your honour, I assure you that I, that am minimum philosophorum, dyd long sense (as I have to wytnesse Mr. Thomas Whalley, th' elder soonne of Mr. Richard Whalley) woorke and secreate practise sumwhat like unto this, in maner as foloweth[1]:—I dissolved two substances in two waters; then I put the waters togyther in a glasse, suffering them so to remayne for a tyme. Then I stilled of the water from the masse or chaos lefte of them bothe, and put it on agen, and so dyd dyvers tymes. In fine, the masse being dissolved in the water, I let it rest all night in a coulde place. In the morning, I founde swymming on the water and in the myddest therof a little round iland, as brode as riall or sumwhat more, with at the least a hundreth sylver trees about an ynche high, so perfectly formed with trunkes, stalkes and leaves, all of most pure and glystering sylver, that I suppose no lymner or paynter is able to counterfecte the like. Then shaking the glasse, all fell in pieces into the water, and filled it with glystering sparkes, as the firmament shyneth with starres in a cleare wynter night. Then putting the glasse to a softe fyre uppon warme asshes, all turned agen into clear water, which, agen being put in a colde place all night, made an iland with the like trees as before. What this wolde have been in fine, God knoweth, and not I! But of this I am sure, that if the floure or learning of our tyme, and sumtyme tutor and brother-in-lawe unto your honour, Mr. Cheeke, had seene any of these two secreates, he wolde greatly have rejoysed. As I knowe the divine sparke of knowleage that is in your honour, partely receaved of hym, will move yow to doo the like, sythe, to a philosophicall and vertuous man, there is nothing so delectable as to beholde the infinite poure and wisdome of God in his creatures, in the which his Deitie is not only visible, but in maner palpable, as sum philosophers have written. And as touching these matters, I have red a marvelous sentence in an olde written booke, where these woordes are written: Qui potest facere mediam naturam, potest creare mundos novos. But to discourse of this oracle, or to interprete the same, it were to muche to molest your honour therwith: and an argument muche meeter for a seconde Socrates then for me. And of these secreates, writeth Roger Bacon in his booke before alleaged, where he hathe these woordes; Multa sunt archana admiranda in operibus artis et naturæ: Quæ licet multam utilitatem non habeant (habent vero
