them) but that is in some cases, to some peculiar men; the most forbid, and will by no means have it go farther than a beginning sweat, as being perilous if it exceed.

Of these labours, exercises, and recreations, which are likewise included, some properly belong to the body, some to the mind, some more easie, some hard, some with delight, some without, some within doors, some naturall, some are artificiall. Amongst bodily exercises, Galen commends ludum parvæ pila, to play at ball: be it with the hand or racket, in tenniscourts, or otherwise, it exerciseth each part of the body, and doth much good, so that they sweat not too much. It was in great request of old amongst the Greeks, Romanes, Barbarians, mentioned by Homer, Herodotus, and Plinius. Some write, that Aganella, a fair maide of Corcyra, was the inventer of it; for she presented the first ball that ever was made, to Nausica, the daughter of king Alcinoüs, and taught her how to use it.

The ordinary sports which are used abroad, are hawking, hunting hilares venandi labores, one calls them, because they recreate body and minde; another, the best exercise that is, by which alone many have been freed from all ferall diseases. Hegesippus (lib. 1. cap. 37) relates of Herod, that he was eased of a greivous melancholy by that means. Plato (7 de leg.) highly magnifies it, dividing it into three parts, by land, water, ayre. Xenophon (in Cyropæd.) graces it with a great name, Deorum munus, the gift of the Gods, a princely sport, which they have ever used, saith Langius, (epist. 59. lib. 2) as well for health as pleasure, and do at this day, it being the sole almost and ordinary sport of our noblemen in Europe, and elsewhere all over the world. Bohemus (de mor. gent. lib. 3. cap. 12) stiles it therefore studium nobilium; communiter venantur, quod sibi solis licere contendunt; 'tis all their study, their exercise, ordinary business, all their talk and indeed some dote too much after it; they can do nothing else, discourse of naught else. Paulus Jovius (descr. Brit.) doth in some sort tax our English nobility for it, for living in the country so much, and too frequent use of it, as if they had no other means but hawking and hunting to approve themselves gentlemen with.

Hawking comes neer to hunting, the one in the aire, as the other on the earth, a sport as much affected as the other, by some preferred. It was never heard of amongst the Romans, invented some 1200 years since, and first mentioned by Firmicus lib 5, cap. 8. The Greek emperours began it, and now nothing so frequent he is nobody, that in the season hath not a hawke

on his fist a great art, and many books written of it. It is a wonder to hear what is related of the Turkes officers in this behalf, how many thousand men are employed about it, how many hawks of all sorts, how much revenewes consumed on that only disport, how much time is spent at Adrianople alone every year to that purpose. The Persian kings hawk after butterflies with sparrows, made to that use, and stares; lesser hawks for lesser games they have, and bigger for the rest, that they may produce their sport to all seasons. The Muscovian emperours reclaime eagles to fly at hindes, foxes, &c. and such a one was sent for a present to Queen Elizabeth: some reclaime ravens, castrils, pies, &c. and man them for their pleasures.

Fowling is more troublesome, but all out as delightsome to some sorts of men, be it with guns, lime, nets, glades, ginnes, strings, baits, pitfalls, pipes, calls, stawking-horses, setting-dogs, coy-ducks, &c. or otherwise. Some much delight to take larks with day-nets, small birds with chaffe-nets, plovers, partridge, herons, snite, &c. Henry the third, king of Castile, (as Mariana the Jesuite reports of him, lib. 3. cap. 7.) was much affected with catching of quailes: and many gentlemen take a singular pleasure at morning and evening to go abroad with their quaile-pipes, and will take any paines to satisfie their delight in that kinde. The Italians have gardens fitted to such use, with nets, bushes, glades, sparing no cost or industry, and are very much affected with the sport. Tycho Brahe, that great astronomer, in the Chorography of his Isle of Huena, and castle of Uraniburge, puts down his nets, and manner of catching small birds as an ornament, and a recreation, wherein he himself was sometimes employed.

Fishing is a kinde of hunting by water, be it with nets, weeles, baits, angling or otherwise, and yeelds all out as much pleasure to some men, as dogs, or hawk, when they draw their fish upon the bank, saith Nic. Henselius, Silesiographic cap. 3, speaking of that extraordinary delight his countrymen took in fishing, and in making of pooles. James Dubravius, that Moravian, in his book de pisc telleth, how travelling by the highway side in Silesia, he found a nobleman booted up to the groines, wading himself, pulling the nets, and labouring as much as any fisherman of them all and when some belike objected to him the baseness of his office, he excused himself, that if other men might hunt hares, why should not he hunt carpes? Many gentlemen in like sort, with us, will wade up to the arm-holes, upon such occasions, and voluntarily undertake that to satisfie their pleasure, which a poor man for a good stipend would scarce be

hired to undergo. Plutarch, in his book de soler. animal. speaks against all fishing, as a filthy, base, illiberall imployment, having neither wit nor perspicacity in it, nor worth the labour. But he that shall consider the variety of baits, for all seasons, and pretty devices which our anglers have invented, peculiar lines, false flies, severall sleights, &c. will say, that it deserves like commendation, requires as much study and perspicacity as the rest, and is to be preferred before many of them; because hawking and hunting are very laborious, much riding, and many dangers accompany them; but this is still and quiet and if so be the angler catch no fish, yet he hath a wholesome walk to the brook side, pleasant shade, by the sweet silver streams; he hath good aire, and sweet smels of fine fresh meadow flowers; he hears the melodious harmony of birds; he sees the swans, herons, ducks, water-hens, cootes, &c. and many other fowle, with their brood, which he thinketh better than the noise of hounds, or blast of hornes, and all the sport that they can make.

