A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I

by Augustus De Morgan

[101] I have never seen the work. It is rare.

[102] The African explorer, born in Somersetshire in 1827, died at Bath in 1864. He was the first European to cross Central Africa from north to south. He investigated the sources of the Nile.

[103] Prester (Presbyter, priest) John, the legendary Christian king whose realm, in the Middle Ages, was placed both in Asia and in Africa, is first mentioned in the chronicles of Otto of Freisingen in the 12th century. In the 14th century his kingdom was supposed to be Abyssinia.

[104] "It is a profane and barbarous nation, dirty and slovenly, who eat their meat half raw and drink mare's milk, and who use table-cloths and napkins only to wipe their hands and mouths."

[105] "The great Prester John, who is the fourth in rank, is emperor of Ethiopia and of the Abyssinians, and boasts of his descent from the race of David, as having descended from the Queen of Sheba, Queen of Ethiopia. She, having gone to Jerusalem to see the wisdom of Solomon, about the year of the world 2952, returned pregnant with a son whom they called Moylech, from whom they claim descent in a direct line. And so he glories in being the most ancient monarch in the world, saying that his empire has endured for more than three thousand years, which no other empire is able to assert. He also puts into his titles the following: 'We, the sovereign in my realms, uniquely beloved of God, pillar of the faith, sprung from the race of Judah, etc.' The boundaries of this empire touch the Red Sea and the mountains of Azuma on the east, and on the western side it is bordered by the River Nile which separates it from Nubia. To the north lies Egypt, and to the south the kingdoms of Congo and Mozambique. It extends forty degrees in length, or one thousand twenty-five leagues, from Congo or Mozambique on the south to Egypt on the north; and in width it reaches from the Nile on the west to the mountains of Azuma on the east, seven hundred twenty-five leagues, or twenty-nine degrees. This empire contains thirty large provinces, namely Medra, Gaga, Alchy, Cedalon, Mantro, Finazam, Barnaquez, Ambiam, Fungy, Angoté, Cigremaon, Gorga, Cafatez, Zastanla, Zeth, Barly, Belangana, Tygra, Gorgany, Barganaza, d'Ancut, Dargaly, Ambiacatina, Caracogly, Amara, Maon (sic), Guegiera, Bally, Dobora, and Macheda. All of these provinces are situated directly under the equinoctial line between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer; but they are two hundred fifty leagues nearer our tropic than the other. The name of Prester John signifies Great Lord, and is not Priest [Presbyter] as many think. He has always been a Christian, but often schismatic. At the present time he is a Catholic and recognizes the Pope as sovereign pontiff. I met one of his bishops in Jerusalem, and often conversed with him through the medium of our guide. He was of grave and serious bearing, pleasant of speech, but wonderfully subtle in everything he said. He took great delight in what I had to relate concerning our beautiful ceremonies and the dignity of our prelates in their pontifical vestments. As to other matters I will only say that the Ethiopian is joyous and merry, not at all like the Tartar in the matter of filth, nor like the wretched Arab. They are refined and subtle, trusting no one, wonderfully suspicious, and very devout. They are not at all black as is commonly supposed, by which I refer to those who do not live under the equator or too near to it, for these are Moors as we shall see."

With respect to this translation it should be said that the original forms of the proper names have been preserved, although they are not those found in modern works. It should also be stated that the meaning of Prester is not the one that was generally accepted by scholars at the time the work was written, nor is it the one accepted to-day. There seems to be no doubt that the word is derived from Presbyter as stated in note [103] on page [71], since the above-mentioned chronicles of Otto, bishop of Freisingen about the middle of the twelfth century, states this fact clearly. Otto received his information from the bishop of Gabala (the Syrian Jibal) who told him the story of John, rex et sacerdos, or Presbyter John as he liked to be called. He goes on to say "Should it be asked why, with all this power and splendor, he calls himself merely 'presbyter,' this is because of his humility, and because it was not fitting for one whose server was a primate and king, whose butler an archbishop and king, whose chamberlain a bishop and king, whose master of the horse an archimandrite and king, whose chief cook an abbot and king, to be called by such titles as these."

[106] Thomas Fienus (Fyens) was born at Antwerp in 1567 and died in 1631. He was professor of medicine at Louvain. Besides the editions mentioned below, his De cometis anni 1618 appeared at Leipsic in 1656. He also wrote a Disputatio an coelum moveatur et terra quiescat, which appeared at Antwerp in 1619, and again at Leipsic in 1656.

[107] Libertus Fromondus (1587-c 1653), a Belgian theologian, dean of the College Church at Harcourt, and professor at Louvain. The name also appears as Froidmont and Froimont.

[108] L. Fromondi ... meteorologicorum libri sex.... Cui accessit T. Fieni et L. Fromondi dissertationes de cometa anni 1618.... This is from the 1670 edition. The 1619 edition was published at Antwerp. The Meteorologicorum libri VI, appeared at Antwerp in 1627. He also wrote Anti-Aristarchus sive orbis terrae immobilis liber unicus (Antwerp, 1631); Labyrrinthus sive de compositione continui liber unus, Philosophis, Mathematicis, Theologis utilis et jucundus (Antwerp, 1631) and Vesta sive Anti-Aristarchi vindex adversus Jac. Lansbergium (Philippi filium) et copernicanos (Antwerp, 1634).

[109] Snell was born at Leyden in 1591, and died there in 1626. He studied under Tycho Brahe and Kepler, and is known for Snell's law of the refraction of light. He was the first to determine the size of the earth by measuring the arc of a meridian with any fair degree of accuracy. The title should read: Willebrordi Snellii R. F. Cyclometricus, de circuli dimensione secundum Logistarum abacos, et ad Mechanicem accuratissima....