they were not yet Improperly Created or so Made as it is said of the Air that God Made or fitted the Firmament therof or Expansum in the Second Day though they were Properly Created in the Begining in their several Bodys and Spheres but were then all in Rest and only the Spirit of God Moved among them and as the Irregular Winds and the Regular Courses of the Tides and of the Sun Moon and Starrs were not before or untill those other Elementary Bodys were Improperly Created so neither was there any Motion of the Earth wherof if we could suppose any such Motion yet we may not reasonably suppose it to have been before the Third Day and Improper Creation of the Earth therin concerning which I shall Discours heerafter and now only add one other Observation that as the Sun though farr less then one Hemisphere of the Aether yet maketh Day therin by his Emanant Rays so probably the Diurnal Light in this First Day did not fill one whole Hemisphere but only some such part therof as according to the Vigor and Extent of the Emanant Rays therof did make Day Artificial in one Hemisphere and perhaps with some such Crepuscula as the Sun now doth make for we may well conceiv that First Day and Night to have been Analogous to every Day since in all the general Circumstances therof besides only such as are more specialy superinduced in the Variations of sooner or later more or less by the Courses of the Sun and Moon wheras if that Diurnal Light Inherent should have filled one whole Hemisphere the Emanant Rays therof would have extended much farther and the Inherent Light should have been Hemispherical which is not Conformable to the Natural Figure therof and therefore I rather conceiv that it was a Particular Globe Glomus or Confluvium collected from the Light which was first Generaly and Diffusively Created in the whole Aether and that which was left in the common Body therof is therefore Comparatively called Darknes and though it were not strictly such Darknes as was in the Chaos yet the Expression is not therefore Popular so as some would make all the Philosophical Expressions in Scripture to be but Necessarily to be so understood for there are no Purae Tenebrae in the whole Elementary Nature and in the Superaether there is either a Superaethereal Light or neither Light nor Darknes for where there is not nor Naturaly ought to be any Positive there is no Privative which is founded in the Positive is only the Privation therof as in a Stone there is neither Sight nor Blindnes wherefore after the first Creation of Light that Darknes must necessarily be understood of Comparative Darknes only and this is the Natural Darknes which God Created and is also sufficiently so explained in the ensuing words And the Darknes he called Night which hath its Nocturnal Light whereby it is expressly and most exactly Distinguished from a Pure Privation of Light such as was Antecedently in the Chaos wherin there was neither Day nor Night And heer again Cavillation which is endles may proceed to term these Expressions God Said or Called and the like Popular though as the others so these also are most Necessary for indeed nothing can be Properly spoken of God either as he is in Essence or in Operation and there can be no Expression more apposite then that the Creatures are Verba Mentis Divinae And heer I must affirm of this whole History of Creation that it is not Popular as some would have it and thereby render it Insignificant unto all others as well as to themselvs whereby they have lost the Benefit of so great a Treasure which hath been a Chaos to this Day and is still hid from the Wise and Prudent or rather they thus hide it from themselvs though I am confident that neither themselvs nor any other can ever declare or describe such a System of the World in more brief or less Popular Expressions Wherefore I term it a History that is of Matter of Fact which hath only such apt Expressions as serv to declare and describe the Matter of Fact and therefore certeinly are not Popular otherwise we may call all the Sacred History of Adam and Eve of Noah of Abraham Isaac and Iacob and of all the Patriarchs Judges and Kings and Governors and of Christ and his Apostles Popular and reject all the Matters of Fact Recorded both in the Old and New Testament and our very Creed which should be most Irreligious and also Irrational Thus when God saith In the Begining he Created the Heaven and the Earth shall any say he did not and so of the rest And if any may be so Irreligious as to deny the Verity of the Fact yet he may not be so Irrational as to deny the Veracity of the Expressions or to affirm that the Scripture doth not say that In the Begining God Created the Heaven and the Earth and so of the rest But that we may not frame any Popular Notion of what we intend by a Popular Expression and so Confound our Discours therof as I have hitherto strictly examined other Terms and Expressions so I shall also now examin this very Expression of an Expression And I acknowledg generaly all Language to be Popular becaus Words are no Natural Signatures but only Instituted Tesserae or Symbola of Things Coined by Men and so made to pass Current among themselvs And since the Confusion of Languages every National Language is more particularly Popular or peculiar to the People of that Nation and the same Word may signify one Thing in one Tong and another in another as Nay in English hath a Contrary Signification in Greek Wherefore I acknowledg also that there is such Popularity in the Hebrew Tong and also many Idiotisms therof as well as in others but I suppose this is not the Popularity Intended for then we should also Invalidate all Language as well as this and all Books as well as the Bible Also there are certein General Propertys and Modifications of all Human Language as well as several Idiotisms of Particular Languages As that which is spoken Respectively of any Thing or in one Respect according to that which is the Subject Matter of the present Discours can not reasonably by any Rational Men in any Language be Interpreted Absolutely or in all Respects whatsoever And so again as I have before noted that which no Human Language can Properly Express may not reasonably by any Rational Men be Interpreted Properly and the like which if we should not allow we should destroy all Human Discours and otherwise then so I know not one Popular Expression in this whole History of the Creation and such Popularity also is and must be in any other History of Matter of Fact and therefore this can be no reason why any should regard it less then any other Philosophical Discourses whatsoever Wherefore they must rather Intend by
same Sensitive Classis and yet very farr Different one from another not only in their whole Composita but also in their very Sensitive Spirits which Specificaly Differ and the Piscine Spirits are much Inferior to the Bestial so also are Angelical and Human Spirits in the same Intellective Classis and not only Spirits Genericaly as they are distinguished from Matter and as all Elementary Vegetative and Sensitive are Spirits as well as Angels as I have shewed but Classicaly Coordinate one with another and though the Spirits of Men be Inferior to Angelical as it is said Thou hast made him little lower then the Angels yet certeinly they are not Subordinate unto them as Fishes though Inferior to Beasts are not Subordinate unto them so as all the Sensitive Classis is unto Man and the Vegetative to the Sensitive and the Elementary to the Vegetative and Matter to the Elementary becaus they are not of an Inferior Classis but of the same Classis wherin all are Coordidinate as I have shewed and so are the Intellective Spirits of Men with Angels and as our Savior saith in this Future State they shall be Isangeli not only like but equal to them and indeed if we should not be in the same Intellective Classis with them Man should not be a Microcosm as he is and Christ in our Human Nature should not have Assumed all the several Classes of Nature as he did And becaus we are so Coordinate with them therefore we need not their Mediation and Intercession but only his who is the Mediator God-Man And as the highest Excellence of their Nature is to Know Love and Enjoy God so we are capable heerof as well as they and as we and they are Moral Creatures so we are Mutualy obliged one to another but neither of us to Brutes and so the Angel said to Iohn I am thy fellow-servant and we are yet more united in Christ who shall also make us partakers of their Superaether and in whom all things are Recapitulated as the Apostle saith both which are in Heaven and which are in Earth even in him Whereby as it is also said we Come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the Living God the Heavenly Ierusalem and to an Innumerable company of Angels to the General Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven Now wheras I have shewed that in this present Conjunct State we cannot Operate without or beyond the Body that is we cannot Understand without Phantasms which we Irradiate with the Spiritual Light of our Understanding nor Localy Move the Body without the Motive Spirits which we Move by the Spiritual Power of our Will whereby we Command and Govern the Sensitive Imagination and Appetite Immediately and so the whole Body Mediately and that Angels need no such Instrumentalitys but may Intuitively Contemplate all things by the Irradiation of their own Mental Light and Move them by the Eradiation of their own Spiritual Heat as I may so term them thus