Fratres nos sumus, (Frater Amantissime) et tamen (quod mirum videatur) diversis Matribus2, diversa terrâ educti, educati, atque exinde forte fortunâ evenit nos ex diversâ disciplinâ diversos mores, diversum inquam vitae genus imbibere, et retinere: Ego enim Can: Almae Matris alumnus, si forte eius nomen mereor, tanto amore, tanta cupiditate, et tam ingenti affectione divina eius tecta, et aedificia, sacrosancta Musarum praecepta, et illustres doctrinae fontes prosequor, et admiror, vt ibi inter divinas Philosophorum sedes, naturae secreta, natura in tacito quae tenet ipsa sinu, scrutari, et effodere, Philosophiae Labyrintha enucleare, et obscuras sacrarum literarum fontes, vt Astrologus stellarum motus, vt Agricola terrarum herbas, vt Oedipus Aenigmatum nodos, vt infans matris mammillas, (neque inde mirares me post omnes istos infantem ponere: omnes enim cum ad scientiam Theologiae perveniunt, licet non solum ϕιλοσοϕι sic, verum etiam vere 393σοϕι in caeteris omnibus habeantur, infantes sunt, Tyrones, et insipientes, atque cum omnia fecerunt hoc tantum sciunt, se nihil scire.) imbibere decrevi, et inceptis meis, studiisque Deo favente adipisci. vbi tamen longius peregrinationis iter, quam tu, suscipio, inter libros tamen est, vbi brevi temporis spatio ad Constantinopolem, imo ad Indos sicco pede liceat mihi navigare, nec per insulas redire infortunatas, nisi irato genio polus ingenii mei Arcticus nubulis absconderetur, adeo vt navis meae inventionis contra scopulos barbari sollosysmi naufragium faceret, vt Hispanus nescio quis in nonnulla Historiâ, qui post longam peregrinationis explicationem insolenti regnandi desiderio contra inbellem Prissianum3 bellum gerebat, et furioso verborum gladio caput ejus vulnerabat: nec mirum. Omnes enim Hispani tanto imperandi feruntur desiderio, vt nullus totius terrarum orbis angulus suarum virium relictus est imperitus.

Sed tamen amisso quaeramus seria ludo.4

Hic status, atque haec est rerum fortuna mearum: Tu autem in aliena terra nutritus relictâ patria incognitas gentes, moresque ignotos videndi, spectandi, cognoscendi laboras desiderio, atque i pede fausto, tecum deus inter maris scopulos sit dux, ad quem, tanquam ad asylum, et sacram vestrae salutis anchoram, confuge, vt confidas, confide vt salutem ab omnibus periculis vos omnes habeatis: ad cuius benedictionem, conservationem, et providentiam propter omnem foelicitatem mitto, et committo, idque propter Jesum Christum servatorem nostrum, qui est via, vita, et veritas omnibus sibi confugientibus. Vale, vt bene valeas cura: Tuus vsque ad mortem.

We are brothers (beloved brother); and yet, what may seem strange, brought up and educated by different mothers2 and on different soils, it happens that from our different discipline we have derived different habits, and pursue a different kind of life. I, indeed, an alumnus of Cambridge, my Alma Mater—if I may deserve that title—cling to her hallowed halls 394and chapels, to her sacred precepts of the Muses, and to her illustrious fountains of learning, with so much ardor and affection, and admire them all so greatly, that, there amid the divine abodes of philosophers, I have decided to search out and unravel the secrets which Nature still holds in her silent bosom, to penetrate the labyrinths of philosophy and the obscure sources of sacred letters, even as an astrologer observes the motions of the stars, as the husbandman the plants of the earth, as Oedipus his knotty enigmas, or as an infant clings to the mother’s breast; and with God’s blessing on my efforts and studies to acquire what I seek. Nor wonder that I name the infant after all those other searchers for truth; for all, indeed, when they come to the science of theology, though they may be esteemed as not only lovers of wisdom but even as already wise men in all other things, are but as infants, tyros, and simpletons, and, when they have done all, know only that they know nothing.

When, however, I enter on a longer journey than you have undertaken, it is only among my books; where in a little space of time I can sail to Constantinople, and even reach the Indies with a dry foot, not to return by any unfortunate islands, unless, by some angry fate, the north pole of my genius should be obscured by clouds, so that the ship of my invention should founder among the rocks of some barbarous solecism; even as some Spaniard or other, in some book of history, who, after a long extent of wandering, with an insolent desire of a kingdom, made war upon unwar-like Priscian, and wounded his head with a furious weapon of words. No wonder; for all Spaniards are so carried away with a desire for dominion, that no corner of the world is left unacquainted with their strength.

But, abandoning such trifling, let us turn to something serious. Here I am fixed, and such is the fortune of my life. But you, nourished on a foreign soil, your country left behind, are laboring with the desire of seeing unknown lands, and of beholding strange customs; and so go on with a fortunate foot, and may God be your guide among the rocks of the ocean. To him fly as to an asylum and the sacred anchor of your safety. Trust in him that you and those with you may all be safe from every peril. To whose blessing, preservation, and providence, beyond all other felicity, I commit and commend you, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour, who is the Way, the Life, and the Truth to all who make him their refuge. Farewell. Take care of your health. Thine until death,