearte: a founder of nouelties: a confounder of his owne, and his friends good gifts: a mor∣ning bookeworm, an afternoone maltworm: a right Iuggler,

as ful of his sleights, wyles, fetches, casts of Legerdemaine, toyes to mocke Apes withal, odde shiftes, and knauish practi∣zes, as his skin can holde. He often telleth me, he looueth me as himselfe, but out lyar out, thou lyest abhominably in thy throate. Iesu, I had nigh hand forgotten one thing, that ywis somtime I think often ynough vpon: Many Pupils, Iacke∣mates, and Hayle fellowes wel met, with their Tutors, and by your leaue, some too, because forsooth they be Gentlemen, or great heires, or a little neater and gayer than their fello∣wes, (shall I say it for shame? beléeue me, tis too true) their very own Tutors. Ah mala Licentia, ab initio nō fuit sic. Stulta est omnis iuuenilis Doctrina, sine virili quadam Disciplina. Quasi verò pauperioribus duntaxat pueris, ac non multò magis generosa, at{que} nobili Iuuentuti conueniat, pristinae illius Institutionis, atque E∣ducationis seueritas, & ingenuae, & prudentis, & cruditae, & cum Tutoris personae, tum pupillo, etiam ipsi perquam accomodatae. Vsque∣quaque sapere oportet: id erit telum acerrimum. Caetera faerè, vt ••••lim: Bellum inter Capita, & membra continuatum: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 publicis defensa scholis, priuatis confirmata parietibus, omnibus loc••s ostentata, Scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire, hoc sciat alter. Pl••••imi passim fit Pecunia, Pudor parui penditur: Nihili habentur Literae: Mihi crede, credendum nulli: O amice, amicus nemo. Quid tu interim? Quomodo te inquies geris? Quomodo? Optimum est ali∣ena frui insania. Video: taceo, rideo: Dixi. Et tame•• addam, quod ait Satyricus ille:

Vi••••endum est rectè, tum propter plurima, tum his Praecip••è causis, vt linguas Mancipiorum Contemnas.

E meo municipio, Postridie quàm superiores de Terraemotu ser∣mones haberentur, id est, ni fallor, Aprilis septimo, Vesperi. With as manye gentle Goodnightes, as be letters in this tedious Letter.

Nosti manum tanquam tuam.

POSTSCRIPTE.

This Letter may only be shewed to the two odde Gentlemen you wot of. M••rry I would haue those two to see it, as sone as you may conueniently. Non multis d••rmio: no•• multis scr••bo: non cupio placere multis: Alij alios numeros la••dant, praeferunt, venerantur: Ego ferè apud nos, ferè apud vos Trinitatem. Verbum sapientisat: nosti caetera: & tres Charites habes ad vnguem.