our Human Spirit as well as they shall also then have the same Intuitive and Motive Qualitys Actuated therin which aâ—e now in it Potentialy for so Intelligences as well as all other Natures have their proper Potentialitys and Actualitys otherwise they should not be Mutable for Alteration is by production of Potentiality into Actuality and reduction of Actuality into Potentiality as I have said and though they are not Generable or Corruptible in their Substances which are Simple and without any Mistion or Composition and such as always Subsist in themselvs and are neither Generable nor Corruptible as I have also shewed yet they have their Accidental Qualitys by which they Operate and not by their Essences or Substances Immediately more then other Natures and all such Accidents do Subsist in their Substances and thereby and therin have their Actualitys and Potentialitys and are therefore Generable and Corruptible in themselvs and so Mutable Also all Simple Substances of the same Species have all the same Specifical Qualitys therof either Actualy or Potentialy becaus they are of the same Species as they are such Simple Substances though their Mista or Composita may otherwise Differ Specificaly as such for so though the Cortical Stones Metalls Minerals and Subcortical Magnet differ Specifically as Mista yet as all of them are of the same Predominant Element Earth so that being a Simple Substance in it self hath all the Terrene Qualitys in it self Actualy or Potentialy and thus the Magnetical Virtue which is a Terrene Quality is Actuated in Iron and so as is said may be in Brick-earth and the like And so though Aethereal and Culinary Fire may differ Specificaly as Mista yet the Elementary Fire which is Predominant in both is Specificaly one and the same Simple Substance and hath all the Aethereal Qualitys in it self either Actualy or Potentialy and so Planetary Virtue might be Actuated in Culinary Fire as well as in Comets and so also all Simple Substances of the same Classis have the same Classical or Generical Qualitys as every Grass Herb and Tree hath Vegetation and the like though in their own several Specifical maners and every Fish Fowl Beast hath Sensation and the like though in their own several Specifical maners And thus the Human Spirit and the Angelical Spirit being both Intelligences which may Live and Operate separately have also such Generical Qâ—alitys both Intuitive and Motive whereby they may so Live and Operate Separately in themselvs though in their own several Specifical maner either Actualy as the Angels or Potentialy as we also now have them And as an Embryon in the Womb hath many Facultys Potentialy which yet are not Actuated untill it be born and brought forth into the Light so have also our Souls while they are as Embryons in the Egg as it were of our Bodys and as we have now many Actual Qualitys which shall in that Separate State be reduced to Eternal Potentiality as Nutrition Tasting and the like so shall we then have others Actuated in us which we never had Actualy before And certeinly in the Palingenesy of the Body there shall be such a great and wonderfull change of Qâ—alitys that the Apostle calleth it a Spiritual Body as I have shewed which shall not be only a Platonical Vehicle of the Soul but Organical and most Glorious as the Apostle saith The Lord Iesus Christ shall change our Vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his Glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself Whereby also we may understand that Separate Spirits are not so vastly Diffusive or Atomicaly Retractive as some fansy but have their Bounds as other Finite Natures for so certeinly our Separate Soul after the Resurrection shall be confined within the Body as well as in this Conjunct State And that the Separate State of the Soul is such may somewhat Sensibly appear in our selvs who seem to have some Common
so they are United into one Genus of their Common Entity which though it be Metaphysical yet it is not only a Notional but a Real Universality of them all whereby they are so Realy United and accordingly have some Physical Communion one with another and all Conspire together against Nonentity And so Matter and Spirits though very Different Entitys yet because they are all Entitys either Consubstantiate one another as all Material Spirits which cannot be Separate nor Exert or Exercise their Qualitys or Operations without the Instrumentality of their Material Bodys or otherwise Inform and Inspirit them as the Immaterial Spirit of Man which may be Separate or not Separate from the Body therof and Exert and Exercise some Qualitys and Operations by the Instrumentality therof and some without it as I shall shew heerafter or at least as Angels who though they be purely Immaterial Spirits and have no such Consubstantial nor Compositive Union with the Matter nor do Inform or Inspirit it nor Operate by any Instrumentality therof but are in that respect wholy Separate from it yet have this Communion with it that they are Localy in it where they are and do Move from one Part or Place therof to another and more or less suddenly and easily and can not Move beyond the Universal Body therof for then they might Wander in Notfinite and Endless Inanity which as I have said is Pure Nonentity And though Extension and Local Motion be Properly of the Matter yet Material Spirits by their Conjunct State and Consubstantiation are Coextended with it and all others are Conteined in it and in this or that Part therof and Move from this or that Place therof according to the several Spheres of their own Substantial Activitys whether they be more United unto it by a Conjunct Consubstantiation as Material Spirits which are in the Matter like Inherent Light in the Lucid Body and in so much therof as it doth Inherently Illuminate or less and without any such Conjunct Consubstantiation as the Human Spirit which is in the Matter as Light in the Diaphanous Air which it requires to Illuminate or otherwise as Angels which are in it as Magnetical Emanations in any Medium And accordingly Material Spirits are most Powerful in their Center but Immaterial Intirely Equal in their whole Sphere Now wheras some affirm that Substantial Spirits and all their Spiritual Qualitys are only Various Motions of the Matter I shall according to my maner first endeavour to Understand what is or may be Intended by the Motion of the Matter which certeinly can not be any Substantial Activity in it Self Distinct from the Matter for then we might agree in the Thing and should not differ about Terms wherefore Motion of the Matter must be only an Accidental Affection therof like Extension and the rest whereby matter Extends it Self and so in Effect Motion of the Mâ—tter is only Matter Moving it Self Wheras it Naturaly tends to Rest and Moves only in order therunto as I shall shew heerafter and this Moving must be only Local becaus it is of the Matter from one Part or Place therof to another But as I have shewed that there are other Differences of things besides Local Separation So there are other Motions besides Local Motion as every Mutation from one State to another in Generation Corruption and the like and iâ— Intellection and Volition there may be such Spiritual Motions without any Local Motion whatsoever wheras Local Motion is only a Transition or passing from one Part or Place of the Matter to another as I shall also shew heerafter And now I may safely affirm that such Local Motion is only Local Motion and neither more nor less nor other for as this Identical Proposition is most true That Local Motion is Local Motion So the Predicate therof being Adaequate to the Subject it can be neither more nor less nor other then the Subject Now that this Local Motion which Properly belongeth to the Matter is an Instrument not only of Matter but also of all Material Spirits becaus they are Material or Conjunct with the Matter in their Consubstantiation and also in their Operation as well as Extension Figure and the rest I easily grant but must wholy deny that Aether Air Water Earth or any other Substantial Spirits Heat Cold Moisture Driness Vegetation Sensation and innumerable other Spiritual Qualitys are only Local Motions one way or other or any way whatsoever for then Local Motion should not be only an Instrumental Causality or Effect of all those Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys but the very Essence and Formality or Formal Caus therof which is most Uncouth and Inconceivable for they are Formaly every one of them Such as they are in themselves as well as the Matter is Matter in it Self without any Actual Motion and so also Extension is Formaly Extension in it Self and may Exist and be Such without any Actual Motion and Figure is Formaly Figure in it Self and may Exist and be Such without any Actual Motion and so any other Accidents of Matter much more Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys which I shall now very plainly prove In the Begining God Created the Heaven and the Earth and not only Matter and Motion nor could Matter by Motion Diversify it Self in the Begining into Heaven and Earth that is as I have before explained them Superaether Aether Air Water and Earth for no local Motion can be in an instant but the Begining was only the First Instant otherwise it should not be the First or Begining Wheras Local Motion being from Place to Place which are several Terms must necessarily be in several Instants and most Probably there was no Local or any such Natural Motion in the first Chaos but only the Spirit of God Supernaturaly Moved on the face of the Waters Also if several Local Motions were the Formalitys or Formal Beings of all Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys then they should not be before nor after nor any longer then the Local Motion doth continue for the Formality of any thing is the very Specifical Being therof as Wind which is indeed only Aer Motus continues no longer then the Motion and Nothing can be without the Specifical Being of it Self otherwise it should not be what it is Wherefore I suppose I may set this down as another Infallible Canon according to which also I may safely proceed that Whatsoever Actualy Exists without somthing which doth not then also Actualy Exist must Realy differ from it otherwise the same thing should Actualy Exist and not Exist at the same time which is Contradictory and Impossible And thus as I have proved Substances which did Actualy Exist in the Begining to differ Realy from Accidents which did not then Actualy Exist So particularly Spiritual Substances and their Qualitys which do or may Actualy Exist without any Actual Local Motion must necessarily be Realy Different from it And this is most Sensibly Evident that they may so Exist and be
