tlie HilioHe of Ndttire. 



A was before fett and to fedc/earing in thefc cclipfes of theftarres fome great tong 5c violencCj 

 or death of the planets jfecured them inthatbehalfe': in which'dreadfiill kzve{[ood Stefahoms 

 and Fmdarm the poets(notwithftandingtheirloftieftile3)and namely at the eclipfe ofthe Sun, 

 asmayappearcbythcirpoemes. As for the Moone, mortal! men imagine that by.V agicke 

 lbrcerie,and charmes^ (lie is inchauntedjand therfore hclpe herjn fuch a cafe when fbeis cclip- 

 fedbydiiTonantri^rgingofbafons.In this fearefull fit alfo of ai>eclipre, Num the Generallof 

 the Athenians(as a man ignorant of the courfe thereof) feared to fet faile with his fieet out of 

 the haven^and fo greatly endaungered and diflrelTed the ftate of his countrie. Faire chievc yee 

 then for your excellent wit, 6 noble Spirits jnterpretours of the heavens, capable of Natures 

 workcsjand the devifers ofthat reaTon whereby ye have furmounted both God and man.For whd 



B is hejthat feeing thefe things^and the paineful ordinarie travelsCfincc that thistearmeisnow ta- 

 ken up) of the flarres 5 would noc beare with his owne infirmitie,and excufe this neceffitie of be- 

 ing borne to die? Now, for thisprefent I will breefely and fummarily touch thofe principaii 

 points which are confeffed and agreed upon as touching the faid cclipfes, having lightly rende- 

 red a reafpn thereof in moft needfuU places -.For neither fuch proovingand'arguing of thefe 

 matters, belongeth properly to our purpofed wprke; neither is it leffe wonder to bee able to 

 yeeld the reafons and caufes of all ihings,than to be refolute and conftant in fome* 



Chap, X 11 1. 



^ of Eclipfes. 



TjErtaine it isjthat all cclipfes in 222 moneths have their revolutions, andteturrt 

 to their former points: as alfo that the Sunnes eclipfe never happencth but 

 about the change ol the MoonCjnamelyjeither in the lafi: of the old,or firli of 

 the new,which they call the Conjundion : and that the Moone is never eclip- 

 ^ ~ fed butin the full,and alwaics fomewhat preventeth the former eclipfe.More- 

 ym^^^^ ^\ overjthat every yeere both planets are eclipfed at certain daies and hours un- 

 der the earth.Neither be thefc cclipfes in all places f€ene,when they are above the earth: by rea- 

 fon fometimes of cloudie weatherjbut more often,for that the globe of the earth hindereth thd > 

 fight of the bending convcxitie ofthe heaven. Within thefe two hundred yeares found out it 

 ^ was by the wittie calculation of Hipparchm^ that the Moone fometime was eclipfed twife in five 

 moneths fpace,and the funne likevtife in feven. Alfo that the Sunne and Moone twice in thirtie 

 daies were darkened above the earth :howbeitfeene this was not equally in all quarters, but of 

 divers men in divers places : and that which maketh mee to marvell moft of all in this wonder, is 

 this^that when agreed it is by all,th2t the Moone light is dimmed by the fhaddow of the earthj 

 one while this eclipfe happencth in the Wefl, and another while in the Eaft : asalfo, by what 

 reafon it happened^that feeing afier the Sunne is up, that fhaddow which dusketh the light of 

 the Moone, muft needs be under the earth : it fell out once,that the Moone was eclipfed in the 

 Weft^and both planets to be feen above the ground in our horifonJor that in twelve daiesboth 

 thcfe lUhts were miffmg^and neither Sun nor Moone were ieene: it chaunced in our timejwhen 

 E boththe^^Vj^^/^K^i^P^^^^^)^'®^^^^"^" thefather thcthird time,and thefonthe«'-COiKl«' 



Chap. XIIIL 

 ofthe Mcones motion, 



^Leare It is,that the Moone akaies in her encreafing,haththctipsofher hotnes 

 ' turned from the Sunne toward the Eaft : but in the waine , contrariwife Weil:- 

 jward. Alfo that fheefhineth (the firft day of her apparition) Mparts, and the 24 

 1 1 part of one houre, and fo rifeth in proportion the fecond day forward unto the 

 ^^^^j^fiill and likewife decreafeth in the fame manner to the change. But alwaies fhe is 

 hiddcnin the chaunge within fouretcene degrees of the Sunne.By which argument wee collet. 

 That the magnitude of the other planets is greater than the Moones, for as much as they ap- 

 pcare otherwhiles when they be but feven degrees off. But thecaufe why they fhew leffe ,is theic 

 altitude -.like asthefixedflarres,whichby reafon of the Sunnes brightneffe arc not feene in the 

 day time : whereas indeed they fhine as well by day as night : and that is manifeftly prooved by 



