Of the Chaldeans, and their original.

From the fame.

Have fhewn, that the diftinction made by Africanus, Eufebius, and others, between Chaldean and Arabian kings, is void of all foundation and, were the lift, that they produce, genuine, it would determine the point againft them. All that can be efteemed true in the feries they produce, is the names of thofe who are foremoft in the lift. And, how ever mistaken they may have been in thofe that follow; yet, fetting them afide, we may learn, in refpect to the Chaldeans, what was the opinion of thefe writers, and what tradition had thought them; that Ham, Chus, and Nimbrod were the heads of this nation. And as the Chaldeans were the moft ancient inhabitants of the country called by their name; there are no other principals, to whom we may refer their original. They feem to have been the moft early conftituted, and fettled, of any people upon earth: And from their fituation it appears, and from every other circumstance, that Chus was the head of their family, and Nimbrod their first king.

They

feem to have been the only people, that did not migrate at the general difperfion and the centre of their province was at Ur, not far from the conflux of the Tigris and Euphrates. From hence they extended themselves under the names of Cufeans and Arabians, as far as Egypt weft, and eastward to the Ganges; occupying to the fouth all the Afiatic fea-coaft, and the whole of the large continent of Arabia: And from thence they paffed the

Erythrean gulf, and penetrated into Ethiopia. They were continually incroaching upon those that were nearest to them; and even trefpaffed upon their own brotherhood. In procefs of time they got full poffeffion of Egypt, and the whole coaf of Africa upon the Mediterranean even to the Atlantic ocean, as far as Fez and Taffilet: and are to be found within the tropics almoft as lowas the Gold coaft. Upon the Gambia is the king of Barfally, of Arabian extraction, as are all the Phooley nations; who retain their original language, and are of the religion of Mahomet. One of thefe, Job Ben Solomon by name, was not many years fince in England. He had been unjustly feized on by a prince, his neighbour, and carried to America, where he was fold for a flave; but writing an affecting account of his misfortune in his native tongue, it raifed the curiofity, as well as pity, of fome perfons of confequence in thefe parts; who redeemed him, and fent for him over; and having fhewn him fingular marks of favour, at his requeft difpatched him to his

me." Then the king gave him a purfe of gold, and difmiffed him.

He followed the king's directions. And, when he faw the bat. tle was loft, and the king killed,, he hafted to London, fold his horfe and fine cloaths; and the better to conceal himfelf from all fufpicion of being fon to a king, and that he might have means to live by his honest labour, he put himself appremice to a bricklayer. But, having a competent skill in the Latin tongue, he was unwilling to lofe it; and having an inclination alfo to reading, and no delight in the converfation of thofe he was obliged to work with, he generally fpent all the time he had to fpare in reading by himself.

Sir Thomas faid, "You are now old, and almost past your labour; I will give you the running of my kitchen as long as you live." He anfwered, "Sir, you have a numerous family; I have been ufed. to live retired; give me leave to build a houfe of one room for my felf, in fuch a field, and there, with your good leave, I will live and die." Sir Thomas granted his requeft; he built his houfe, and there continued to his death.

I fuppofe (tho' my lord did not. mention it) that he went to eat in the family and then retired to his hut. My lord faid, that there was no park at that time; but when the park was made, that house was taken into it, and continued stand- ing till his (my lord's) father palled it down. "But," faid my

he died, and find it to be about 81. For Richard III, was killed Auguft 23, 1485, (which fubftracted from 1550, there remains 65) to which add 16, (for the age of Richard Plantagenet at that time) and it makes 81. But, though he lived to that age, he could farce enjoy his retirement in his little houfe above two or three years, or a little more. For I find by Philpot, that Sir Thomas Moyle did not purchase the eftate of Eaftwell till about the year 1543 or 4. We may therefore reafonably fuppofe, that, upon his building a new houfe on his purchafe, he could not come to live in it till 1546, but that his workmen were conti nued to build the walls about his gardens, and other conveniences off from the houfe. And till he came to live in the houfe, he could not well have an opportunity of,ob, ferving how Richard Plantagenet retired with his book. So that it was probably towards the latter end of the year 1546, when Richard and Sir Thomas had the fore-mentioned dialogue together. Confequently, Richard could not build his houfe, and have it dry enough for him to live in, till the year 1547. So that he mutt be 77 or 78 years of age before he had his writ of *** I am, ease.