without any Local Motion and when they are in Local Motion are Commonly rather Causes therof then Caused by it and so they Caus Motion in the very Matter which of it self would Perpetualy Rest in the Center and due Position of it Self as I have said and shall heerafter prove and is Disturbed and Moved by the Potentiae of Spirits which alter the Natural Position Figure Density and Gravity therof and Properly it hath no Natural Motion of it Self but only to restore it Self unto Rest. Nor can the Matter and Motion and any or all the other Accidents or Variations therof Formaly Caus the Spirits or Spiritual Qualitys but are only Instruments and fit Bodies therof which they form for themselves Take Wax and Move it this Way or that Way or Mold it into this or that Figure or Discind it into any Threads or Corpuscles or Mechanicaly Vary the Matter therof how you will yet it will still be Wax as well as every part of Water is Water Unless there be also some new Generation or Corruption therof by Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys as I shall shew heerafter Wherefore that which some call Texture whether Extrinsecal as Figure Porosity or plain Interweaving of Threads or Filaments and the like or Intrinsecal as Density and Rarity which indeed are the only true Intrinsecal Textures of Bodys and yet are wholy denied by our Textorian Philosophers as well as Local Motion is only Instrumental and no Formal Caus or Being of any Spirit or Spiritual Quality And so take Common Water and Spirit of Wine Vitriol or any stronger Spirits and setting them in their several Vessels one by another Inspect them with a Microscope and see if you can discern any such Proportionable and Consyderable Difference of their Extension Figure Density Gravity Local Motion or any Corporeal Texture whatsoever as there is of their Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys Or take any Aethereous Globules or Materia Subtilis Emittent Transmittent or Remittent if you can tell where to find it or the most Subtile and Pure Air which may be had on the Top of the highest Mountain and which is Common Matter as well as any other and putting this Matter into any Windgun Airpump or Expansor or any such Torcular or other Rack of Nature whatsoever or applying to it any Chymical Fire or Heat or Salt and Snow or what you will and vex it how you will and try if you can force it to Confess it Self to be any other thing then Air or Extort from it all or any of these Spiritual Diversifications or such as may be Effected by the like Experiments made of Vapor Water or Earth or any parcel or part of the Terraqueous Globe and Cortex therof Which God having made to be the Native Countrey and Region of Animals hath also Impregnated with such Material Spirits and their Spiritual Qualitys which he did first Produce and still may be Produced ouâ— of them Wherefore since Matter and Spirits do thus Differ not only in our Mind and Reason but in their own Natures I Conclude them both Realy to Be and Realy to Differ one from the other and not to be only Matter and the Motions therof VIII Accidents are either Common or Proper Common Accidents are such as were Concreated and Actualy Existed together with the Substances in the Begining and without which no Substances or any Created Entity whatsoever can Actualy Exist as all Quantitys whether discrete as Number for every Creature that is whatsoever it be must also be Numerable Or Successive as Duration for every Creature that is whatsoever must also be Durable or Temporary Or Consistent as Extension which though is be in it Self Proper to Matter yet as the Matter of the whole World is a Common Matter so as I have shewed it doth Coextend or Contein all Spirits and every Creature that is in Heaven or Earth must necessarily be Localy therin that is in the Universal Body of the Matter or Vbi therof and in some Part or Place therof that is it must be there where it is and no where els at the same Time Proper Accidents are such as Originaly Flow from and Subsist in their Proper Substances as Consistent Quantity Extension Figure Density and the rest in Matter and Spiritual Qualitys in Spirits Again these Simple Accidents may be either Compounded together or Several and yet mutualy Relating one to another and Such Relations may also be Real as First and Last in Successive Quantity or Time for they Realy are Such in the Successive Nature therof which otherwise should not be Successive and are not only Notional such as First or Last in Consistent Quantity or Extension for they are not Realy such in the Consistent Nature therof becaus it is Consistent altogether and so the First may be Last or the Last First according to our Notion and Institution therof Also there are other more Complex Relations which may likewise be Real either Mathematical as a Triangle and three several Lines are different things or Physical as Beauty which is a Relative Conformity of severall Lineaments and Colors to the Physical Law therof Or Moral as Virtue which is a Relative Conformity of Actions Modes and Circumstances to the Moral Law therof Or Theological as Piety which is a Relative Conformity of Actions Modes and Circumstances to the Theological Law therof and the like which being more Complex are also more Curious and Excellent and the Relative Conformitys therof are Not only Real but also the Excellencys and Perfections of those Realitys wherin they Relatively and Realy Subsist And this Relative Reality though iâ— doth Subsist in the particular Entitys wherof they are the Relations yet doth Consist in the very Relative Conformity therof for their particular Entitys being Inverted will vary them as a Triangle may so be made a Zeta or Pi or render that which was Beautiful Deformed and that which was Virtuous Vitious and that which was Pious Impious And heer I shall Conclude with this general Observation That though Substances Excell in Entity becaus they Subsist in themselvs yet Accidents Excell in Bonity becaus they Perfect their Substances For such indeed was that great Difference between the first Chaos and the six Days Works Perfected therin SECTION V. And the Earth was without form and void And Darknes was upon the face of the Deep EXPLICATION The Elementary Globe of Earth Water Air and Aether was first Created Inform and Inane without any of those Actual Compositions Mistions Figures and Virtues which were afterward Produced in the Six Days ILLUSTRATION 1. Of the fower Elements 2. Of the Chaos 3. Of Quantity 4. Of Number 5. Of Time 6. Of Extension 7. Of Figure 8. Of Porosity 9. Of Density and Rarity 10. Of Gravity and Levity 11. Of Rest and Motion 12. Of Place Space and Vacuity I. WE have heer a farther Explication in the Text itself of the Heaven and Earth Created in the Begining Wherof it is again said
I might if I pleas believ a Traveller who hath been in Africa concerning any Monster therin yet certeinly I should not much believ him who had never been there himself Neither can I more believ any such Assertors concerning Aether which being so Remote is commonly made Amplissâ—â—us fingendi Campus but shall proceed in the known and beaten Road of Scripture Reason and Sens so far as they extend and as we can know or judg thereby and leaving these fansys of vain men to themselvs shall heer inquire into a more solid and true Secret of Nature and such as deservs a more Curious Search which is this That as God hath placed all the Spheres in their most Proper and Connatural Situations by such Directive Principles in themselvs and Symmetry of Nature so in that Natural Position the whole Vast and Indefinite Body of the World and all the Inconceivable Weight of the whole Matter therof doth support itself thereby withal Facility and Suavity without any suspending Funicles above or under-propping Columns beneath and so without any Force or Pressure whatsoever For though when any Particular Body or Part of the Universal Body therof is Dislocated and removed from its Proper Station and Natural Situation therin which is when any more Dens Bodys are above others more Rare they then Move or Press toward their Proper Place by their own Gravity and Motion of Descent being thereby Actuated to reduce them therunto as the Magnetical Virtue doth Move the Body therof being displaced