such vanity, but let them that feare thee, reioyce & be glad in thee, & let them know, that it is thou O Lord, that raignest in England, & vnto the ends of the world. And seeing this work must needs expose vs to many miseries, & dangers of soule & bodie, by land & sea, O Lord we earnestly beseech thee to receiue vs into thy fauour & protection, defend vs from the delusion of the diuel, the malice of the heathe, the inuasions of our enemies, & mutinies & dissentions of our own people, knit our hearts altogether in faith & feare of thee, & loue one to another, giue vs patience, wisedome & constancy to goe on through all difficulties & temptations, til this blessed work be accomplished, for the honour of thy name, & glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: That when the heathe do know thee to be their God, and Jesus Christ to be their saluation, they may say, blessed be the King & Prince of England, & blessed be the English nation, and blessed for euer be the most high God, possessor of heauen & earth, that sent them amongst vs: And heere O Lord we do vpon the knees of our harts offer thee the sacrifice of praise & thanksgiuing, for that thou hast moued our harts to undertake the performance of this blessed work, with the hazard of our person, and the hearts of so many hundreds of our nation to assist it with meanes & prouision, and with their holy praiers, Lord looke mercifully vpon them all, and for that portion of their substance which they willingly offer for thy honour & seruice in this action, recompence it to them and theirs, and reward it seuen fold into their bosomes with better blessings: Lord blesse England our sweet natiue countrey, saue it from Popery, this land from heathenisme, & both from Atheisme. And Lord heare their praiers for vs, and vs for them, and Christ Jesus our glorious Mediator for vs all. Amen.

DESCRIPTION

OF THE BARMVDAS,

NOW CALLED SOMMER

ILANDS.

With the manner of their discouerie ANNO 1609. by the shipwrack and admirable deliuerance of Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Sommers, wherein are truly set forth the commodities and profits of that Rich, Pleasant, and Healthfull

COVNTRI E.

WITH

An Addition, or more ample relation of

diuers other remarkeable matters concerning those
Ilands since then experienced, lately sent
from thence by one of the Colonie now

there resident.

ECCLESIASTES 3: 11.

God hath made euery thing beautifull in his time.

LONDON,

Printed by W. Stansby, for W. Welby.

161 3.

Force's Collection of Historical Tracts.

VOL. III.-No. 3.

NORABLE AND RIGHT WORTHY KNIGHT SIR THOMAS SMITH, TREASVRER for the Colonies and Companies of VIRGINIA: and Gouernour of Muscouia, East-India, North-west Passage,

H

and SOMMER Ilands

Companies.

ONORABLE SIR, the wisest of Men, or rather the wisedome of God tells vs, Eccles. 3.1. that there is a time for all things:

and that the great God, who at his owne will beganne Time it selfe, doth at his owne time beginne all things else: the foolishnesse of men may aske and muse why was this so soone, and that so late? but the wisedome of God knowes what is fit for euery time: And surely amongst the sensible signes, and euident demonstrations of Gods all-gouerning prouidence, this is not the least, that he brings not forth his mightie works altogether, but makes every thing beautifull in his time. And as in Eccl. 3. 11. his creation he made not al at once, but produced them

in their seuerall daies: so in his gubernation, he reueileth not the knowledge of all things in one Age, but discouers them in the seuerall ages of the World. And if man aske why God doth thus, holy David giues the answere; The Lord hath done Psal. 111.4. his marvailous works, that they should be had in re

membrance; for were they all in one age (such is our corruption) they would bee lesse obserued and sooner forgotten, but being declared in their seuerall times, euery Age finds matter to magnifie God; And therefore He whose glorious name Psal. 72.19. is to be praised for euer, reueils some meruailous thing

in euery generation, that so his name may be praised from Generation to Generation.

Mans works are for the most part (as Christ saith of the Wine that is serued in at feasts) best at first, and afterwards worse but with God it is cōtrarie; for as in the Creation, though euery daies worke was good, yet each daies was Gen. 1. better then the former, and the last best of all: So in his dispensation and gouernement of the world, all knowledge

was

was not reueiled, nor all good things made knowne at the first, but day vnto day vttereth, and night to night (and

Psal. 19.2. why not also, age vnto age) teacheth knowledge.

And hence is it that as great secrets in nature, and as admirable perfections in art, and as rare inuentions, and profitable experiments (euery way) are daily discouered in these latter ages, as were in the former. There be not yet two hundred yeares It began past since the admirable art of Printing was found out, about the an inuention so excellent and so vsefull, so much tendyeare 1450. ing to the honour of God, the manifestation of the truth, propagation of the Gospell, restoration of learning, diffusion of knowledge, and consequently the discouerie and destruction of Poperie, that the Pope and Popish Politicians wish it had neuer beene, and haue bestowed many a secret curse vpon him that first reueiled it; and no meruaile, for it hastens and helps forward his confusion more then all the Mechanicke mysteries in the World. Nor is yet foure hundred yeares agoe, since the superadmirable vse of the Loadstone was found out. The attraction of yron vnto it was seene by Aristotle, and the Ancients, and it amazed them: But the correspondencie it hath with the Pole-starre, and consequently the excellent vse of it for Nauigation (being one of the greatest wonders of the world) was not knowne to them: nay (which is more strange) not the Apostles themselues; for had it beene, Acts 27, surely Saint Paul and his companie had not beene almost halfe a yeare in his voyage betwixt ludæa and Italie, and that through so many difficulties, and at last shipwrack; Nor would it haue beene said, that when neither Sunne Vers. 20. nor Starre appeared for many dayes, all hope of being saued was taken away. For when neither Sunne nor Starre appeares; yet by the helpe of this poore dead Creature, the Pilot can tell where he is, and knowes his course, more certainely now in the wide and vnmeasurable Ocean, then they could in the narrow Mediterran Sea; and more easily now will an ordinarie Sea-man goe to the West Indies, then S. Paul with all the knowledge God had then reueiled, from Ierusalem to Rome for howsoeuer the Lord was miraculously powerfull in the Apostles, and glorious and wonderfull in the Primitiue Church, in giuing knowledge of tongues, and other learning, and power of miracles, yet he did bound and limit it at his owne pleasure, and reserued this and other of his wonderfull works to be made knowne in the later times, that so all men in all ages Psa.102.26, may know, that though all things perish, yet God endures; and though all creatures waxe old as a garment, yet He is the same still and for euer.