Works of Joseph Hall, Section 11 – Section 12
SECT. XI.
BVT perhaps it is not the learning of the Schoole, but of the State, wherein our Traueller hopes for perfection: The ſite and forme of Cities, the faſhion of gouernment, the manners of people, the raiſing and rate of forraine reuennues, the deportment of Courts, the menaging both of war and peace, is that wherein his owne eye ſhall be his beſt intelligencer; the knowledge whereof ſhall well requite his labour, whether for diſcourſe or for vſe. What if I ſay, that (ſaue the ſoothing vp of our fancie in all this) theſe leſſons may be as well taken out at home? I hauehave knowne ſome that hauehave trauelled no further than their owne cloſet, which could both teach and correct the greateſt Traueller, after all his tedious and coſtly pererrations: what doe wee but loſe the benefit of ſo many iournals, maps, hiſtoricall deſcriptions, relations, if we cannot with theſe helps, trauell by our owne fire-ſide? He that trauels into foraine Countries, talks perhaps with a Peaſant, or a Pilgrim, or a Citizen, or a Courtier; and muſt needs take ſuch information as partiall rumour, or weake coniecture can giuegive him; but he that trauels into learned and credible Authors, talks with them who hauehave ſpent themſelues in bolting out the truth of all paſſages; and who hauing made their labours publike, would hauehave beene like to heare of it, if they had miſ-reported. The ordinary Traueller propounds ſome prime Cities to himſelfe, and thither he walkes right forward; if he meet with ought that is memorable in the way, he takes it vp; but how many thouſand matters of note fall beſide him, on either hand; of the knowledge whereof he is not guilty: Whereas ſome graue and painfull Author hath collected into one view, whatſoeuer his Countrey affoords worthy of marke; hauing meaſured many a foule ſtep for that, which wee may ſee dry-ſhod; and worne out many yeeres in the ſearch of that, which one houre ſhall make no leſſe ours, than it was his owne. To which muſt be added, that our vnperfect acquaintance may not hope to finde ſo perfect information on the ſudden, as a naturall inhabitant may get, by the diſquiſition of his whole life. Let an Italian or French paſſenger walke thorow this our Iland, what can his Table-bookes carry home, in compariſon of the learned Britaine of our Camden, or the accurate Tables of Speed? Or if one of ours ſhould (as too many do) paſſe the Alpes, what pittances can his wild iourny obſerue, in compariſon of the Itinerarie of Fr. Schottus, and Capugnanus? Or he that would diſcourſe of the Royalties of the French Lillies, how can he be ſo furniſhed by flying report, as by the elaborate gatherings of Caſſaneus or of Degraſſalius? What ſhould I bee infinite? This age is ſo full of light, that there is no one countrey of the habitable world, whoſe beames are not croſſed and interchanged with other; Knowledge of all affaires, is like muſicke in the ſtreets, whereof thoſe may partake, which pay nothing. Wee doe not lie more open to one common ſinne, than to the eies and pens of our neighbours; Euen China it ſelfe, and Iaponia, and thoſe other remoteſt Iſles, and Continents (which hauehave taken the ſtricteſt order for cloſeneſſe) hauehave receiued ſuch diſcoueries, as would rather ſatisfie a Reader, than prouoke him to amend them. A good booke is at once the beſt companion, and guide, and way, and end of our iourney. Neceſſity droue our forefathers out of doores, which elſe in thoſe miſty times had ſeene no light: wee may with more eaſe, and no leſſe profit, ſit ſtill, and inherit, and enioy the labours of them, and our elder brethren, who hauehave purchaſed our knowledge with much hazard, time, toyle, expence, and hauehave beene liberall of their bloud (ſome of them) to leaue vsus rich.
SECT. XII.
AS for that verball diſcourſe, wherein I ſee ſome place the felicity of their Trauell (thinking it the only grace, to tel wonders to a ring of admiring ignorants) it is eaſie to anſwer; that table-talke is the leaſt care of a wiſe man; who like a deepe ſtreame deſires rather to runne ſilent; and as himſelfe is ſeldome tranſported with wonder, ſo doth he not affect it in others; reducing all to vſe, rather than admiration, and more deſiring to benefit, than aſtoniſh the hearer; withall, that the ſame meanes which enable vsus to know, doe at once furniſh vsus with matter of diſcourſe, and for the forme of our expreſſion, if it proceed not from that naturall dexteritie which we carry with vsus, in vaine ſhall wee hope to bring it home; the change of language is rather an hinderance to our former readineſſe; and if ſome hauehave fetcht new noſes, and lips, and eares from Italie (by the helpe of Tagliacotius, and his ſchollars) neuer any brought a new tongue from thence. To conclude, if a man would giuegive himſelfe leaue to be thus vaine and free, like a mill without a ſcluſe, let him but trauell thorow the world of bookes, and he ſhall eaſily be able to out-talke that tongue, whoſe feet hauehave walkt the furtheſt; what hath any eye ſeene, or imagination deuiſed, which the pen hath not dared to write? Out of our bookes we can tell the ſtories of the Monocelli, who lying vponupon their backs, ſhelter themſelues from the Sunne with the ſhadow of their one only foot. We can tell of thoſe cheape-dieted men, that liue about the head of Ganges, without meat, without mouthes, feeding only vponupon aire at their noſthrils: Or of thoſe headleſſe Eaſterne people, that hauehave their eyes in their breaſts (a miſ-conceit ariſing from their faſhion of attire, which I hauehave ſometimes ſeene): Or of thoſe Coromandae, of whom Pliny ſpeakes, that couer their whole body with their eares: Or of the perſecutors of S. Thomas of Canterbury, whoſe poſteritie (if we beleeue the confident writings of Degraſſalius) are borne with long and hairie tailes, ſouping after them; which (I imagine) gaue occaſion to that prouerbiall ieſt, wherewith our mirth vſes to vpbraid the Kentiſh: Or of Amazons, or Pigmees, or Satyres, or the Samarcandean Lambe, which growing out of the earth by the nauell, grazeth ſo farre as that naturall tether will reach: Or of the Bird Ruc, or ten thouſand ſuch miracles whether of nature, or euent. Little need wee to ſtirre our feet to learne to tell either loud lies, or large truths. We hauehave heard a bird in a cage ſing more change of notes, than others hauehave done in the wilde liberty of the wood. And as for the preſent occurrences of the time, the world about vsus is ſo full of Preſſes, that it may, and is growne ſo good a fellow, that it will impart what it knowes to all the neighbours: whoſe relations, if ſometimes they ſwarue from truth, we may well conſider, what variety of report eueryevery accident will yeeld; and that therefore our eares abroad are no whit more credible, than our eyes at home. Yea rather, as Tully could ſay, that at Antium he could heare the newes of Rome, better than at Rome, ſo may we oft-times better heare and ſee the newes of France, or Spaine, vponupon our Exchange, than in their Paris, or Madrill: Since (what liberty ſoeuer tongues may take to themſelues) a diſcreet man will be aſhamed to ſubſcribe his name to that, whereof hee may be afterwards conuinced.