towards the Poles of the Earth yet when they have atteined it their Motion which was Actuated before for that end being now useles and needles is again reduced to Potentiality and they then neither Move nor Press Actualy any more or any farther nor have any Actual Nisus therunto but having obteined their End are thenceforth in Peace and Rest and their very Gravity is also suspended and reduced to Potentiality as the Magnetical Needle doth Rest in the North Point which plainly shews what I said before that though Gravity flow Immediately from Density and Subsist in it and Motion of Descent in the Gravity yet they are Realy Different becaus though the Body continue to be the same and hath the same Density Actualy both when it is out and when it is in its Proper Place yet when it is our it hath Actual Gravity and Gravitation and when it is in it only Potential And thus neither the Superaether doth Press upon the Aether nor that upon the Air nor that upon the Water nor that upon the Earth nor the Earth upon itself becaus they are already in their Proper Places and therefore tend no farther for the more Dens Bodys are Natural Fulciments and so farr Centers to the more Rare And so the Proper Place of any Body is when being more Rare it is above more Dens or being more Dens beneath more Rare as I have said or also being among Equidens whether above or beneath any other parts therof yet it is in its Proper Place becaus it hath such a Natural Fulciment or Center sufficient for it and there are none more Rare beneath it through which it may or ought to Move according to this Statike Law of Nature but the other Equidens Parts whether above or beneath it are also in their Proper Sphere which is the Proper Place of them all and they can not otherwise be all in one and the same Point Again I shall observ that these Spheres being all Rotund that Spherical Roâ—undity must be filled and so the Sphere Completed to render it the Proper Place of those Bodys wherof it is the Sphere otherwise the Bodys will flow or fall every way to fill the Sphere or any Chasm therin becaus the lower parts of that Chasm will be beneath or neerer to the Center of the World then the others wherefore being Equidens they will all contend for one Equality or Spherical Community of Situation which must Equaly relate to the Center and Circumference of the World Also heerby it appears that these Spherical greater Bodys do not Move to the Center nor respect it in Regular Cylinders as less particular Bodys Plummets or Bullets falling through the Air which seem to us to Descend in a most Directly Perpendicular Line and serv for Measures therof well enough becaus any such requisite Pyramidal Confirmity therof to the Center is not discernible by reason of their smalnes as smooth Water in a Pond seems to us Exactly Plane and that Planities therof servs well enough to make a Water level wheras any Quadrant or Semiquadrant or the like of those Proportionable greater Bodys respect the Center as Pyramids Inverted with their Cones Downward and Bases Upward which is their Exact Conformity therunto and the way of their Gravitation and Motion of Descent as we may easily understand if we duly consyder the Relation of any Circumference to the Center And therefore such Quadrants and Semiquadrants do not Superpend nor consequently Superincumb in such their Pyramidal Bases beyond their Cones Yet I do not conceiv of such Proper Places and Spheres that they are Magical Circles or any such Phantastical Houses as Astronomers fansy to be in Heaven but only as I have said Proper Localitys of the whole Body of Matter and Extension of such several Spherical Bodys according to the more or less Density and Gravity therof Much less do I conceiv that the Center hath any such Magical Virtue or Attractive Power nor that it is any Cavity or the like but only a Term which is the Midst and Inmost Point and consequently the Lowest of the whole Body of the Matter of the World Immovable and Inalterable and relating to the Circumference therof that is the Utmost Superficies of the Superaether which is Ingenerable Incorruptible and Invariable being the Universal Bound and Limit of Nature and of all Bodys and of the whole Matter and Extension therof Having thus premised I shall now examin the Pressure of the Atmosphere which is so confidently asserted by some though evidently there be no such thing nor can there be any Rational Supposition therof without a supposed Dislocation of the Body of the World and offering Violence to Nature as I shall now prove God Created the Heaven and the Earth and nothing beyond or without them wherefore certeinly they Press upon nothing or do not Press Outwardly becaus there is no Outward thing to support them or on which rhey might Press but only they tend to Union Inwardly And as the several Spherical Bodys of the Elements do not Press upon the Superaether nor one upon another Outwardly so neither Inwardly as Iob saith He hangeth the Earth upon nothing that is it doth not hang or Press at all either Outwardly wherof he spake before He stretcheth out the North which is the most Terreous part of the Globe over the empty place that is the Air as a Vessel is said to be Comparatively empty when it is filled only with Air
appear by Vapor and to Earth beneath it as may appear by Ice And though Earth and Water were in this Third Day made and still are one Terraqueous Globe yet as they were Created in the Begining so they still are several and different Elements aswell as Air and Aeâ—her are several and dâ—fferent Heavens And though they are thus Composed into one Globe yet they have their several Provinces therin as well as the others though not in the same maner or Figure And so it is said not only that Dry Land did appear which was before covered with the Sphere of Water as that was with Air and Air with Aether but also that there was a gathering together of the Waters into one place generaly wherunto all Rivers do run though branched out into several Canaleâ— and though standing Ponds Lakes and perhaps some Gulphs or Seas as the Caspian Sea may not communicate with the Ocean yet they are also Confluvia and Seas and so termed distributively afterward and all of them distinguished from the Waters which first covered the Earth all over wheras now the main Ocean covereth and compasseth it about only in one place And as these Waters beneath flow from the Earth so they are still above it as the Waters above floating in the Air are also said to be above or upon it for so the word signifies upon or above and so Fowl are said to fly above or upon the Heavens and as they are thus distinguished from Waters beneath so are also those Waters above the Earth from Waters beneath the Earth that is Subterraneous Fountains or depths of the Seas for neither are any Waters under the whole Earth which is most Dens and consequently lowest nor above any of the whole Heavens Superaether Aether or Air itself which are more Rare and consequently Higher as I have shewed but these Expressions concerning the Vapors and Fountains are Respective according to the Subject Matter and not to be understood Absolutely and they do indicate several Regions of the Waters wheras we have no such indication of any several Regions in the Air or Aether as I have observed Also though the Evaporation of Waters by Heat be Natural and only Supernaturaly produced by God in the Second Day as his other Works of Improper Creation were in other Days yet this Distribution of Earth and Waters in the Terraqâ—eous Globe therof which was so Composed in this Third Day seems more Extraordinary and Artificial and such as doth most plainly declare the Immediate Operation of God in this and all the other Days for by what Natural Power could the Earth and Isles be raised above the Waters or the Mountains and Vallys be so ordered and Indented or who could cast those great Banks of the Shores and cut those vast Chanells of the Seas and Rivers or say unto them thither shall ye go and no farther which therefore God is said Originaly to do by Line and Levell as in Waterworks we so set them out that they may run to their Levell this way or that way in the Cutts prepared for them And though men may make such less alterations therin and some greater have been made by accidental Breaches and Inundations yet as God saith I brake up for it my Decreed place or as it is Originaly established my Decree upon it and sett Barrs and Dâ—ors so generaly and in the main it continues the same and since that Great and Universal Deluge yet Cosmographers can still find out those Seas Rivers and Isles which Moses declareth to have been before it And thus the Divine Psalmist describeth both the Proper and Improper Creation of Waters and Earth Thou coveredst it with the Deep as with a Garment the Waters stood above the Mountains At thy rebuke they fled at the Voice of thy Thunder they hasted away They go up by the Mountains they go down by the Vallys unto the place that thou hast founded for them Thou hast sett a Bound that they might not pass that they turn not again to cover the Earth and so proceeds to shew the great Usefulness therof which thereby God prepared both for Vegetatives and Sensitives in the whole Oecumene or Habitable Earth But though the Earth generaly is thus raised above the Waters not only in the Mountains and Summits therof but in its whole Campus which lys above the Levell of the Waters yet the Water in its own Province is above the Earth on which it flows and so the Earth is very elegantly expressed