Your Predecessors in former Ages, had both serious Consultations, and Considerations, before they made those many Wholesome and Good Lawes, for the Preservation of Wood, and Timber, of this Kingdome, 1 Eliz. 15. 23 Eliz. 5. 27 Eliz. 19. 28 Eliz. 3. 5. in whose dayes, and since in King James’s Reign, Ships in most Ports and Rivers of this Kingdom, (Thames Excepted) might have been built, for forty Shillings per Tunn; but now they can hardly be built for treble the value, wood and timber is so much decayed; therefore men of War, Trade of Merchants, of Fishing, of Navigating, unto Plantations will decay, if not timely prevented, which is hoped will be one of Your Principallest Cares, seeing our Enemies have carried Timber from England, and the Iron Works have much exhausted it; For the prevention of so great a Consumption, almost incureable: First is to put the Wholesome Laws in Execution; Secondly, not to permit Timber to be Exported. Thirdly, to animate, as King James did, and also Prince Henry, the making of Iron in England, Scotland, and Wales with Pit-cole, Sea-cole, and Peate; which if the Authour (who had a Pattent for it) had not been opposed, after he had made much good Iron with Pit-cole, it had long since, by his Inventions, been fully perfected. The Fourth is, to stop all the Exportation of Pit-cole, and Sea-cole (paying His Majesties Duty) if the Cole be in a fit place, to make Iron therewith. Fifthly, That the Authour, or his Agents may have power to preserve many thousand Tuns of Pit-cole, which are annually destroyed, for ever in England, Scotland, and Wales, which are fit to make Iron; and the Authour in this Treatise hath demonstrated it, being moved with pitty, seeing his Native Country decaying, Humbly offers but his Judgement, and leaves the grave consideration thereof, to your Learned, and more serious Consultations and Actings, praying that you may animate good things, and new inventions, that may bring unto His Sacred Majesty, and all Loyal Subjects, Safety, Strength, Wealth, and Honour by our Ships, and Men of War, Fishing, Navigation, and Merchandizing, unto Foreign Nations; but more especially, to and from the Territories of Great Brittain, our North Indies abounding in Mines and Minerals, that they that are of the Honourable Corporations of Mines Royal, and Batteries, or any others, would lay in a Common, or Joynt Stock, fully to set the Mines at Work, by imploying our idle, and burdensom supernumerary people therein, Iron, Tin, Lead, Copper, Quicksilver, Silver and Gold, besides many other Minerals, and Marcesit’s, Lapis Calaminaris, Antimonie, Maganes, &c. also many Mineral Earths and Precious Stones: Did I call Great Brittain our North Indies? give me leave to repeat a passage till further satisfaction, of King Josina of Scotland, a great Phylosopher, Physitian, and Herbalist, living before Christ, 161 years, at which time, two venerable Phylosophers and Priests passing from Portugall to Athens, their Ship and Company, and Marriners, all perished at Ros, they only saved; after refreshing, and good Entertainment, the King desired of them what they understood by their Science of the Nature of the Ground of Scotland; after deliberate advisement, said, There was more Riches and Profit to be gotten within the Veins of the Earth of Scotland, then above, for the winning of Mines and Metals; They knew this by the Influence of the Heavens: This you may see in the Chronicles of Scotland.
My Dear Master, our Sacred Martyr, Charles the First of ever Blessed Memory, did animate the Authour by Granting him a Pattent, Anno 14 of his Reign, for the making of Iron, and Melting, Smelting, Extracting, Refining, and Reducing all Mines and Metals with Pit-cole, Sea-cole, Peat and Turf, which was Extinct, and Obstructed by reason of the War; and had not this unnatural and unparallel’d War been, His late Sacred Majesty himself had set at work many of His Mines, and much good had been produced to Great Brittain before this time.
At present, the Authour is in good hope, and incessantly prayes, that the Mines be set at Work in his dayes, by the Honourable Corporation of the Mines Royal, for he verily believeth the time to be near, when the Omnipotent God, before he Judge the World in Fire, will shew His Omnipotency unto the Nations, by revealing of the wonderful and incredible things of Nature, of which the Learned do believe very many to be, in the Mineral Kingdome, by working of Mines and Fusion of Metals, gotten by honest labour under ground, profitable to Man, and Acceptable with God.
