[1] [2] [3] WYth howe great benefites thys I|lande of oures hathe béene indued from the beginning, I hope there is no god|ly man but wyll redily confeſſe, and yéelde vnto the Lorde God his due honour for the ſame. For we are bleſſed euery way, & there is no temporall commoditie neceſſary to bée had or craued by any nacion at Gods hand, that he hath not in moſt abundaunt maner beſtowed vpon vs Engliſhmen if we coulde ſée to vſe it, and be thankefull for the ſame. But alas (as I ſayd in ye chapter precedent,) wée loue to enrych them that care not for vs, but for our great commodities: and one tryfling toye not woorth the caryage, cõming (as the prouerbe ſaith), in thrée ſhyps from beyonde the ſea is more woorth with vs, thẽ a ryght good Iewel, eaſie to be had at home. They haue alſo the caſt to teach vs to neg|lect our owne thinges, for if they ſée that wée beginne to make any accounte of our com|modities (if it be ſo that they haue alſo ye like, in theyr owne countryes) they will ſodaine|ly abaſe the ſame, to ſo lowe a price that our gaine not beyng woorthy our trauaile, & the ſame commoditie with leſſe coſt ready to be had at home from other countries (though [page 115] but for a whyle) it cauſeth vs to gyue ouer our indeuours, and as it were by and by to forget the matter whereabout we went be|fore to, obteine them at their hands. And this is the onely cauſe wherefore one commody|ties are oft ſo litle eſtemed. Some of them cã ſay wtout any teacher, that they wil by ye caſe of a Foxe of an Engliſh man for a grote, & make him afterward giue twelue pence for the tayle. Woulde to God wée myght once wexe wyſer, and eache one indeuour that the common wealth of Englande may flouriſh againe in hir olde rate, and that our cõmo|dities may bée fully wrought at home, as cloth if you will, for an example and not ca|ryed out to be ſhorne and dreſſed abroade, whiles our clothworkers here doe ſterue and beg their bread, & for lacke of dayly practiſe, vtterly neglect to be ſkilfull in thys ſcience: But to my purpoſe. We haue in englãd gret plẽty of quick Syluer, Antimony, Sulphur, black Lead, and Orpiment red and yealow. We haue alſo the fineſt Alume (wherein the diligence of one of the greateſt fauourers of the common wealth of England (of a ſub|iect) hath béene of late egregiouſly abuſed, & euen almoſt with barbarous inciuility) the natural Cinnabarum or Vermilion the Sul|phurus glebe called Bitumen, in olde tyme vſed for morter, and yet burned in lampes: where Oyle is ſcant and geaſon, the Cry|ſocolla, Coperous, ye Minerall ſtone, wher|of Petreolum is made) and that which is moſt ſtraunge, the minerall Pearle, which as they are for greatneſſe and coulour moſt excellent of all other, ſo are they digged out of the maine land, and in ſundry places farre diſtãt from the ſhore. Of Colemines we haue ſuch plentie in the North. And Weſterne partes of our Iſlande as may ſuffice for all the Realme of Englande, and ſo muſt they doe hereafter in déede, if woode be not better cheriſhed then it is at this preſent, and to ſay the truth, notwithſtanding that very many of them are caryed into other Countryes of the maine, yet theyr greateſt trade begin|neth nowe to growe from the Forge into ye Kitchin and Hall appeare already as maye in moſt Cities and Townes that lye about the coſt, where they haue little other fewell, except it be turfe, and haſſocke. I marueyle not a little that there is no trade of theſe into Suſſex and Southampton ſhire, for want whereof the Smithes doe worke theyr yron with charre coale. I thinke that farre carri|age be the only cauſe, which is but a ſlender excuſe, to inforce vs to carye them vnto the mayne from thence.
[1] Beſide our coale pittes we haue pyttes in lyke ſorte of white plaſter, and of f [...]lte and white Marie, wherewith in many places the inhabitors doe compeſt their ſoile. We haue Salte Peter for our ordinaunce, and Salt Soda for our glaſſe, and therto in one place a kinde of earth (in Sothe [...]ey as I wéene harde by Codington, and ſometime in the tenure of one Croxton of London) which is ſo fine to make mouldes for goldſmithes & caſters of mettal, that a lode of it was worth fiue ſhyllinges thirtie yeares a gone. None ſuch againe they ſay in England. But whe|ther there be or not, let vs not be vnthanke|full to God for theſe and other his benefites beſtowed vpon vs, wherby he ſheweth hym|ſelfe a louing and mercifull father vnto vs, which contrarywyſe returne vnto hym in lew of humilitie and obedience, nothing but wickedneſſe, auarice, méere contempt of hys will, and notable ingratitude.