standing out of the Water and in the Water And wheras it is said that God founded it upon or above the Seas and established it upon or above the Flouds it is very true and proper according to the Subject Matter wherof the Psalmist there speaks that is of the Oecumene or Habitable Earth as it was so raised above the Waters which before were above it and thereby was made fruâ—tfull and Habitable which the precedent Context doth plainly declare The Earth is the Lords and the fulnes therof the World and all that dwell therin nor do I apprehend that the whole World of Spheres Aereal Aethereal and Superaethereal is there intended though the Author of Esdras saith also that the Heavens are founded upon the Waters but I rather conceiv that by World is there meant Orbis Terrae as it is usually so taken Hebraicaly and in all other Languages because the Earth is our present World and so more restrictively we say the Christian World and the like But how farr the Waters are beneath the Levell or Campus of the Earth is not particularly expressed yet we read of a great Deep or Ocean and of Fountains therof or therin as we so say Fons Blundusii and the like not that there is besides the Ocean any Fountain therof beneath it which feeds and supplys it for it is called the Deep becaus it is the deepest of all Waters and so Fountains and Depths of Waters are used indifferently as it is said A Land of Brooks of Water of Fountains and Depths that spring out of Vallys and Hills and both are said to be under the Earth wherefore becaus Rain and Waters in those dry Countrys were accounted great Blessings Iacob blesseth Ioseph with Blessings of Heaven above and Blessings of the deep that lieth under which Moses also repeateth nor is it said that there is a Deep and also Fountains therof beneath and besides it but they are alway termed the Fountains of the Deep not only in respect of itself but also of all Vapors Rain and Rivers wherof the Deep or Sea is the Fountain to which that expression seems to refer for so they are joined together as it is said that there were the Fountains of the Great Deep broken up and the Windows of Heaven were opened and indeed they are so made to be Fountains one unto another mutualy and reciprocaly as I shall shew heerafter and in the Deluge the Conflux of all the Waters was gathered
rising and swelling therin as I have shewed and thereby returning the Waters back again doth abate by degrees and may not reach so farr as such longinquous Seas and Rivers Lastly I desire it may once be ascerteined by them whether indeed there be any such Circumterranean Tide or Cours of the Main Ocean from East to West as is commonly supposed which certeinly is contrary to the Cours of the Moon nor do I find any ground or reason in my Hypothesis that might induce me to affirm it nor can the supposed Motion of the Earth solv all the Tides every way And this Circumterranean Sea is the Main Ocean that I intend and which as I conceiv is chiefly intended by the Congregation and gathering together of Waters mentioned in the Creation therof to and from which the Rivers thus flow and reflow and though it cannot return to cover the Earth as it did in the first Chaos or since in the Deluge yet as a Fascia it still environeth it round about and is the great Province of Elementary Water Extraordinary Tides are not so consyderable being Various and Casual and as they proceed from no such constant and certein Causes so they have no such certein and constant Courses The Annual Tides are observed by us in our Southern Coast to be generaly greater about November and February and accordingly we observ that about November when the Heat of the Summer is past and the Earth is filled first with Water the Springs begin to rise as we say in Fountains Wells and Ponds and apparently are seen to peez as we term it out of the Banks into Ditches â—nd to run more freely in Rivers and so again about February which is commonly said to fill the Dike after the Earth hath been bound with Frosts and is fully thawed and the Waters begin to run more freely whereby they caus such an Impuls therof which proceeds from such more general Confluvia and sudden Fluxes and so sudden Inundations may caus some Temporary Tides in some places but the Universal Deluge was Immediately by the Divine Power and Providence as God saith therof Behold I even I do bring a Floud of Waters upon the Earth which whether it were by producing all the Moisture in the Pores of the Spongy Earth which certeinly if it were all gathered together would make another great Sea and making it Miraculously to flow upon the Surface of the Earth instead of being imbibed by it as it is now a constant Fountain to supply the Rivers and Seas Naturaly and so may be conceived to be these Fountains of the great Deep which were broken up and by resolving all the Vapors and Fumes in the Air into Cataracts of Rain and so also opening those Windows or Floudgates of Heaven or otherwise I will not presume to determin becaus it was Miraculous and Preternatural But there are some litle Tides and Euripi so very strange and wonderful as have puzled the greatest Philosophers and I know no Colorable reason or account which any have ever yet given therof nor am I such an Oedipus as to unfold these Ridles of Nature which though they seem to be her ludicrous Disports and Galliards yet certeinly are according to some Harmonious Measures of answerable Causalitys though we may not hear them or do not hearken to them Concerning which I shall only relate an Experiment of which I must freely say Non inventa reperta est for I confess I received it from another who declared to me the Matter of Fact that he had done it but was not pleased to revele the Secret how it was done which yet after I had found out he acknowledged unto me to be the same The Invention was to make a Waterdial wherin the Water should rise and fall every twelv hours in this maner Let there be a Font or Basin of the Dial made with a Hole at the bottom and let there be a Pipe open at each end wherof one end must be applied to a Subterraneous Spring or the like Flux of Water and the other end closed to the Hole in the bottom of the Basin so as the Water may descend from the Spring being as high as the top of the Basin to the Hole in the bottom and through it reascend in the Basin in twelv Hours and as it so ascends by degrees every hour describe Lines in that side within the Basin And at the twelfth and last Line make another Hole in the other side of the Basin and let a Siphon be inserted toward the top of the Basin and closed to it so as the Water in the Basin may fill the shorter Leg therof hanging down to the very bottom of the Basin and just turn over at the Vertex of the Siphon and the Cavity of this Siphon must be doubly as capacious as the Cavity of the former Pipe so as to convey away doubly as much Water in the same time by the longer Leg therof out of the Basin as ran into it through the Pipe whereby though it continue still to run through the Pipe from the Spring yet the Cavity of the Pipe being only half so capacious as the Cavity of the Siphon it can run in only half so fast by the Pipe as it runs out by the Siphon which will be sett on runing by the Water ascending into the shorter Leg therof within the Basin when it rises to the Line of the twelfth hour and there turns over at the Vertex into the longer Leg without the Basin and that will carry it away doubly as fast untill the Siphon be emptied and consequently caus the Water to descend in other like twelv hours which must also be noted by Lines described on the other side of the Basin and when the Siphon is empty it will ceas runing and then the Water runing through the Pipe only will ascend into the Basin in other twelv hours as before and so continualy But becaus it is somwhat Curious and difficult exactly to make the Cavity of the Siphon doubly as capacious as the Cavity of the Pipe a Stopcock may be inserted into one or both of them whereby the just proportion of Water in them may be accordingly regulated Now though I can neither affirm nor do I know that there are any such Fonts Urns or Caverns in the Earth so disposed as in this Experiment whereby the Euripi are caused yet I know that it may possibly be so and if not yet I am assured that both this and any other Regularitys in Elementary Nature wherin there is neither Plastes nor Artist must be by some answerable Causalitys which I leav to others more particularly to Investigate V. The Earth which is last and lowest of all the Elements hath a most Dens Body of Matter though the least Active Spirit and so every Element hath a less Deâ—s or Gross Body of Matter accordingly as the Spirit therof is more Active and Vegetative Spirits are less Immersed in the Matter then Elementary