Many other sports and recreations there be, much in use, as ringing, bowling, shooting, which Askam commends in a just volume, and hath in former times been injoyned by statute, as a defensive exercise, and an honour to our land, as well may witness our victories in France; keelpins, tronks, coits, pitching bars, hurling, wrestling, leaping, running, fencing, mustring, swimming, wasters, foiles, foot-ball, balown, quintans, &c. and many such, which are the common recreations of the country folks; riding of great horses, running at rings, tilts and turnaments, horse-races, wilde-goose chases, which are the disports of greater men, and good in themselves, though many gentlemen by that means, gallop quite out of their fortunes.

But the most pleasant of all outward pastimes is that of Aretæus, deambulatio per amæna loca, to make a petty progress, a merry journey now and then with some good companions, to visit friend, see cities, castles, towns,

Visere sæpe amnes nitidos, peramœnaque Tempe,
Et placidas summis sectari in montibus auras:

To see the pleasant fields, the crystall fountains,
And take the gentle aire amongst the mountains:

to walk amongst orchards, gardens, bowers, mounts, and arbours, artificiall wildernesses, green thickets, arches, groves, lawns, rivulets, fountains and such like pleasant places, like that Antiochian Daphne, brooks, pooles, fishponds, betwixt

wood and water, in a fair meadow, by a river side, ubi variæ avium cantationes, florum colores, pratorum frutices, &c. to disport in some pleasant plain, park, run up a steep hill sometimes, or sit in a shady seat, must needs be a delectable recreation. Hortus principis et domus ad delectationem facta, cum sylva, monte, et piscina, vulgo La Montagna: the princes garden at Ferrara, Schottus highly magnifies, with the groves, mountaines, ponds, for a delectable prospect: he was much affected with it: a Persian paradise, or pleasant parke, could not be more delectable in his sight. S. Bernard, in the description of his monastery, is almost ravished with the pleasures of it. A sick man (saith he) sits upon a green bank; and, when the dog-star parcheth the plaines, and dries up rivers, he lies in a shadie bowre,

Fronde sub arboreâ ferventia temperat astra,

and feeds his eyes with variety of objects, hearbs, trees: and to comfort his misery, he receives many delightsome smels, and fils his ears with that sweet and various harmony of birdes. Good God! (saith he) what a company of pleasures hast thou made for man! He that should be admitted on a sudden to the sight of such a palace as that of Escuriall in Spain, or to that which the Moores built at Granado, Fountenblewe in France, the Turkes gardens in his seraglio, wherein all manner of birds and beasts are kept for pleasure, wolves, bears, lynces, tygers, lyons, elephants, &c. or upon the banks of that Thracian Bosphorus: the popes Belvedere in Rome as pleasing as those horti pensiles in Babylon, or that Indian kings delightsome garden in Ælian; or those famous gardens of the Lord Cantelow in France, could not choose, though he were never so ill apaid, but be much recreated for the time; or many of our noblemens gardens at home. To take a boat in a pleasant evening, and with musick to row upon the waters, which Plutarch so much applaudes, Elian admires, upon the river Peneus, in those Thessalian fields beset with green bayes, where birds so sweetly sing, that passengers, enchanted as it were with their heavenly musick, omnium laborum et curarum obliviscantur, forget forthwith all labours, care and grief; or in a gundilo through the grand canale in Venice, to see those goodly palaces, must needs refresh and give content to a melancholy dull spirit. Or to see the inner roomes of a fairbuilt and sumptuous ædifice, as that of the Persian kings so much renowned by Diodorus and Curtius, in which all was

almost beaten gold, chaires, stooles, thrones, tabernacles, and pillars of gold, plane trees, and vines of gold, grapes of precious stones, all the other ornaments of pure gold,

(Fulget gemma toris, et iaspide fulva supellex;
Strata micant Tyrio—)

with sweet odours and perfumes, generous wines, opiparous fare, &c. besides the gallantest young men, the fairest virgins, puella scitula ministrantes, the rarest beauties the world could afford, and those set out with costly and curious attires, ad stuporem usque spectantium, with exquisite musick, as in Trimalchions house, in every chamber, sweet voices ever sounding day and night, incomparabilis luxus, all delights and pleasures in each kinde which to please the senses could possibly be devised or had, conviva coronati, deliciis ebrii, &c. Telemachus in Homer is brought in as one ravished almost, at the sight of that magnificent palace, and rich furniture of Menelaus, when he beheld

Æris fulgorem, et resonantia tecta corusco
Auro, atque electro nitido, sectoque elephanto,
Argentoque simul. Talis Jovis ardua sedes,
Aulaque Coelicolûm stellans splendescit Olympo.

Such glittering of gold and brightest brass to shine,
Cleer amber, silver pure, and ivory so fine :

Jupiters lofty palace, where the gods do dwell,
Was even such a one, and did it not excell.

It will laxare animos, refresh the soule of man, to see fair-built cities, streets, theaters, temples, obelisks, &c. The temple of Jerusalem was so fairly built of white marble, with so many pyramids covered with gold; tectumque templi, fulvo coruscans auro, nimio suo fulgore obcæcabat oculos itinerantium, was so glorious and so glistered afar off, that the spectators might not well abide the sight of it. But the inner parts were all so curiously set out with cedar, gold, jewels, &c. (as he said of Cleopatras palace in Egypt,

-Crassumque trabes absconderat aurum)

that the beholders were amazed. What so pleasant as to see some pageant or sight go by, as at coronations, weddings, and such like solemnities;-to see an embassadour or a prince met,