I might here speak somewhat of Superiour Planets producing Metal, Saturn, Lead: Iupiter, Tin: Mars, Iron: but these abound in Great Brittain, so do the Inferiour Planets produce Venus, Copper: Mercury, Quicksilver: Luna, Silver.
If God permit me health and leasure from Sutes and Troubles, not onely to write of them, but also the manner of the Melting, Extracting, Refining, and Reducing of them with Pit-cole, Sea-cole, Peat, &c. In the interim to let you know that Great Brittain abounds with Copper Mines, much neglected, yet of great use for Ordnance, at Land, and also at Seas, and for the making of Brass, with our Lapis Calaminaris, so much Exported by the Dutch, which doth hinder our manufactories of Brass, and causes the Dutch and Swedes to raise the price of Copper and Brass ever since our small loss at Sea by the Dutch. Mercury, Quicksilver is not wanting, but few Artists have made any Experiment of that Mine in this Kingdome.
Luna, Silver doth abound in Great Britain, especially a very Rich Vein, Rake, or Fibrey thereof was wrought at Binnyhills near Lithgo in Scotland, in the Authors dayes, some part of which he hath, is malleable Silver in the Oare or Mine, yet neglected. And so are many of our richest Mines in England and Wales, &c. the cause is conceived to be the want of a general and joynt-stock for the imploying our idle people in getting, and working of the Copper, and Silver Mines. Of the Planet Sol, Gold: I may not be silent, whose Golden, Glorious, Pure, Sulphurious, Percing, Spirit, communicating his virtue Mineral unto all things in the Mineral Kingdom, as well as to the Animal and Vegetable Kingdom, whose pure influence producing Gold, caused the poor indigent people of Scotland, which the Author did see, Anno 37, at Shortlough, six men to dig and carry with wheele-barrows, the common Earth or Mould unto Rivolets remote, out of which those men did wash Gold-grains, as good as in the sand of the Rivers, in which Rivers many have gotten Gold, and seen grains of Sol, near one ounce weight, both in the Low-lands, and in the High-lands; also he hath seen Gold gotten in England, but not so plentiful as in Scotland: For Sir James Hope, An. 1654, brought from Scotland, Baggs of Gold Grains unto Cromwell, some of which Grains were very large, and as fine as any Gold in the world, that is in Mines; thus I came to see the Baggs, taking a view of the Low-lands and High-lands of Scotland, Anno 37, in which year, I spent the whole Summer (in opening of Mines, and making of discoveries) was at Sir James Hopes Lead Hills, near which I got Gold, and he coming to London, imployed Captain David Acheson, a Refiner, whom I met with in Scotland, Anno 37, to find me out; when I came unto Sir James Hope, dwelling in White Hall, he produced the Baggs unto me, and poured the Gold out upon a board, in which was one large piece of Gold, which had to it adjoyning a large piece of white spar very transparent, which Cap. David Acheson yet living at Edenburgh saw; but I would never Act with Sir James Hope, hoping of these times to see good things acted, for I believe God is about to reveal many of his secrets, unto his Israel in this latter Age, which made me not to Answer the Letter of Sir James Hope, as followeth.
Edinburgh 26. June 1654.
Sir, If I had found the opportunity before my parting, I purposed to have been a sutor to you, and I perswade myself you are so kinde and generously disposed, that you would have answered my desire, and therefore also even at this distance adventure to offer it: And it is that you would confer upon me one breviate of your journey through the North of Scotland; as to the discovery of Minerals upon some account, and at first view, this may seem as unreasonable of me desired, as improbable that you should grant it, but the circumstance of time and persons and substance of the things considered, I am not altogether out of hope of it; onely, I shall say, if you condescend to me in this, though it be more in satisfaction, to my curiosity, then for any designe I have upon the matter; yet you shall singularly oblige me to indeavour and be ready as opportunity shall offor, to expresse my thankfulnesse, in what way you will prescribe, that is in the power of;
your very affectionate brother