Glass so Capillar as may be wound about the finger though Glass be very fragile And though I conceiv Hardnes and Softnes to be only different Sensibilitys of Consistence or the degrees therof as more Consistent doth more resist the Touch and less less yet Fragility and Ductility are different kinds of Consistence itself for Consistence hath both a Strength and Rigor of the whole Body which Fragility also hath and Ductility hath not and likewise a Spiritual Cohesion and Tenacity of all the parts therof which Ductility hath and Fragility hath not so perfectly as proper Consistence and therefore Fragile Bodys as Glass are easily Broken but will not so easily Bend and Ductile Bodys as Wax will easily Bend but are not so easily Broken nor indeed do I conceiv any Body to be properly Consistent and such as will neither Break nor Bend except only the Subcortical Earth which is Elementary and hath the proper Qualitys therof in their greatest Actuality as Aether hath Heat and Light wheras other Cortical Bodys though most Rigid as Iron and the like may be Broken or Bent yea by Fusion become Ductile and Fluid so that Ductility is partly from Moisture and is only an imperfect Consistence which though it be not the same with Drines is very much assisted by it as I have shewed Also Fragile Bodys of less Crassitude may Bend more as I said before of very slender Glass becaus there is less Distortion that is less Expansion in the outward Convexity and Compression in the inward Concavity of the Arch or Angle that it makes in Bending and the very Bending before it Breaks shews that there is some Ductility in it which is an Imperfection of Consistence and this doth plainly appear in Glass heated which is farr more Ductile and molten which is Fusile whence also it hath that other Imperfection therof that is Fragility which it betrays when it is cooled but I conceiv that Fragility is a less Imperfection of Consistence then Ductility becaus that appears in Actual Drines and this in Actual Moisture And Fragile Bodys though somwhat Flexile yet if they be not over-bent will return again very smartly to their Position which we call Springines and will not stand bent as we say as Ductile unles the Rigor which is properly every way as it were by so many Radii from the Center to the Circumference be overcome by long continuance And this Springines is only a Return to the Position of the Consistent Body and not as Elastical Potentia which is to the Density or Rarity of more Fluid Bodys according to that Natural Rigor or Temper of Bodys which the Spirits require and caus to be in them and from which they are Violently diverted and therefore so suddenly and forcibly return unto it again if the Violence do not continue so long as to caus the very Spirit to conform unto that Figure as I have shewed though it will hardly conform to that Temper in Elastical Bodys as also Vegetative and Sensitive Spirits will hardly conform to Inorganical Figures Now Consistence being not a Compound but Simple Quality of Earth therefore it doth contein Earthy Bodys together if they be Continuous though very various and different Composita for so it conteins both the Subcortical and Cortical Earth and all the Rocks Mountains and Eminences therof as one Compages and so Brick and Mortar when it is dried do not only Adhere as Water and Glass but Cohere and Consist together becaus though they be several Composita or Mista of all the Elements yet their Consistence is common to them all as they are Earthy Bodys as Matter doth therefore so Unite itself in all the Bodys of various Composita in the World I have seen an old Brick Chimny undermined and pulled down to fall like a Pillar of Timber without any Breaking which consequently had one Center of Consistence that did contein all the Earthy parts therof together as a Needle hath which is half Silver and half Steel and as the whole Body of Matter hath one Center to which it all tendeth though varied into the several Bodys of Innumerable Composita VIII As Siccity and Consistence are not one and the same Quality of Earth so much less Consistence and Magnetical Virtue though that require a Consistence as Consistence doth Siccity but as I have said Consistence doth only Contein and Arrect the Parts in the whole Body generaly and indifferently every way wheras Magnetical Virtue doth Direct it particularly in one Relative Place or Position which we call Polar unto North and South whereby the Difference between Positive Extension in its own Vbi and Relative Place may plainly appear for a Magnet is in its own Ubi as any other Body but besides it hath such a Relative Position which is Polar whereby the Polar Points therof North and South are so Directed as that they will not be placed otherwise and so thereby consequently all the other Points and Parts therof in the Whole though the Whole be only in its own Vbi as any other Body Also Consistence is without any Motion for it is the same whether the Body Move or not but Magnetical Virtue hath a Verticity to reduce it to its Polar Position Again Consistence is Orbicular as the Strength of a Wooden Wheel is equal at the Extremity of every Radius being equidistant from the Center but Magnetical Virtue is much stronger at the Poles then at the Extremitys of the Aequator as I shall shew heerafter and indeed otherwise it should not be so Polar or North and South more then East and West Also Consistence hath no Emanation like Magnetical Virtue and there are many such other Differences But yet as I said Consistence is an Auxiliary Quality therof being both Connatural Qualitys of the same Element And so the Elementary Earth probably is most Consistent and most Magnetical and the Magnet-Stone is also very Consistent and so is Iron Mine and especialy Iron and Steel which are the Extractions therof and I know not whether there might not be some such Extraction of the Magnet Stone more Magnetical then the Stone or Mine therof but certeinly the Elementary Earth is farr more Magnetical then any other Magnet becaus it is Elementary and also becaus it is so vastly great whereby there is a proportionable Increment of the Virtue and this is proved by the very strong Emanations therof which penetrate the whole Cortex of the Earth as appears by the Inclinatory Needle for Magnetical Virtue like Consistence hath no Contrary becaus it is only for Direction and Position of its own Body though Density as well as Longinquity may hinder or abate it as they do any other Spiritual Powers whatsoever but not repell and reflect it Also the Magnetike Earth by the Emanations therof doth Excite and Actuate the Potential Polarity which is in some Cortical Bodys as Iron Barrs which have stood long in a Polar Position or Iron and as some say Brick-earth
all other Bodys Potentialy but never Actualy and so the whole Earth hath also Gravity and the like And as I have now disproved this pretended Motion of the Earth by the Magnetical virtue therof so I know no other Caus assigned of such a rapid Motion therof as must be supposed that is about fifteen Miles every Minute Diurnaly and almost fifty Annualy and the Dâ—stance between our Accesses and Recesses to or from the fixed Starrs should be about eight Millions of Miles which is a large stride and yet we perceiv no difference therof as we do of Mars who is placed in the fifth Sphere Nor is there any difference of a Bullet shott from a Gun East or West as there should be very consyderably according to this common Calculation and so of a Bullet drop'd from a a Steeple but they say the Bullet also is a Terrella and Moves with the Motion of the Earth and would prove it by the fallacious Experiment of an Arrow shot upright from a Ship sailing and falling down again in the same place but then if the Steeple also were removed as much as the Ship saileth the Bullet dropped from it should follow it which certeinly is not according to the Motion of the Earth or Terrella and therefore to defend this they have invented another wors Absurdity That there is I know not what Magical Line of Motion still continuing and interceding between the Mover and Moved after the Impression past and Contact discontinued but neither doth the Arrow flying spin any such Corporeal Thread or Line like a Spider nor the Archer shooting emitt any such Spiritual Radius like Emanant Heat which may so direct the Motion Certeinly a Parthian who shoots flying or a Ship sailing do not draw back the Arrow or Bullet after them nor will Stones so fall into the hand of a Boy playing at Checkstone without any answerable Motion therof whereby to catch them Neither is there any such Magnetical Stake reaching from the Subcortical Earth through the Cortex Water and Air and as some say to the Moon for Magnetical Virtue hath no such long or strong Orb like Light or Heat as no particular Magnet or Terrella doth Eradiate like a Candle or Spark of Fire Or if it should yet it could not Move Magneticaly any other Body that is not Magnetical or indeed that is not Consistent as a Stake in a Pond cannot direct the Motion of the Water in it or Air above it becaus they are Fluid and not Consistent Certeinly Birds in the Air though more Consistent are not Magnetical and though a Bullet of Iron be Consistent and Magnetical Potentialy yet if it be not so Actualy the former Experiments will be the same as if it were and if it have the Magnetical Virtue therof Actualy excited in itself then it is a Terrella in itself and consequently if the Earth which is the great Magnet Move round so should every such Terrella which it doth not as may be tried by any such round Bullet or Magnet placed upon its Axis in the most exact Aequilibrium wheras every part of Water severed from the Element therof is Water having all the Propertys therof and so should every such Magnet be a Terrella as indeed they call it having all the Magnetical Propertys therof and some Magnetical Doctors do therefore affirm very falsly that a Terrella so placed will Move round like the Earth who thereby very truly acknowledg this Consequence that if the Earth so Move the Terrella must also so Move wherefore since the Terrella doth not so Move neither doth the Earth so Move and though a Bullet flying when it is shot from a Gun by that Violent Motion doth also