of the worst; As that, whereby a Man doth eate his Bread; In sudore vultus alieni: And besides, doth Plough upon Sundaies. But yet Certaine though it be, it hath Flawes; For that the Scriveners and Broakers, doe valew unsound Men, to serve their owne Turne. The Fortune, in being the First in an Invention, or in a Priviledge, doth cause sometimes a wonderfull Overgrowth in Riches; As it was with the first Sugar Man, in the Canaries: Therefore, if a Man can play the true Logician, to have as well Iudgement, as Invention, he may do great Matters; especially if the Times be fit. He that resteth upon Gaines Certaine, shall hardly grow to great Riches: And he that puts all upon Adventures, doth often times breake, and come to Poverty: It is good therefore, to guard Adventures with Certainties, that may uphold losses. Monopolies, and Coemption of Wares for Resale, where they are not restrained, are great Meanes to enrich; especially, if the Partie have intelligence, what Things are like to come into Request, and so store Himselfe before hand. Riches gotten by Service, though it be of the best Rise, yet when they are gotten by Flattery, Feeding Humours, and other Servile Conditions, they may be placed amongst the Worst. As for Fishing for Testaments and Executorships (as Tacitus saith of Seneca; Testamenta et Orbos, tanquàm Indagine capi;) It is yet worse; By how much Men submit themselves, to Meaner Persons, then in Service. Beleeve not much them, that seeme to despise Riches: For they despise them, that despaire of them; And none

Worse, when they come to them. Be not Penny-wise; Riches have Wings, and sometimes they Fly away of themselves, sometimes they must be set Flying to bring in more. Men leave their Riches, either to their Kindred; Or to the Publique: And moderate Portions prosper best in both. A great State left to an Heire, is as a Lure to all the Birds of Prey, round about, to seize on him, if he be not the better stablished in Yeares and Iudgement. Likewise Glorious Gifts and Foundations, are like Sacrifices without Salt; And but the Painted Sepulchres of Almes, which soone will putrifie, and corrupt inwardly. Therefore, Measure not thine Advancements by Quantity, but Frame them by Measure; and Deferre not Charities till Death: For certainly, if a Man weigh it rightly, he that doth so, is rather Liberall of an Other Mans, then of his Owne.

I

XXXV

Of Prophecies

MEANE not to speake of Divine Prophecies; Nor of Heathen Oracles; Nor of Naturall Predictions; But only of Prophecies, that have beene of certaine Memory, and from Hidden Causes. Saith the Pythonissa to Saul; To Morrow thou and thy sonne shall be with me. Homer hath these Verses.

At Domus Enea cunctis dominabitur Oris, Et Nati Natorum, & qui nascentur ab illis: A Prophecie, as it seemes, of the Roman Empire. Seneca the Tragedian hath these Verses. Venient Annis

Secula seris, quibus Oceanus
Vincula Rerum laxet, & ingens
Pateat Tellus, Typhisque novos
Detegat Orbes; nec sit Terris
Ultima Thule:

A Prophecie of the Discovery of America. The
Daughter of Polycrates dreamed, that Iupiter
bathed her Father, and Apollo annointed him:
And it came to passe, that he was crucified in

an Open Place, where the Sunne made his Bodie runne with Sweat, and the Raine washed it. Philip of Macedon dreamed, He sealed up his Wives Belly: Whereby he did expound it, that his Wife should be barren: But Aristander the Soothsayer, told him, his Wife was with Childe, because Men doe not use to Seale Vessells that are emptie. A Phantasme, that appeared to M. Brutus in his Tent, said to him; Philippis iterùm me videbis. Tiberius said to Galba. Tu quoque Galba degustabis Imperium. In Vespasians Time, there went a Prophecie in the East; That those that should come forth of Iudea, should reigne over the World: which though it may be was meant of our Saviour, yet Tacitus expounds it of Vespasian. Domitian dreamed, the Night before he was slaine, that a Golden Head was growing out of the Nape of his Necke: And indeed, the Succession that followed him, for many yeares, made Golden Times. Henry the Sixt of England, said of Henry the Seventh, when he was a Lad, and gave him Water; This is the Lad, that shall enioy the Crowne, for which we strive. When I was in France, I heard from one Dr. Pena, that the Q. Mother, who was given to Curious Arts, caused the King her Husbands Nativitie, to be Calculated, under a false Name; And the Astrologer gave a Iudgement, that he should be killed in a Duell; At which the Queene laughed, thinking her Husband, to be above Challenges and Duels: but he was slaine, upon a Course at Tilt, the Splinters of the Staffe of Mongomery, going in at his Bever. The triviall Prophecie,

which I heard, when I was a Childe, and Queene
Elizabeth was in the Flower of her Yeares, was;
When Hempe is sponne;
England's done.

Whereby, it was generally conceived, that after
the Princes had Reigned, which had the Princi-
piall Letters, of that Word Hempe, (which were
Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth)
England should come to utter Confusion: Which,
thankes be to God, is verified only, in the
Change of the Name: For that the Kings Stile,
is now no more of England, but of Britaine.
There was also another Prophecie, before the
year of 88. which I doe not well understand.
There shall be seene upon a day,
Betweene the Baugh, and the May,
The Blacke Fleet of Norway.
When that that is come and gone,

England build Houses of Lime and Stone
For after Warres shall you have None.

It was generally conceived, to be meant of the
Spanish Fleet, that came in 88. For that the
King of Spaines Surname, as they say, is Nor-
way. The Prediction of Regiomontanus;

Octogessimus octavus mirabilis Annus; Was thought likewise accomplished, in the Sending of that great Fleet, being the greatest in Strength, though not in Number, of all that ever swamme upon the Sea. As for Cleons Dreame, I thinke it was a lest. It was, that he was devoured of a long Dragon; And it was expounded of a Maker of Sausages, that troubled him exceedingly. There are Numbers of the like