cular, he hath done and performed the same with as much care and diligence as in him possible was, sparing no labour, travel, nor care, neither in place nor matter, nor in any of his proceedings omitted any thing whatsoever which he knew, or by any means perceived, to be needful or necessary to be propounded or moved, to bring these affairs to a good end. And especially, coming into the presence of our most puissant Emperor, whom God preserve, he appeared there before him with such honourable behaviour, grace, and courtesy, that it pleased his Majesty exceeding well, and moved him, thereby, to take great pleasure and contentment in him; and, in all his actions, hath so behaved himself, that more could not have been done, nor required at his hands, concerning his charge. And, to conclude, such a personage as he, in the superlative degree, is fit to be an ambassador; in such sort, that all the lord visiers, my fellows, and the rest of the lords of the Emperor's court, wondered thereat, and said, that a man that should deal in publick affairs, ought to be such a one, as he shewed himself unto us to be; being altogether in great admiration to see his manner of proceedings in all his affairs, and, for that cause, being so well pleased and contented with his behaviour, were well content that he should have daily access unto his Majesty's court. Your honours shall do well to esteem much of him, for that a man of his deserts and qualities meriteth to be preferred.

Thus having, at this time, no more to say (having made a true relation of all that hath here been done and past) but only to wish health and long prosperity unto your honours, we leave to trouble you.

Written in the beginning of the month Giamari Elebla, in the year 102, in the city of Constantinople; which God preserve.

The Copy of a Letter written by the Lord Mufti Effendi, Chief Judge of the Turkish Empire, unto the General States of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

Puissant Lords of the Christian Law, and the Honour of the Nations under the Messias: my Lords, the General States of the United Netherland Provinces, and most noble Lord Prince Maurice:

MAY it please you to understand, that this year was sent unto the Imperial palace of the most puissant King, highly magnified and ex. alted; the executioner of the commandments given to the world in the temples, the furtherer of justice, and the upholder or restorer of towns and cities, the greatest and mightiest king and monarch of the world (whose honour I beseech God always to continue, and that his kingdom may flourish until the day of doom) your honours letters and ambassador, to treat of amity and peace, with great reverence and respect unto the high court of his Majesty's dominions; wherein your honours have done a thing worthy commendations, and exceeding well accepted of, for that all those that desire to make friendship, and to

have peace with the King of the noble house of Ottomans (whom God increase in honour, power, and Majesty unto the worlds end) until this day, have not, by any means, endured any loss or hinderance whatsoever, but have, thereby, attained to great profit and advantage, which is manifestly known unto all the world, and amongst all nations; and all those unto whom, or with whom, the most puissant King, whom God preserve, doth make peace, and contracteth amity, or that, for their parts, do endeavour themselves to observe and hold peace and friendship with him, have well experienced and tried his great favours, to whom his Majesty hath continually doubled, and shewed his special grace and benignity; which is a certain sign and token, that, in time to come, your friendship proffered and obtained shall more and more increase, and be so well ratified and established, that nothing whatsoever shall be cause to break or infringe the same. For that the great Turk will shew your honours such friendship, that, in his empire of Turky, neither you, nor any of your ships, shall need to fear any hurt or harm to be done unto you in any thing whatsoever. To conclude, we all together will continue your perfect friends, and be friends to your friends, and foes to your foes; and, the further that you proceed therein, so much the more shall the benefit of his Majesty's favours be seen, and your advantage procured thereby; and, in this matter which by you hath been sought, all favour and friendship afford unto you, although that, in this point, it is not unknown to you, how many adversaries you have had, who, by all means and ways possible, have sought to hinder your proceedings herein, and to divert it, that it might take no effect.

Therefore, as I have said, seeing that your enemies have wrought thus secretly against you, it is great reason, that this league and contract should be surely made, and, according to your letters, the articles have been set down, certifying you, that all shall be done as you desire; and, withal, we think that it was great reason that this peace should be established; and, therefore, our most puissant Emperor hath been content graciously to accept of your friendship, and, according to your letters, the aforesaid privileges have been granted unto you; and that in all things whatsoever, past concerning them, there hath nothing been omitted that was requisite to be put in according to your desires. And, for your ambassador, Cornelius Haga, whom your honours sent hither, he hath performed his charge in that respect, in the superlative degree, and with great grace and honour gone through therewith, and hath executed the same, with as much diligence as possible he might. Wherefore I must needs say, that such a man as he is deserveth as well to be made an ambassador, as any one whatsoever of his degree, being of that judgment that he is: the reason is, for that, whatsoever he hath done concerning this business of yours, he hath done it effectually, and, therefore, it is requisite that you take care, that no scandal may, hereafter, be procured thereby unto you, and, before all things, to do your endeavours, that this peace may continue firm and stable, for that it is every way profitable and good for your honours, and your towns. And, upon condition, that your honours shall keep and firmly hold this treaty, we also will endeavour ourselves to maintain and uphold

the same for ever; for our great and most puissant Emperor, whom God preserve, is a courteous Prince, and exceeding gracious, and sheweth all the grace and favour that he can unto his friends, being an Emperor of great honour and majesty, whose custom is always to do well.

The conclusion, therefore, of our letter is, that, whatsoever hath been concluded touching this peace, you will take care to perform it to your powers. Moses Jerusalmi, a Jew, hath been a great furtherer of your affairs as much as in him lay, and hath made me acquainted with all your proceedings.

The Subscription.

Peace with you all.

By him that executeth the commandments that are sent forth to be done for the honour and authority of the puissant and most princely house of Ottomans, Mahomet, the son of G. Saalteldin.

God have mercy upon us all.

TRUE AND WONDERFULL.