Move round as I have formerly shewed from another reason yet that may be any other way as well as the same way with the supposed Motion of the Earth and the Bullet drop'd from a Steeple and so falling downward by a Natural Motion doth not as I suppose Move round or not the same way with the supposed Motion of the Earth Thus every less Magnet not being one and the same with the Earth but Individualy such in itself and having its own Poles Axis Center and Aequator as well as the Earth as may appear if it be laid East and West in which Position it will a long time retein its own Polarity not only different but advers to the Polarity of the Earth which is North and South by its own Immobility doth also Sensibly prove the Immobility of the Earth And yet we must believ all the Motions therof which some Philosophers very confidently Suppose and vehemently Impose upon us maugre all our own Faith Reason and Sens becaus they tell us Scripture is Popular Reason Ancipitous and Sens Fallacious and so all other men must be governed only by the Magistery of their Fansys which whatsoever it may be to themselvs is certeinly no more to others then they can prove by Scripture Reason and Sens in which there is no Fallacy but only in our Apprehensions which are indeed our Infirmitys and ought to be rectified and corrected by other right Ratiocinations and Sensations and not by other Imaginations Thus wheras I have granted that supposing the Earth to Move constantly and equaly though never so swiftly if we were also carried on it we should not feel it to Move becaus we our selvs do not Move and yet I say that our Bodys being also in the Air should feel themselvs Moved against the Air though never so calm but especialy when the Wind bloweth the other way against the pretended Motion of the Earth which certeinly could not be Insensible but as I rather suppose Intolerable if their Imagination did not also Summove the Air for us by supposing both Water and Air to be parts of the great Magnet the Earth which is as contrary to all Sens as the other this Insensibility or Deception of Sens ought to be rectified by other right Sensations and not by such other Imaginations and Insensibilitys Again according to the very Analogy of Deception as the Sens senseth falsly in one case so it doth likewise in all like cases becaus there is the same reason therof And now also I will examin the supposed Motion of the Earth according to this Analogy of that Deception which they so strongly urge for it and I shall only change that Vers which is their usual Tex accordingly Provehimur Terra Coelum Stellaque recedunt and so as a Man in a Ship sailing by the Shore seems to see the Earth and Towns to Move which do not and doth not feel himself to be Moved as indeed he is if he were so Moved by the Motion of the Earth which must be two hundred times more swiftly then any Ship doth sail he should seem to see the Moon and Planets to Move Visibly which he doth not and though against this is objected the greater distance of the Moon and Starrsâ— yet that is recompensed
so many several Composita made therof whereby they are all thus different and several one from another as they are all from the Planetary Aether as it is said God divided between their Light and the other Aethereal Light and that every one of them is a Specificaly different Compositum in itself and that every Individual Planet is such a Phoenix in its kind that it is also a whole Species in itself wherefore it is said that God particularly made not only the two great Lights but the Starrs also and so it is said There is one Glory of the Sun and another of the Moon and another Glory of the Starrs for one Starr differeth from another Starr in Glory And therefore their Creation is thus specialy mentioned and was the whole Work of this Fourth Day and so I conceiv there are no such Aethereal Compositae as Stones Metalls Minerals are Terrestrial Composita and wherof no such special Creation is mentioned as I have observed but neither that there is a Simple Spirit of every one of them Created in the Begining by a Proper Creation And I conceiv that these vast Individua which are also so many Species in themselvs made Immediately by God as I said can neither be Naturaly diminished nor multiplied as Comets which are Anomalous may be for so the Starrs are said to be for ever and it is said of God their Creator and Preserver He telleth the number of the Starrs he calleth them all by their Names though Supernaturaly and Miraculously he may compose a new Starr as probably that which appeared at our Saviours Birth was such an extraordinary Starr and so is specialy called His Starr which yet did not continue but after it had performed the End for which it was made was again dissolved for otherwise the Ordinances of Heaven which are said to be Unchangeable should be changed and the Constellations therof disordered And though the Starrs be every one such a several Species yet there is also a Combination of them all generaly as they are all one Host and of some more specialy which are called Constellations and are not only such in Name but also described to be such in Nature so wheras it is heer said that God made the greater Light that is the Sun to rule the Day and the less that is the Moon to rule the Night the Psalmist saith To him that made great Lights c. The Sun to rule by Day c. The Moon and Starrs to rule by Night c. where he divideth the Moon and all the Starrs as a Separate Constellation from the Sun alone and attributeth unto them their several Offices to rule by Day and by Night for though all the Starrs do not attend the Moon every Night yet they do by turns and therefore she alone is said to rule the Night becaus she doth so every Night more or less and though as I said the common Aethereal Light divided from the whole Globe of Light which was the Stellant Light and wherof the Planets and Starrs were all made afterward did make the first Night as that Globe of Light did the first Day and that Nocturnal Light is therefore called Darknes Comparatively which had neither Moon nor Starr in it yet in order to Sensitives who need more Nocturnal Light the Moon and Starrs or a great part of them were added in this Fourth Day to rule the Night whereof therefore there is also such an Additional Expression To rule over the Day and over the Night and to divide the Light from the Darknes Thus also more specialy there are said to be Courses of the Starrs and many of their Constellations particularly named and their Cooperations denoted Canst thou bind the sweet Influences of Pleiades or loos the Bonds of Orion Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season or Canst thou guide Arcturus with his Sons Now wheras some have Curiously inquired in what time of the Year the World was Created which the Poets fansy to have been in the Spring becaus that indeed is the time of Renovation and the Rabbins in the Autumn becaus then all Fruits and the like are in their Perfection as they were first Created certeinly neither of their Computations can be true of the very first Creation in the Begining for then there was no Year nor any Commencement therof but only Day and Night generaly in the three first Days and in the Fourth Day the Planets were made for Days and for Years and then they must also calculate their Computation for the Meridian of Paradise otherwise when it was Spring in one part of the Earth it was Autumn in the other as it is now to us and our Antipodes But such is our Human Vanity that we will Curiously pry into those things which God hath thought fitt to Concele and yet not acquiesce in those things which he hath pleased to Revele II. In the History of the Creation of the Planets and Starrs it is farther said of them that God sett them in the Firmament of Heaven to give Light upon the Earth Wherefore certeinly they are all Lucid not only as all Aether is in itself but so as to give Light upon the Earth otherwise they could not so give Light upon it and so certeinly the Earth is not Lucid in itself otherwise it should not need to be Illuminated by these Heavenly Luminarys Thus as the Apostle saith There are Bodys Celestial and Bodys Terrestrial but the Glory of the Celestial is one and the Glory of the Terrestrial is another and so neither are the Planets any Magnets nor the Earth a Planet but as several Elementary Natures they differ Genericaly and have their several Generical Glorys that is their different Goodness described and expressed in the History of their Creation severaly in several Days and which also evidently appeareth in Nature as may satisfy any except such who being confounded in their own Understandings can also confound Heaven and Earth which differ farr more and otherwise then the Aether and Planets differ one from another for they are Bodys Terrestrial and Bodys Celestial wheras these are all Genericaly Bodys Celestial though they also Specificaly differ one from another in Glory And of all these Celestial Bodys the Sun is incomparably most Glorious who as I observed alone is opposed to the Moon and all the Starrs and also preferred before them all for they with his Solar Illustrations and Secundary Light only make Night in the backside of the Earth which is but as the Shadow of his Diurnal Presence and therefore is still called Darknes and so he is said to rule by Day and they to rule by Night Whose darting Rays penetrate through all the Spectable World and are bounded only by the two common Bounds of Nature Superaether and Earth and in all the Elementary World there is Nihil simile aut secundum Wherefore Heathen generaly worshiped him as a God who yet in the Scale of Nature is farr Inferior
