26 LETTERS ON SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS. 



redd cockes, with his strength Gemini and Virgo. Jupiter on 

 thursdaie,in his chariot drawen by twoepecockes,his coachman 

 Sagitarius, his strength Pisces. Venus on fridaie, drawen in her 

 chariot by twoe white doves, her coachman Cupid, her strength 

 Libra and Taurus. Saturne on satterdaie, drawen in his coach 

 by twoe greane dragons, his strength Capricornus and Aqua- 

 rius ; so that in the whoale weake they all show r e themselves. 

 This motion is mervelous beautifull and veary strange, and 

 in my opinion adorneth more than any other parte in the 

 whoale fabricke. Those rounde spotts in the twoe sides of 

 the callender be the notable eclipses of the soone and moone, 

 that shall happen within this thirtie twoe yeares. The rounde 

 blewe, havinge the center thereof redd, is nothinge but the 

 motion of an index that shew T eth the minutes of the hower ; 

 on the sides w^hereof be twoe angelicall boyes, the one havinge 

 an hower glasse which he toorneth every hower, the sande 

 beinge emptied out in the lower parte thereof; the other ha- 

 vinge a cepter in his hande whiche he liftinge up semeth as 

 it weare to commaunde the clocke to stricke. The next great 

 circumpherence distinguished by tw r enty foure howers, is an 

 astronomicall instrument called the astrolabe, wherein be the 

 howerly, dailie, weakly, monethly and yearly motions of the 

 planets and starres ; in the corners whereof be the foure ages 

 of man, the foure seasons of the yeare : above this is the 

 monethly course of the moone which doeth so wax and waine, 

 is manifested shininge or shadowed, as the moone is in the fir- 

 mament. Above this be those men which stricke the quar- 

 ters, wheare the hower is resembled to the life of man, which 

 hath his infancie like to the first quarter, which is strooken by 

 the child ; his adolescencie resembled by the second quarter, 

 which is strooke by a yooth ; his manhood resembled by an 

 armed souldier, whoe strikes the third quarter ; and his owld 

 age resembled by a graie-bearded man, whoe striketh the 

 laste quarter. The hower glasse beinge nowe emptied (which 

 the angelicall boye before spoken of that sitteth belowe by the 

 circule of minutes held in his hand), the course of man's age is 

 by that figured to be ended, and therefore death ensueth and 

 striketh the stroke on the little bell, as it weare to summon us 

 to appeare before the tribunale seat of the heavenly judge, and 

 sheweth that the lif is finisshed as the hower, whose droppes 

 of sand be resembled to the daies, and protract our lif to our 

 end, and that our period of abidinge heare is so shorte as the 

 hower is in respect of eternitie. Opposite to death is Christ 

 which reviveth and raseth up to lif everlastinge ; and in this 

 second place is eternitie signified, whoe w r as before all tyme, 

 figured in the pellican belowe, and shall continew after all 



