B5 r- I
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORIE.
Ipccially in lo long and happy a time of peace, either ignominioufly reported, or exceedingly condemned : which fmgular opportunity, it fomc other people our neighbors had beene blefled with, their proteftations are often and vehc- mcntjthcy would farre otherwifc haue vfed. And that the trueth and euidencc hcerofmay better appcare, thelearethc very words of Po/'/Z/w^r^ inhisbookc c ailed l! admiral de Frame, and printed at Paris, fol. 73. paj^. 1,2, The occafion of his fpccch is the commendation of the Rhodians,whobeing(as we are)lflan- ders, were excellent in nauigation, whereupon he woondercth muchthatthe Englilli hiould not furpaflc in that qualitie, in this fort : Ce qui m'afaitautrejfois rechercher Us occafiotJS,qut empe/chent,que tes ylnglois^qui ontd' ejprit^e mojens,^ vti- teurajfezfoursaquerirvn grand honeitrfarmitoui Us Chrejiiem^ejc font flusvaloir fur (tUmcnt qui lew eft, ^ doit eftreplns nature I qua autrespeupUs : qui Uur deiuent cederenlaftru£ture, accommodement ^police de nauires : comme t ajveuenplufieurs endroitsfarmieux. Thus both hcaring,and reading the obloquic ofour nation, and finding few or none ofour owne men able to replie heerin : and further,noc feeing any man to haue care to recomend to the world, the induftrious labors, and paincfuU traucls ofour countrey men : for (lopping the mouthes of the rc- prochcrs,my felfe being the lafl winter returned from France with the honora* blc the Lady Shcf!ield,forhcr pafHng good behauior highly cfteemed in all the French court, determined notwithftanding all difficulties, to vndertake the burden of thatworke whcrin all others pretended either ignorance, orlacke of k-afure, orwantof fufficient argument, whereas (toipcakctrucly) the huge toile,and the fmall profit to infue, were the chiefe caufes of the reiufall . I call thcworkc a burden, in confidcrationthat thefe voyages lay fo difperfedjfcattc- red, and hidden in fcuerall huckflcrs hands, that 1 now woonder at my fclte,to fee how I was able to endure the dclayes, curiority,andbackwardne(re ofmany from whom I was to receiue my originals : fo that I haue iuft caufe to make that complaint of the malicioufnes of diucrs in our time , which Plinic made of the
o't'^yitM/L ™^" of his age : yft nos ekhoratays abfiondere atij^ fupprimere cupitau^, c^Jraudarc
'yal^"^"^*" vitametiam alienis bonis, (^c.
To harpe n o longer vpon this ftring,& to fpcake a word of that iuft commen- dation which our nation doe indeed dcfcrue ; it can not be denied, but as in all former ages, they haue bene menfull of adiuity, ftirrers abroadjandfearchcrs of the remote parts of the world, fo in this moft famous and peerlefle goueme- ment ofhcr moft excellent Maiefty, her fubieds through the fpcciall affiftancc,
- v^ and bleffing of God, in fcarching the moitoppofite corners and quarters of the
world, and to fpeake plainly, in compaffing the vafte globe of the earth more then once,hauc excelled all the nations and people of the earth. For, which of the kings of this land before her Maiefty, had theyr banners euer feenc in the Cafpianfea? whicho£themhatheuerdealtwiththeEmperorofPerfia,asher Maiefty hath done,and obteined for her merchants large & louin g priuilegc? ? who euer faw before this rcgiment,an EnglilTi Ligier in the ftately porch of the Grand Signor at Conftantinople? who euer found EnglifhConluls & Agents at Tripolis in Syria, at Aleppo, at Babylon, at Balfara,and which is more, who euer heard of EnghOiman at Goabefore now? what En glifli lliippes did heere- tofore euer anker in the mighty riuer of Plate ? pafle and rcpafTe the vnpafTablc (in former opinion) ftraight of Magellan , range along the coaft of Chili, Peru, andallthebackfideofNouaHirpania,furtherthenanyChriftianeuerpafred, traucrs the mighty bredth of the South fea. land vpon the Luzones in defpight
otthecncmy,cnterintoalliance,amity,andtraffifeewiththeprincesofthcMo- Ill"in"'?c '^^ °"3"'»'«'o"Wc the famous Cape of Bona Speranza, ariuc at the lUe of Santa Hclcna,&laft of al teturnc home moft richly lad€ with the c6- ' ' ' " modities
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