A DISCOURSE

RELATING

A STRANGE AND MONSTROUS SERPENT, OR DRAGON,

Lately discovered, and yet living,

To the great Annoyance and divers Slaughters both of Men and Cattell, by his strong and violent Poyson:

In Sussex, two Miles from Horsam, in a Woode called St. Leonards Forrest, and thirtie Miles from London, this present

Month of August, 1614.

WITH THE TRUE GENERATION OF SERPENTS.

Printed at London, by John Trundle, 1614.

This relation breathes such a spirit of sincerity, seems so well attested, and tallies so well with what has been advanced on the same head by the best antient and modern historians, that we cannot well doubt of its truth. Since, therefore, this small piece is become now so extremely scarce, as not to be met with in the libraries, or even cabinets of the curious, and the subject of it is uncommon and entertaining, we flatter ourselves, that a republication of it will not

prove unacceptable to our readers. The style, indeed, is rude and unpolished, agreeable to the genius of the age wherein it was wrote: notwithstanding which, we could not prevail upon ourselves to modernise it, as believing this would not intitle it to so favourable a reception, amongst all true lovers of history and antiquity.

TO THE READER.

THE just rewarde of him that is accustomed to lie, is, not to be believed when he speaketh the truth: so just an occasion may sometime bee imposed upon the pamphleting pressers; and therefore, if we receive the same rewarde, we cannot much blame our accusers, which often fals out either by our forward credulity to but-seeming true reports, or by false coppies translated from other languages, which (though we beget not) we foster, and our shame is little the lesse. But, passing by what's past, let not our present truth blush for any former falshood sake: the countrie is near us, Sussex; the time present, August; the subject, a Serpent; strange, yet now a neighbour to us; and it were more than impudence to forge a lie so near home, that every man might turn in our throates; believe it, or reade it not, or reade it (doubting) for I believe e're thou hast read this little all, thou wilt not doubt of one, but believe there are many serpents in England. Farewell.

By A. R.

He that would send better newes, if he had it.

TH

HERE is nothing more miraculous in nature to the shalow search of humane apprehension, than the works of the Divinitie specified in the creation, being a worke beautified with distinction, order and measure, and sifted from all confusion; yet if we more narrowly unrip the natures and qualities of the creatures, leaving the unsearchable depth of God's essence beyond the shoomaker's last of capacitie to himselfe, we shall find that there is sufficient cause for our weake admirations and though all things were at the first created good and serviceable to man, because God is not the author of any evill; yet, since evil sprung from the ill of Eve, many miseries have (as his cursse) falne to man, even by those creasures which were his companions in Paradice, and made to his great blessing and benefit; insomuch that the serpent which first was familiar with Eve, and serviceable to man's use, is now turned a deadly and fatall enemie to all his posteritie, frighting the earth with monstrous and prodigious shapes; and no doubt, in these new and presaging formes, are sent to punish our new inventions of sinne, according to the saying of a reverend father: quia deliquimus in multis, punimur in multis. August. Because we have offended in many things, we are punished in many.

But, to omit the sanctuarie of unfurnisht wits, we will apply our briefe abstract to the causes and originall of these hideous creatures,

for the understanding and capacitie of the simple; seeing, that as a learned man saith, that scire est per causas scire. The best way of knowledge is to know by the causes and first of their originall.

First, it is oraculous and plaine in Genesis, that God by his word created all things sensible and insensible: fishes, foules, beasts, and creeping things, and among them serpents: but, since the great worke of the creation, they are ingendred either naturally or prodigiously: naturally, as saith Macrobius, as in Egypt frogs and mice are ingendred, by raine and showres, so also are serpents: but I am of Aristotle's opinion, which also Pliny confirmeth, that serpents arise not from putrefaction, but by the naturall act of generation. It is a general rule, that all beasts wanting feet, and having long bodies, performe their carnall copulation, by the mutuall imbracing of one another, as lampries and serpents: and it is certaine, that two serpents, in this action, seeme to be one body and two heads: for they are so indivisibly united together, and the frame of their bodies unapt for any other manner of copulation. And although, like to fishes, they want floure to elaborate the sperme, yet have they two open passages, wherein lyeth their generative seed; which, being spread, procureth their veneriall lusts; which seed being ejaculated from the male, into cels and receptacles of the female, it is turned into an egge, which she hydeth in the earth, a hundred in a cluster, about the quantitie of a bird's egge: and this is the naturall proceeding of all serpents, except vipers, who lay no egges, but hatch their young ones in their wombe; but for their prodigious generation, as it is rare, so is it also horrible to our nature. It is reported, that, when Lucius Scipio and Caius Norbanus were consuls, the mother of Claudius, in Hetruria, brought forth a serpent insteade of a childe.

And Faustina, the Empresse, dreamed, when she was with childe, but very prodigiously, that she brought forth two serpents, and one of them seemed to be more fiercer than the other, which proved allegorically true; for Commodus afterwards her youngest sonne was so tirannicall and barbarous, that he seemed to be borne a prodigy to the destruction of mankinde: and thus much for their original, natural and prodigious.

The Irish ground is most happie, and it seemeth lesse sinfull, since it is free from contagion of these venomous creatures: but, non omnis fert omnia tellus, every ground brings not forth all kind of fruites :" this land were happie if it were less fertile in these contagious kinds of serpents, which I ascribe not to the nature of the earth, but to the sinfull nature of men.

In Phrygia and Ethiopia are many dragons, and serpents, and these were, as Augustine affirmeth, in the hollow places of the earth, and not only in forraine and farre remote countries, but also in neighbouring and nere adjoyning nations: and first of all there was a serpent or winged dragon brought unto Francis the French King, when he lay at Sancton, by a countryman, who had slain it with a spade: Chisuen also saith, that, in the yeare of our Lord 1543, there came many serpents with feete, and winges, into Stiria, who wounded the inhabitants incurably.