the Motion of the Earth if any should urge against me that Text which shaketh the Earth out of her place and the Pillars therof tremble I should answer him that if I wanted a Text to prove the contrary Truth this alone might suffice for both by it and the Context it plainly appears that it is spoken of a violent Commotion of the Earth by God in his anger and evidently imports that otherwise the Earth Naturaly resteth and hath a Place of Rest. And so their chief Reason to prove the Earth Mobile becaus it is Magnetical which I have grantâ—d doth as plainly prove the Immobility therof as I have shewed And the Sensible Experiment of an Arrow shot upright in a Ship sailing is a meer Fallacy though the Motion of the Ship and of the Archer in it while he dischargeth it may indeed caus some little Impuls that way in the very discharge which so directeth it But certeinly no man can believ that a Fly removing from an Horses head in travelling doth follow him with any less Nisus or labor by reason of any such Conjunct Motion then another Fly which freshly pursues the Hors for let an Hors that hath been washed in a River run swiftly on the Land certeinly the Drops that fall from him will not follow him There are many such fond Opinions and foolish Probations which serv only to render Philosophy ridiculous I am more confident of my Theses and hope I have offered no such Hypotheses but whatsoever they are I submit them to the several Masters in the respective Arts and Sciences and generaly all to learned Divines whose complete Province it is also to inspect this Divine Philosophy which God himself hath laid as the Foundation of Theology and as he doth delight to intitle himself the Maker of Heaven and Earth so Ieremy taught the Captive Jews that Chaldaike Sentence The Gods that have not made the Heavens and the Earth even they shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens to discriminate the only true God from all Idols nor do I remember that any Heathenish Religion did ever ascribe the Creation of the World to any of them nor indeed acknowledg any Proper Creation Wherefore since Errors in Philosophy are so dangerous in Divinity Theologists should affect the Genesis of Creation as well as the Exodus of Redemption as all the Sects of Graecian Philosophers did joyn Natural with Moral Philosophy Certeinly Theology only can teach us the right use and improvement of Natural Knowledg that is to Glorifie God and benefit Mankind and doth specialy admonish us that we should not so highly prize Curious and Costly Perierga or any vain Philosophy or Knowledg which only puffeth and edifieth not for indeed whosoever doth terminate in a Speculative Contemplation of the World is as much a Worldling as any Ambitious Covetous or Voluptuous men who seek a satisfaction therin VIII Let all men therefore prais and glorify their Creator who hath made this whole World and all things therin in Order Measure and Weight not only in all their own particular Natures but in the Univers and Polity therof since every man is himself a Created Module and Idea both of the Creation and of God the Creator who as a Melior Natura was made to represent God to all Inferior Creatures in his Dominion over them and them unto God in his Immediate Subordination unto him Wherefore as all the Works of God do prais him with the Echo of his own Goodnes and the whole Globe as a Cymbal doth sound forth his praises so should we sing and chant them out with Oral Voice and Mental Understanding And thus as blessed Angels who in Heaven behold the face of God continualy cry unto him Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts so we beholding the Reflections therof in the Speculum of Created Nature should subjoin in Consort the whole Earth is full of his Glory And more specialy we should prais him for our own Human Nature which is the Summ of all the rest and Completion of both the Sensible and Intelligible Worlds quartering all the Familys of Nature in the â—scutcheon of our Humanity whereby we of all others are most obliged to this Divine Service which is the very End of Creation and Divine Goodnes therof And every particular man should thus Personaly reâ—lect on himself becaus he is also an Abstract of Humanity singing the Doxology of the Divine Psalmist I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made and that my Soul knoweth right well my Substance was not hid from thee when I was made in seâ—ret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth Thine Eys did see my Substance yet being Imperfect and in thy Book were all my Members written which in continuance of time were fashioned when as yet there was none of them Thus I was Created through the most free Grace of my Creator and was not what I now am long since the World was made and which might still have continued without me who am a very Inconsyderable and Insignificant Portion of Mankind among all the Innumerable Millions of men who have been before me are now with me and shall be after me and yet as much concerned in my Creator and he as particularly regarding me as if there were none other man in the World And as I before I was so my Parents or any others could not designe or desire any such being for me nor foretell or imagin what I should be but only my Divine Father who did set down and prescribe in his Book of Eternity the Idea of my Personality and whole Compositum and accordingly formed me in my Mothers Womb molding my Body the Tabernacle of my Soul by a Vegetative Plastical Virtue and producing my Sensitive Spirit out of the common Clay and lowest part of the Earth inspired into it my Intellective Spirit as a Light Incensed that shall never be Extinguished an Intelligence Ingenerable and Incorruptible for ever And now I am my self and not another nor ever shall be any other then my self and so am put into the present possession of my own everlasting Being though my Soul living and dwelling in this Mortal Body for this short space of a Temporary Life hath this small Segment of its Eternity set out and appointed to be the sole opportunity of gaining my everlasting Welbeing and the Intellectual and Spiritual Welbeing of my Soul is only the Union and Communion therof with my Infinite Creator which is the true Apotheosis of Intellective Spirits In which Original State of Divine Perfection Human Nature was first Created but by the Apostacy and Defection of our first Parents did again sink down into the Mortality of the Body and the self-confounded Chaos of the Soul And now O Mankind admire and adore for ever the Infinite and Incomprehensible Glory of God and Mystery of his Spiritual Kingdom of Redemption farr exceeding all the Glory of his Natural Kingdom of Creation which was only the foundation or Scene of the other being so made in order therunto and wisely conâ—â—der how God Infinite in himself look'd through this Finite World as a Bubble of Diaphanous Air computing all Creatures therin only as so many Cyphars which though more or fewer greater or less before or after in or among themselvs yet all signify the same Nothing in Divine Account neither adding to nor diminishing from the Infinity of their Creator And therefore from all Eternity before the Foundations of the World were laid he designed and decreed to Invest his own Son the Uncreated Essential and Intrinsecal Image of himself with the Created Artificial and Extrinsecal Image of our Humanity and therin with the Universal Nature of the Created World By whom Finite is thus united to Infinity and Mutable to Immutability and in whom God Infinitely and Immutably enjoieth himself in the full Embraces both of his Essence and Operations And this is that new and better Creation which shall endure for ever wherof it is also said as of the first Creation In the Begining was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God The same was in the Begining with God All things were made by him and without him nothing was made that was made And now I prais thee I bless thee I adore thee Lord God Creator of Heaven and Earth for thine own Uncreated Glory Eternaly Immanent in thy self and for the Transient manifestations therof in and to thy Creatures And as I admire thine own Infinite Incomprehensibility so also all those Finite Incomprehensibles in Nature and all the Comprehensibles therof which may be known by us for whatsoever we do or can truly know of thee or thy Works is most excellent and so is all that we cannot know And I thank thee for the discovery of the Initial Creation and Original Confabrication of the World by thy Word and the retrospective Revelation therof to thy Servant Moses and for any Revelation of that Primitive Apocalyps to me thy most unworthy and unable Servant by the Illumination of thy Divine Spirit And now I beseech thee to revele it more and more to the whole World that we may all know and acknowledg the only true Genesis of the World and thee the Creator who art both the Author and End therof And wherin I am Ignorant still teach thou me or wherin I have Erred discover it to others that neither thy Divine Truth may be dishonored by my Human Infirmity nor any honor therof ascribed to my Infirm Humanity but that we all may always and in all things Laud and Glorify the most Holy Name of thee the Infinite Iehovah and Creator through Iesus Christ the Messiah our Redeemer whom to Know is Life Eternal Amen FINIS