Dear Brother Will,

Your humble fervant,

THO. BRETT.

Sept. 1, 1733.

M

The

The teftimony of Clement Maydeftane, that the body of king Henry IV. was thrown into the Thames, and not buried at Canterbury. Tranflated from a Latin manufcript in the library of Benet college, Cambridge, M.IV.XCV111.

HIRTY days after the death

THI

of Henry IV. one of his domeftics came to the house of

the Holy Trinity, in Hounslow,

and dined there. And as the byftanders were talking at dinnertime of that king's irreproachable morals, this man faid to a certain efquire, named Thomas Madeftone, then fitting at table, "Whe ther he was a good man or not, God knows; but of this I am certain, that when his corpfe was carried from Westminster towards Canterbury, in a fmall veffel, in order to be buried there, I and two more threw his corpfe into the fea, between Berkengum and Gravefend. And (he added with an oath) we were overtaken by fuch a ftorm of winds and waves, that many of the Nobility, who follow. ed us in eight hips, were difperfed, fo as with difficulty to efcape being loft. But we, who were with the body, defpairing of our lives, with one confent threw it into the fea; and a great calm enfued. The coffin in which it lay, covered with cloth of gold, we carried with great folemnity to Canterbury, and buried it. The monks of Canterbury therefore fay, that the tomb (not the body) of Henry IV. is with us. As Peter faid of holy David, Acts xi."

As God Almighty is my witnefs and judge, I faw this man, and heard him fwear to my father,

tion and experience, that there T was difcovered by obferva

was in nature only feven different notes, or founds, or, as the poet calls them, "feptem difcrimina vocum," that every octave was a repetition of the fame note, only higher or lower. This truth, my fterious as it truly is, could not be fuffered to pafs (fuch is the vanity of human nature) without fome explication; and therefore was foon refolved into another mystery, viz. that these seven mufical notes were the expreffions of the fame tones, which the feven planets made in the different fpheres or revolutions. Pythagoras intro duced this new principle into the old Greek philofophy. Macrobius thinks he was the author of it; but Quintilian does not fcru ple to affirm, that it was taken from the tradition of more ancient times. However this was, it was a prevailing opinion among the old philofophers, efpecially the Pythagoreans. Among them, a man would have been thought to have had no mufic in his foul, who had difputed this fundamental princi ple. Macrobius fpeaks of it, as rifing almoft to demonftration. "Ex his inexpugnabili ratione collectum eft muficos fonos de fphaerarum cœleftium converfione procedere."

The

The ancient planetary fyftem was an unfettled thing: it differed often, as the dark conjectures of their philofophers furnished a variety of opinions without fixing upon one. But it appears from great authorities, that one of the moft popular and prevailing opinions was that which was afterwards called the Ptolemaic. The earth was in the centre, and then the reft of the planets in this order firft the Moon, then Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. As there were feven planets, the lyre had for this reafon feven ftrings: it was formed upon this plan to exprefs the harmony of the heavens. Varro calls the planetary fyftem "mobilem divûm lyram." And Quintilian takes it for granted, that the world was the great original from which the lyre was taken: mundum ipfum ejus ratione compofitum effe, quam poftea fit lyra imitata." One of the ancient musicians fays, that Mer

Saturn, Jupiter. Mars.

cury, the inventor of the old fevenftringed lyre, fitted it up and tuned it in imitation of those fpheres which the planets moved in.

Let us now come to Dion Caffius. What he fays upon the fubject amounts to this: That calling the days of the week by the names of the feven planets was a custom taken from the Egyptians; and, though not of very ancient date, was then become familiar among the Romans, and received among all nations: that this diftribution of the days was owing to the mufic of the ancients. One of their moft celebrated tunes was the Diateffaron; and ftriking the ftrings of the lyre, as that tune directed, would affign the days of the week to each planet, juft in that order, in which they are now ranged. There is no explaining this well, without giving a scheme of it. The planets in the order of the old Ptolemaic fyftem ftood thus:

Friday. Wednesday. Monday,

7

5

3

4

2

In