Bereft of every thing he possessed, a prisoner as well as the others, poor
Drebbel would perhaps have undergone the same lot if the High Mighty States
of the United Provinces had not sent a message to the King of England,
asking him to interfere in their countryman's favour. They succeeded in
their benevolent request for his English Majesty obtained at last from his
son-in-law, the Dutch philosopher's liberation, who (I don't exaggerate)
was _made a present of_ to the British king; maybe as a sort of _lion_,
which the king of Morocco had never yet thought of bestowing upon the
monarch as a regal offering.
Drebbel, however, did not forget how much he owed to the intercession of
King James, and, to show his gratitude, presented him with an object of
very peculiar make. I will try to give you an exact version of its not very
clear description in the Dutch book.
"A glass or crystal globe, wherein he blew or made a perpetual
motion by the power of the four elements. For every thing which
(by the force of the elements) passes, in a year, on the surface
of the earth (sic!) could be seen to pass in this cylindrical
wonder in the shorter lapse of twenty-four hours. Thus were
marked by it, all years, months, days, hours; the course of the
sun, moon, planets, and stars, &c.
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